A Tale Of A Tub

This letter, included at the beginning of the book, is a dedication to John Lord Somers written by the Bookseller. Somers was an English jurist and politician from the Whig party, who eventually become Lord High Chancellor. He published tracts concerning succession and was a believer that only Protestants could sit on the English throne. He also had a literary background. It's possible the Bookseller chose to dedicate this letter and the book to Lord Somers because the Lord High Chancellor was one of the most powerful men in the English government. He may also have wanted monetary support for publishing. 

However, by the third paragraph of this letter, it is apparent that the Bookseller is also being facetious. Discussing the work about to be read, he writes: “For upon the covers of these papers I casually observed written in large letters the two following words, DETUR DIGNISSIMO, which for aught I knew, might contain some important meaning” (7). He employs Latin—a phrase that even his translators, who never knew Latin to begin with, do not know how to translate. On his way to figure out what it means—he discovers that it states: “Let it be given to the worthiest” (7)—the Bookseller locates one poet who says he is indeed the most worthy. Asked to guess who else the book might be dedicated to, the poet suggests Lord Somers. The Bookseller goes on to praise the Lord’s virtues, skills, and becoming qualities.

The Bookseller wishes to answer the question about why he did not publish this treatise sooner. He says that he had other things to do and was waiting for the “Author” (12) to give him further direction.

The narrator dedicates a letter to the young prince, likely Charles Edward Stuart (or Bonnie Prince Charlie). He takes a gibe at him, saying: 

[T]he person, it seems, to whose care the education of your Highness is committed, has resolved, as I am told, to keep you in almost an universal ignorance of our studies, which it is your inherent birthright to inspect (13). 

The Prince should take more care with his advisors, so he should know what is going on in his country. The narrator suggests that the Prince’s age and ignorance have led him to neglect the writers of his time. In fact, literature is languishing. However, the narrator continues: “To affirm that our age is altogether unlearned and devoid of writers in any kind, seems to be an assertion so bold and so false” (16). The narrator is so passionate about his belief that he posts lists of writers and their works and puts them up on the street. However, they are soon taken down. He goes on to mention authors like John Dryden, whose works have gone unheeded. There is another man, Dr. Bentley, who wrote against the Prince’s own governor, whose work has not been published. 

The narrator says he will write a work that will present the true nature of the nation. Now the Prince will have to settle for “a faithful abstract drawn from the universal body of all arts and sciences, intended wholly for your service and instruction” (19). The narrator hopes that this work will help the Prince to advance his studies and understanding of the arts in his country.