The Vicar of Wakefield - Introduction - Composition, Publication, and Reception

Aug 25, 2026

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Oliver Goldsmith’s only novel, The Vicar of Wakefield, was first published on 27 March 1766, followed by a second edition on 31 May with substantial stylistic revisions. Additional editions appeared during Goldsmith’s lifetime, the last dated 2 April 1774, shortly before his death. The text recounts how the manuscript reached booksellers, a story later linked to James Boswell’s Life of Johnson and Samuel Johnson’s recollections of Goldsmith’s financial distress and negotiations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages246

Reading Time6 h 19 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Composition, Publication, and Reception

Contents

Note on the Text

Select Bibliography

A Chronology of Oliver Goldsmith

THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD

Explanatory Notes

oxford world’s classics THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD Oliver Goldsmith was born in 1730(?), the second son of Charles Goldsmith, curate of the parish of Kilkenny West in West Meath in Ireland. In 1745 he was admitted to Trinity College Dublin. He quickly dissipated his savings by gambling, which was to become an abiding interest. After periods at the Universities of Edinburgh and Leyden he spent 1755–6 travelling in Europe, where he is reputed to have eked out a living by playing the ﬂute and disputing doctrinal points at monasteries and universities. Before embarking on a writing career he worked in London as an apothecary’s assistant, a doctor, and a school usher. A combination of overwork, worry, and poor self-treatment hastened his death in 1774. Goldsmith’s ability and range as a professional writer were considerable. Best known perhaps for The Vicar of Wakeﬁeld, he was also the author of biographies, anthologies, translations, poems ( The Traveller, 1764, and The Deserted Village, 1770), plays (She Stoops to Conquer, 1773), as well as numerous reviews and essays. Arthur Friedman is the late distinguished Professor of English atthe University of Chicago and editor of Goldsmith’s Collected Works. Robert L. Mack is a lecturer in the School of English at the University of Exeter. He has previously taught at Princeton University and Vanderbilt University, and is the editor of the Arabian Nights’Entertainments and Oriental Tales for Oxford World’s Classics. His biography of the poet Thomas Gray was published by Yale University Press in 2000. oxford world’s classics For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics have brought readers closer to the world’s great literature. Now with over 700 titles—from the 4,000-year-old myths of Mesopotamia to the twentieth century’s greatest novels—the series makes available lesser-known as well as celebrated writing. The pocket-sized hardbacks of the early years contained introductions by Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Graham Greene, and other literary ﬁgures which enriched the experience of reading. Today the series is recognized for its ﬁne scholarship and reliability in texts that span world literature, drama and poetry, religion, philosophy and politics. Each edition includes perceptive commentary and essential background information to meet the changing needs of readers. OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS OLIVER GOLDSMITH The Vicar of Wakeﬁeld Edited by ARTHUR FRIEDMAN With an Introduction and Notes by ROBERT L . MACK 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With oﬃces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York Editorial matter © Robert L. Mack 2006 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published as a World’s Classics paperback 1981 Reissued as an Oxford World’s Classics paperback 1999 New edition 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address

FAQs

When was The Vicar of Wakefield first published?

It was first published on 27 March 1766.

What changed in the second edition of the novel?

The second edition (31 May 1766) included many stylistic revisions to the text.

How does the introduction describe the manuscript’s arrival with booksellers?

It presents a well-known literary account connected to Boswell’s Life of Johnson, including Samuel Johnson’s recollection of Goldsmith’s financial distress and attempts to manage it.

Aug 25, 2026

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