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I don't know the exact details, but the Dublin piracy occurred before any legitimate printing of the book, and no legitimate printing of the book occurred before November 1753. See the _Selected Letters_ ed. John Carroll, p242 for a letter to Lady Bradshaigh, 5 Oct 1753, in which Richardson states "The Reason why I hasten not the Publication is two-fold; one is, it is not an advisable time; the Town empty... The other is, that should I publish it complete, I should give the Irish Rapparees an Opportunity to complete their Edition from mine; whereas now, I think, they cannot have more than three or four Shts. of Vol. VI and about half of Vol. VII (for I stopt, as soon as I was apprized of the Villainy)..."
The Dublin printers had bribed Richardson's press-workers to acquire copies of the novel before it had been published at all. According to a footnote in the selected letters, "Richardson published the first four volumes duodecimo and octavo simultaneously on 13 November 1753" (243). I've edited it accordingly -- but I don't have all the necessary sources right now, so it's going to be sketchy. Solemnavalanche (talk) 11:52, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
