A Tale of a Tub
The "Tale" was originally published in 1704 by John Nutt. Swift had used Benjamin Tooke previously when publishing for Sir William Temple. He would use Tooke for both the fifth edition of the "Tale" (1710) and later works. Tooke's successor, Benjamin Motte, published Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". This difference in printer is only one of the things that led to debate over authorship of the work.
A Tale of a Tub
Although today very little of this debate remains, questions of the authorship of the "Tale" occupied many notable critics both in the 18th and 19th centuries. Famously, Samuel Johnson claimed that "A Tale of a Tub" was a work of true genius (in contrast to "Gulliver's Travels" where once one imagines "big people and little people" the rest is easy) and too good to be Jonathan Swift's. In the 19th century, many critics who saw misanthropy and madness in Jonathan Swift's later work wished to reject the "Tale" as his. In a way, a critic's view on who wrote the "Tale" reflected that critic's politics. Swift was such a powerful champion of Tory, or anti-Whig, causes that fans of the "Tale" were eager to attribute the book to another author from nearly the day of its publication.