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.
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns is the second major collection of stories written by Arnold Bennett. The book first appeared in print in June 1907. Only around half of the stories had previously appeared in print.Bennett anticipated that the collection would help to establish his stature as a writer, showing that he could rise above what he termed his "potboilers". But the book had some initial sharp criticism from press reviewers. Critics focussed especially on the macabre story "In a New Bottle" (the "Staffordshire Sentinel" called it "nasty" and "The Bookman" termed it "grotesque") and on the sexual frankness of the long story "The Death of Simon Fuge". For instance the 1907 "Spectator" review remarked that "Simon Fuge"... "very much oversteps the boundaries of good taste". "Simon Fuge", not having been written for what Bennett called the "unperceptive stupidity" of the magazine audiences, was able to be bold with its themes and approach.