The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes;

The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is one of the most rare and important of all children's books. It was one of the first English stories to be written specifically for children. Its authorship is unknown although for many years it was attributed to Oliver Goldsmith, who was at the time working for, and having his lodgings paid for by, the publisher John Newbery. An immediate success at the time of publication in 1765, it promptly went into several further editions and was first published in America in 1775. Copied and abridged by chapbook printers and imitated by others, it became one of the most read and most influential stories of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The first edition of 1765 is known by only one copy, that in the British Library. This edition consists of 72 leaves with engraved frontispiece. The text comprises pages 1-140 with 4 pages of advertisements listing books "usually read by the Scholars of Mrs. Two-Shoes" and patent medicines. This edition has a one-line caption to the frontispiece and a single ruled line above the imprint on the title-page. The books listed comprise 43 titles, followed by 12 patent medicines. Roscoe lists two copies of a "new edition, corrected" of 1766: the Opie and Oppenheimer copies. It has generally been assumed that these are the second edition. In both copies the text has been extended to 156 pages with 4 pages of advertisements of books and medicines, comprising 43 titles and 12 medicines. The frontispiece in the Opie copy has the caption in one line and in the Oppenheimer copy in two lines. Both copies are dated 1766 and have added above the imprint a double rule enclosing "A New Edition, Corrected." There are also three known copies of another edition dated 1766 which has "The Third Edition" added to the title-page between double-rules, and the frontispiece caption present either as a single line or set as two lines. Two copies are imperfect, including that in the British Library which lacks two leaves and has the final advertisement leaf, listing 42 books and 10 patent medicines, added from another copy. The Wilbur Macy Stone copy, which contains ownership inscriptions dated 1767, has signature K replaced in facsimile, again listing 42 book titles and 10 patent medicines. The book that no longer appears in this present copy and the third edition copies is The Pretty Play-Thing [Newbery editions are recorded by Roscoe of c.1759, 1762 and c.1770]. Three further copies are recorded of a 1767 edition which has "Fourth Edition" on the title-page.

It is conceivable that this present copy was issued prior to the 1766 'new edition, corrected', which has generally been accepted as the second edition, with all references to edition being omitted either deliberately or by accident. Alternatively it could have been issued immediately after this edition but prior to the third edition, making it the second revised edition. The frontispiece is in the earliest state with a single-line caption and the double rules on the title-page contain no edition information. There are small erasure marks between the double rules on the title-page but these have been professionally  examined at the British Museum and no traces of ink or impression marks were detected. The italic text in the imprint is still present, whereas by the 1767 fourth edition this is set in roman type.   

Included is a facsimile reprint  taken from this copy and issued as a limited edition in 1985. This is copy number 186 of 250 with the illustrations coloured by hand.