Large Additions to Common Sense; Addressed to the Inhabitants of America.

One of the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Paine authored two of the most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, which ultimately inspired the 1776 Declaration of Independence. Virtually every American rebel read Paine’s powerful pamphlet Common Sense which crystallized the American Revolution and demand for independence from Britain. John Adams asserted "without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain." The 1776 Large Additions lends insight into the fascinating publishing history of the most important and popular tract of the American Revolution. After the publication of the first edition of Common Sense by Bell in 1776 in a small edition of 1000 copies, Paine was greatly disappointed when Bell advised him there were no profits. He had intended to donate the proceeds to the causes of liberty and independence. Paine and Bell 44 had an immediate falling out and Paine subsequently hired Bradford to print a competing edition. This naturally infuriated Bell who included an attack on the still anonymous author in his next printing. The controversy between Bell and Paine played out in the press over the next several weeks and, in no small part, helped further ignite the popularity and widespread dissemination of Common Sense. Bell tried to compete against Bradford with a second unauthorized edition and gathered these additions to differentiate his work for the purpose of marketing. Nevertheless, Bell could not easily compete since Paine refused to copyright the work and granted free permission for anyone to reprint it. Howes (P22) states that “Paine was not the author of these Additions; they were gathered from various sources by Bell to make his edition 3 times larger than the enlarged edition issued at Philadelphia by Bradford, to whom Paine had turned after his estrangement from Bell. Some copies were issued separately - and paged” (as in the present example) “ ... to permit their being bound with the first and second editions of Common Sense.