Readership
The pre-established harmony between Junius and his readers accounts for the rapidity of his success, and for the importance attributed to him by Burke and Johnson. Before 1772 there appeared at least twelve unauthorized republications of his letters, made by speculative printers. In that year he revised the collection named Junius: Stat nominis umbra, with a dedication to the English people and a preface. Other independent editions followed in quick succession. In 1801 one was published with annotations by Robert Heron. In 1806 another appeared with notes by John Almon. The first new edition of real importance was issued by the Woodfall family in 1812. It contained the correspondence of Junius with Henry Sampson Woodfall, a selection of the miscellaneous letters attributed to Junius, facsimiles of his handwriting, and notes by John Mason Good. Curiosity as to the mystery of the authorship began to replace political and literary interest in the writings. Junius himself had been early aware of the advantage he secured by concealment. The mystery of Junius increases his importance is his confession in a letter to Wilkes dated 18 September 1771.
Woodfall felt assured that
when kings and ministers are forgotten, when the force and direction of personal satire is no longer understood, and when measures are only fet in their remotest consequences; this book will, I believe, be found to contain principles worthy to be transmitted to posterity.
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