What Defoe hoped to obtain from Harley by this and succeeding letters on this subject is not clear. He may have been seeking Harley's public repudiation of the Jacobite peers, or at least some private assurances that what Argyll had told the peers did not represent the new Ministry's policies. Whatever it was he sought, by late December it was obviously not forthcoming from Harley or his Ministry. And on 20 December Argyll was made a Knight of the Garter. It was during this December that the bulk of _Atalantis Major_ was written, most probably between 30 November and 26 December. On 26 December 1710 Defoe wrote Harley of the existence of "Two Vile Ill Natur'd Pamphlets ... both of which have fallen into My hands in Manuscript, and I think I have prevented both their Printing. The first Was advertised in the Gazette here and Called the Scots atalantis[8] ... The Other Pamphlet is called _Atalantis Major_." The letter concludes with a short description of the work, a disavowal of any knowledge of its authorship, and the hope that he can suppress its publication: The Other Pamphlet is called _Atalantis Major_; and is a Bitter Invective against the D of Argyle, the E of Mar, and the Election of the Peers. It is Certainly Written by Some English man, and I have Some Guess at the Man, but dare not be positive. I have hitherto kept this also from the Press, and believe it will be Impossible for them to get it printed here after the Measures I have Taken. The Party I Got it of pretends the Coppy Came from England, But I am of Another Opinion. I shall Trouble you no farther about it because if possible I can get it Coppyed, I will Transmit the Coppy by Next post, for I have the Originall in My hand. They Expect I shall Encourage and assist them in the Mannageing it, and Till I can Take a Coppy I shall not Undeciev them.[9] There is no evidence to suggest that Harley doubted Defoe's disclaimer or that Defoe sent the copy to Harley. Since Defoe was back in London on 13 February 1711, _Atalantis Major_ must have been seen through the press sometime between 26 December and the end of January, not, as Moore lists it, "before 26 December 1710."[10] Internal evidence suggests an even narrower range of probable dates of publication. The last four pages of _Atalantis Major_ deal with the Duke of Argyll being given command of the English forces in Spain and the singular lack of grace with which he undertook this command. Since Argyll was not given command of the Peninsula campaign until 11 January 1711, it could not be until after this date that the manuscript could have been finished and printed.