Complex sentence: Finished by the author in 1782, this book was not published until 1880--in installments that came out in a newspaper-and, in 1881, published as a book for the first time.
Split into simpler sentences: Finished by the author in 1782, this book was not published until 1880--in installments that came out in a newspaper. In 1881, it was published as a book for the first time.