Originally published in 1921 in Annalen der Naturphilosophie as Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung, the Tractatus was quickly recognised as a significant work by Wittgenstein’s contemporaries, notably the Vienna Circle. Wittgenstein did not approve the use of the original text and referred to it as pirated - though this hastened the publication the next year in book form, as a parallel edition including the German text on the facing page to the English translation. C. K. Ogden led preparations of the book with assistance from G. E. Moore, F. P. Ramsey, in conjunction with Wittgenstein himself. The second impression came in 1933 "with a few corrections", and later the third impression in 1947.
Born into significant wealth, Wittgenstein served in WWI, indeed completed the initial draft of Tractatus while on leave in the summer of 1918 (returning to the Italian front prior to the end of the war, and subsequent 9 months internment in an Italian POW camp). Severely depressed, he dissapated his entire fortune amongst his remaining siblings (three of four brothers having died by suicide), and moved to teach in the remote countryside where he was widely regarded as an eccentric. Aside from a spelling book for children, the Tractatus was the only book published in his lifetime, though the posthumous Philosophical Investigations refutes much of the content.