Bibliographic Notes on One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature

By Author	[ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z \| Other Symbols ]
By Title	[ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z \| Other Symbols ]
By Language

Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ]

Look for this book on Amazon

We have new books nearly every day.
If you would like a news letter once a week or once a month fill out this form and we will give you a summary of the books for that week or month by email.

Title: Bibliographic Notes on One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature
Author: Kent, Henry W.
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.

*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Bibliographic Notes on One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature" ***

The Internet Archive/American Libraries and the Online
by the Posner Memorial Collection
(http://posner.library.cmu.edu/Posner/))

Transcriber's Note:

- - signifies italic text;
^ or ^{} signifies a superscript.
[=] signifies a letter with a macron accent (straight line over);
[~] signifies a letter with a tilde over.
Both macron and tilde sometimes indicate an omitted letter.

This is a collection bibliographical notes on old books. In the
older books there are many instances of the long 's', printed as
'ſ', and used mostly in the middle of words.

A final 's' was printed as 's', as it is now. A final double-'s'
was usually printed as 'ſs'. An exception is on Psge 41: 'Odyſſ'.

"Finis duodecim libri Hom. Odyſſ. Opus nouem dierum,"

Occasionally, 'ſſ' in the middle of a word, was printed as 'ſs'.

Some examples of the use of 'ſ' and 'ſs':

'Paradiſe loſt' (Paradise lost), 'The Pilgrims Progreſs'
(The Pilgrims Progress), 'Odyſses' (Odysses), etc

The letter 'w' was often printed as 'vv', and 'W' as 'VV'.
'J/j' was often printed as 'I/i', and 'I/i' as 'J/j'.

Thus 'The Rich Jew of Malta' appears in this book as
'The Rich Ievv of Malta'.

'v' was often printed as 'u', and 'u' as 'v' thus, "God ſaue the
Queene" for "God save the Queen".

Also: "vntill this preſent tyme" for "until this present time".

In the earlier books, people wrote what they heard. All spelling
variants, if they make sense, and are not obvious printing errors,
have been retained.

Spelling rules did not exist until the later part of the 19th
century. Some words and names (e.g. Church-yard/Churchyard) are
hyphenated on some pages, unhyphenated on others. All have been
retained.

Punctuation is not nessarily consistent, is not always present,
and sometimes occurs where we would not expect it (e.g. 'the price
of .ii. Shyllynges the piece'; '.xiii Articles'; 'and before the
yere ,M,iiiiC, and .ix', etc.). A colon (:) was sometimes used
instead of a full stop. Apostrophes were sometimes conspicuous by
their absence (e.g. 'Le Morte Darthur' for 'Le Morte D'Arthur'),
and opened brackets were not always closed. There are some
instances of quotations enclosed in double quotes nested inside
quotations similarly enclosed in double quotes, leading to the
occasional paragraph ending in ."" This would appear to have been
the printing style of the time, and has been retained.

The Author has included a list of corrections on Page 221, at the
end of the book and before the Index. These corrections have been
implemented, as listed.

The rest of the Transcriber's Note is at the end of the book.

* * * * *

The committee on Publications of the Grolier Club
certifies that this copy of "Bibliographical Notes on
One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature"
is one of three hundred and five copies printed on
French hand-made paper, and three on vellum, during
the year nineteen hundred and three.

* * * * *

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

ON ONE HUNDRED BOOKS FAMOUS IN

ENGLISH LITERATURE

* * * * *

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
ON
ONE HUNDRED BOOKS
FAMOUS IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE

COMPILED BY
HENRY W. KENT

[Illustration]

THE GROLIER CLUB
OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

MCMIII

PREFACE

After the publication of the volume entitled _One Hundred Books
Famous in English Literature with Facsimiles of the Title-pages and
an Introduction by George E. Woodberry_, the books themselves were
gathered from the collections of members of the Club for an exhibition
at the Club-house. All of these volumes belonged to the first
published editions, except where copies of the earliest editions were
not obtainable, or, for some reason, were not desirable. In two cases,
those of "Tottel's Miscellany" and Lyly's _Euphues_, copies of the
first editions are unique, and, therefore, practically not obtainable.
The second edition of _A Myrrour For Magistrates_ contains the first
issue of the poem called an _Induction_ by the Earl of Dorset,
and was, therefore, the edition which it was desirable to show.
Notwithstanding the oft-repeated statement that copies of the second
edition of Bacon's _Essays_ are of greater rarity than those of the
first, no copy of the first edition was forthcoming, and one of the
later date was necessarily included in the collection. In one or
two instances a second issue of a first edition was used where the
extremely rare first issue was not owned by a member of the Club.

Arranged side by side, each volume open at its title-page, the
individuality of these well-known works was brought out strikingly:
taken collectively, they illustrated, clearly and interestingly, the
development of the Book in England. Members of the Club were thus led
to suggest the publication of a second, or supplementary volume, which
should give the bibliographical facts connected with each book, and
which should indicate, briefly, something of this development. The
present volume was undertaken in response to this suggestion.

The relations of author with printer or publisher, the success
or failure of the books, matters of illustration, and marked
peculiarities of editions, issues or volumes--all these things are
referred to at greater or less length. In some cases, the facts have
been given with fullness; but in others, like that of the Shakespeare
_First Folio_, about which so much has been written, it was thought
unnecessary to enter into details. Many of the books in the list
having been already the subjects of whole bibliographies, or, having
been carefully collated in other works, full collations have not been
thought desirable here. It should be noted, in this connection, that
the collations of books printed before the eighteenth century
are given by signatures, while of books published after 1700, the
paginations are given. Works of more than two volumes have not been
collated in detail.

CONTENTS

TITLE AUTHOR DATE PAGE

The Canterbury Tales Chaucer 1478 3

Confeſſio Amantis Gower 1483 5

Le Morte Darthur Malory 1485 7

The Booke of the Common Praier 1549 9

The Vision of Pierce Plowman Langland 1550 12

Chronicles of England Scotlande, and
Irelande Holinshed 1577 15

{Baldwin, }
A Myrrour For Magiſtrates {Sackville,}
{and others} 1563 19

Songes And Sonettes Howard 1567 22

The Tragidie of Ferrex and Porrex {Norton and}
{Sackville } [1570?] 24

Euphues Lyly 1581 26

The Countesse Of Pembrokes Arcadia Sidney 1590 29

The Faerie Queene Spenser 1590 32

Eſſaies Bacon 1598 34

The Principal Navigations, Voiages,
Traffiques And Discoueries of the
Engliſh Nation Hakluyt 1598 36

The Whole Works Of Homer Chapman [n. d.] 40

The Holy Bible 44

The Workes Jonson 1616 48

The Anatomy Of Melancholy Burton 1621 51

Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies Shakespeare 1623 53

The Tragedy of The Dutchesse of Malfy Webster 1623 56

A New Way To Pay Old Debts Massinger 1633 57

The Broken Heart Ford 1633 58

The Famous Tragedy of
The Rich Ievv Of Malta Marlowe 1633 59

The Temple Herbert 1633 60

Poems Donne 1633 62

Religio Medici Browne 1642 65

The Workes Waller 1645 67

Comedies And Tragedies {Beaumont and}
{Fletcher } 1647 69

Hesperides Herrick 1648 72

The Rule And Exercises
Of Holy Living Taylor 1650 74

The Compleat Angler Walton 1653 75

Hudibras Butler 1663 77

Paradiſe loſt Milton 1667 79

The Pilgrims Progreſs Bunyan 1678 82

Absalom And Achitophel Dryden 1681 84

An Essay Concerning
Humane Understanding Locke 1690 86

The Way of the World Congreve 1700 88

The History Of The
Rebellion and Civil
Wars In England Clarendon 1702 89

The Tatler 1710 91

The Spectator 1711 94

The Life And Strange
Surprizing Adventures
Of Robinson Crusoe Defoe 1719 97

Travels Into Several
Remote Nations Of
The World Swift 1726 99

An Essay On Man Pope [1733] 102

The Analogy Of Religion Butler 1736 104

Reliques Of Ancient
English Poetry Percy 1765 105

Odes Collins 1747 109

Clarissa Richardson 1748 110

The History Of Tom Jones Fielding 1749 112

An Elegy Wrote In A
Country Church Yard Gray 1751 114

A Dictionary Of The English
Language Johnson 1755 117

Poor Richard improved Franklin 1758 119

Commentaries On The Laws Of England Blackstone 1765 121

The Vicar Of Wakefield Goldsmith 1766 123

A Sentimental Journey Through
France And Italy Sterne 1768 126

The Federalist 1788 128

The Expedition of Humphry
Clinker Smollett 1771 130

An Inquiry Into The Nature and
Cauſes Of The Wealth Of Nations Smith 1776 132

The History Of The Decline And
Fall Of The Roman Empire Gibbon 1776 133

The School For Scandal Sheridan [n. d.] 136

The Task Cowper 1785 137

Poems Burns 1786 141

The Natural History And
Antiquities Of Selborne White 1789 143

Reflections On The Revolution
In France Burke 1790 146

Rights Of Man Paine 1791 147

The Life Of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Boswell 1791 150

{Wordsworth }
Lyrical Ballads {and Coleridge} 1798 153

A History Of New York
by Diedrich Knickerbocker Irving 1809 155

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Byron 1812 157

Pride And Prejudice Austen 1813 161

Christabel Kubla Khan, A Vision;
The Pains Of Sleep Coleridge 1816 163

Ivanhoe Scott 1820 165

Lamia, Isabella,
The Eve Of St. Agnes,
And Other Poems Keats 1820 167

Adonais Shelley 1821 169

Elia Lamb 1823 171

Memoirs Pepys 1825 173

The Last Of The Mohicans Cooper 1826 175

Pericles And Aspasia Landor 1836 177

The Posthumous Papers Of
The Pickwick Club Dickens 1837 180

Sartor Resartus Carlyle 1834 183

Nature Emerson 1836 186

History Of The Conquest Of Peru Prescott 1847 187

The Raven And Other Poems Poe 1845 189

Jane Eyre Brontë 1847 191

Evangeline Longfellow 1847 192

Sonnets Mrs. Browning 1847 193

Melib[oe]us-Hipponax Lowell 1848 194

Vanity Fair Thackeray 1848 196

The History Of England Macaulay 1849 199

In Memoriam Tennyson 1850 201

The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne 1850 202

Uncle Tom's Cabin Mrs. Stowe 1852 204

The Stones of Venice Ruskin 1851 205

Men And Women Browning 1855 208

The Rise Of The Dutch Republic Motley 1856 209

Adam Bede George Eliot 1859 211

On The Origin Of Species Darwin 1859 213

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Fitzgerald 1859 216

Apologia Pro Vita Sua Newman 1864 217

Essays In Criticism Arnold 1865 218

Snow-Bound Whittier 1866 219

* * * * *

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

ONE HUNDRED BOOKS

FAMOUS IN

ENGLISH LITERATURE

* * * * *

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

(1340?-1400)

1. [The Canterbury Tales. Printed at Westminster by William Caxton,
about 1478.]

The text begins with the first line of the book, and there is
no prefatory note or colophon, to give a clue to the name of
the work, its place of publication, its printer, or the date
of its production. The date and the name of the printer,
however, are determined by the type, which is a font used by
Caxton in books printed at Westminster between the years 1475
and 1481. This type, known as Type No. 2, because it was the
second employed by him (the first used for printing books in
England), is like the characters in manuscripts written in
Bruges in the fifteenth century, and called "Gros Bâtarde."
Colard Mansion, the earliest printer of Bruges, used a font of
similar style, and Caxton probably formed his type on the
same models, if, indeed, he did not procure it from Mansion
himself, with whom he learned the new art of printing. But we
may also identify our printer by means of his own statement
made in the signed "Prohemye" to the second edition of
the work, printed in 1484 (?), where, in speaking of the
difficulty of obtaining a pure text, he makes an interesting
criticism of this, the first edition. He says:

"For I fynde many of the sayd bookes, whyche wry- | ters haue
abrydgyd it and many thynges left out, And in | so[~m]e place
haue sette certayn versys, that he neuer made ne sette | in
hys booke, of whyche bookes so incorrecte was one brought to
me vj yere passyd, whyche I supposed had ben veray true &
cor- | recte, And accordyne to the same I dyde do enprynte a
certayn | nombre of them, whyche anon were sold to many and
dyuerse | gentyl men, of whome one gentylman cam to me, and
said that | this book was not accordyn in many places vnto the
book that | Gefferey chaucer had made, To whom I answerd that
I had ma-| de it accordyng to my copye, and by me was nothyng
added ne | mynusshyd."

According to the arrangement of William Blades, this is the
tenth work of England's first printer, and the fifth printed
on English soil. It was printed after his return from Bruges,
whither he had gone as a mercer, and where he turned printer
and editor. Few of the books from his press exceed it in size
and beauty. Nine copies are known; two are in the British
Museum, one in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, one in Merton
College, Oxford, and five in private libraries. Of all these
only two are in perfect condition.

The volume has no signatures, folios or catchwords, and the
lines are unevenly spaced. The rubrication of the initial
letters was done by hand.

In the matter of purity of text this edition is inferior
to the second, as Caxton himself thus early recognized; the
manuscript from which it was printed, Tyrwhitt tells us,
"happened unluckily to be one of the worst in all respects
that [he] could possibly have met with." But however that may
be, the _Canterbury Tales_ is entitled to a chief place among
English books as presenting the first printed text of Chaucer,
who, "by hys labour enbelysshyd, ornated, and made faire our
englisshe."

Folio. Black letter.

COLLATION: _371 leaves; sixteen of which are in facsimile._

JOHN GOWER

(1325?-1408)

The text is a composite one, being taken from at least three
MSS. Manuscripts are extant in three versions: the earliest is
dedicated to Richard II, and contains a panegyric on Chaucer;
the second is dedicated to Henry of Lancaster, but the poets
having quarreled, the panegyric is omitted; and the third is
likewise addressed to Henry, but with certain differences in
the work. With the exception of these variations, the text is
alike in all.

The type of the printed work exhibits two variations of the
same characters, and is called Type No. 4, and No. 4*. It is
the smallest font employed by Caxton in any of his books, and
the most used, thirty-one volumes having been printed between
1480 and 1487 in one or the other or in both variations.

The printer does not, as in the following work, write a
special prologue or preface to the _Confessio_, but states
all the facts he knows concerning it in the introductory
paragraph, or title, at the beginning of the first column.
The book has no catchwords or folios, and the signatures are
irregularly printed. Seventeen copies were known to Blades:
three in the British Museum; Cambridge, Pembroke College,
Cambridge, Hereford Cathedral, Lambeth Palace Library, Queen's
College, and All Souls, Oxford, each having one; while eight
were in private libraries.

The copy whose title-page is here shown in facsimile is one
of five copies that are perfect. We first hear of it in the
library of Brian Fairfax, a Commissioner of Customs in the
18th century, who bequeathed it to his kinsman, Hon. Robert
Fairfax, afterward seventh Lord Fairfax. Lord Fairfax intended
to sell the collection at auction, but eventually sold it
entire, in 1756, to his relative, Francis Child of Osterley
Park, for two thousand pounds. In 1819 the Osterley Park
library passed into the family of the Earl of Jersey, and,
when finally dispersed, in 1885, brought thirteen thousand and
seven pounds, nine shillings.

At the time of the intended auction, in 1756, a catalogue was
printed, but afterward all but twenty copies of the edition
were suppressed. One of these is marked with the valuation
of each book, and shows the _Confessio_ to have been held at
three pounds. Eight hundred and ten pounds was the price it
brought at the sale in 1885.

Folio. Black letter. 12-5/8 × 18-15/16 inches

COLLATION: _222 leaves; four of which are blank_.

SIR THOMAS MALORY

(1430?-1470?)

3. (Colophon) ¶ Thus endeth thys noble and Joyous book entytled le
morte | Darthur / Notwythſtondyng it treateth of the byrth / lyf /
and | actes of the ſayd kyng Arthur / of his noble knyghtes of the
| rounde table / ... whiche book was re | duced in to englyſſhe by
ſyr Thomas Malory knyght as afore | is ſayd / and by my deuyded in
to xxj bookes chapytred and | enprynted / and fynyſſhed in thabbey
westmestre the last day | of Juyl the yere of our lord / M / CCCC /
lxxxv / ¶ Caxton me fieri fecit.

The book begins with a prologue by Caxton wherein he tells how
he came to print it, presents his reason for the belief that
Arthur was an historical personage, and relates some facts
with regard to the sources of the romance. He says:

"After that I had accomplysshed and fynysshed dyuers hystoryes
as wel of contemplacyon as of other hyſtoryal and worldly
actes of grete conquerours & prynces, and also certeyn bookes
of ensaumples and doctryne, Many noble and dyuers gentylmen
of thys royame of Englond camen and demaunded me many and
oftymes, wherfore that I haue not do made & enprynte the noble
hystorye of the saynt greal, and of the moost renomed crysten
Kyng, ... kyng Arthur....

Th[=e]ne al these thynges forsayd aledged J coude not wel
denye, but that there was suche a noble kyng named arthur, and
reputed one of the ix worthy, & fyrst & chyef of the crysten
men, & many noble volumes be made of hym & of his noble
knyztes in frensshe which I haue seen & redde beyonde the see,
which been not had in our maternal tongue, but in walsshe ben
many & also in frensshe, & Somme in englysshe but nowher nygh
alle, wherfore such as haue late ben drawen oute bryefly in
to englysshe, I haue after the symple connynge that god hath
sente me, vnder the fauour and correctyon of al noble lordes
and gentylmen enprysed to enprynte a book of the noble
hystoryes of the sayd kynge Arthur, and of certeyn of his
knyghtes after a copye vnto me delyuerd, whyche copys Syr
Thomas Malorye dyd take oute of certayn bookes of frensshe and
reduced it in to Englysshe, And I accordyng to my copye haue
doon sette it in emprynte...."

The volume is printed without folios, head-lines, or
catchwords, in the type known as No. 4, already referred to
under the _Confessio_. The initial letters are printed from
wood.

Only two copies are known; one perfect, from which the
facsimile of the title-page was taken, the other an imperfect
one, which belonged to Earl Spencer's collection. The British
Museum possesses only a fragment. Our copy, like that of the
_Confessio_, was one of the nine Caxtons belonging to the
Fairfax library. In the list of 1756, it was valued at two
pounds, twelve shillings and sixpence; in 1885 it sold for one
thousand nine hundred and fifty pounds.

Folio.

COLLATION: _432 leaves, one of which is blank_.

THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

We know very little about the preparation of the book. An Act,
dated January 22, 1549, entitled "An Act for uniformity of
Service and Administration of the Sacraments throughout the
Realm" speaks of the commissioners who had been appointed, and
had first met at Windsor in May, 1548, as follows: "Whereof
His Highness by the most prudent advice ... to the intent a
uniform, quiet, and godly order should be had concerning the
premisses, hath appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury, and
certain of the most learned and discreet Bishops, and
other learned men of this realm to consider and ponder the
premisses." The same Act goes on to say "the which at this
time by the aid of the Holy Ghost, with one uniform agreement
is of them concluded, set forth and delivered to his highness,
to his great comfort and quietness of mind, in a book
entituled,--

"_The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the
Sacraments, and other rites and Ceremonies of the Church,
after the Use of the Church of England._"

Richard Grafton, the printer of our copy, was originally a
prosperous London merchant. His zeal for religion led him to
associate himself with Edward Whitchurch, another merchant, in
causing Matthews's Bible to be translated and printed in
1537, in publishing the Coverdale Bible of 1535, and again
in printing the Cranmer Bible of 1540. He turned printer
eventually, and his books are counted among the best specimens
of the book-making of the period. He and his friend, who also
became a typographer, received a patent from Henry VIII in
1543 for printing "bookes of diuine service, that is to say,
the masse booke, the graill, the antyphoner, the himptnell,
the portous, and the prymer, both in Latyn and in Englyshe of
Sarum use," all of which had formerly been printed abroad.
In 1546, Grafton was appointed printer to Prince Edward,
afterward Edward VI, and in 1547 printer to the King. When the
_Prayer Book_ came to be put to press there was therefore no
question of who should be chosen to do the work.

Ames says that Grafton and Whitchurch continued friends and
partners for many years, but it is a fact, as Dibdin points
out, that while up to 1541 their names appear together upon
title-pages, after that date there are usually two issues of
each work, part having Grafton's name in the imprint, and part
Whitchurch's. This is true of the Cranmer Bible, and the same
thing is found in connection with the_ Prayer Book_. It is
not known whether the separation is due to some economic
arrangement agreeable to both printers, or whether they may
have quarreled. To the names of these two printers of the
first edition, however, should be added another, that of John
Oswen of Worcester, formerly of Ipswich, who by virtue of a
license from Edward VI was printer of "every kind of book, or
books, set forth by us, concerning the service to be used in
churches, ministration of the sacraments, and instruction
of our subjects of the Principality of Wales, and marches
thereunto belonging ... for seven years, prohibiting all other
persons whatsoever from printing the same."

All issues of this edition differ more or less in general
style and appearance. The most marked dissimilarity in the
volumes issued by the London printers lies in the special
woodcut title-page used by each. Grafton's beautiful border
(repeated for "A Table" and "Kalendar") shows, above a Doric
frieze supported by pilasters, a view of the Council Chamber
with King Edward, surrounded by his advisers, and at the
bottom the printer's punning mark, on a shield upheld by
two angels. It is as fine a piece of work as anything of the
period. Grafton afterward used the same border for his
edition of _A Concordance of the Bible_, printed in 1550.
The Whitchurch copies have a woodcut border very similar in
character to those in use twenty years later, which have the
appearance of being related to some of the borders drawn for
Plantin. This border consists of caryatids representing Roman
soldiers with shields, supporting the royal coat-of-arms,
and below, satyrs and loves with another coat-of-arms in a
cartouche, and the initial _E_ in a tablet on one side, and
_W_ on the other.

The earliest known copy printed by Oswen, a quarto, has a
colophon which reads: ¶ _At Worceter by_ ¶ | _Jhon Oſwen_.
¶ _They be also to ſell at Shreweſburye._ | (_Imprinted the
xxiiii. day of May._ | _Anno. M.D.XLIV._ The title is framed
by a border made up of five woodcut panels, carelessly
arranged; and some of the initial letters are ornamented.

Another copy, dated July 30, is in folio. The title-page is
here bordered with ten woodcuts, having between the inner and
outer sets the rubricated text: "Let euerye soule submyt hym
ſelfe unto the aucthorite of the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God. The powers that be, are ordained of God
whoſoeuer therefore reſiſteth power: reſiſteth the
ordinance of God. Rom. XIVI." A royal coat-of-arms, which in
the quarto was placed before the order of Matins, here heads
the title, printed in red. Every other line following is also
rubricated. In Grafton's copy the "Te Deum Laudamus," "The
Song of Zacharias," and "The Letany," occur at the end of the
book but are not in the table of Contents.

The statement made in the Act that the work had been
concluded, set forth, and delivered, must apply, it is
thought, to the manuscript, since no printed copy is known
dated earlier than March. A copy printed by Whitchurch has
the date March 7, 1549, and another by Grafton is dated the
eighth; other copies are dated in May, June and July. The book
was used in the London churches on Easter Day, April 21, 1549,
and was ordered, as we have seen, to be used in all churches
after the Feast of Pentecost, which fell upon June 9 in 1549.

From the requirements of its use, we may infer that the
edition must have been a large one. We are sure of the price
of the volume from the following note, added at the end of the
book: "The Kynges Maieſtie, by the aduyſe of his moſte
deare vncle the Lorde Protector and other his highnes
Counſell, ſtreightly chargeth and commaundeth, that no
maner of perſon do ſell this preſent booke vnbounde,
aboue the price of .ii. Shyllynges the piece. And the ſame
bounde in paſte or in boordes, not aboue the price of three
ſhylleynges and foure pence the piece. God ſaue the Kyng."
The price differs in different volumes. A copy of Oswen's May
24th issue sets the price at two shillings and twopence for
unbound copies, and three shillings eightpence for bound
copies.

Folio. Black letter and Roman.

COLLATION: _183 leaves, including title-page. Sig. A-Y, AA-f._

WILLIAM LANGLAND

(1330?-1400?)

Before appearing with this work as a publisher, Robert Crowley
was by no means unknown to the reading world as a writer;
nor was it probably a mere printer's venture that led him to
select such a work as this for publication, but sympathy
with the tendency of the book itself. He had been educated
at Oxford, and received early the strong bent toward the
doctrines of the Reformation which prompted the writing of
his first three books, whose titles indicate something of
his leaning in the religious controversies of the day: _The
Confutation of the miſhapen Aunſwer to the miſnamed,
wicked Ballade, called the Abuſe of y^e bleſſed
ſacram[=e]t of the aultare ... that Myles Hoggard ... hath
wreſted.... Compiled by Robert Crowley. Anno. 1548_; _The
confutation of .xiii Articles, wherunto Nicolas Shaxton ...
ſubſcribed and ... recanted ... at the burning of ... Anne
Aſkue_, in [1548] and _An informacion and Peticion agaynſt
the oppreſſours of the Pore Commons of this Realme_,
in [1548]. We may picture to ourselves with what relish so
controversial and partisan a soul must have prepared for the
press, and then watched through it, what Ellis calls "the
keenest ridicule of the vices of all orders of men, and
particularly of the religious."

Crowley's career as a printer was only an incident in a life
devoted to championing the new doctrines of Protestantism.
The three books mentioned were printed by Day and Sere; and
Herbert thinks that it may have been in their office that our
printer-writer learned the trade which he followed for three
years only. Considering the fact that his press was situated
in Ely Rents, where William Sere also dated his books in 1548,
and thereabouts, this seems very probable. But from Crowley's
use of the excellently designed and really charming woodcut
border with Edward Whitechurch's cipher at the bottom and his
symbol of the sun at the top, we may almost infer that he was
on equally familiar relations with that printer, established
at The Sun, over against the Conduit. We may add that William
Copeland of The Rose Garland also used, at a later date, a
similar compartment in several of his books.

One might expect Crowley, serious and scholarly in his
tastes, to be a careful editor; and his researches to find
his author's name, as revealed in "The Printer to the Reader,"
prove that he was such an one, even if, for some reason
or other, he did not choose to place the name upon the
title-page. He says:

"Beynge deſyerous to knowe the name of the Autoure of this
moſt worthy worke, (gentle reader) and the tyme of the
writynge of the ſame: I did not onely gather togyther
ſuche aunciente copies as I could come by, but alſo
conſult ſuch m[=e] as I knew to be more exerciſed in
the ſtudie of antiquities, than I myselfe haue ben. And
by ſome of them I haue learned that the Autour was named
Roberte langelande, a Shropshere man borne in Cleybirie,
aboute .viii. myles from Maluerne hilles.... So that this I
may be bold to reporte, that it was fyrſte made and wrytten
after the yeare of our lord .M.iii.C.L. and before the yere
,M,iiiiC, and .ix which meane ſpaſe was .lix yeares. We
may iuſtly c[=o]iect therfore, y^t it was firſte written
about two hundred yeres paſte, in the tyme of Kynge Edwarde
the thyrde...."

The year after _The Vision_ was published our printer was
ordained a deacon, and, later, made vicar of St. Giles,
Cripplegate, where he preached and wrote until his death. He
published no less than twenty-two volumes, eight of which he
printed himself, thus taking his place, along with Caxton, at
the head of the list of printer-authors which includes such
names as Wolfe, Baldwin, Richardson and Morris.

Dibdin calls the vellum copy of _The Vision_ which belonged to
Earl Spencer unique, but the copy here collated would deprive
it of that distinction, even if there were not another in the
British Museum.

A comparison of several copies of the book reveals the fact
that in most of them the date on the title-page has been
written in to correct the printer's error.

There were three other impressions issued during 1550, two of
them said to be "nowe the ſeconde tyme imprinted," and
the third with the printer's name spelled "Crowlye" on the
title-page. Rev. W. W. Skeat in his edition of _The Vision_
says:

"But all three impressions are much alike. The chief
differences are, that the two later impressions have many more
marginal notes, a few additional lines, and also 6 additional
leaves between the printer's preface and the poem itself,
containing a brief argument or abstract of the prologue and of
each of the Passus. The first impression is the most correct;
also the third impression is much less correct than the
second, and considerably inferior to it."

Quarto. Black letter.

COLLATION: [Illustration: Five pointed star],
_two leaves; A-GgI_, in fours. Folioed.

RAPHAEL HOLINSHED or HOLLINGSHEAD

(d. 1580?)

The first edition is known as the Shakespeare edition,
because it was used by the great poet, in common with all the
Elizabethan dramatists, in the preparation of his historical
plays.

That Holinshed used the adjective _faithfully_ in its true
sense may be seen by a reference to the dedication of the book
to Sir William Cecil, Baron of Burleigh, whose coat-of-arms
appears on the back of the title-page. Here he gives an
interesting account of the inception and fortunes of the work,
with an incidental side-light upon the relations of printer
and professional writer:

"Where as therefore, that worthie Citizen Reginald Wolfe
late Printer to the Queenes Maiestie, a man well knowen and
beholden to your Honour, meant in his life time to publiſh
an vniuerſall Coſmographie of the whole worlde, and
therewith alſo certaine perticular Histories of euery knowen
nation, amongſt other whome he purpoſed to vſe for
performance of his entent in that behalfe, he procured me to
take in hande the collection of thoſe Histories, and hauing
proceeded ſo far in the ſame, as little wanted to the
accompliſhment of that long promiſed worke, it pleased God
to call him to his mercie, after .xxv yeares trauell ſpent
therein, so that by his vntimely deceaſſe, no hope
remayned to ſee that performed, which we had so long
trauayled aboute: thoſe yet whom he left in trust to
diſpoſe his things after his departure hence, wiſhing
to the benefite of others, that ſome fruite might follow of
that whereabout he had imployed ſo long time, willed me to
continue mine endeuour for their furtherance in the ſame,
whiche although I was ready to do, ſo farre as mine abilitie
would reach, and the rather to anſwere that trust which the
deceaſſed repoſed in me, to ſee it brought to ſome
perfection: yet when the volume grewe ſo great, as they
that were to defray the charges for the Impreſsion, were not
willing to go through with the whole, they reſolued first to
publiſhe the Histories of Englande, Scotlande, and Irelande,
with their deſcriptions, whiche deſriptions, becauſe
they were not in ſuch readineſſe, as thoſe of forreyn
countreys, they were enforced to uſe the helpe of other
better able to do it than I."

Reginald Wolfe, so well known and highly esteemed, was a
German by birth, and trained in his craft in the office of the
Strasburg master Conrad Neobarius, whose device of _The Brazen
Serpent_ he afterward adopted. Edward VI appointed Wolfe royal
printer in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, as well as bookseller and
stationer, with an annuity of 26s. 8d.

We find the names of his executors and the chief promoters of
the history in the entry on the Registers of the Stationers'
Company, under date of July 1, 1578: "Receyued of master
harrison and master Bisshop for the licensinge of Raphaels
Hollingshedes cronycles XX^s and a copy," which, by the way,
Mr. Arber remarks to be the largest fee he had met with. Some
copies bear the imprint of one, some of the other; and there
are still others with the names of John Harrison (there were
four publishers of this name), Lucas Harrison and John Hunne,
who were also probably among them "that were to defray the
charges for the impression."

No printer's name appears in either volume, but the figure of
a mermaid upon the title-pages, and a larger mark of two
hands holding a serpent upon a crutch at the end of the
first volume, show it to have been from the press of Reginald
Wolfe's apprentice and successor, Henry Bynneman of The
Mermaid, in Knight Rider Street. Boy and man knowing his
master's hopes and fears for his _Universal Cosmographie_,
acquainted with the long travail put upon it, and so properly
desirous, like the rest, to see some fruit born of it, who
could have done the work so well and faithfully as he?

In the preface to the second volume we are told that it was
intended to bring out the histories of England, Scotland,
and Ireland, with their descriptions, in one volume, and
the descriptions and abridgements of the histories of other
countries in another; but that the chronicles of England
growing very voluminous it was deemed best to defer printing
the histories of the other countries, and to divide the
material on hand into two volumes. Here, however, a new
difficulty presented itself; the history of England after the
Conquest was found to equal in length all the other matter,
and, if allowed to follow after the early history of the
Island, in its proper order, would make the volumes very
unequal in size; so it was given a volume by itself, with the
pagination continuing that of the English history in the
first volume. The other histories have separate title-pages,
paginations, and indexes.

The book is illustrated with woodcuts in two distinct
varieties, one, representing the heads of kings, the other,
spirited scenes in the history. The last are of a better
character than most of those of the period, and show very
clearly the influence that Holbein, who had died in
London twenty-four years before, had exerted upon English
book-illustration. Some of the cuts are repeated. The
elaborate woodcut border in the contemporary German style was
used by the printer in several other books, before and
after this date. A large, well-designed initial C, with a
coat-of-arms in the center, printed from a separate block
("mortised"), begins the dedication to Lord Burleigh; and a
large I, with a picture of the Creation, probably designed
for the first page of a Bible, begins the preface, and _The
History of Scotland_. This last is the largest initial letter,
Mr. Pollard says, that he has found in an English book. It
had previously been used by Wolfe, in 1563. An initial letter,
representing an astronomer (Ptolemy?), is prefixed to _The
History of Ireland_. It is signed with a C having a small I
within it. Other initials of a similar character had been used
before by John Day, in Cunningham's _Cosmographical Years_,
published in 1559. A royal coat-of-arms begins the Chronicle
of the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and in the second volume, at
page 1868, is a folded woodcut of the "ſiege and wynning of
Edinburg Caſtell. Anno. 1573." It is signed [C T] _Tyrell_.
[TN: C T in a rectangular box.]

Folio. Two volumes. Black letter and Roman. Double
columns. Woodcuts.

COLLATION: ¶, _six leaves; [Illustration: 5 pointed star], two
leaves; A-P, in eights; Q, six leaves; r, one leaf; a-s, in
eights; t, one leaf; A and (*b*), two leaves each; *a* and
*b*, six leaves each; A-Z and Aa-Ii, in eights; Kk, four
leaves; Ll and Mm, six leaves each; one leaf; [Illustration:
small floral graphic], two leaves; A-C, in eights; D, four
leaves; and A (repeated)-D, in eights; E, five leaves; F and
G, eight leaves each; H, six leaves; I, two leaves_.

Volume II: ¶, _two leaves; t, seven leaves; u-z, A-Z,
Aa-Zz, Aaa-Zzz, and Aaaa-Dddd, in eights; Eeee, nine leaves;
Ffff-Yyyy, in eights; Zzzz, two leaves; A-M, in fours; N, two
leaves; ( ), two leaves_.

WILLIAM BALDWIN

(fl. 1547),

THOMAS SACKVILLE,

FIRST EARL OF DORSET

(1536-1608), AND OTHERS

The Epistle "To the nobilitye and all other in office" is
signed by William Baldwin, who was at one time a corrector
of the press to Edward Whitechurch, and later something of
a printer himself. He printed with his own hands, using
Whitechurch's types and the Garland border, his work entitled
¶ _The Canticles or Balades of Salomon phraſelyke declared
in Englyſh Metres. Imprinted at London by William Baldwin,
ſeruant with Edwarde Whitechurche._ It was he who edited and
saw this work through the press. He says of it:

"The wurke was begun and parte of it prynted in Queene Maries
tyme, but hyndered by the Lorde Chauncellour that then was,
nevertheles, through the meanes of my lord Stafford, the fyrst
parte was licenced, and imprynted the fyrſt yeare of the
raygne of this our moſt noble and vertuous Queene, and
dedicate then to your honours with this Preface. Since whych
time, although I have bene called to an other trade of lyfe,
yet my good Lorde Stafforde hath not ceaſſed to call upon
me, to publyſhe ſo much as I had gott[~e] at other mens
hands, ſo that through his Lordſhyppes earneſt meanes,
I have nowe alſo ſet furth an other parte, conteynyng as
little of myne owne, as the fyrst part doth of other mens,"
and he expressed the hope that if these prove acceptable,
encouragement may be given to "wurthy wittes to enterpryſe
and performe the reſt."

After the abortive attempt of Wayland to print the book, under
the title _A memorial of suche Princes, as since the tyme
of King Richarde the seconde, haue beene unfortunate in the
Realme of England. In ædibus Johannis Waylandi: Londini_
[1555?], the first part referred to was printed by Marshe
in 1559. It contained nineteen legends (although twenty are
mentioned in the table of contents), fourteen of which were
by Baldwin, and the others by Ferrers, Churchyard, Phaer, and
Skelton. Of these helpers, Baldwin says in the Epistle: "Whan
I firſt tooke it in hand, I had the helpe of many graunted,
& offred of ſum, but of few perfourmed, skarſe of any:
So that wher I entended to haue contriued it to Quene Maries
time, I haue ben faine to end it much ſooner: yet ſo, that
it may ſtande for a patarne, till the reſt be ready:
which with Gods Grace--(if I may haue anye helpe) ſhall be
ſhortly."

The idea of the work is usually said to have originated with
Sackville, who, following Lydgate's _Fall of Princes_, planned
it as a review of the illustrious and unfortunate characters
in English history from the Conquest to the end of the
fourteenth century. He is supposed to have turned the work
over to Baldwin and the others, after writing an "Induction,"
and one legend, the life of Henry Stafford, Duke of
Buckingham; but no good reason is given for the omission of
these poems from the volume when it came to be printed in
1559. Baldwin's reason, already quoted, seems likely enough,
and Lord Stafford's urgent entreaty, referred to, no doubt had
the effect of causing both poems to be added to the edition
issued now, where they appear as _The Seconde Parte_ of the
volume of 1559. The title-pages of the two editions are alike,
except for the date and the imprint; this in the earlier
edition reads: _Londini, In ædibus Thomæ Marſhe_. No
reference is made to the additional part except in the
Epistle. The new part has a separate index.

This new part contains only one poem by Baldwin; the others,
besides Sackville's two, are by Dolman, Francis Segar,
Churchyard, Ferrers, and Cavyl, eight in all. Besides the
poems, there is "A proſe to the Reader, continued betwene
the tragedies from the beginning of the booke to the ende,"
just as in the first part.

To the Earl of Dorset's legend "The complaynt of Henrye duke
of Buckingham," is prefixed "The Induction," of which Baldwin
speaks in the prose following _Howe the Lord Hastynges was
betrayed_, as follows: "but fyrſt you shal heare his preface
or Induction. Hath he made a preface ([backwards P?R] one)
what meaneth he thereby, ſeeing none hath uſed the like
order. I wyl tell you the cauſe thereof ([backwards P?R] I)
which is thys: After that he underſtoode that some of the
counſayle would not ſuffer the booke to be printed in
ſuche order as we had agreed and determined, he propoſed
with himſelfe to have gotten at my handes, al the tragedies
that were before the duke of Buckinghams, Which he would have
preſerued in one volume. And from that time backeward
even to the time of William the conquerour, he determined to
continue and perfect all the ſtory himſelfe, in ſuch
order as Lydgate (folowing Bocchas) had already uſed.
And therefore to make a meete induction into the matter, he
deuiſed this poeſye:"

The woodcut border of four pieces with heads of Venus and
Mars at the top had been used by John Byddell in Taverner's
translation of the _Bible_ in 1539, by James Nicholson of
Southwark, in Coverdale's _New Testament_ of 1538, and by
Marsh for the edition of the _Mirror_ in 1559. There are a
few ornamental initial letters at the beginning of the book,
notably one at the beginning of the Epistle, a large P, with
figures of children. This belongs to a series of a children's
alphabet attributed to Dürer, and first used by Cervicornus, a
printer of Cologne.

Quarto. The second edition. Black letter.

COLLATION: ¶ _and A, four leaves each; B-N, in eights; O-U,
in fours; X-Z and Aa-Bb, in eights; Cc, four leaves_.

HENRY HOWARD,

EARL OF SURREY

(1517?-1547), AND OTHERS

Richard Tottel was licensed to print law-books, and his
publications of that nature exhibit his best work; but this
book, though not attractive in appearance, was his most
popular venture. It was called "Tottel's miscellany," and it
is fitting that his name should always be connected with it as
a testimony to his energy and intelligence in producing a
work so greatly to the "honor of the English tongue." We
learn something of his energy in his desire to establish a
paper-mill in England to compete with the French paper,
then in general use; and his intelligence is evinced in the
following extract from his address "To the reader":

"That to haue wel written in verſe, yea and in ſmal
parcelles, deſerueth greate praiſe, the woorkes of diuers
Latins, Italians, and other, do proue ſufficiently, that our
tong is able in that kinde to do as praiſe woorthelye as the
reſte, the honorable ſtile of the Earle of Surreye, and
the weightineſſe of the deepe wytted Syr Thomas Wyat
the elders verſe, withe ſeueral graces in ſundrie good
English writers, doe ſhewe abundantlye. It reſteth
now (gentle Reader) that thou thinke it not euill done to
publiſh to the honour of the Engliſhe tongue and for
profit of the ſtudious of English eloquence, thoſe woorkes
which the ungentle horders up of ſuche treaſure haue
hertofore enuied thee."

His confidence in the gentle reader was not misplaced, and he
had the satisfaction of issuing six editions between 1557
and 1574. The first was printed at The Hand and Star, June 5,
1557, and is represented by one copy which is in the Bodleian
Library; the British Museum and the Library of Trinity
College, Cambridge, each owns a copy of a second edition,
dated July 31, 1557; one copy exists of a third edition dated
1559; and there is a fourth edition dated 1565. The present
edition agrees in its contents with the second, and is said to
be the most correct of all.

This volume contains two hundred and eighty sonnets, of which
the first forty-one (including one by an unknown author) are
by Lord Howard. "S. T. VVyate the elder" is signed to the
next group of ninety-six; and a collection of one hundred and
thirty-three by "Vncertain auctours," follows. The collection
ends with ten "Songs written by N. G." (Nicholas Grimald).
Grimald had contributed forty to the first edition, which were
cut down to the present number for the second edition.

Octavo. The fifth edition. Roman.

COLLATION: _A-P, in eights_.

THOMAS NORTON

(1532-1584)

AND

THOMAS SACKVILLE,

FIRST EARL OF DORSET

(1536-1608)

This play, drawn from Geoffrey of Monmouth's _History of
Britain_, and telling the story of King Gorboduc's efforts to
divide his realm between his sons Ferrex and Porrex, was
the first tragedy written in English. Before this authorized
edition, one unauthorized by the writers, though regularly
licensed by the Government, had appeared in an octavo
volume of thirty-six leaves, printed in black letter, with a
title-page which reads as follows:

Day, in his introductory note to the present volume, entitled
"The P to the Reader," explains very satisfactorily the reason
for the new edition, but lets us only infer why he dropped the
authors' names from the title-page. He says:

"Where this Tragedie was for furniture of part of the grand
Chriſtmaſſe in the Inner Temple firſt written about
nine yeares agoe by the right honourable Thomas now Lorde
Buckherſt, and by T. Norton, and after ſhewed before her
Maieſtie, and never intended by the authors therof to be
publiſhed: yet one W. G. getting a copie therof at
ſome youngmans hand that lacked a little money and much
diſcretion, in the last great plage. an. 1565. about V.
yeares paſt, while the ſaid Lord was out of England, and
T. Norton farre out of London, and neither of them both made
priuie, put it forth exceedingly corrupted."

Then, the worthy printer goes on to say in a very allegorical
vein, that being so dishonored, her parents, the authors,
very much displeased, gave her into his hands to be sent forth
honorably; and he hopes she will be well received, else he
will wish that she had tarried at home with him "for ſhe did
neuer put me to more charge, but this one poore black gowne
linèd with white that I haue now geuen her to goe abroad among
you withall."

Quarto. The first authorized edition. Roman.

COLLATION: _A-H3, in fours_.

JOHN LYLY

(1553?-1606)

The work was licensed "under the hande of the bishopp of
London" December 2, 1578, and was printed for Cawood by Thomas
Eate, or East, the stationer, without a date, but probably
in 1578. Many editions of the famous book have been issued;
fifteen are known, dated between 1579 and 1636, but confusion
exists chiefly over the first three.

Mr. C. Warwick Bond in his recent edition of _The Complete
Works of John Lyly_, Oxford, 1902, brings forward evidence to
prove that two undated copies of _Euphues_, one belonging
to the British Museum and the other to Trinity College,
Cambridge, are all that remain of the first edition, whose
date of issue he sets at about Christmas time, 1578. A unique
Trinity College copy without a date, he thinks was issued
about midsummer of the next year; the famous Malone and Morley
copies of 1579, he considers belong to a third edition, issued
at Christmas; the edition dated 1580 would be fourth and the
copy from which our facsimile was taken would belong to a
fifth edition. Mr. Bond founds his supposition as to the
seasons when the volumes appeared upon the following very
interesting preface:

"TO THE GENTLEMEN READERS.

"I Was driuen into a quandarie Gentlemen," says Lyly, "whether
I might ſend this my Pamphlet to the Printer or to the
pedler, I thought it too bad for the preſſe, & to good
for the packe.... We commonly ſee the booke that at Eaſter
lyeth bounde on the Stacioners ſtall, at Chriſtmaſſe
to be broken in the Haberdaſhers ſhop, which ſith it is
the order of proceeding, I am content this Summer to haue my
dooinges read for a toye, that in Winter they may be readye
for traſh.... Gentlemen vſe bookes as Gentlewomen handle
theyr flowres, who in the morning ſticke th[~e] in their
heads, and at night strawe them at their heeles. Cheries
be fulſome when they be through ripe, becauſe they be
plentie, and bookes be ſtale when they be printed in that
they be common. In my minde Printers & Tailers are chiefely
bound to pray for Gentlemen, the one hath ſo much
fantaſies to print, the other ſuch diuers faſhions to
make, that the preſſing yron of the one is neuer out of
the fyre, nor the printing preſſe of the other any tyme
lieth ſtill...."

The address "To my verie good friends the Gentlemen Scholers
of Oxford" first appeared with the second edition, to which
Lyly made other additions, beside thoroughly revising the
text.

The title-page is bordered with a band of type-metal
ornaments. Among the initial letters are several of a series,
each letter of which represents a child at play. A large
tail-piece is repeated several times, and East's mark of a
black horse with a white crescent on his shoulder, and the
motto _Mieulx vault mourir en vertu que vivre en Honcte_,
is here used for the first time. Some copies dated 1581 have
Rowland Hall's mark but no printer's name.

Mr. Henry R. Plomer says of the book in an interesting article
on our printer: "The preliminary matter is printed in a very
regular fount of Roman, the text in his ordinary fount of
Black Letter, and the whole book is distinguished for its
clear, regular, and clean appearance."

On July 24, 1579, the stationer Cawood entered for license a
second part of _Euphues_, which he had promised at the end of
this volume in the following words:

"I Haue finiſhed the firſt part of Euphues whome now I
lefte readye to croſſe the Seas to Englande, if the winde
send him a ſhorte cutte you ſhall in the ſeconde part
heare what newes he bringeth and I hope to haue him retourned
within one Summer...."

Edward Blount, the stationer, who published Shakespeare's
folio works, tells us in a preface to Lyly's _Sixe Court
Comedies_, which he collected and William Stansby printed in
1632, of the sensation _Euphues_ created when it appeared.
"Our Nation," he wrote, "are in his (i.e. Lyly's) debt, for a
new Engliſh which hee taught them. Euphues and his England
began firſt, that language: All our Ladies were then his
Scollers; And that Beautie in court, which could not Parley
Euphueiſme, was as little regarded, as ſhee which, now
there, ſpeakes not French."

Quarto. Black letter and Roman. The fifth edition.

COLLATION: _A-Z, in fours_.

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

(1554-1586)

The _Arcadia_ was begun in 1580, and when finished, probably
before 1583, was circulated in manuscript copies amongst the
author's friends. That he did not wish to have it printed is
evident from his affectionate dedication to his sister, where
he says:

"HEre now haue you (moſt deare, and moſt worthy to be
moſt deare Lady) this idle worke of mine: which I fear (like
the Spiders webbe) will be thought fitter to be ſwept away,
than worn to any other purpoſe. For my part, in very trueth
(as the cruell fathers among the Greekes, were woont to doo
to the babes they would not foſter) I could well find in my
harte, to caſt out in ſome deſert of forgetfulnes this
child, which I am loath to father. But you deſired me to
doo it, and your deſire, to my hart is an abſolute
commandement. Now, it is done onelie for you, onely to you: if
you keepe it to yourſelfe, or to ſuch friendes, who will
weigh errors in the ballaunce of good will, I hope, for the
fathers ſake, it will be pardoned, perchance made much of,
though in itſelfe it haue deformities. For indeede, for
ſeuerer eyes it is not, being but a trifle, and that
triflinglie handled. Your deare ſelfe can best witnes the
maner, being done in looſe ſheetes of paper, moſt of it
in your preſence, the reſt, by ſheetes ſent vnto
you, as faſt as they were done.... But his chiefe ſafetie
ſhal be the not walking abroad; & his chiefe protection, the
bearing the liuerye of your name; which (if much good will do
not deceaue me) is worthy to be a ſanctuary for a greater
offender."

And again later, when he lay dying, reflecting, as he did,
that all things in his former life had "been vain, vain,
vain," he requested that the _Arcadia_ should be burned.
But he counted without the public, who in the person of a
publisher took steps to make it common property the very year
of Sidney's death. We have this from a letter written to
Sir Francis Walsingham, Sidney's father-in-law, by Sir Foulk
Greville, first Lord Brooke, who in his self-written epitaph
styled himself "servant to Queen Elizabeth, councillor to King
James, and friend to Sir Philip Sidney":

"S^r, this day, one ponsonby, a booke-bynder in poles
church-yard, came to me and told me that ther was one in hand
to print S^r Philip Sydney's old arcadia, asking me yf it were
done with your honors consent, or any other of his frendes?
I told him, to my knowledge, no: then he aduysed me to give
warninge of it, either to the archbishope or doctor Cosen, who
haue, as he says, a copy to peruse to that end.

"S^r, I am loth to renew his memory unto you, but yeat in this
I must presume; for I haue sent my lady, your daughter, at her
request, a correction of that old one, don 4 or 5 years sinse,
which he left in trust with me; wherof there is no more copies,
and fitter to be reprinted than the first which is so common:
notwithstanding, even that to how and why; so as in many
respects, espetially the care of printing of it; so as to be
don with more deliberation."

Ponsonby obtained a license to print the book, under the hand
of the Archbishop of Canterbury, August 23, 1588, but not with
the full consent and sympathy of the family, owing, we will
hope, to a sentiment of proper respect for the poet's
wishes. There was so much dissatisfaction with Ponsonby's
"adventuring" that Collier thinks the book may have been
called in or suppressed, a fact which would account for its
great rarity. The hesitancy, however, seems to have been
overcome in course of time, for the Countess herself edited
the work for a later edition of Ponsonby's publishing.

No mark or name of a printer is given in our copy, and
Collier, when he gave it as his opinion that Richard Field did
the work, seemed to have been unaware of the existence of the
variation in the imprint, which occurs in the copy belonging
to Trinity College Library, Cambridge, _London, Iohn Windet
for william Ponsonbie_. Probably several had a hand in the
printing. Only a close examination of the few existing copies
could show whether or not they were all issued at the same
time. We shall never know by name the "overseer of the print,"
who assumed the responsibility of arranging the poem, as is
told in a note on the verso of the title-page:

"The diuiſion and ſumming up of the Chapters was not of
Sir Philip Sidneis dooing, but aduentured by the ouerſeer
of the print, for the more eaſe of the Readers. He therfore
ſubmits himſelfe to their judgement, and if his labour
anſwere not the worthines of the booke, deſireth pardon
for it. As alſo if any defect be found in the Eclogues,
which although they were of Sir Phillip Sidneis writing, yet
were not peruſed by him, but left till the worke had bene
finiſhed, that then choiſe ſhould haue bene made, which
ſhould haue bene taken, and in what manner brought in.
At this time they haue bene choſen and diſposed as the
ouer-ſeer thought beſt."

Whoever the overseer may have been, whether in the employment
of Ponsonby, Windet, or Field, and however unfortunate the
result of his literary judgment, he produced a book which for
beauty may take its place with the best of the period. The
Roman type and excellent press-work distinguish it amongst
the mass of inferior productions. Large ornamental initial
letters, more or less related, are used at the beginning of
all the Books, while Book I begins with an especially fine
allegorical woodcut initial representing a crowned Tudor rose,
Justice with her foot on Medusa's head, and Peace. Head- and
tail-pieces, some of type metal and some woodcuts, are used at
the beginning of the Books to give added effect. At the end
of the sixteenth chapter of Book III is a panel made of
type-metal ornaments, intended to hold the lines referred to
in the words: "Vpon which, Baſilius himself cauſed this
Epitaph to be written." These, however, owing to the printer's
oversight, were never added.

In setting up the title-page, it may be that Ponsonby followed
Sidney's hint, and so sought "the chief protection" of the
name of the Countess, and, not content with the name alone,
added the coat-of-arms of the Sidney family.

Quarto. Roman.

COLLATION: _A-Zz, in eights_.

EDMUND SPENSER

(1552?-1599)

On December 1, 1589, "Maſter Ponſonbye. Entered for his
Copye, a booke intytuled _the fayrye Queene dyspoſed into
xij. bookes. &c._ Aucthoryzed vnder thandes of the Archbishop
of Canterbery, and bothe the wardens ... vj^{d}."

Spenser's name not being mentioned and not being printed on
the title-page, it would almost seem as if he had wished his
book to be anonymous; but that was probably not the case,
because the dedication on the verso of the title, "To the Most
Mightie And Magnificent Empresse Elizabeth ..." is signed by
"Her moſt humble Seruant, Ed. Spenſer." The "Letter of the
Authors Expounding his whole intention in the Courſe of the
worke.... To the Right Noble, and Valorous Sir Walter Raleigh
..." is also signed "Ed. Spenſer," and the last two of his
poems addressed to various personages are signed "E. S."

It will be observed that the license to print the book, as
well as the title-page, refers to the whole work, only three
books of which, treating of the virtues Holiness, Temperance,
and Chastity, had been completed by the author at this time.

Ponsonby may be regarded as a fortunate man to have had the
handling of the works of such authors as Greene, Sidney, and
Spenser. If his attempts to exploit the first great English
prose romance were not always successful, his relations with
Spenser were more satisfactory, and this work finding "a
favorable passage," no less than ten other of the poet's
productions were issued over his imprint.

The printer's name does not appear, but the device on the
title-page is the mark of John Wolfe, son of Reyner Wolfe, a
printer to the City of London, and one of the busiest members
of the Stationers' Company. It was he who printed _The
Shepheard's Calendar_, for John Harrison the younger, in
1586. His use of the Florentine lily is probably not without
significance. The first Italian book printed in England
(_Petruccio Ubaldino La vita di Carlo Magno Imperadore_,
1581), came from his press, as well as numerous translations
of books in that tongue; and it is easy to believe that he may
have received his idea for a mark of a fleur-de-lis "seeding,"
as Herbert calls it, from the Florentine lily of an Italian
printer seen in some of the Italian books so numerous in
England at this time.

A frame of printer's ornaments surrounds a verse at the
beginning of each chapter, and there is a rather clumsy
woodcut, representing Saint George and the Dragon, at the end
of the first Book, but these are the chief ornaments in the
volume. This book, like the _Arcadia_, is in the Roman type,
and of remarkably good press-work.

The device on the title-page of the second volume is that of
Thomas Vautrollier, a foreigner settled in London, whose stock
passed, at his death, to his son-in-law, Richard Field. It
seems clear that Field printed the volume (Vautrollier did
no work after 1588), although Herbert ascribes it to the
master-printer Thomas Creed.

In some early copies of the first volume there are blank
spaces on page 332, which had been left by the printer to be
filled later with Welsh words and then forgotten. Other copies
have this omission corrected.

Quarto. Roman and Italic.

COLLATION: _A-Qq4, in eights_.

FRANCIS BACON, BARON VERULAM

(1561-1626)

This edition is thought by some to be rarer than the first,
which was published by Hooper, in octavo, in the previous
year. Some differences occur in the spelling, the table
of contents here precedes "The Epistle Dedicatorie," the
_Meditationes Sacræ_ are done into English, and the ornaments
used are quite different. Only ten Essays were included
in these two issues, whereas the edition of 1612 has
thirty-eight, and that of 1625, fifty-eight.

Hooper, of whose publications there are very few examples
existing, is thought by Roberts to have been a young publisher
whom Bacon wished to help. John Windet was the successor to
John Wolfe as printer to the City of London; many books came
from his press, but few of them of note.

Perhaps the most interesting peculiarity of the book is the
word _essay_, in the sense of a composition of moderate length
on a particular subject. With this work, the word makes its
first appearance on the title-page of an English book. The
first two books of Montaigne's _Essais_ had appeared in 1580,
and Bacon was no doubt familiar with them as a new style of
writing, since his brother, to whom he addressed this volume,
was a friend of Montaigne. He says in his volume of _Essays_
dedicated to Prince Henry: "For Senacaes Epistles ... are but
Essaies--that is dispersed Meditations ... Essays. The word is
late, but the thing is auncient."

Lord Bacon's reasons for printing his book, expressed in the
signed preface which accompanied both editions, is interesting
as showing that he was alive to the piracies of the
book-sellers, and that he knew how to meet the difficulty in a
sensible manner.

"To M. Anthony Bacon his deare brother.

Louing & beloued Brother, I doe nowe like ſome that haue an
Orcharde ill neighbored, that gather their fruit before it is
ripe, to preuent ſtealing. Theſe fragments of my conceites
were going to print: To labour the ſtaie of them had bin
troubleſome, and ſubiect to interpretation; to let them
paſſe had beene to adu[=e]ture the wrong they might receyue
by ontrue Coppies, or by ſome garniſhment, which it might
pleaſe any that ſhould ſet them forth to beſtowe oppon
them. Therefore I helde it beſt diſcretion to publiſh
them myſelfe as they paſſed long agoe from my pen
without any further diſgrace, then the weakneſſe of the
Author...."

Duodecimo. The second edition.

COLLATION: _A-E4, in twelves_.

RICHARD HAKLUYT

(1552?-1616)

The year 1589 had seen the publication of a small folio volume
entitled:

The book presents a handsome appearance in the matter of type
and ornament: the archer head-band appears, and there are
two large pictorial initials at the beginning signed A. It
contains also "one of the beſt generall mappes of the world
onely, untill the comming out of a very large and most exact
terreſtrial Globe, collected and reformed according to
the neweſt, ſecretest, and lateſt diſcoueries
... compoſed by M. Emmerie Mollineux of Lambeth, a rare
gentleman in his profeſſion...." This map was a close copy
of one engraved by Francis Hogenberg for Ortelius's _Theatrum
Orbis Terrarum_, published first in Antwerp in 1570. Like the
original it is called _Typus Orbis Terrarum_, but Hogenberg's
name is erased, and no other appears in its stead.

This volume is usually called the first edition of the
amplified work in three volumes, here facsimiled, which
Hakluyt began to issue nine years later. _The British
Librarian_ of William Oldys, that "oddest mortal that ever
wrote," gives a full synopsis of the contents of the latter
work, "this elaborate and excellent _Collection_, which
redounds as much to the Glory of the _Engliſh_ Nation, as
any Book that ever was publiſhed in it." He says:

"Tho' the firſt Volume of this _Collection_ does frequently
appear, by the Date, in the Title Page to be printed in 1599.
the Reader is not thence to conclude the ſaid Volume was
then reprinted, but only the Title Page, as upon collating the
Books we have obſerved; and further, that in the ſaid last
printed Title Page, there is no mention made of the _Cadiz_
Voyage; to omit which, might be one Reaſon of reprinting
that Page: for it being one of the moſt proſperous and
honorable Enterprizes that ever the Earl of Eſſex was
ingaged in, and he falling into the Queen's unpardonable
Displeaſure at this time, our Author, Mr. Hakluyt, might
probably receive Command or Direction, even from one of the
Patrons to whom theſe Voyages are dedicated, who was of the
contrary Faction, not only to ſupreſs all Memorial of that
Action in the Front of this Book, but even cancel the whole
_Narrative_ thereof at the _End_ of it, in all the Copies
(far the greateſt Part of the Impreſſion) which remained
unpubliſhed. And in that caſtrated Manner the Volume has
deſcended to Poſterity; not but if the Caſtration was
intended to have been concealed from us, the laſt Leaf of
the Preface would have been reprinted alſo, with the
like Omiſſion of what is there mentioned concerning the
Inſertion of this Voyage. But at laſt, about the middle of
the late King's Reign, an uncaſtrated copy did ariſe, and
the said Voyage, was reprinted from it; whereby many imperfect
Books have been made complete."

The cancellation "in the Front" refers to the title-page.
In the new page of the castrated edition the clause "And
laſtly, the memorable defeate of the Spaniſh huge Armada,
Anno 1588. and the famous victorie acheiued at the citie of
Cadiz, 1596." is made to read: "As alſo the memorable defeat
of the Spaniſh huge Armada, Anno 1588."; and the date is
changed to 1599. But, as Oldys remarks, through oversight or
indifference the reference in the preface still remains to
show that the edition is doctored, and not a new one. It
reads: "An excellent diſcourſe whereof, as likewiſe of
the honourable expedition vnder two of the moſt noble and
valiant peeres of this Realme, I meane, the renoumed Erle of
Eſſex, and the right honorable the lord Charles Howard,
lord high Admirall of England, made 1596, vnto the ſtrong
citie of Cadiz, I haue set downe a double epiphonema to
conclude this my firſt volume withall...." The reference
also remains in "A Catalogue of the Voyages," "39 The
honourable voyage to Cadiz, Anno 1596. [p.] 607." and at
page 606 the catchword "A briefe" still bears witness to the
curtailment of "A briefe and true report of the Honourable
voyage vnto Cadiz, 1596." The original leaves ended on page
619, with a large woodcut representing two winged figures
supporting a crown and rose. They have been twice reprinted,
but both reprints are easily distinguishable from the early
work.

The second volume was issued by the same printers in 1599, and
the third in 1600. Hakluyt is characterized on the title-page
of the first volume, as on that of the first edition, as
"Master of Artes, and sometime Student of Christ-Church in
Oxford," but in the second and third volumes he is called
"Preacher, and sometime student of Christ-Church in Oxford."
He had been made rector of Wetheringsett in Suffolk in 1590.

In its general make-up, the new work resembles the old one.
The archer head-bands have not been used, and only one of the
pictorial initials signed [symbol: A; or "SA" monogram],--that
at the beginning of the Dedication,--is retained in volumes
one and two. These pictorial initials belong to an alphabet
illustrating stories from Greek mythology. Mr. Pollard, in a
chapter on _Pictorial and Heraldic Initials_, states that the
first appearance of any of the set known to him occurs in a
proclamation printed by Berthelet, and dated 1546. He finds
that a similar monogram was used by Anton Sylvius, who worked
for Plantin from 1550 to 1573, but he is doubtful about
ascribing these initials to that artist.

The first and third volumes have the "The" of the title in a
long panel (made of type-metal ornament in the first case, and
a woodcut cartouche in the last one); the printer's ornaments
on the title-pages of the second and third volumes are alike,
and are the same as that in the first edition. "A Table
Alphabetical," printed at the end of the first edition, was
not undertaken for the second; but a new, engraved map of the
world, unsigned and without a title, is found in some copies
of the third volume. It was used also in two states.

This map is exceedingly rare, and interest attaches to it
for two reasons. It is the first map of the world engraved
in England, on Wright's (Mercator) projection, having been
published the year after Wright had explained the principles
of the projection in his _Certain Errors in Navigation_. A
legend in a cartouche on the engraving says: "Thou hast here
gentle reader a true hydrographical description of ſo much
of the world as hath beene hetherto diſcouered, and is comme
to our knowledge: which we have in ſuch ſort performed,
y^t all places herein ſet downe, haue the ſame poſitions
and diſtances that they haue in the globe...." The second
source of interest is this: the map is, without much doubt,
the one Shakespeare referred to in _Twelfth Night_ when he
made _Maria_ say of _Malvolio_, "he does ſmile his face into
more lynes then is in the new Mappe, with the augmentation of
the Indies."

A curious error has existed with regard to the map. The
reference in the 1589 volume, already quoted, has been taken
to mean that Hakluyt intended to issue a map by Molineux with
that work, but, that map not being ready in time, he used the
one from Ortelius. What more natural than that the new map in
the 1598 edition should be supposed to be Molineux's, now at
length finished? This was the conclusion jumped at, and the
plate is usually called "Molineux's map." As a matter of fact,
Hakluyt did not refer to Molineux as a map-maker, but as a
globe-maker. He was a friend of that rare gentleman, and he
knew that the mathematician was at work on a large terrestrial
globe embodying all the very latest geographical information
in the most exact way, according to Mercator's projection. He
used the Ortelius map in his book only until the globe should
be ready, when it could be easily adapted to the plane surface
of a map by the engraver.

The globe, measuring two and a half feet in diameter, was
issued in 1592, and is now preserved in the Library of the
Middle Temple.

Folio. Black letter.

COLLATION: Volume I, *, _six leaves; **, six leaves; A-Fff{4},
in sixes_.

Volume II, *, _eight leaves; A-Ccb, in sixes; Aaa-Rrrb, in sixes_.

Volume III, _(A), eight leaves; A-I, in sixes; K, eight leaves;
L-Cccc, in sixes_.

GEORGE CHAPMAN

(1559-1634)

Though Butter was the publisher of Dekker's _Belman of
London_, and, with John Busby, of Shakespeare's _Lear_, he is
chiefly to be remembered for two things, for his success as a
compiler and publisher of pamphlets of news,--a success which
entitles him to the place of father of the London press--and
for his connection with Chapman.

In 1609 (?) Samuel Macham brought out, in small folio form,
_Homer, Prince of Poetts, in Twelve Bookes of his Iliads_,
embellished with an engraved title-page by William Hole, who
was one of the earliest English engravers on copper-plates.
Inflated with his subject, the artist crowded the title into
a small central panel the better to present his conception of
Vulcan, Apollo, Achilles, Hector, and Homer, in a composition
which, if topheavy, was more dignified and better drawn than
many of the borders ascribed to him.

Under date of April 8, 1611, we find in the Stationers'
Register that Butter "Entered for his Copy by consente of
Samuell Masham, A Booke called Homers Iliads in English
contayning 24 bookes." With his right to print, he also
received the right to use the Hole frontispiece, which he had
reëngraved on a larger scale for the new book. The date of
issue is not given, but it could not have been later than
November 6, 1612, the date of the death of the Prince of
Wales, to whom the book is dedicated, and it was probably
published soon after the date of copyright. The printer's name
is also lacking; but reasons exist for thinking that more than
one worked on the book, and that there were several issues.
There are copies whose signatures agree with those of the
volumes of our issue, but these are printed with different
type, on poorer paper, and the initial letters and other
ornaments are of a much cruder sort.

After Chapman had published his translation of the Iliad, he
turned his attention to the Odyssey; and, as in the case of
the Iliad, he went to press with half of it first, Butter
being the publisher. The volume ends with the words "Finis
duodecimi libri Hom. Odyſſ. Opus nouem dierum," and begins
with one of the most charming and perfect title-pages of the
period, the greater pity therefore that it is unsigned.
Its composition shows the poet in the midst of a company of
laurel-crowned spirits, whose ethereal forms are expressed
in stipple, with legends which read: "Solus ſapit hic homo,
Reliqui vero," and "Umbræ mouentur." Above, the title is
supported by two cupids, and below are seated figures of
Athena, and Ulysses with his dog. The whole plate was very
delicately drawn.

The remaining twelve books having been finished, we find
Butter entering the whole twenty-four for copyright, November
2, 1614; and, although the volume is not dated, it was
probably issued soon afterward. The title reads: _Homer's
Odysses. Tranſlated according to y^e Greeke. By George
Chapman At Miki q^d viuo detraxerit. Inuida Turba Post obitum
duplici foenore reddet Honos. Imprinted at London by Rich:
Field, for Nathaniell Butter._

The same engraved title-page was used, but its fine lines had
now grown fainter, the stippled shades seeming to justify the
statement in the inscription. The dedication to the Earl of
Somerset, as it appeared with the first twelve books, was
somewhat altered in the opening lines, necessitating the
resetting of the first page and the consequent change of the
head-band and initial letter; but the rest of the first
half is precisely the same as in the first issue. The words
"Finis," etc., were dropped from the end, in some copies, and
a blank leaf marks the division of the first half from the
last.

The present book is made up of the complete Iliad, and the
complete Odyssey, sewn together. The enterprising Butter
made the engraved title of the Iliads answer for the general
title-page of this book also, only, of course, changing the
wording in the central panel. Some copies have the engraved
title of the Odyssey, but more lack it. Its omission was
probably due to its having become too faint from continued use
to be of service. Butter added one or two new features to some
copies of the volume, and among them a fine large portrait
of Chapman, which he printed in a very unusual place, on
the verso of the title-page. It represents the head of the
translator, surrounded by clouds, and bears on the circular
frame the inscriptions: _Haec est laurigeri facies diuina
Georgi_; _Hic Ph[oe]bi Decus est_; _Ph[oe]binumqz Deus_;
_Georgius Chapmanus Homeri Metaphrastes_. _Æta: LVII.
M.DC.XVI; Conscium Evasi Diem._ The date of the inscription
is usually given as the date of issue of the book. Below the
frame are ten lines beginning with two quotations, one in
Latin, and one in English, and followed by this interesting
statement: _Eruditorum Poetarum huius Æui, facile Principi,
Dno Georgio Chapman; Homero (velit nolit Inuidia) Rediuiuo.
I.M. Tessellam hanc_ Χαριϛήριον [Greek: Charistêrion] _DD._
It would be a gratifying thing to know the name of the friend
who thus added so much to the embellishment and interest of the
book. Could it have been John Marston?

The engraving is ascribed to Hole, though without any very
good reason, except that he had made the title-page of the
Iliad, some four years earlier. It seems hardly probable that
his awkward hand could have drawn the title for the Odyssey,
and, while the same holds true of the engraver of the
portrait, a comparison of the three plates perhaps would show
that Butter employed more than one engraver.

Besides the portrait, our publisher added after the
title-page, on a separate leaf, an engraved dedication "To the
Imortall Memorie, of the Incomparable Heroe, Henrye Prince
of Wales," who died in 1612. Two columns labelled "Ilias"
and "Odyssæa," bound with a band inscribed "Musar: Hercul:
Colum:," have below them lines ending:

"... Thow, dead. then; I
Liue deade, for giuing thee Eternitie

"Ad Famam.

"To all Tymes future, This Tymes Marck extend;
Homer, No Patrone founde; Nor Chapman, friend:
"Ignotus nimis omnibus;
Sat notus, moritur ſibi:"

This affecting tribute precedes the other dedication to the
same prince, issued with the Iliad when it first appeared.
Such constancy to the memory of a prince, now some years dead,
and from whom no favors could be expected, argues well for
Chapman's affections; but, on the other hand, one might see
in it a reason for believing that the work was issued before
1616.

Folio.

COLLATION: _Title-page and dedication, 2 ll.; *2,*3, 2 ll.;
A4-A6, A, 5 ll.; B-Z, in sixes; Aa-Ff, in sixes; Gg, 7 ll.;
A3-O, in sixes; R, 7 ll.; S-Z, in sixes; Aa-Hh, in sixes;
Ii, 7 ll._

THE HOLY BIBLE

Few books present greater difficulties to the bibliographer
than this, the first "Authorized" or King James Version of the
Bible. Many copies bearing the same date, and seemingly alike,
have distinct differences in the text, in the ornamental head-
and tail-pieces, and in the initial letters. But the most
striking difference lies in two forms of the title-page. One
of these, a copper-plate engraving, signed _C. Boel fecit in
Richmont_, represents an architectural framework having large
figures of Moses and Aaron in niches on either side of the
border and seated figures of St. Luke and St. John, with
their emblems, at the bottom: above are seated figures of St.
Matthew and St. Mark, and St. Peter and St. Paul holding the
Agnus Dei, while behind them are various saints and martyrs.
The title reads:

The style of Boel's work is quite like that of the Sadelers,
to whose school he belonged, and it resembles in its general
effect some of the title-pages made by those artists for
Plantin's famous Antwerp press.

The other title-page is seen in the facsimile. It is printed
with a woodcut border which represents above, the Evangelists
Matthew and Mark, the Adonai, Lamb, and Dove in cartouches,
while below are found St. Luke and St. John, the Lamb on the
altar, and the cherub's head, Barker's ornament. The tents and
shields of the Twelve Tribes are represented in twelve round
panels on the left side, and the Twelve Apostles, similarly
framed, on the right. The signatures RL [monogram
reverse-R&L] and CS [monogram over semi-circle] are seen
at the bottom of the title panel. This border, like the great
primer black letter of the text, had been previously used
by Christopher Barker, in an edition of the "Bishops Bible,"
published in 1585, and by Robert in 1602; afterward, in an
edition of the New Testament (Royal Version) published
in 1617, and also in other works. While more finished in
execution, the design is similar in idea to one often used
by Barker, notably in a Bible printed in 1593, and bears some
resemblance to a border found in Plantin's "Great Bible."

The copper-plate title is sometimes found with what is called
the first issue of the work, sometimes with the second, and
sometimes with the editions of 1613 and 1617. It has been
suggested that it was intended to be used with the woodcut
border always found with the New Testament in both issues, and
usually ascribed to the second, although "there is no ground
for supposing that it was always issued with it." That Boel
took the motive of the tents and shields of the Tribes for
a minor detail in his border, is a point worthy of notice
because this fact might, with some reason, be used to prove
that inasmuch as his engraving was made some time after the
unknown wood-engraver's border, it could hardly have appeared
with the first issue.

We quote the following from W. I. Loftie's _A Century of
Bibles_:

"Mr. Fry has compared together 70 copies of the Bible of 1611.
By observing how many of them were exactly alike he was able
to determine their order of publication. Twenty-three copies
were found to present the same peculiarities. Two only varied
from the 25 and from each other, in 8 leaves, 2 in one and 6
in the other. Of the remaining 45, 40 were mixed with leaves
from other editions, but 38 contained leaves of the same
edition. Mr. Fry's conclusions were as follows:--One issue is
unmixed except 2 copies in 25: the other is made up (1)
with reprints, (2) with parts of the first issue, (3) with
preliminary leaves from 3 other editions: he therefore infers
that the two issues were distinct and that the issue which
presented the fewest instances of admixture was the first. His
conclusions seem unassailable; it is therefore assumed to be
proved in this list, that the issue of which he examined 25
copies so nearly alike, is the first, and is entitled to the
honour of being called the _Editio Princeps_ of the version."

The chief differences in the collation of what is called the
second issue with the first are these: "The fifth leaf is
Sig. B. in the preliminary matter: Kalendar C, C2, C3, and
followers. In the first page of the Dedication OE is printed
for OF and in the eighth line CHKIST for CHRIST. In the 'Names
and order of the Bookes' there are three lines printed in red:
I Chronicles, is misprinted I Corinthians, and II Chronicles,
II Corinthians. The chief errors of the first issue are
corrected, but the repetition in Ezra iii. 5, remains. Exodus
ix. 13, Let my people goe that they may ſerve thee, _for_
serve me. S. Matthew xxvi. 36, Then commeth Judas with them
unto a place called Gethſemane, _for_ Then cometh
Jeſus. The initial P. in Psalm 112, contains a woodcut of
Walsingham's crest."

Robert Barker's name calls for more than passing notice, since
he it was who, more than any one else after the forty-seven
translators, was responsible for the production of the
Authorized Version. On January 3, 1599, the court of
assistants of the Stationers' Company recognized the letter
patent of Queen Elizabeth granting Robert Barker the reversion
for life, after his father's death, of the office of Queen's
Printer, with the right of printing English Bibles, Books of
Common Prayer, statutes and proclamations. Christopher Barker,
the father, who was also Queen's Printer, made an interesting
report in December, 1582, on the printing patents which had
been granted from 1558-1582, and in it he speaks of his own
rights. Mr. Edward Arber, in quoting the report, calls it a
masterly summary, whose importance and authority as a graphic
history of English printing, it would be hardly possible
to exaggerate. In "A note of the offices and other speciall
licenses for printing, graunted by her maiestie to diuerse
persons; with a coniecture of the valuation" he says: "Myne
owne office of her Maiesties Printer of the English tongue
gyven to Master Wilkes, (and which he had bought) is abbridged
of the cheefest comodities belonging to the office, as shall
hereafter appeare in the Patentes of Master Seres and Master
Daye: but as it is I haue the printing of the olde and newe
testament, the statutes of the Realme, Proclamations, and the
booke of common prayer by name, and in generall wordes, all
matters for the Churche."

If the monopoly of printing the Bible brought its gains it
also brought its risks. Christopher Barker in his report goes
on to speak of this:

"The whole bible together requireth so great a somme of money
to be employed, in the imprinting thereof; as Master Jugge
kept the Realme twelve yere withoute, before he Durst
adventure to print one impression: but I, considering the
great somme I paide to Master Wilkes, Did (as some haue termed
it since) gyve a Desperate adventure to imprint fouer sundry
impressions for all ages, wherein I employed to the value of
three thousande pounde in the term of one yere and a halfe, or
thereaboute: in which tyme if I had died, my wife and children
had ben vtterlie vndone, and many of my frendes greatlie
hindered by disbursing round sommes of money for me, by
suertiship and other meanes...."

Robert was not without a like experience. The King, it is
claimed, never paid a penny towards the great work. Indeed,
William Ball, writing in 1651, says: "I conceive the sole
printing of the bible, and testament, with power of restraint
in others, to be of right the propriety of one Matthew Barker,
citizen and stationer of London, in regard that his father
paid for the emended or corrected translation of the bible,
3,500 l.: by reason whereof the translated copy did of right
belong to him and his assignes."

Whether the great expense connected with its production ruined
him, or whether, as Mr. Plomer suggests, he had been living
beyond his means, Barker's last days were involved in
financial difficulties, and he died in the King's Bench
prison.

Some of the ornament in the book, particularly that used with
the coat-of-arms of the King, the genealogical tables, the
map, and some few head-bands and initial letters, again recall
the work done for Plantin, and lead us to think that that
great printer's books had not been without their influence
upon the Barkers. The Tudor rose, the thistle, harp and
fleur-de-lis are combined in different ways in initials and
head-bands; the head-band of the archers, which was afterward
used in the folio edition of Shakespeare's works, and is found
in many other books, appears; and a large number of unrelated
and commonplace initials and type-metal head-bands bring to
mind the fact that Barker had come into the possession of
material formerly belonging to John Day and Henry Bynneman.

Folio. Black letter. Double columns.

COLLATION: _A, six leaves; B, two leaves; C, one leaf; A2-A6;
D, four leaves; A-C, in sixes; two leaves without signatures;
A-Ccccc6, in sixes; A-Aa6, in sixes_.

BENJAMIN JONSON

(1573?-1637)

This book, especially as we see it in the copies printed on
large paper, is a handsome specimen of typography. It reflects
great credit upon its printer, Stansby, who was an apprentice
and then successor to John Windet, and himself a master
printer. Such work entitles him to a front rank among the
printers of the reign of James I.

Jonson is said to have prepared the plays for the press,
himself, and one or two matters of editing, which seem
unusually careful when compared with other folio collections,
certainly appear to show the author's hand. At the end of each
play, for instance, is a statement telling when it was
first acted, and by whom, whether the king's or the queen's
servants. The names of the actors are also given, as well
as the "allowance". The volume embraces nine plays, and
_Epigrammes_, _The Forest_, _Entertaynements_, _Panegyre_,
_Maſques_ and _Barriers_. There is no introductory note by
the printer, and we are not told how Stansby came into the
right to print those plays which had been previously issued by
other printers or publishers.

In some copies all of the plays have separate printed titles,
while in others there are one, two, or more wood-cut borders
showing a lion and a unicorn, a lily, rose and thistle, and a
grape-vine twined around columns at the side.

All of the works not included in the first were intended for
a second volume, which, however, did not appear until after
Jonson's death, in 1640, when it was printed for Richard
Meighen, the bookseller, by Bernard Alsop and Thomas Fawcet.
The title reads: _The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The second
Volume Containing These Playes, Viz._ _1 Bartholomew Fayre.
2 The Staple of Newes. 3 The Divell is an Asse_.... This title,
it will be seen, mentions only three plays, which are thought
to have been issued somewhat earlier than 1640, perhaps as
a supplement to the first volume. The book, as it is usually
bound, however, contains three more plays and a fragment of a
fourth.

There are variations in the imprint of the first volume,
some reading, _London, Printed by William Stansby_, and again
others, _London printed by W. Stansby, and are to be ſould
by Rich: Meighen_. The imprints of the large paper copies in
the British Museum and Huth libraries both read like that
of the copy facsimiled. The large paper copies, it should be
noted, are on whiter and finer paper of an entirely different
water-mark. The copies with Meighen's name show traces of the
erasure of our form; a fact leading to the supposition that
they are later in issue. This matter is complicated, however,
by certain striking variations in the text itself. The last
two pages of Meighen's copies, containing _The Golden Age_,
show a transposition of parts affecting the whole literary
value of the ending of the masque.

Mr. Walter Wilson Greg, in his _List of English Plays_, 1900,
gives the Stansby-Meighen copies the place of the first
issue, calling the Stansby copies a reissue, with the imprint
reëngraved.

It seems reasonable to suppose, in view of the fact that he
was the seller of the second volume also, that Meighen became
connected with Stansby after the first copies of the first
volume were published. The appearance of his name in the
imprint of Volume I. would mark the beginning of such
a partnership; and this partnership would naturally be
continuous, and not interrupted, as it would appear to be
if copies bearing Stansby's name alone came after the
Stansby-Meighen imprint, and before the 1640 volume.

"Guliel Hole fecit" is signed to the elaborate title-page
engraved on copper. This monumental structure, with
its representations of Tragicom[oe]dia, Satyr, Pastor,
Trag[oe]dia, Com[oe]dia, Theatrum, Plaustrum, and Visorium,
shows such a considerable knowledge of Roman antiquities that
we are inclined to think that Jonson himself may have had
something to do with the making of it. A similar thought
arises in looking at the pages engraved by Hole for Chapman's
Homer, and one would like to know how far that author, steeped
in his Classics, influenced the engraver. It may be a fair
speculation, how far Jonson and Chapman may have influenced
the development of book illustration.

It is a point worthy of notice that the execution of the
figures in this engraving is decidedly inferior to that of the
Chapman title.

Gerard Honthorst's portrait of Jonson, engraved by Robert
Vaughan, whose frontispieces and portraits are found in many
books of the period, is inserted in this copy. The engraving
was probably issued, in its first state, as a separate print.
In a second state it was prefixed to the second edition of
the first volume, _Printed by Richard Biſhop, and are to be
ſold by Andrew Crooke_, in 1640.

The famous lines,

"O could there be an art found out that might
Produce his shape soe lively as to Write,"

follow eight lines of Latin, beneath the oval frame.

Folio.

COLLATION: _Portrait and title-page, 2 leaves; A-Qqqq4, in sixes_.

ROBERT BURTON

(1577-1640)

In the preface, the author tells why he used the pseudonym
"Democritus Junior." Democritus, he says, as described by
Hippocrates and Diogenes Laertius, was "a little wearyiſh
olde man, very melancholy by nature, averſe from company in
his latter times, and much giuen to ſolitarineſſe," who
undertook to find the seat of melancholy. "_Democritus
Iunior_ is therefore bold to imitate, and becauſe he left it
unperfect, to proſecute and finiſh, in this Treatiſe."
In "The Concluſion of the Author to the Reader," three
leaves at the end of the volume, signed "Robert Burton," and
dated "From my Studie in Chriſt Church, Oxon, Decemb 5.
1620," he says:

"The laſt Section ſhall be mine, to cut the ſtrings of
_Democritus_ viſor, to vnmaſke and ſhew him as he is ...
_Democritus_ began as a Prologue to this Trage-comedie, but
why doth the Author end, and act the Epilogue in his owne
name? I intended at firſt to haue concealed my ſelfe,
but _ſecunde cogitationes_ &c. for ſome reaſons I haue
altered mine intent, and am willing to ſubſcribe...."

Later editions, and there were eight during Burton's lifetime,
omit the conclusion, and show other alterations. The success
of the book, as may be seen from this large number of
editions, was great. Wood says that Cripps, the bookseller,
made a fortune out of the sale of it, yet he received only a
half share of the profits; the other half, belonging to the
author, was made over by him in his will to members of the
college and to various Oxford friends. "If anie bookes be
lefte lett my executors dispose of them, with all such bookes
as are written with my owne handes, and half my _Melancholy_
copie, for Crips hath the other halfe."

In course of time the _Anatomy_ was almost forgotten, and
Lowndes tells us it owes its revival to Dr. Johnson, who
observed that it "was the only book that ever took him out of
bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise."

Lichfield and Short were university printers whose press will
be chiefly remembered in connection with the production of
this masterpiece. The book is ornamented with a few type-metal
head- and tail-pieces, and a large initial and a woodcut
head-band at the beginning.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _a-f4, in eights; A-Ddd4, in eights_.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

(1564-1616)

The bibliographical history of this most famous book has been
written so completely by Mr. Sidney Lee that little remains to
be said. The following notes aim only at recounting the facts
suggested by a reading of the title-page.

_Venus and Adonis_, printed in 1593, and _Lucrece_, printed in
1594, were the only works of Shakespeare published during his
lifetime with his consent and coöperation; but sixteen of
his plays were printed in quarto size, by various publishers,
without his permission.

The plays here collected, in folio form, are thirty-six in
number, and include sixteen hitherto unpublished,--all the
plays, in fact, except _Pericles_. John Heming and Henry
Condell, friends and fellow-actors of the dramatist, were
professedly responsible for the edition, as appears in their
dedication to the Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery:

"... that what delight is in them, may be euer your L.L. the
reputation his, & the faults ours, if any be committed, by
a payre ſo carefull to ſhew their gratitude both to the
liuing, and the dead...." But the chief part of the real
editorship is thought to have devolved upon the publisher,
Edward Blount of The Bear, Paul's Churchyard, one of the firm
pecuniarily responsible for the enterprise. His name and that
of Isaac Jaggard, the printer, appear upon the title-page, as
the licensed printers, but in the colophon we read that the
book was "printed at the charges" of William Jaggard, printer
to the City of London, and father to Isaac, Ed. Blount, "I.
Smithweeke," or Smethwick, bookseller under the Dial, in St.
Dunstan's Churchyard, and William Aspley, bookseller of The
Parrots, Paul's Churchyard.

The "true originall copies" were probably found in the sixteen
unauthorized quarto volumes, previously printed, the playhouse
or prompt-copies, and in transcripts of plays in private
hands. Heming and Condell touch on this matter in their
address "To the great Variety of Readers": "It had bene a
thing, we confeſſe, worthie to haue bene wiſhed, that
the Author himſelfe had liu'd to haue ſet forth, and
ouerſeen his owne writings; But ſince it hath bin ordain'd
otherwiſe, and he by death departed from that right, we pray
you do not envie his Friends, the office of their care, and
paine, to haue collected & publiſh'd them; and ſo to
haue publiſh'd them, as where (before) you were abus'd with
diuerſe ſtolne, and ſurreptitious copies, maimed,
and deformed by the frauds and ſtealthes of iniurious
impoſtors, that expoſed them; even thoſe are now offer'd
to your view cur'd, and perfect of their limbes; and all the
reſt, abſolute in their numbers as he conceiued th[~e]."

The edition, as published, is thought to have numbered five
hundred copies. About two hundred are now known, but of these
less than twenty are in perfect condition. The price of the
volume when issued was one pound, and the highest price so far
paid is seventeen hundred and twenty pounds.

The book is not a fine specimen of typography; it contains
numerous errors of all kinds, and the printer's ornaments are
all such as are frequently met with in books issued before and
after this date. This is especially and strikingly true of the
large head-band of the archers which we have already noticed
in the Bible of 1611, and of the large tail-piece used after
twenty-five of the plays. The other head-pieces and initial
letters are of commonplace character, and show much wear. The
portrait, too, by Martin Droeshout, a young Flemish artist,

"Wherein the Grauer had a ſtrife
With Nature, to out-doo the life:"

as Jonson assures us in his famous verses "To the Reader," is,
as might be expected, hard and stiff, but it was undoubtedly
done from a painting that has more claims to be considered
"from the life" than any other. With all its technical faults,
it "is intrinsically the most valuable volume in the whole
range of English literature."

Folio.

COLLATION: _One leaf without signature; A, eight leaves; A-Z,
Aa-Cc2, in sixes; a, two leaves; Aa3-Aa6, b-g, in sixes; gg,
eight leaves; h-x, in sixes_; ¶, ¶¶, _in sixes_; ¶¶¶, _one leaf;
aa-ff, in sixes; gg, two leaves; gg-zz, aaa-bbb, in sixes_.

JOHN WEBSTER

(1580?-1625?)

The play was first acted about 1612.

A list of the actors' names is given on the verso of the
title-page, and among them stands out that of Richard Burbage,
who created the part of the _Duke_. The part of the _Duchess_
was played by a boy named R. Sharpe.

It is the only play of Webster's presented on the modern
stage. Miss Glyn played in it in 1851, and Miss May Rorke in
1892.

The first edition is called by Dyce, the most correct of the
quartos.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _A-N, in fours. Without pagination._

PHILIP MASSINGER

(1583-1640)

This comedy retained its popularity longer than any other of
Massinger's plays, and has often been revived upon the modern
stage.

"E. P." was Elizabeth Purslowe, the widow of George Purslowe,
who this year began to carry on "at the east end of Christ
church" the business followed there by her husband since 1614.
The printer's mark is the one used by the famous family of
French printers, the Estiennes.

Seile, whose labors covered a period of twenty years, was one
of the many publishers of Massinger's books.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _A-M2, in fours. Without pagination._

JOHN FORD

(1586-1639)

The words "Fide Honor" are an anagram of Ford's name. Entered
on the Stationers' Register March 28, 1633.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _A, three leaves; B-K, in fours. Without pagination._

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

(1564-1593)

Marlowe probably wrote the play not earlier than 1588, because
the line in the opening speech of _Machevill_, "And now the
Guize is dead," refers to the Duc de Guise, the organizer of
the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, who died in that year.
The tragedy was acted many times before it was entered in the
Stationers' Register by the two publishers, Nicholas Ling and
Thomas Millington, in 1594; but for some reason it was not
printed even then. When finally issued in the form shown here,
it was under the editorship of Thomas Heywood, the dramatist,
who explains his connection with the work in his dedication to
Thomas Hammon:

"This Play, compoſed by ſo worthy an Authour as Mr. Marlo;
and the part of the Jew preſented by ſo vnimitable an
Actor as Mr. Allin, being in this later Age commended to the
Stage: As I vſher'd it into the Court, and preſented it
to the Cock-pit, with theſe Prologues and Epilogues here
inſerted, ſo now being newly brought to the preſſe I
was loth it ſhould be publiſhed without the ornament of an
epistle...."

Quarto.

COLLATION: _A-K2, in fours. Without pagination._

GEORGE HERBERT

(1593-1643)

Izaak Walton wrote the well-known account of the circumstances
connected with the printing of _The Temple_. He tells how
Herbert, upon his death-bed, received a visit from a Mr.
Edmond Duncon, and how he confided to him the manuscript to be
delivered to Nicholas Ferrar of Little Gidding. These are his
words:

"... Having said this, he did, with so sweet a humility
as seemed to exalt him, bow down to Mr. Duncon, and with
a thoughtful and contented look, say to him, 'Sir, I pray
deliver this little book to my dear brother Farrer [Ferrar],
and tell him he shall find in it a picture of the many
spiritual conflicts that have passed betwixt God and my soul
... desire him to read it; and then, if he can think it may
turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be
made publick; if not, let him burn it, for I and it are less
than the least of God's mercies.' Thus meanly did this humble
man think of this excellent book, which now bears the name of
_The Temple_, or _Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations_...."

The small volume was entered for license soon after the poet's
death, but was at first refused by the Vice-Chancellor. Izaak
Walton is again our informant of the circumstance:

"And this ought to be noted, that when Mr. Farrer sent
this book to Cambridge to be licensed for the press, the
Vice-Chancellor would by no means allow the two so much-noted
verses,

'Religion stands a tiptoe in our land,
Ready to pass to American strand,'

to be printed; and Mr. Farrer would by no means allow the
book to be printed and want them. But after some time and
some arguments for and against their being made publick, the
Vice-Chancellor said, 'I knew Mr. Herbert well, and know that
he had many heavenly speculations, and was a divine poet; but
I hope the world will not take him to be an inspired prophet,
and therefore I license the whole book.' So that it came to be
printed without the diminution or addition of a syllable since
it was delivered into the hands of Mr. Duncon, save only that
Mr. Farrer hath added that excellent preface that is printed
before it."

There were two editions of the book in the same year, and
beside these, two copies are known, like the first edition in
every particular, except the title-page, which is not dated,
and reads as follows:

Grosart thinks that the undated copies were limited to a very
few, issued as gifts to intimate friends.

Thomas Buck appears to have held the office of printer to the
University from 1625 for upward of forty years. During that
period he had several partners besides Daniel, with all of
whom he quarrelled. Daniel was appointed on July 24, 1632, and
the next year, or the year when Herbert's book was published,
entered into an agreement by which he received one-third of
the profits of the office, while Buck received two-thirds.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: ¶, _four leaves; A-I2, in twelves_.

JOHN DONNE

(1573-1631)

An entry in the Registers of the Stationers' Company shows the
book to have been regularly licensed, though somewhat delayed
owing to the doubts of the censor concerning the Satires and
certain of the Elegies.

"_13^o Septembris 1632_

"John Marriott. Entred for his Copy vnder the handes of Sir
Henry Herbert and both the Wardens a booke of verses and Poems
(the five satires, the first, second, Tenth, Eleaventh and
Thirteenth Elegies being excepted) and these before excepted
to be his, when he bringes lawfull authority ... vj^d.

"written by Doctor John Dunn."

But in 1637, after two editions had been published, the poet's
son, who had a somewhat unsavory reputation, addressed a
petition to the Archbishop of Canterbury stating that it had
been put forth "withoute anie leaue or Authoritie," and, as
a result, the Archbishop issued the following order, December
16, 1637.

"I require ye Parties whom this Petition concernes not to
meddle any farther with ye Printing or Selling of any ye
pretended workes of ye late Deane of St. Paules, saue onely
such as shall be licensed by publike authority, and approued
by the Petitioner, as they will answere ye contrary to theyr
perill. And this I desire Mr. Deane of ye Arches to take
care."

In view of this discussion, Marriot's note in "The Printer
To The Understanders," which is not found in all copies, and
which, since it is printed on two extra leaves, was evidently
an afterthought for late issues, takes on an added interest.
It would be difficult to say whether his apologies touching on
all these matters were actuated by the noble spirit in which
he claims he printed the book, or to ward off anticipated
criticism. One is almost tempted to try and read between the
lines when he exclaims:

"If you looke for an Epiſtle, as you haue before ordinary
publications, I am ſory that I muſt deceive you; but you
will not lay it to my charge, when you shall conſider that
this is not ordinary ..., you may imagine (if it pleaſe
you) that I could endeare it unto you, by ſaying, that
importunity drew it on, that had it not beene preſented
here, it would haue come to us beyond the Seas (which perhaps
is true enough,) that my charge and paines in procuring of
it hath beene ſuch, and ſuch. I could adde hereunto a
promiſe of more correctneſſe, or enlargement in the next
Edition, if you ſhall in the meane time content you with
this....

"If any man (thinking I ſpeake this to enflame him for the
vent of the Impreſſion) be of another opinion, I ſhall
as willingly ſpare his money as his judgement. I cannot
looſe ſo much by him as hee will by himſelfe. For I
ſhall ſatiſfie my ſelfe with the conſcience of well
doing, in making ſo much good common.

"Howſoeuer it may appeare to you, it ſhall ſuffice me
to enforme you that it hath the beſt warrant that can bee,
publique authority and private friends."

The younger Donne's petition is supported by the appearance of
the book itself, which was edited in a very careless fashion,
without any attempt at order or relation. But, on the other
hand, as Mr. Edmund Gosse has pointed out, Marriott and his
edition really do seem to have had the support of the best
men among Donne's disciples and friends: King, Hyde, Thomas
Browne, Richard Corbet, Henry Valentine, Izaak Walton, Thomas
Carew, Jasper Mayne, Richard Brathwaite and Endymion Porter,
all of whom, beside several others, combined to write the
Elegies mentioned on the title-page.

The printer, "M. F.," was Miles Flesher, or Fletcher,
successor to George Eld, and one of the twenty master printers
who worked during this most troublous period, following the
famous act of July 11, 1637. He also printed for Marriott
the second edition of 1635 in octavo, and the third of 1639,
which, in the matter of contents, is practically the same as
the second.

Marriott's first reference in the lines of the "Hexaſtichon
Bibliopolæ" which follows "The Printer To The Understanders,"

"I See in his laſt preach'd, and printed booke,
His Picture in a ſheete; in Pauls I looke,
And ſee his Statue in a ſheete of ſtone,
And ſure his body in the graue hath one:
Thoſe ſheetes preſent him dead, theſe if you buy,
You haue him living to Eternity,"

refers to the portrait engraved by Martin Droeshout, issued
with _Death's Duell_, in 1632. The whole verse seems to be an
apology for the lack of a portrait in this volume. Donne was
abundantly figured afterward. The _Poems_, printed in 1635,
and again in 1639, contained his portrait at the age of
eighteen, engraved by Marshall; Merian engraved him at the age
of forty-two, for the _Sermons_ of 1640; and Lombart produced
the beautiful head for the _Letters_ of 1651.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _Title, one leaf; A-Z, Aa-Zz, and Aaa-Fff3, in fours_.

SIR THOMAS BROWNE

(1605-1682)

26. Religio, | Medici. | Printed for Andrew Crooke. 1642. Will:
Marſhall. ſcu.

This is thought to be the earlier of two anonymous editions
published in the same year, and without the author's sanction,
as we learn from the third edition published in the following
year, entitled _A true and full coppy of that which was moſt
| imperfectly and Surreptitiously printed before | under the
name of: Religio Medici._ In the preface Browne says over his
signature: "... I have at preſent repreſented into the
world a ful and intended copy of that Peece which was moſt
imperfectly and surreptitiouſly publiſhed before." He
repeats the complaint of surreptitious publication in a letter
to Sir Kenelm Digby, in which he begs the latter to delay
the publication of his "Animadversions upon ... the Religio
Medici" which "the liberty of these times committed to the
Press."

The chief points of difference between the two surreptitious
editions have been pointed out by Mr. W. A. Greenhill in his
facsimile edition of the book, printed in 1883. The form of
some of the capital letters is occasionally different; the
issue which he calls A, and to which our copy belongs, has pp.
190, the other, B, 159; A has 25 lines to a page--B, 26; and
the lines in A are shorter than those in B. After comparing
these with the authorized version, Mr. Greenhill says:

"It will appear from the above collection of various readings
that the alterations made by the Author in the authorized
edition consisted chiefly in the correction of positive
blunders, made (as we know from an examination of the existing
MSS.) quite as often by the copyist as by the printer. But he
also took the opportunity of modifying various positive and
strongly worded propositions by the substitution of less
dogmatic expressions, or the insertion of the qualifying
words, _I think_, _as some will have it, in some sense, upon
some grounds_, and the like." "Upon the whole," Mr. Greenhill
thinks Browne "had good reason to complain bitterly that
the book was published, not only without his knowledge and
consent, but also in a "depraved and 'imperfect' form."

The curious coincidence that all three editions, spurious and
authorized, were issued by the same publisher, who used
the engraved title-page by William Marshall for each, only
changing the imprint, gave rise to the hypothesis that, if Sir
Thomas did not authorize, he did not prevent the publication
of the early editions. In fact, Dr. Johnson (though he
professes to acquit him) favored the view "that Browne
procured the anonymous publication of the treatise in order
to try its success with the public before openly acknowledging
the authorship."

The effect of the work certainly justified any fears the
author may have had. It excited much controversy and was
placed in the _Index Expurgatorius_ of the Roman Church. But
from the publisher's point of view, it was a great success.
Eleven editions appeared during Browne's lifetime, it was
reprinted over and over again, and it provoked over thirty
imitations of its scope or title. It was translated into
Latin, Dutch, French and German.

The emblematic fancy of Marshall has represented on the
engraved title-page of this volume, a hand from the clouds
catching a man to hinder his falling from a rock into the
sea. The picture bears the legend "à coelo salus," which was
afterward erased, not, we will hope, because of lack of faith
in the sentiment expressed. The title was also rubbed out.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Engraved title, one leaf; A-M, in eights_.

EDMUND WALLER

(1606-1687)

The "Workes" of this poet "nursed in parliaments" consist of
poems and speeches. The book was probably issued early in the
year, having, as we see from the title-page, been licensed
in December, 1644. There are copies identical in every other
respect, that show a block of printer's ornament instead
of the "Imprimatur," and still others with quite a new
title-page, which reads: _Poems,| &c. | Written By | Mr. Ed.
Waller | of Beckonſfield, Eſquire; lately a | Member of
the Honourable | House of Commons. | All the Lyrick Poems in
this Booke | were ſet by Mr. Henry Lavves Gent. | of the
Kings Chappell, and one of his | Majeſties Private Muſick.
| Printed and Publiſhed according to Order. | London, |
Printed by T. W. for Humphrey Moſley, at the | Princes Armes
in Pauls Church- | yard._ 1645.

New poems have been added to this last issue, and "The Table"
of contents has been inserted between the poems and speeches.
There is also an Epistle "To my Lady," and "An advertiſement
to the Reader" wherein we read:

"This parcell of exquiſit poems, have paſſ'd up and
downe through many hands amongſt perſons of the beſt
quallity, in looſe imperfect Manuſcripts, and there
is lately obtruded to the world an adulterate Copy,
surruptitiouſly and illegally imprinted, to the derogation
of the Author, and the abuſe of the Buyer. But in this
booke they apeare in their pure originalls and true genuine
colours."

We may with reasonableness see in the first variation a
publisher's trick to make his book appear to have had a quick
sale; while the second might indicate a transfer of the unsold
sheets from Walkley to Moseley, who for some reason, perhaps
an agreement arrived at with the poet, considered himself to
be the authorized publisher.

Later in the same year, Moseley issued a reprint, which
omitted the Speeches, and a new edition in octavo with a
title-page which now reads:

The volume has been entirely reprinted.

The Speeches appear again, but the rest of the contents remain
as before. Mr. Beverly Chew, in an article on "The First
Edition of Waller's Poems," says: "It is this edition that
is generally called the 'first authorized edition,' but it
is quite evident that all of the editions of this year stand
about on the same level so far as the author is concerned."
Not until the edition of 1664 do we read on the title-page,
"Never till now Corrected and Published with the approbation
of the Author."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Title, one leaf, B-H, in eights_.

FRANCIS BEAUMONT

(1584-1616)

AND

JOHN FLETCHER

(1579-1625)

These two dramatists, between whom "there was a wonderfull
consimility of phancy," and who shared everything in common,
were inseparably connected in their writings. No collected
edition of their plays appeared before this posthumous one,
which is dedicated to Philip, Earl of Pembroke, by ten
actors, and is introduced to the reader by James Shirley, the
dramatist, who speaks of the volume as "without flattery the
greatest Monument of the Scene that Time and Humanity
have produced." This, too, notwithstanding the fact that
Shakespeare's _Works_ had appeared twenty-four years before.

This edition appears to have been due to Moseley's enterprise.
He tells us in a frank address called "The Stationer to the
Readers":

"'T were vaine to mention the Chargeableneſſe of this
VVork; for thoſe who own'd the Manuſcripts, too well
knew their value to make a cheap eſtimate of any of theſe
Pieces, and though another joyn'd with me in the Purchaſe
and Printing, yet the _Care & Pains_ were wholly mine...."

Commenting upon the fact stated on the title-page that the
plays had not been printed before, he says: "You have here a
New Booke; I can ſpeake it clearely; for of all this large
Uolume of Comedies and Tragedies, not one, till now, was ever
printed before...." "And as here's nothing but what is genuine
and Theirs, ſo you will find here are no Omiſſions; you
have not onely All I could get, but all that you muſt ever
expect. For (beſides thoſe which were formerly printed)
there is not any Piece written by theſe Authours, either
Joyntly or Severally, but what are now publiſhed to the
VVorld in this Volume. One only Play I muſt except (for
I meane to deale openly) 'tis a Comedy called the
_VVilde-gooſe-Chase_, which hath beene long lost...."

Nothing which throws light upon the history of printing at
this time is more interesting than the Postscript added at the
end of the commendatory verses by Waller, Lovelace, Herrick,
Ben Jonson and others, and immediately after a poem by Moseley
himself ending, "If this Booke faile, 'tis time to quit the
Trade."...

"... After the _Comedies_ and _Tragedies_ were wrought off,
we were forced (for expedition) to ſend the _Gentlemens_
Verſes to ſeverall Printers, which was the occaſion of
their different Character; but the _Worke_ it ſelfe is one
continued Letter, which (though very legible) is none of
the biggeſt, becauſe (as much as poſſible) we would
leſſen the Bulke of the Volume."

This matter of size seems to have been the cause of no little
solicitude and care. Speaking of adding more plays to the
volume, he says:

"And indeed it would have rendred the Booke ſo Voluminous,
that _Ladies_ and _Gentlewomen_ would have found it ſcarce
manageable, who in Workes of this nature muſt firſt be
remembred."

There are thirty-six plays in the collection: as the stationer
tells us in the preface to the reader quoted above, all those
previously printed in quarto are included, except the _Wild
Goose Chase_, which had been lost. It is added at the end of
the volume with a separate title-page dated 1652.

The following epigram by Sir Aston Cockain, addressed to the
publishers, the two Humphreys, is not without interest in this
connection as showing that the difficulties arising from the
joint authorship were early sources of perplexity:

"In the large book of Plays you late did print
(In Beaumonts and in Fletchers name) why in't
Did you not juſtice? give to each his due?
For Beaumont (of thoſe many) writ in few:
And Maſſinger in other few; the Main
Being ſole Iſſues of ſweet Fletchers brain.
But how come I (you ask) ſo much to know?
Fletchers chief boſome-friend inform'd me ſo.

... ... ... ... ...

For Beaumont's works, & Fletchers ſhould come forth
With all the right belonging to their worth."

Moseley, in his address as stationer, says of the portrait of
Fletcher by William Marshall, which bears the inscriptions,
"Poetarum Ingeniosissimus Ioannes Fletcherus Anglus Episcopi
Lond: Fili." "Obijt 1625 Ætat 49": "This figure of Mr.
Fletcher was cut by ſeveral Originall Pieces, which his
friends lent me; but withall they tell me, that his unimitable
Soule did ſhine through his countenance in ſuch _Ayre_ and
_Spirit_, that the Painters confeſſed it, was not eaſie
to expreſſe him." The nine lines of verse beneath the
portrait are by Sir John Birkenhead. The portrait is found
in two states, distinguishable by the size of the letters in
Birkenhead's name. Although he was very ambitious to get a
portrait of Master Beaumont, his search proved unavailing.

There are a few woodcut head-bands, varied with others made of
type metal, in the front part of the book, but the last part
is severely plain.

Folio. The first collected edition.

COLLATION: _Portrait; A, four leaves; a-c, in fours; d-g, in
twos; B-L2, in fours; Aa-Ss, in fours; Aaa-Xxx, in fours;
4A-4I, in fours; 5A-5X, in fours; 6A-6K, in fours; 6L, six leaves;
7A-7G, in fours; 8A-8C, in fours; *Dddddddd, two leaves;
8D-8F, in fours._

ROBERT HERRICK

(1591-1674)

A volume entitled "The seuerall Poems written by Master Robert
Herrick" was entered by Master Crooke for license April 29,
1640, but was not published. The _Hesperides_ was the first
work of the poet to be printed, except some occasional
contributions to collections of poems. It is dedicated in
a metrical epistle to the most illustrious and most hopeful
Charles, Prince of Wales, afterward Charles II.

This part was not issued, as far as is known, except with the
Hesperides to which the author evidently intended it to be
affixed, if we may judge by the lines toward the end of the
first part: "Part of the work remains; one part is past."

The year of publication had seen Herrick dispossessed of his
living at Dean Prior by the predominant Puritan party, and
it has been suggested that he was glad to take this means
of gaining an income. His use of the form, "Robert Herrick,
Esquire," was, it is thought, a wise move on the part of
the publishers, since a book by the "Reverend," or "Robert
Herrick, Vicker" would have been less likely to meet with
favor.

Neither Williams nor Eglesfield was a bookseller of
importance, and the printer is entirely unknown. He may
have withheld his name for fear of the judgment suggested by
Herrick at the head of his column of Errata:

"For theſe Tranſgreſsions which thou here doſt ſee,
Condemne the Printer, Reader, and not me;
Who gave him forth good Grain, though he miſtook
The Seed; ſo ſow'd theſe Tares throughout my Book."

Copies vary in the imprint, some reading _London, Printed for
John Williams and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be ſold
by Tho. Hunt, Bookſeller in Exon, 1648_; and several
differences of spelling, capitalization and punctuation also
occur. These variations have given rise to a discussion that
aims to determine the sequence of issues; but thus far it
serves only to prove that constant editorial tinkering took
place at the press-side.

William Marshall, whose prolific graver (Strutt says he
used only that tool) produced portraits, frontispieces,
title-pages, and other decorations of a certain charm, even
if dry and cramped in style, had in Herrick a subject of more
than usual difficulty. As if conscious of his shortcomings
he attempts to make atonement by the emblematic flattery
of Pegasus winging his flight from Parnassus, the Spring of
Helicon, loves and flowers, which he adds to lines signed _I.
H. C._ and _W. M._

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Four leaves (without signatures): B-Z and Aa-Cc, in
eights, Aa-Ee, in eights._

JEREMY TAYLOR

(1613-1667)

The remarkably well-designed title-page engraved by Robert
Vaughan, which precedes the printed title, bears the imprint,
_London printed for R: Royſton | in Ivye lane_. 1650. and
some copies have the following imprint on the title-page:
_London, | Printed for Richard Royſton at the | Angel in
Ivie-Lane. | MDCL._ Royston was the royal bookseller, and
publisher of _Eikon Basilike_, which ran through fifty
editions in the single year 1649. Taylor's work was also a
popular venture, and reached a fourteenth edition in 1686.

This edition contains "Prayers for our Rulers," which recalls
the fact that these were stirring times when the book was
published. Charles had been beheaded in January of the
previous year, and Cromwell won his victory at Worcester,
where Ash had his shop, in the year following. It was not
without some worldly wisdom of living, then, that our author
used the above heading, and later, when times were changed,
altered it so as to make it read, "For the King."

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Frontispiece; ¶, twelve leaves; A-S4, in twelves._

IZAAK WALTON

(1593-1683)

31. The | Compleat Angler | [Six lines, Quotation.] London, Printed
by T. Maxey for Rich. Marriot, in | S. Dunſtans Church-yard
Fleetſtreet, 1653.

In the _Perfect Diurnall_, as well as in other broad-sheets,
the following advertisement appeared from Monday, May 9, to
Monday, May 16, 1653:

"The Compleat Angler or the Contemplative Man's Recreation,
being a Diſcourſe of Fish and Fishing, not unworthy the
peruſal of moſt Anglers, of 18 pence price. Written by
Iz. Wa. Alſo the known Play of the Spaniſh Gipſee, never
till now publiſhed. Both printed for Richard Marriot, to
be ſold at his ſhop in St. Dunſtans Church-yard, Fleet
Street." Walton could hardly have expected his work to be
anonymous when his very distinctive initials appeared so
plainly in the advertisement. And even though they are not
printed on the title-page of the book, they are signed to the
dedication to his most honoured friend, Mr. John Offley of
Madeley Manor, and at the end of the address "To the Reader of
this Discourse: but eſpecially To the honeſt Angler."
The name was added to the title in the fifth or 1676 edition,
called _The Universal Angler._

Contemplative men did indeed find the work not unworthy their
perusal, and Marriot, who seems to have been fortunate in the
books he published, alone issued five editions during the life
of the author. Between then and now we may count no less than
one hundred and thirty different imprints. At Sotheby's, in
1895, a copy of this eighteen-pence book sold for four hundred
and fifteen pounds, an earnest of its rarity and of the
eagerness with which it is sought.

Concerning the engraved cartouche with the first part of the
title, on the title-page, and the six illustrations of fish
engraved in the text, the author says "To the Reader of this
Discourse": "And let me adde this, that he that likes not the
diſcourſe ſhould like the pictures of the _Trout_ and
other fiſh, which I may commend, becauſe they concern not
myſelf." No name is given to show whose work they may be;
they are sometimes ascribed to Pierre Lombart, a Frenchman
resident in London, and employed by book-publishers to
illustrate their books. But on the other hand we must
not forget that Vaughan and Faithorne were both making
illustrations for books at this time. There is reason for
calling attention to the belief, formerly current, that the
engravings were done on plates of silver, a notion which, as
Thomas Westwood remarks, is sufficiently disproved by their
repeated use in no less than five editions of _The Compleat
Angler_, and the same number of Venable's _Experienc'd
Angler_.

Henry Lawes, the musician, and the author of several works,
wrote the music to "The Anglers' Song For two Voyces,
Treble and Baſſe," which occupies pages 216 and 217.
The right-hand page is printed upside down for the greater
convenience of the singers, who could thus stand facing one
another. Lawes used a similar arrangement in his _Select Ayres
and Dialogues_, published the same year as the _Angler_.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _A-R3, in eights._

SAMUEL BUTLER

(1612-1680)

Although "written in the time of the late Wars," _Hudibras_
was not licensed to be printed until November 11, 1662, two
years after the reëstablishment of the monarchy, when a satire
on Puritanism could no longer give offense to the ruling
party. On the contrary, the satisfaction which it gave to
the King and court had much to do with the great success it
achieved. Butler himself records the royal favor:

"He never ate, nor drank, nor slept,
But 'Hudibras' still near him kept;
Nor would he go to church or so,
But 'Hudibras' must with him go."

Marriot, the successful publisher of Walton's _Angler_
and some of Donne's books, issued the first part in three
different forms, large octavo, like our copy, small octavo,
and duodecimo; the last two sizes being sold for a lower price
than the former, to meet the popular demand for the work.
Besides these there is another edition, in three issues of the
same date, which has no name of printer or publisher in
the imprint, although, like Marriot's copies, it bears the
license, "Imprimatur. Jo: Berkenhead, Novemb. 11, 1662." If
it were not for this imprimatur, the following notice, which
appeared in the _Public Intelligencer_ for December 23, 1662,
would make it seem certain that the nameless edition was
really spurious:

"There is stolen abroad a most false imperfect copy of a
poem called _Hudibras_, without name either of printer or
bookseller, as fit for so lame and spurious an impression. The
true and perfect edition printed by the author's original, is
sold by Richard Marriot under St. Dunstan's church in Fleet
Street; that other nameless is a cheat, and will not abuse
the buyer as well as the author, whose poem deserves to have
fallen into better hands." But the presence of the regular
license brings us to the very probable theory that Marriot may
have issued both editions; the first without his name because
he was unwilling to allow it to appear until the fortune of
the book seemed certain.

Singularly enough, Marriot did not issue _The Second Part. By
the Authour of the Firſt_, which came out the next year in
two sizes, octavo and small octavo, _Printed by T. R. for John
Martyn, and James Alleſtry, at the Bell in St. Pauls Church
Yard_. Ten years later we find the volume being issued by
Martyn and also by Herringman.

_The Third and laſt_ | _Part_. | _Written by the Author_ |
_Of The | First and Second Parts_. | _London_, | _Printed for
Simon Miller, at the Sign of the Star_ | _at the Weſt End of
St. Pauls, 1678._ was only published in one size, the octavo.
We get an idea of the great interest the book created, when,
after a lapse of so many years, this last part ran into a
second edition in a twelvemonth.*

Mr. Pepys is our authority for the cost of the spurious book.
He says, in his Diary on Christmas Day, 1662: "Hither come Mr.
Battersby; and we falling into a discourse of a new book of
drollery in verse, called Hudebras, I would needs go find it
out, and met with it at the Temple: it cost 2s. 6d. But when
I came to read it, it is so silly an abuse of the Presbyter
Knight going to the warrs, that I am ashamed of it; and by and
by, meeting at Mr. Townsend's at dinner, I sold it to him for
18d." He afterward tried to read the second part, so we learn
from his notes dated November 28, 1663; but which issue he
used we shall never know. He says:

"... To Paul's Church Yarde, and there looked upon the second
part of Hudibras, which I buy not, but borrow to read, to
see if he be as good as the first, which the world do cry so
mightily up, though it hath not a good liking in me...."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Title; A-R, in eights_.

* It should be noted that some copies of the
volume have the record of the license and some have none.

JOHN MILTON

(1608-1674)

Milton began his great epic in 1658, and is said to have
finished it in 1663. It was licensed after some delay,
occasioned by the hesitation of the deputy of the Archbishop
of Canterbury over the lines:

"As when the Sun, new ris'n
Looks through the Horizontal Misty Air
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
In dim Eclips, disastrous twilight sheds
On half the Nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes Monarchs."

He may, as Professor Masson has pointed out, have had
difficulty in finding a publisher able and willing to venture
upon the printing of a work by one "whose attacks on the
Church and defenses of the execution of Charles I. were still
fresh in the memory of all, and some of whose pamphlets had
been publicly burnt by the hangman after the Restoration."
Few probably of those whose shops had centered around Paul's
Churchyard, the very heart of the book-trade, could have done
so, for they were, if not ruined, certainly inconvenienced
by the loss of their stock and shops in the Great Fire of the
year before. It is small wonder that Simmons, to whom, through
some agency or other, the poet did come, drove a hard bargain
when the agreement for the copyright was entered into,
April 27, 1667. The original of this agreement came into the
possession of the Tonsons, the proprietors of the copyright,
and was finally presented to the British Museum by Samuel
Rogers, who acquired it from Pickering the publisher. "Milton
was to receive 5 l. down, and 5 l. more upon the sale of each
of the first three editions. The editions were to be accounted
as ended when thirteen hundred copies of each were sold 'to
particular reading customers,' and were not to exceed fifteen
hundred copies apiece. Milton received the second 5 l. in
April, 1669, that is 15 l. in all. His widow in 1680 settled
all claims upon Simmons for 8 l. and Simmons became proprietor
of the copyright, then understood to be perpetuated."

The book made its appearance at an unfortunate time. London
had barely recovered from the Plague of 1665 (during which
eighty printers had died, wherein is seen another reason for
the difficulty in finding a publisher), and the great district
devastated by the Fire was still only partly rebuilt. It was
not surprising that the 1200 copies which are thought to have
made the first edition did not have a brisk sale; these were
not exhausted for at least eighteen months, and a second
impression was not put out for four years.

The copies of the first printing may be divided into several
classes, according to the title-pages they bear. These all
differ from one another in several more or less important
particulars, but the text of the work is identical in all
cases, except for a few typographical errors. Two titles,
supposed to be the earliest, were _Licenſed and Entred
according | to Order_, and have the imprint:

On these the poem is seen to be by "John Milton," and the only
difference between them lies in the type used for Milton's
name, one being of a smaller size than the other. A third
title-page, having a similar imprint but dated 1668, has
"The Author J. M." A fourth has "The Author John Milton," the
license has given place to a group of _fleurs-de-lis_, and the
imprint reads:

_London, | Printed by S. Simmons, and to be ſold by S.
Thomſon at | the Biſhopſ-Head in Duck-lane, H. Mortlack,
at the | White Hart in Weſtminſter Hall, M. Walker under
| St. Dunſtans Church in Fleet-ſtreet, and R. Boulter at |
the Turks-Head in Biſhopſgate ſtreet, 1668._

Two new title-pages were used in 1669, differing only in the
type. The imprint reads:

_London, | Printed by S. Simmons, and are to be ſold by | T.
Helder at the Angel in Little Brittain. | 1669._

Beside these there are others. Early bibliographers claimed
that eight or even nine variations existed, but later
investigation has failed to verify more than six.

The chief point of interest in all these variations lies in
the fact that Peter Parker, not Simmons, issued the first
volumes. As we have pointed out above, the theory has been
advanced that the owner of the copyright was timid about
avowing his connection with the poet. A more natural reason
would seem to be that he was unable to print the book at
first, through losses, in the Fire perhaps, of presses and
types. Such a theory would seem to derive weight from the fact
that the issues of 1668 and 1669 which bear his name do not
give an address, and it is not until the second edition
of 1674 that we find him "next door to the Golden Lion in
Aldersgate-ſtreet."

The original selling price of the volume was three shillings.
The prices now vary according to the sequence of the
title-pages. A copy of the first issue sold in New York in
1901 for eight hundred and thirty dollars.

The volume has no introductory matter, but begins at once with
the lines "Of Mans Firſt Diſobedience"; Simmons added the
following note to the second edition: "There was no Argument
at firſt intended to the Book, but for the ſatisfaction of
many that have deſired it, is procured." The printer adopted
a very useful custom in numbering the lines of the poem. He
set the figures down by tens in the margin, within the double
lines that frame the text.

Quarto. The first edition with the first title-page.

COLLATION: _Two leaves without signatures; A-Z, and Aa-Vv2,
in fours. Without pagination._

JOHN BUNYAN

(1628-1688)

In 1672 Bunyan was released from the gaol, which, possibly
with a brief interval, had been his "close and uncomfortable"
home for twelve years; and Ponder, who, for his connection
with his famous client, was called "Bunyan's Ponder," entered
the imperishable story, written in "similitudes," at the
Stationers' Hall, December 22, 1677. The customary fee of
sixpence being duly paid, early in the following year the
book was licensed, and soon after published at one shilling
sixpence.

Its success was very great: the first year saw a second
edition, and the year following a third, each with important
additions.

Southey stated, in 1830, when he put out a new edition of the
book, that there was no copy of the first edition known, but
since then five have been unearthed, two of which are perfect.

The portrait of Bunyan engraved by Robert White makes our copy
unique. It shows the author lying asleep over a lion's den,
while above him Christian is represented on his journey. Until
1886, when this volume was brought to light, the third edition
was supposed to be the first to have a picture of the author;
but now it seems quite certain that other volumes of the first
edition may, like this, have had the print. In the edition
of 1679, the label of the city from which the Pilgrim
was journeying, called "Vanity" here, was changed to
"Destruction."

The price paid for this volume, when it was sold at auction in
1901, was fourteen hundred and seventy-five pounds.

The second part of the _Pilgrim's Progress_ appeared in 1684.
It depends more upon reflected than intrinsic merit; but
copies of the first edition are even rarer than those of the
first edition of the first part.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _A-Q3, in eights. Portrait._

JOHN DRYDEN

(1631-1700)

The Earl of Shaftesbury, here typified as Achitophel for his
share in the conspiracy to place the young Duke of Monmouth,
Absalom, on the throne, was committed to the Tower in July,
1681; and this satire appeared in November, just before the
Grand Jury acquitted him. Notwithstanding the lateness of the
work, its success was unprecedented. We are told that Samuel
Johnson's father, a bookseller of Litchfield, said that he
could not remember a sale of equal rapidity, except that of
the reports of the Sacheverell trial.

The author's name does not appear in the book; nor yet in the
second edition, to which Tonson added two unsigned poems "To
the unknown author."

Jacob Tonson, the publisher of the work, was one of the
notable figures in the annals of book-publishing in England,
and his name is inseparably connected with some of the most
important literary ventures of the period: with those of
Milton, Addison, Steele, Congreve, but above all with those of
Dryden. Basil Kennett wrote in 1696: "Twill be as impossible
to think of Virgil without Mr. Dryden, as of either without
Mr. Tonson." He was so poor when he began business that he
is said to have borrowed the twenty pounds necessary to the
purchase of the first play of Dryden's that he published; but,
thanks to his shrewdness, and to the success of his ventures,
he died in affluent circumstances, having fully earned the
title of "prince of booksellers." He was the founder of the
famous Kit-Cat Club, and in spite of Dryden's ill-tempered
lines,

"With leering looks, bull-faced and freckled fair,
With two left legs, with Judas-coloured hair,
And frowsy pores that taint the ambient air,"

he was not unliked by his clients and friends.

The only decoration in the book consists of a head-band
preceding the poem, and an initial letter. In some copies the
head-band is pieced out to the width of the type page with
small ornaments.

Folio.

COLLATION: _Two leaves without signatures; B-I, in twos._

JOHN LOCKE

(1632-1704)

Locke's two previous works had been issued anonymously; but
this book, while it has no name on the title-page, has the
author's name signed at the foot of the dedication to Thomas,
Earl of Pembroke; a dedication of such fulsome compliment that
even Pope, who called Locke his philosophic master, is said to
have thought he could never forgive it. In the first edition,
that appeared early in the year, the dedication is not dated,
but "Dorset Court, May 24, 1689," appears in all the following
issues.

Basset paid thirty pounds for the copyright of the work, and
later agreed to give six bound copies of every subsequent
edition, and ten shillings for every sheet of additional
matter.

Some copies of the first edition have the imprint: _Printed
for Tho. Baſſet, and ſold by Edw. Mory | at the Sign
of the Three Bibles in St. Paul's Church-Yard. MDCXC._ They
probably belong to an earlier issue: the two _ss_ in _Essay_,
which were here printed upside down, were set right in
the title-pages of the issue facsimiled; and the group
of printer's ornaments, here placed irregularly, were
straightened in our copy.

In August, 1692, Locke writes: "I am happy to tell you that
a new edition of my book is called for, which, in the
present turmoil of the protestant world, I consider very
satisfactory." The month of September, 1694 brought the book
again before the public, and by the year 1800 twenty different
editions had been published.

The first edition was full of faults that the second aimed
to correct. "Beſides what is already mentioned, this
Second Edition has the Summaries of the several § §. not only
Printed, as before, in a Table by themſelves, but in the
Margent too. And at the end there is now an Index added.
Theſe two, with a great number of ſhort additions,
amendments, and alterations, are advantages of this Edition,
which the bookseller hopes will make it ſell. For as to the
larger additions and alterations, I have obliged him, and he
has promiſed me to print them by themſelves, ſo that the
former Edition may not be wholly loſt to thoſe who
have it, but by the inſerting in their proper places the
paſſages that will be imprinted alone, to that
purpoſe, the former Book may be made as little defective as
poſſible."

The amendments and alterations were printed on separate slips
of paper, which were given to purchasers of the first edition
to be pasted into their copies; certainly an ingenious if
not altogether satisfactory way of keeping abreast with the
author's mind. It must have been considered useful, however,
for the same plan was resorted to with the fourth edition.

"Our friend Dr. Locke, I am told, has made an addition to his
excellent 'Essay,' which may be had without purchasing the
whole book," said the thrifty Evelyn to the careful Pepys,
who replied: "Dr. Locke has set a useful example to future
reprinters. I hope it will be followed in books of value." A
copy of the book in the Bodleian Library, which has its little
slips all carefully pasted in, has a note on the fly-leaf,
written by its owner:

"Here is observable the honesty of the great Mr. Locke in
printing for the purchasers of this edition the improvements
made in the second."

Folio.

COLLATION: _A, four leaves; [a], two leaves; B-Z, Aa-Zz,
and Aaa-Ccc, in fours._

WILLIAM CONGREVE

(1670-1729)

This was the last of Congreve's plays to be performed upon
the stage. It was presented by Betterton's company, but was
a failure. "The unkind Reception this excellent comedy met
with," said Charles Wilson, "was truly the Cauſe of Mr.
Congreve's juſt Reſentment; and upon which, I have often
heard him declare, that he had form'd a ſtrong Reſolution
never more to concern himſelf with Dramatic Writings."

Quarto.

COLLATION: _A, three leaves; a, two leaves; B-N2, in fours._

EDWARD HYDE

FIRST EARL OF CLARENDON

(1609-1674)

Begun in April, 1641, and finished during the period of
Clarendon's exile, which extended from 1667 until his death,
the _History_ was prepared for printing under the direction of
Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, who received assistance from
Dr. Henry Aldrich, Dean of Christ Church, and Thomas Sprat,
Bishop of Rochester. Rochester wrote the introduction and
dedications.

On the verso of the title-page of the first volume we find
"Imprimatur. Ro. Hander Vice-Can. Oxon. Apr. 29. 1702."; the
second volume is signed "Guil Delaune Vice-Can, Oxon. Sept.
15, 1703," and the third, by Delaune, "Octob. 16, 1704."

There is no dedication to the first volume, which begins at
once with the preface; but the second and third volumes are
dedicated to the queen. In the last two volumes a proclamation
by her Majesty, dated June 24, 1703, states that: "whereas Our
Truſty and Wellbeloved William Delaune, Doctor in Divinity,
and Vice-Chancellor of Our Univerſity of Oxford, has humbly
preſented unto US, in the behalf of the ſaid Univerſity,
that They have at Great Expence already Publiſhed One Volume
of the late Earl of Clarendon's Hiſtory, and intend in a
ſhort time to Publiſh the Second and Third Volumes for
Compleating the Work; and the ſole Right of the Copy of the
ſaid Work being Veſted in Our Univerſity of Oxford,
and They having humbly beſought US to Grant Them Our
Royal Priviledge and Licence for the ſole Printing and
Publiſhing the ſame for the Term of Fourteen Years; ... do
therefore hereby Give and Grant ... the same." This refers
to the fact that Clarendon, who had been chancellor of the
University from 1660 until he went into exile, provided in his
will that the profits from the sale of copies of the _History_
should belong to the University and should be expended in
erecting a building for the exclusive use of the Press,
founded in "1468."

Previously, and at the time of the printing of the book, the
work of the University Press was done in the "Theatre," a view
of which is given at the left of the figure of Minerva, in the
vignette on the title-page. This was the Sheldonian Theatre,
built from designs by Christopher Wren, at the expense of
Archbishop Gilbert Sheldon, who succeeded Lord Clarendon as
chancellor. It was opened in 1669, and was used for various
academic purposes, as well as for the home of the Press.
Clarendon's design was fulfilled in 1713; and the Clarendon
Building, as it was called, was occupied until it was
outgrown, and the Clarendon Press, for under this name it was
now equally well known, was removed once more, in 1830, to its
present quarters.

The vignette, with its interesting glimpse of the buildings
near the Theatre, is signed "delin MBurg. ſculp. Univ. Ox.,"
in the first two volumes, and "delin MBurghers ſculpt, Univ.
Ox. 1704," in the third, where the plate also shows other
signs of having been gone over or reëngraved.* Beside these
vignettes, the work is ornamented with ambitious copper-plate
head- and tail-pieces, and initial letters, some unsigned,
but probably all by Burg. A portrait of Clarendon occurs as
a frontispiece in each of the three volumes. It is after the
painting by Sir Peter Lely, and was engraved in 1700 by Robert
White, a prolific producer of portraits framed with borders
that, in most cases, were less tasteful than this one, with
its mace, bag, and coat-of-arms. The inscription reads:
"Edward Earle of Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of England,
and Chancellor of the Univerſity of Oxford. An^o. Dñi 1667."

The plate for the third volume has been much worked over,
if not entirely redrawn in a slavish copy. White's name is
erased, and Burg's appears in its stead. Some copies of all
three volumes of the first edition are dated 1704; while
others show a confusion of dates, and the portraits do not
follow the order here described.

Folio. Large paper copy.

COLLATION: _Three volumes. Three portraits._

* A: P. L. Lamborn used a similar idea for an ornament
which he engraved for the Cambridge University Press
about 1761.

THE TATLER

The first number of the _Lucubrations_, a folio sheet headed
with the title _The Tatler_, and ending with the imprint
_London: Printed for the Author, 1709_, appeared on Tuesday,
April 12. It was issued thereafter three times a week, on
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, "for the convenience of
the post."

Public interest having displayed itself in a sufficiently
emphatic manner, the "Author" evidently felt justified in
engaging a permanent printer, and the imprint of the fifth
number reads: "Sold by John Morphew near Stationers-Hall;
where Advertiſements are taken in."

The first four numbers were distributed free as a kind of
advertisement. Then, "Upon the humble Petition of the Running
Stationers, &c.," they were sold at one penny. But a charge
of halfpence was added after the twenty-sixth number, "Whereas
Several Gentlemen have deſir'd this Paper, with a blank
Leaf to write Buſineſs on, and for the convenience of the
poſt."

"Quidquid agunt homines nostri farrago libelli" is the motto
printed at the head of the first forty numbers, and "Celebrare
domestica facta" on Nos. 41 and 42, but after that special
mottoes were used. The single numbers usually bear the name
of "_Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq,_, aged sixty-four, an old man,
a philosopher, an humorist, an astrologer and a censor," but
sometimes other members of his family appear in his stead,
especially his half-sister Jenny Distaff, and her husband.

Number 271, dated January 2, 1711, omits Bickerstaff's name,
and the whole paper, except for some advertisements at the
end, is given to a letter signed by Steele, in which he says:
"The Printer having informed me that there are as many of
theſe Papers printed as will make Four Volumes, I am now
come to the End of my Ambition in this Matter, and have
nothing further to ſay to the World, under the Character of
_Iſaac Bickerſtaff_. This Work has indeed for ſome time
been diſagreeable to me, and the Purpoſe of it wholly
loſt by my being ſo long underſtood as the Author....
All I can now do for the further Gratification of the Town, is
to give them a faithful Index and Explication of Paſſages
and Alluſions...." The index, called "A Faithful Index of
the Dull as well as Ingenious Paſſages in the Tatlers,"
bears at the end the important note, "[The Price of theſe
Two Sheets, Three Pence.]" The "Explication of paſſages"
was made in "The Preface," which, in our copy, is bound after
the dedications of the second volume. For, as it will thus
be seen, Steele bethought himself to add further to the
gratification of the public by printing two title-pages and
four dedications, on folio sheets, for the benefit of those
subscribers who might wish to bind their copies.

The title-page of the second volume is like the first, only
it is dated 1711; and the foot-note reads: [Symbol: Right
pointing hand] "Note, The Bookbinder is deſired to place the
Index after [Tatler No. 271.] which ends the ſecond Volume
in Folio." The index to the _Tatlers_ of this volume has the
note: "[The Price of theſe Three Sheets and a Half, Six
Pence.]" The notes on the dedications, and the fact that while
the folio sheets made only two volumes, four dedications were
issued, shows us that the binding of the current sheets was an
afterthought, and that the quarto edition in four volumes was
relied upon to keep alive the lucubrations. Thus the quarto
edition dedications were made to do double service.

In its present form the first volume is dedicated anonymously
to Mr. Arthur Maynwaring, while the second has the other three
dedications. One, to Edward Wortley Montague, signed Isaac
Bickerstaff, has the note: "The Dedication foregoing belongs
to the Second Volume of Tatlers in Octavo; which begins with
N^o 51, and ends with N^o 114". One, to William, Lord Cowper,
signed Richard Steele, has the note: "The foregoing Dedication
belongs to the Third Volume of Tatlers in Octavo, which
begins with N^o. 115, and ends with N^o. 189." The last one,
dedicated to Charles, Lord Halifax, also signed by Steele,
has a note which reads: "This Dedication belongs to the Fourth
Volume of Tatlers in Octavo, which begins with N^o 190, and
ends with N^o 271."

Aitken tells us that, "Like other publications of the time,
the successive numbers of the Tatler were reprinted in Dublin
and Edinburgh, as they came out. The Dublin issue was in
quarto form, the Edinburgh paper a folio sheet, rather smaller
than the original, and with a fresh set of advertisements of
interest to local readers."

In No. 102, our editor says of the octavo edition:

"Whereas I am informed, That there is a ſpurious and very
incorrect Edition of theſe Papers printed in a ſmall
Volume; Theſe are to give Notice, That there is in the
Preſs, and will ſpeedily be publiſhed, a very neat
Edition, fitted for the Pocket, on extraordinary good Paper,
a new Brevier Letter, like the Elzevir Editions, and adorned
with ſeveral Cuts by the beſt Artiſts. To which is
added, a Preface, Index, and many Notes, for the better
Explanation of theſe Lucubrations. By the Author. Who has
reviſed, amended, and made many Additions to the Whole." In
the last number he says again: "The Third Volume of theſe
Lucubrations being juſt finiſh'd, on a large Letter in
Octavo, ſuch as pleaſe to ſubſcribe for it on a Royal
Paper, to keep up their Sets, are deſired to ſend
their Names to Charles Lillie, Perfumer, at the Corner of
Beauford-Buildings, in the Strand, or John Morphew near
Stationers Hall, where the Firſt and Second Volumes are to
be deliver'd."

The price of the corrected work in four quarto volumes, if
bought of the printer, was £1 per volume on royal paper, and
ten shillings on medium paper; and it is gratifying to learn
that the work met with so great a success that there was
hardly a name eminent at the time which was not subscribed.

A copy in the British Museum has for a frontispiece a portrait
of "Isaac Bickerstaff Esq. Engraved and ſold by John Sturt
in Golden-Lion Court in Alderſgate Street Price Six Pence.
MDCCX." and signed _B. L ens ſen^r delineavit_.

Folio.

COLLATION: _Two volumes. No signatures._ Volume I: _iv pp.
[114 ll.], iv pp._ Volume II: _viii pp. [271 ll.], vi pp._

THE SPECTATOR

40. Numb. I | The Spectator | Non fumum ex fulgore, ſed ex fumo dare
lucem | Cogitat ut ſpecioſa dehinc miracula promat. Hor. | To be
continued every Day. | Thurſday, March 1. 1711. [At the end] London:
Printed for Sam. Buckley, at the Dolphin in Little Britain; and sold
by A. Baldwin in Warwick-Lane.

The last _Tatler_ had appeared in the previous January:
the new paper like its predecessor came out in single folio
sheets, but, as may be seen above, its editors considered the
demand sufficient to warrant its daily publication.

The first fifteen numbers bore the imprint here given, with
the additional information, after the second number, "where
Advertisements are taken in." Buckley paid Addison and Steele
£575, on November 10, 1712, for a half-share in the copyright
of the paper and in the numbers not yet published. On October
13, 1714, he transferred this assignment to Jacob Tonson,
Jr., whose name appears October 2, 1712, in place of that of
Baldwin's and of "Charles Lillie, Perfumer, at the Corner of
Beaufort-Buildings in the Strand," who had sold the sheet from
the sixteenth number, dated March 19, 1711, until that time.

On December 6, 1712, the following notice by Steele appeared,
and as it sums up briefly the main points in the _Spectator's_
successful career, it may be regarded as a text for the
succeeding notes.

"I have nothing more to add, but having ſwelled this Work to
Five hundred and fifty-five Papers, they will be diſpoſed
into ſeven Volumes, four of which are already publiſh'd,
and the three others in the Preſs. It will not be demanded
of me why I now leave off, tho' I muſt own my ſelf obliged
to give an Account to the Town of my Time hereafter, ſince
I retire when their Partiality to me is ſo great, that an
Edition of the former Volumes of Spectators of above Nine
thouſand each Book is already ſold off, and the Tax on
each half Sheet has brought into the Stamp-Office one Week
with another above 20 l. a Week ariſing from this ſingle
Paper, notwithſtanding it at first reduced it to leſs than
half the number that was uſually Printed before this Tax was
laid."

Volumes 1 and 2, printed in octavo, were bound up, and,
dedicated to Lord Somers and Lord Halifax, were issued in
1712; volumes 3 and 4, with dedications to Henry Boyle and the
Duke of Marlborough, came out the next year; and the remaining
three, with dedications to the Marquis of Wharton, Earl of
Sunderland, and Sir Paul Methuen, were also published in
1713. With the help of Eustace Budgell, Addison issued a
continuation of the paper in 1714, which, when it made enough
numbers for a volume, was issued with a dedication to
Will Honeycomb, in 1715. An edition in duodecimo was also
published. A few copies on large paper sold at one guinea a
volume.

There is some difference of opinion as to the exact number
of copies circulated, all founded on the facts given in the
_Spectator_ itself. In No. 10, Addison says that there were
already 3000 copies distributed every day. "So that if I allow
Twenty Readers to every Paper, which I look upon as a modeſt
Computation, I may reckon about Threeſcore thouſand
Diſciples in London and Weſtminster". On July 23, 1711, he
wrote: "... my Bookſeller tells me, the Demand for theſe
my Papers increaſes daily," and on December 31 he repeated,
"I find that the Demand for my Papers has encreaſed every
Month ſince their firſt appearance in the World." On the
1st of August, 1712, St. John's Stamp Act came into force, by
which a halfpenny stamp was imposed upon all newspapers and
periodical sheets. This attempt to suppress free expression
of opinion succeeded to some extent; many of the papers of the
day ceased to exist. The _Spectator_ continued as before,
but the price was raised from one penny to twopence. "... A
payment of over £20. a week for stamp duty represents a daily
circulation of more than 1,600 copies, or 10,000 a week,
from the 1st August to the 6th December 1712, and the
daily circulation before the 1st August would therefore be,
according to Steele's statement, nearly 4000."

Two hundred and seventy-four of the 635 papers are attributed
to Addison, and from 236 to 240 to Steele. Addison usually
signed his essays with one of the letters of the name Clio,
and Steele wrote over the initials T. and R. Besides the two
principal writers, Budgell, Hughes, Parnell, Pope and Tickell
are thought to have contributed papers, but considerable
uncertainty exists with regard to their work.

Folio.

COLLATION: _In numbers._

DANIEL DEFOE

(1661?-1731)

The story is told of how Defoe's manuscript was refused by
many of the London publishers before William Taylor, one of
the most esteemed and successful of them, accepted it. The
book came out April 25, and its success was immediate; a
second edition was called for only seventeen days after the
first; a third followed twenty-five days later, and a fourth
on the 8th of August. _The Farther | Adventures | Of Robinson
Crusoe; | Being the Second and Laſt Part | Of His | Life ...
To which is added a Map of the World_ ... was issued in August
of the same year, and was followed on August 6, 1720, by a
sequel called _Serious Reflections | During | The | Life ...
of Robinson Crusoe_. Further evidence of the popularity of the
work is furnished by the piracies, numerous imitations, and
translations that appeared within a short time after its
publication.

Lowndes and others repeat an error of Dibdin's in saying that
_Robinson Crusoe_ first appeared in the _Original London
Post, or Heathcot's Intelligence_, from No. 125 to No. 289
inclusive, the latter dated October 7, 1719. The story
was _reprinted_ in that paper, "with a care to divert and
entertain the reader," but _beginning_ October 7, 1719, and
ending with No. 289, dated October 19, 1720. The unsigned
folding map was used in this last as well as in the fourth
edition of the first part. An engraving representing the hero
of the story is placed sometimes as a frontispiece. It is
signed, like the map of the island, "Clark & Pine Sc.," and,
while not remarkable for artistic merit, is certainly notable
as having been the model of all future conceptions.

Defoe sold all his property in _Robinson Crusoe_ to Taylor,
who gained a very large fortune by it and its successors. When
that worthy man died, only five years after the publication of
the book, he was reputed to be worth between forty and fifty
thousand pounds. He added an introduction to _The Serious
Reflections_, in which he says:

"The ſucceſs the two former Parts have met with, has been
known by the Envy it has brought upon the Editor, expreſs'd
in a thouſand hard Words from the Men of Trade; the Effect
of that Regret which they entertain'd at their having no Share
in it: And I muſt do the Author the Justice to ſay that
not a Dog has wag'd his Tongue at the Work itſelf, nor has a
Word been ſaid to leſſen the Value of it, but which has
been the viſible Effect of that Envy at the good Fortune of
the Bookſeller."

A guarantee of this good fortune may be seen in the imprint
of the book, which now reads: "At the Ship and _Black-Swan_
in Pater-noſter Row," that last-named property having been
purchased out of the proceeds of its sale. After Taylor's
death, the business was sold to Thomas Longman, the founder
of the firm of Longmans, Green & Co., for over three thousand
pounds.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _3 l., pp. 364. [4 l.] pp. 373. [9 l.], pp. 270,
84 [2 l.]_

JONATHAN SWIFT

(1667-1745)

"I have employed my time, (beside ditching) in finishing,
correcting, amending, and transcribing my travels in four
parts complete, newly augmented and intended for the press,
when the world shall deserve them, or rather when a printer
shall be found brave enough to venture his ears." This is what
Swift says in a letter written to Pope, and thus it will be
seen that there could have been no real doubt among Swift's
friends as to the authorship of the book, though for very
obvious reasons it was found desirable to have it published
anonymously. Even after it was issued, and had proved a
success, the pretense of ignorance of the author's identity
was kept up. Pope himself writes, November 16, 1726 (the work
appeared October 28):

"I congratulate you first on what you call your cousin's
wonderful book, which is _publica trita manu_ at present, and
I prophesy will hereafter be the admiration of all men...."
"Motte," (the publisher who had been brave enough to risk
his ears), "received the copy, he tells me, he knew not from
whence, nor from whom, dropped at his house in the dark, from
a hackney coach. By computating the time I found it was after
you left England, so for my part, I suspend my judgement."

Swift was staying with Pope when the manuscript was so
mysteriously left at Motte's door by Charles Ford, his
intermediary, through whom, and Erasmus Lewis, all the
business was conducted. Writing under the assumed name of
Sympson, Swift demanded that Motte should give him £200, which
the publisher agreed to do after six months if the success of
the book would allow. The whole issue was exhausted within
a week after its appearance, and a second edition speedily
followed, making the payment, which we learn was promptly
effected, an easy matter. We are told that Swift used to leave
the profits of his writing to the booksellers; but _Gulliver_
proved the exception to the rule. He says, in 1735, "I never
got a farthing by anything I writ, except one about eight
years ago, and that was by Mr. Pope's prudent arrangement for
me." Motte, like Taylor with _Robinson Crusoe_, grew rich out
of it; or, as Swift puts it to Knightley Chetwood in a letter
dated February 14, 1726-7, in which he still keeps up the
mystery of the authorship, "... in Engl^d I hear it hath made
a bookseller almost rich enough to be an alderman."

Of its success, Arbuthnot says, November 8, 1726: "_Gulliver's
Travels_, I believe, will have as great a run as John Bunyan.
It is in everybody's hands...." Gay wrote a few days later:
"The whole impression sold in a week. From the highest to the
lowest it is universally read, from the cabinet council to the
nursery." "Here is a book come out," says Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu, "that all our people of taste run mad about...."

It speaks well for Motte's sagacity that he should have been
willing to undertake the publishing of so violent a book at
all, and we are little surprised that he balked at certain
passages, and that, to avoid offense, "he got those
alterations and insertions made" which Swift afterward so
bitterly resented. In the letter to Knightley Chetwood quoted
above, Swift said: "In my Judgment I should think it hath been
mangled in the press, for in some parts it doth not seem of
a piece, but I shall hear more when I am in England." In a
letter to Ford written more than six years later, we find him
still recurring to the matter:

"Now you may please to remember how much I complained of
Motte's suffering some friend of his (I suppose it was Mr.
Tooke, a clergyman, now dead) not onely to blot out some
things that he thought might give offence, but to insert
a good deal contrary to the author's manner and style and
intention. I think you had a Gulliver interleaved and set
right in those mangled and murdered pages.... To say the truth
I cannot with patience endure that mingled and mangled manner
as it came from Motte's hands, and it will be extremely
difficult for me to correct it by other means, with so ill a
memory and so bad a state of health." Swift had good reason to
complain about this matter as he did, personally and through
Ford, who wrote to Motte blaming him for the printer's gross
errors. "Besides the whole sting is absent out of several
passages in order to soften them. Thus the style is debased,
the humours quite lost, and the matter insipid," cries the
enraged author. The interleaved copy was forthcoming, and the
text as corrected was printed in Dublin in 1735.

The bibliography of the book is perplexing. There seem to have
been four distinct issues, or, rather, editions, during
the first year; while copies of the same edition show many
variations. The edition to which the large paper copies belong
is usually called the first. In it the four parts are paged
separately, and the portrait of Gulliver, signed "Sturt et.
Sheppard. Sc.," is found in two states. One of these states,
evidently the first, has the inscription, "Captain Lemuel
Gulliver, of Redriff Ætat. ſuæ 58.," in two lines below
the oval. The other has the inscription around the oval,
as follows: "Captain Lemuel Gulliver Of Redriff Ætat. Suæ
LVIII.," and beneath, where the name was before, a quotation
from Persius now appears.

The three other editions have distinct differences of type,
setting and ornaments. The portrait in all of these is of
the second state. Two of these editions have the parts paged
separately, but one has a continuous pagination for each
volume. One edition was reissued in 1727, with verses by Pope
prefixed. On the title-page of the first volume it is called
"second edition," and on that of the second volume, "second
edition corrected." This edition was probably considered
by the publisher to be the most correct, and was therefore,
probably, the last issued in 1726.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _1 l., xvi, 148 pp.; 3 ll.,
164 pp._ Volume II: _3 ll., 155 pp.; 4 ll., 199 pp._ Portrait,
four maps.

ALEXANDER POPE

(1688-1744)

The friend to whom, under the name of Lælius, the four
Epistles that make up the _Essay_ were addressed, was Henry
Saint John, first Viscount Bolingbroke, the object of Pope's
reverence, and the inspirer of much of his poetry. It seems to
be agreed that Bolingbroke's philosophical fragments gave the
"philosophical stamina" to this work also.

The first part appeared in February, the second, about April,
1733; they were undated and anonymous, for fear of charges
against the author's orthodoxy. Pope went to considerable
lengths to mislead the public in this matter, but, as Dr.
Crowley says, the applause received "took off all the alarm
which the writer might have felt at his new experiment in the
marriage of metaphysics with immortal verse." "The design of
concealing myself," said our author, "was good, and had its
full effect. I was thought a divine, a philosopher and what
not? and my doctrine had a sanction I could not have given to
it."

In "Epistle II," as the second part is called on the
title-page, there is a note "To the Reader" which says:
"The Author has been induced to publiſh theſe Epiſtles
ſeparately for two Reaſons; The one, that he might not
impoſe upon the Publick too much at once of what he thinks
incorrect; The other, that by this Method he might profit of
its Judgement on the Parts, in order to make the Whole leſs
unworthy of it." At the end of "Epistle III," which came out
the same year, is a note as follows: "N. B. The Reſt of this
Work will be publiſhed the next Winter." And at the end of
the fourth Epistle, issued about the middle of January, 1734:
"Lately Publiſhed the three former Parts of An Essay on Man.
In Epiſtles to a Friend. Sold by J. Wilford at the Three
Flower-de-Luces, behind the Chapter-Houſe in St. Paul's
Church-yard."

All four parts were issued in octavo and quarto, as well as
in folio. The quarto edition bears the dates of publication. A
second edition of the first part, called "Epistle I, corrected
by the Author," contained a table of contents to the first
three Epistles. The fourth Epistle was originally issued with
such a table called, "The Contents, Of the Nature and State of
Man, with reſpect to Happiness."

Pope intrusted the publication of the book to John Wilford,
who was afterward summoned before the House of Lords for
breach of privilege in publishing, with the bookseller,
Edmund Curll, the names of the titled correspondents in the
advertisement to the quasi-unauthorized _Letters_. Pope
made the change from Bernard Lintot, his usual publisher, to
Wilford in order to conceal his identity the more completely,
and to add to the mystery of authorship.

The volume is handsome in appearance: it is ornamented
with initial letters, and woodcut and type-metal head- and
tail-pieces.

Folio.

COLLATION: _19 pp., 1 l., 18, 20 pp., 2 ll., 18 pp., 1 l._

JOSEPH BUTLER

BISHOP OF DURHAM

(1692-1752)

The _Analogy_ ran into edition after edition, and is reprinted
even now. "Few productions of the human mind," Allibone tells
us, "have elicited the labours of so many learned commentators
as have employed their talents in the exposition of Butler's
Analogy." He gives seventeen editions with commentaries,
printed before 1858. In recent times no less a name than that
of Gladstone may be counted among the number.

The Knaptons were the publishers of Butler's first printed
volume, _Fifteen Sermons_, 1726.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _5 ll., x, 11-320 pp._

THOMAS PERCY

BISHOP OF DROMORE

(1729-1811)

Although his name does not appear upon the title-page, the
author signed it to the dedication to Elizabeth, Countess
of Northumberland. He offers the book, he says, with some
hesitation, yet hopes that the names of so many men of
learning and character among his patrons and subscribers will
"ſerve as an amulet to guard him from every unfavourable
cenſure for having beſtowed any attention on a parcel of
Old Ballads."

The book came out in February, after four or five years of
active preparation. Johnson criticised it, but in the main the
work was received with the verdict, which has held ever since,
that it marked an epoch. Dibdin says that when it appeared,
the critics "roared aloud for a sight of the MS.!" especially
Joseph Ritson, the antiquary, who denied its existence.
Dibdin, however, saw the folio, and describes it at some
length, besides quoting notes in the Bishop's handwriting, one
of which is of especial interest:

"Memorandum. _Northumberland House, Nov. 7, 1769._ This very
curious old Manuscript in its present mutilated state, but
unbound and sadly torn, I rescued from destruction, and begged
at the hands of my worthy friend _Humphrey Pitt, Esq._ then
living at Shiffnal in Shropshire, afterwards of Prior Lee near
that town; who died very lately at Bath: viz. in Summer,
1769. I saw it lying dirty on the Floor under a Bureau in ye
Parlour: being used by the Maids to light the fire. It was
afterwards sent most unfortunately to an ignorant Bookbinder,
who pared the margin, when I put it into Boards in order to
lend it to Dr. Johnson."

James Dodsley, the printer of our charming volumes, was the
younger brother of Robert, with whom, as _R. & J. Dodsley_,
he was for some time a partner, until, in 1759, he became
the sole proprietor of the house. He lacked the elder
man's energy, but he carried on an extensive and profitable
business. He is said to have paid Percy 100 guineas for the
first edition of the _Reliques_--not a very large sum for such
a work. Pickford tells us, however, that "as the _Reliques_
became popular, and as other editions were in request, so did
the sums paid to Percy increase; and best of all, the book
attracted the notice of those in a high class, in whose power
it was to forward and promote the interests of the editor."
Whatever the basis of his relations with Dodsley, we have his
own word for it that when the third edition was published he
"had no share in the property of the impression." Those "in
a high class" promoted our author from one thing to another,
until, as Granger had hoped he would do, "he found himself
sung into a throne," a reward quite as much to his mind, no
doubt, as anything Dodsley could have arranged.

It is only fair to say that few authors of the period were
better served by their publisher than Percy was by his in the
matter of typography. The ornament used is also especially
good. A frontispiece to the first volume, surmounted by the
inscription, "Non Omnis Moriar," and representing a harper
delighting an audience, is signed by Samuel Wale, who was
chiefly employed in designing vignettes and illustrations for
books. He had studied with Francis Hayman, a printer and maker
of illustrations, who, with N. Blakey, was employed by Messrs.
Knapton and Dodsley to execute the first series of historical
prints designed by Englishmen. The plate was engraved by
Charles Grignion, or Grignon, a pupil of Gravelot and Le Bas,
who, like Wale, was much employed by publishers. Together they
illustrated a large number of books; but the charm of their
work seems to be chiefly due to Grignion. The vignettes, with
the motto "Durat Opus Vatum" on the title-pages and the head-
and tail-pieces, though unsigned, were evidently designed and
engraved by the same hands.

There are three parts to each volume, and each part begins and
ends with a copper-plate engraving illustrative of a ballad.
The head-pieces refer to the first ballad in the book, but the
tail-pieces have legends showing where the poem is found. On
page 24 of the second volume, the following note is attached
to the poem "For the Victory of Agincourt": "This ſong or
hymn is given meerly as a curioſity, and is printed from a
MS copy in the Pepys collection, vol. I. folio. It is there
accompanied with the muſical notes, which are copied in a
ſmall plate at the end of this volume."

A table of "Errata" for all three volumes, an "Advertisement,"
and a note "To the Binder" are found at the end of the first
volume. The Advertisement reads: "The Editor's diſtance from
the preſs has occaſioned ſome miſtakes and confuſion
in the Numbers of the ſeveral Poems, and in the References
from one Volume to another: the latter will be ſet right by
the Table of Errata, and the former by the Tables of Contents.
In the Second Volume, page 129 follows page 112: this was
merely an overſight in the Printer; nothing is there
omitted."

The binder finds this caution addressed to him: "The Binder
is deſired to take Notice that the marginal Numbers of the
1ſt and 3^d Volumes are wrong: that the Sheets marked Vol.
i. are to be bound up as Volume The Third: and that thoſe
noted Vol. III. as Volume The First." Neither author nor
printer thought to tell us of the addition of "George
Barnwell" in eight leaves, at page 224 of Volume III; but
perhaps the inclusion was decided upon too late for the
crowding in of another note.

The notes are interesting, and are quoted here as showing that
Percy made many changes in the work even after it was ready
to be sewed, perhaps after some copies had been issued. For
instance, there seems to be no reason to doubt that he changed
the order of the volumes after they were all printed, making
the first last, in order to bring the ballads of "Chevy Chase"
and the Robin Hood cycle at the beginning. Two volumes of the
_Reliques_ without imprints, preserved in the Douce collection
of the Bodleian Library, are interesting in this connection
since they contain many pieces not in the published edition.
A note by Furnivall, added to Rev. J. Pickford's Life of Percy
which prefaced the Hales and Furnivall _Bishop Percy's Folio
Manuscript_, 1867, gives the omission and changes in detail.
We quote only the following: "... and the engraving at the end
of Douce's volume ii., instead of being the published rustic
sketch, is a coat of arms, with a lion and unicorn at the
side with the Percy motto 'Esperance en Dieu.' This was wisely
cancelled, no doubt, as the Countess of Northumberland might
not then have appreciated the compliment of the grocer's son
claiming kinship with her."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes_.

WILLIAM COLLINS

(1721-1759)

Collins and his friend Joseph Warton, the critic, both at the
time unknown, proposed to issue a volume of poems together:
"Collins met me in Surrey, at Guildford races, when I wrote
out for him my odes, and he likewise communicated some of his
to me; and being both in very high spirits, we took courage,
and resolved to join our forces, and to publish them
immediately." The plan, however, fell through and they finally
published separately, though almost simultaneously. This work,
though dated 1747, really appeared in December, 1746. Warton's
_Odes on various Subjects, London, 1746_, reached a second
edition, but Collins's book was not a success, and it is said
that, in disgust, he burned the larger part of the unsold
edition.

"Each," wrote Gray, "is the half of a considerable man, and
one the counterpart of the other. The first [i.e. Warton] has
but little invention, very poetical choice of expression, and
a good ear. The second [i.e. Collins] a fine fancy, modelled
upon the antique, a bad ear, great variety of words, and
images with no choice at all. They both deserve to last some
years, but will not." Time has set Collins right.

The vignette on the title-page, representing a pan-pipe and
harp surrounded by a wreath of fruit, laurel, oak, and palm,
with heads of Pan and Apollo at the top, is by Gerard (?) Van
der Gucht. Thin woodcut head-bands at the beginning of some
of the odes, and a tail-piece after the first one, furnish all
the ornament for this pathetic volume.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _2 ll., 52 pp._

SAMUEL RICHARDSON

(1689-1761)

_Pamela_ was written at the suggestion of two booksellers,
Rivington and Osborne, who published it in four volumes
in 1741-42; and as it proved a great success its "Editor"
followed it with _Clarissa_. Only the last five volumes
appeared in 1748, the first two having come out the previous
year.

In connection with the mistaken idea, which has existed, that
there were eight volumes in the first edition, Mr. Dobson,
in his life of Richardson, gives us these quotations from the
author himself:

"There were in fact, in the first edition, not eight volumes
but seven. "I take the liberty to join the 4 Vols. you have
of _Clarissa_, by two more," says Richardson to Hill in an
unpublished letter of November 7, 1748. "The Whole will make
Seven; that is, one more to attend these two. Eight crowded
into Seven by a smaller Type. Ashamed as I am of the
Prolixity, I thought I owed the Public Eight Vols. in Quantity
for the Price of Seven"; and he adds a later footnote to
explain that the 12mo book "was at first published in Seven
Vols. [and] Afterwards by deferred Restorations made Eight as
now."" Then Mr. Dobson goes on to add the following:

"Of the seven volumes constituting the first edition, two were
issued in November, 1747; two more in April, 1748 (making
"the 4 Vols. you have," above referred to); and the remaining
three, which, according to Mr. Urban's advertisement,
"compleats the whole," in December, 1748."

The second and succeeding volumes have the line, _And Sold
by John Osborn, in Pater-noſter-Row_, added to the imprint,
after Richardson's name.

Bishop Warburton presented the author with a preface in which
he pointed out the variety of the characters in the book, and
commended the moral tendency of the work. This, by the
way, serves to remind us that he afterward quarrelled with
Richardson because the novelist ventured to censure Pope's
sentiment, "Every woman is at heart a rake."

In a catalogue like this, no name has more interest than that
of Samuel Richardson, "The Father of the English Novel," and a
printer and publisher of distinction. At the age of seventeen
he chose the profession of printer, because he thought that in
it he would be able to satisfy his craving for reading. After
a diligent apprenticeship to John Wilde, whose daughter was
his first wife, he gradually won his way until he became one
of the leading printers of his time. He issued twenty-six
volumes of _Journals_ of the House of Commons, though he found
the position more honorable than lucrative; he was the printer
of the _Daily Journal_ from 1736 to 1737, and of the _Daily
Gazetteer_ in 1738; he was chosen printer to an interesting
_Society for the Encouragement of Learning_, for whom
he printed and edited their first and only volume, _The
Negociations of Sir Thomas Roe in his Embassy to the Ottoman
Porte from the year 1621 to 1628 inclusive_. He also printed,
among other books, an edition of _Æsop's Fables_, De Foe's
_Tour through Great Britain_, Young's _Night Thoughts_, and
the second volume of De Thou's _Historia Sui Temporis_, 1733.
He became a member of the Stationers' Company in 1689, and its
master in 1754.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Seven volumes._

HENRY FIELDING

(1707-1754)

The announcement of the appearance of the work in the _General
Advertizer_ for February 28, 1749, reads as follows:

"This day is published, in six vols., 12mo, The History of Tom
Jones, A Foundling.--Mores hominum multorum vidit. By Henry
Fielding Esq.

"It being impossible to get sets bound fast enough to answer
the demand for them, such Gentlemen and Ladies as please may
have them served in Blue Paper and Boards, at the price of
16s. a set, of A. Millar, over against Catharine Street, in
the Strand."

The sale was really enormous for those days, and Millar, the
successful publisher, could afford to be generous to Fielding,
as he had been to others, thus winning for himself the
position of a patron as well as publisher. Johnson called him
"the Mæcenas of literature." "I respect Millar, sir;" said he,
"he has raised the price of literature."

Horace Walpole gives us an account of the dealing of this
remarkable man in this case. He says, in a letter to George
Montagu: "Millar, the bookseller, has done very generously
by him [Fielding]; finding 'Tom Jones' for which he gave him
£600. sell so greatly, he has since given him another £100."

A second edition in four volumes was issued the same year, and
a third, also in four volumes, the year following. The book
has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Dutch,
Russian, and Swedish. It was frequently dramatized, and was
also turned into a comic opera.

An original document in the possession of the owner of the
book from which the facsimile was made shows that the value
of _Tom Jones_ had not decreased with successive editions, or
else the various partners, whose well-known names are
signed to it, would not have thought it worth their while to
prosecute.

"Memorandum July, 24. 1770.

"At the Chapter Coffee-house, it is agreed by the Partners
in Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones, to prosecute Alexander
Donaldson, Bookseller in the Strand, for printing the above
Books, in the Court of Chancery, and do agree to pay our
respective Shares of the Expence of the Proscecution.

WILL: STRAHAN
THO^S. LONGMAN
W. JOHNSTON
ROBERT HORSFIELD
THO: CADELL
T BECKET
ROBINſON & ROBERTS
HAWES, CLARKE & COLLINS
STANLEY CROWDON
EDM^D. & CH^S DILLY
WM. & J. RICHARDſON
THO^S. LOWNDES
THOMAS CASLON"

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Six volumes._

THOMAS GRAY

(1716-1771)

In 1750 Gray finished a poem which he had begun eight years
before, and it was circulated freely, in manuscript, among his
delighted friends. One of them, Horace Walpole, received the
following communication from the author, dated at Cambridge,
February 11, 1751:

"As you have brought me into a little sort of distress, you
must assist me, I believe, to get out of it as well as I can.

"Yesterday I had the misfortune of receiving a letter from
certain gentlemen (as their bookseller expresses it), who have
taken the Magazine of Magazines into their hands. They tell
me that an _ingenious_ Poem, called reflections in a Country
Church-yard has been communicated to them, which they
are printing forthwith; that they are informed that the
_excellent_ author of it is I by name, and that they beg not
only his _indulgence_, but the _honour_ of his correspondence.
As I am not at all disposed to be either so indulgent or so
correspondent as they desire, I have but one bad way left to
escape the honour they would inflict upon me; and therefore am
obliged to desire you would make Dodsley print it immediately
(which may be done in less than a week's time) from your copy,
but without my name, in what form is most convenient for him,
but on his best paper and character; he must correct the
press himself, and print it without any interval between the
stanzas, because the sense is in some places continued beyond
them; and the title must be,--Elegy, written in a Country
Church-yard. If he would add a line or two to say it came into
his hands by accident, I should like it better. If you behold
the Magazine of Magazines in the light that I do, you will not
refuse to give yourself this trouble on my account, which you
have taken of your own accord before now. If Dodsley do not do
this immediately, he may as well let it alone."

"You have indeed, conducted with great decency my little
_misfortune_:" (this was written to Walpole on Ash-Wednesday,
after the book was published): "you have taken a paternal care
of it, and expressed much more kindness than could have been
expressed from so near a relation. But we are all frail; and I
hope to do as much for you another time.

"Nurse Dodsley has given it a pinch or two in the cradle, that
(I doubt) it will bear the marks of as long as it lives. But
no matter: we have ourselves suffered under her hands before
now; and besides it will only look the more careless and by
_accident_ as it were. I thank you for your advertisement [the
preface, signed 'The Editor'], which saves my honour, and in a
manner _bien flatteuse pour moi_, who should be put to it even
to make myself a compliment in good English."

Dodsley's promptness was noteworthy; on February 16 the book
was issued, having been six days, at most, in the printer's
hands. The author, even if he had desired, could hardly have
complained about the ornaments on the title-page, since he had
given Dodsley a free hand. It would be pleasant to see in
the woodcuts, with their death's-heads, spades, cross-bones,
hour-glasses, pickaxes and crowns, an argument for a sense
of decoration, or even of a sense of humour, rather than the
evidences of a habit of the use of such things for funeral
sermons.

Speaking of Nurse Dodsley's "pinches," the following extract
from a letter to Walpole, dated March 3, 1751, proves of
additional interest: "I do not expect any more editions; as
I have appeared in more magazines than one. The chief errata
were _sacred_ bower for _secret_; _hidden_ for _kindred_ (in
spite of dukes and classics); and "_frowning_ as in scorn" for
_smiling_. I humbly propose, for the benefit of Mr. Dodsley
and his matrons, that take _awake_ for a verb, that they
should read _asleep_, and all will be right."

The two versions of the poem probably appeared on the same
day.

_The Magazine of Magazines Compiled from Original Pieces,
With Extracts from the moſt celebrated Books And Periodical
Compoſitions Publiſhed in Europe_, was issued by William
Owen, maker of mineral water, at Homer's Head, near Temple
Bar. Owen's compositor, having had more time, avoided some
of the errors of the printers of the book, but he fell into
others of his own; and he completely frustrated Gray's desire
to be anonymous. The poem is introduced, amidst a running fire
of talk, in this way: "Gentlemen, ſaid _Hilario_, give
me leave to ſooth my own melancholy, and amuſe you in a
moſt noble manner, with a fine copy of verſes by the
very ingenious Mr. Gray, of _Peterhouſe_, Cambridge.--They
are--"Stanza's written in a Country Church-yard.""

The book proved immensely popular. Gray himself received
no pecuniary reward from it, having given the copyright
to Dodsley in accordance with a notion, very common in the
preceding century but seeming quixotic now, that it was
beneath a gentleman to receive money from a bookseller, a view
in which, we are told, Dodsley warmly concurred. Later, Mason,
Gray's friend, attempted to regain possession of the copyright
by means of litigation.

We are indebted to our Author for the following
bibliographical note: "Publish'd in Feb^{ry}, 1751, by
Dodsley, & went thro' four editions, in two months; and
afterwards a fifth, 6th, 7th, & 8th, 9th, & 10th, & 11th;
printed also in 1753 with Mr. Bentley's Designs, of w^{c}h
there is a 2d Edition, & again by Dodsley in his _Miscellany_,
Vol. 7th & in a Scotch Collection call'd the _Union_;
translated into Latin by Ch^{r} Anstey, Esq., and the Rev^{d}.
Mr. Roberts, & published in 1762, & again in the same year by
Rob. Lloyd, M.A."

Dodsley figures so prominently in the publication of the
_Elegy_ that we are reminded that he was himself a poet and
also a dramatist. His epitaph in the churchyard of Durham
cathedral lays stress on this point:

"If you have any respect
for uncommon industry and merit,
regard this place,
in which are deposited the remains of
Mr. Robert Dodsley;
who, as an Authour, raised himself
much above what could have been expected
from one in his rank in life,
and without a learned education;
... ... ... ..."

Quarto.

COLLATION: _11 pp._

SAMUEL JOHNSON

(1709-1784)

Robert Dodsley first suggested to Johnson that a dictionary of
the English language would take well with the public; though
Johnson afterward told Boswell that he had long thought of it
himself. But it was Dodsley who, in accordance with the
custom of the time of placing books under the patronage of
an influential person, suggested the Earl of Chesterfield as
patron for the work; and Johnson addressed him as such in _The
Plan Of A Dictionary Of The English Language; Addreſſed to
the Right Honourable Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield: ...
London_, 1747, a pamphlet of thirty-four pages.

This step eventually led to the letter called by Carlyle "the
far famed blast of doom proclaiming into the ears of Lord
Chesterfield, and through him to the listening world, that
patronage should be no more." For the Earl was tardy in
acknowledging the inscription (his commendatory letters did
not appear until the November and December issues of _The
World_, 1754), and did little to encourage the enterprise;
"Upon which," said the irritated author, "I wrote him a letter
expressed in civil terms, but such as might show him that I
did not mind what he said or wrote, and I had done with him."
It was dated February 7, 1755, and ends with the famous words:
"Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern upon a
man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached
ground encumbers him with help?"

Johnson undertook his great work single-handed, expecting
to finish it in three years; but the labor was enormous, and
eight years were consumed (the work appeared on February
20, 1755), though not all of the time was spent upon the
Dictionary, for he was editor of _The Rambler_, also, at this
period. In this connection his own words written at the end
of the Preface are: "I have protracted my work till moſt
of thoſe whom I wiſhed to pleaſe have ſunk into the
grave, and ſucceſs and miſcarriage are empty ſounds:
I therefore diſmiſs it with frigid tranquillity, having
little to fear or hope from cenſure or from praiſe."

The _A.M._ after the author's name was procured for him
at Oxford through the good offices of his friend, the
poet-laureate, Thomas Warton, since it "was thought desirable
that these letters should appear on the title-page of the
dictionary for the credit both of himself and the university."

The publishers whose names are given in the imprint were joint
proprietors of the work, having paid Johnson 1575l. for the
copyright. "The payment included the whole work of preparing
for the press; and Johnson lost 20l. on one occasion for a
transcription of some leaves which had been written on both
sides. He employed six amanuenses, five of whom, as Boswell is
glad to record, were Scotsmen ... they received 23s. a week,
which he agreed to raise to 2l. 2s., not, it is to be hoped,
out of the 1,575l." Boswell would lead us to think that even
if these extras did come out of Johnson's pocket, he was not
dissatisfied. "I once said to him, "I am sorry, sir, you did
not get more for your Dictionary." His answer was "I am
sorry too. But it was very well. The booksellers are generous
liberal-minded men.""

To Andrew Millar fell the responsibility of seeing the book
through the press; and his patience, we are told, was sorely
tried by Johnson's dilatoriness. When the last sheet was
brought to him, he exclaimed: "Thank God I have done with
him!" This was repeated to Johnson, who said, with a smile: "I
am glad that he thanks God for anything."

Folio.

COLLATION: _Two volumes. Without pagination._

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

(1706-1790)

Franklin says in his _Autobiography_:

"In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the name of
_Richard Saunders_; it was continu'd by me about twenty-five
years, commonly call'd _Poor Richard's Almanac_. I endeavor'd
to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly
came to be in such demand, that I reap'd considerable profit
from it, vending annually near ten thousand...." The price
was five pence. So great was its popularity that it was found
necessary to issue three editions in the first month. In 1747
we are told in a note, "This Almanack us'd to contain but 24
Pages, and now has 36; yet the Price is very little advanc'd,"
and to fit the new conditions the title was changed to _Poor
Richard Improved_.

The _Almanac_, whose title-page is here facsimiled, was the
last of the series edited by Franklin. A collection of the
proverbial sentences which had "filled all the little spaces
that occur'd between the remarkable days in the calendar" in
former issues, were collected into one speech, supposed to be
delivered by an old man, named _Father Abraham_, to the
people at an auction sale. "The bringing all these scatter'd
counsells thus into a focus enabled them to make a greater
impression." The discourse was quickly reprinted, and is
famous now under various titles, _The Speech of Father
Abraham_; _The Way to Wealth_, and _La science du bonhomme
Richard_. It has been translated and reprinted oftener "than
any other work from an American pen." "Seventy editions of
it," says Mr. Paul L. Ford, "have been printed in English,
fifty-six in French, eleven in German, and nine in Italian.
It has been translated into Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Welsh,
Polish, Gaelic, Russian, Bohemian, Dutch, Catalan, Chinese,
Modern Greek and Phonetic writing. It has been printed at
least four hundred times, and is to-day as popular as ever."

Franklin borrowed for his pseudonym the name of an English
"philomath" of the seventeenth century, because, as he says,
he knew "that his name would hardly give it [the _Almanack_]
currency among readers who still looked upon it as dealing in
magic, witchcraft and astrology."

In 1747 or 1748 our author-printer entered into partnership
with David Hall, who took the sole management of the business
until 1766, when the firm was dissolved.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _36 pp._

SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE

(1723-1780)

The story of the publication of Blackstone's lectures, as
Professor of Law at Oxford, reminds us of Bacon's "orchard
ill-neighbored." The author relates the circumstances in his
preface: "For the truth is, that the preſent publication is
as much the effect of neceſſity, as it is of choice. The
notes which were taken by his hearers, haue by ſome of them
(too partial to his favour) been thought worth reuiſing and
tranſcribing, and theſe tranſcripts haue been frequently
lent to others. Hence copies haue been multiplied, in their
nature imperfect, if not erroneous; ſome of which haue
fallen into mercenary hands, and become the object of
clandeſtine ſale. Having therefore ſo much reaſon to
apprehend a ſurreptitious impreſſion, he choſe rather
to ſubmit his own errors to the world, than to ſeem
anſwerable for thoſe of other men."

The volumes were not all issued at once, but followed one
another at different times during a period of four years. They
were printed at the Clarendon Press, which Blackstone, when
appointed a delegate in 1755, had "found languishing in a lazy
obscurity," and whose quickening was in no small measure due
to his "repeated conferences with the most eminent masters, in
London and other places, with regard to the mechanical part
of printing," his recommendations, and to his own examples of
good typography supplied in the _Magna Charta_, published in
1759, and in this his _magnum opus_.

The wonderful success of the work is attested by the number
of its editions. A second was issued in 1768, and six more
appeared before the author's death. From then until now, it
has been frequently reprinted. Blackstone is reputed to have
received from the sale of the _Commentaries_, and from his
lectures, about £14,000.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _Four volumes._

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

(1728-1774)

Boswell, Mrs. Piozzi, Sir John Hawkins and others have given
slightly different versions of the well-known story of the
sale of the manuscript of the _Vicar_; but aside from throwing
light on the character of Goldsmith, none of them have
helped us to a definite understanding of the transaction. The
earliest account was written by Mrs. Piozzi in 1786, under the
title of _Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D., during
the last Twenty Years of his Life_. At pp. 119-120 she says:

"I have forgotten the year, but it could scarcely I think be
later than 1765 or 1766, that he [Johnson] was called abruptly
from our house after dinner, and returning in about three
hours, ſaid, he had been with an enraged author, whose
landlady pressed him for payment within doors, while the
bailiffs beset him without; that he was drinking himself drunk
with Madeira to drown care, and fretting over a novel which
when finished was to be his whole fortune; but he could not
get it done for distraction, nor could he step out of doors to
offer it to sale. Mr. Johnson therefore set away the bottle,
and went to the bookseller, recommending the performance, and
desiring some immediate relief, which when he brought back
to the writer, he called the woman of the house directly to
partake of punch, and pass the time in merriment."

Boswell adds, in his account, that Johnson sold the novel for
£60. There seems to be no evidence to prove this, nor yet to
show who bought it. It has generally been supposed that the
publisher, "F. Newbery," or his uncle, John Newbery, with whom
he was inseparably connected, was the purchaser, until Mr.
Charles Welsh made the discovery which he relates in his _A
Bookseller of the Last Century_. He says:

"In a book marked 'Account of copies, their cost and value,
1764,' I find the following entry:--"'Vicar of Wakefield,'
2 vols. 12mo., 1/3 rd. B. Collins, Salisbury, bought of Dr.
Goldsmith, the author, October 28, 1762, £21.""

From this entry of Collins, the Salisbury printer, we may
conclude that the amount Johnson is said to have received for
the distressed author (from Newbery, perhaps) was an advance
on the unfinished story; and that Collins bought his third
interest some time afterward. In 1785, when Collins sold out
his interest, Mr. Strahan owned one third, and Carnan and
Newbery the other third.

There are several circumstances, besides the date given by
Collins, which show that the _Vicar_ was sold, in whole or in
part, at least four years before it was published, and not a
few months before, as Mrs. Piozzi thought. The occasion for
the delay has been explained in various ways. One explanation
is that it was held back until the _Traveller_, which came out
in 1765, should have increased the author's reputation. It may
have been, as Johnson told Boswell, that the publishers were
afraid that the book would not sell. Certainly the results
would seem to bear them out in any doubts they may have had of
its financial success. Mr. Welsh says:

"All the writers who have spoken of the "Vicar of Wakefield"
have jumped to the conclusion that it brought a golden harvest
to its publishers.... The first three editions ... resulted in
a loss and the fourth, which was not issued until eight years
after the first, started with a balance against it of £2 16s.
6d., and it was not until the fourth edition had been sold
that the balance came out on the right side."

After being three months in the press, the book appeared March
27, 1766. The advertisement in the _Public Advertiser_ reads:
"This Day is publiſhed, In two Volumes in Twelves, Price
6s. bound, or 5s. ſewed, The Vicar of Wakefield, A Tale.
Supposed to be written by Himself. 'Seperate [ſic] miſere
cavete f[oe]lices.' Printed for F. Newbery, at the Crown in
Pater-Noſter Row, of whom may be had, Price 1s. 6d. The
Traveller, or, a Proſpect of Society, a Poem. By Dr.
Goldsmith." The author's name was signed to the preface, or
"Advertisement" of the book, so it was not really anonymous,
as the title-page and newspaper advertisement would lead us
to think. If it was not a financial success the tale seems to
have met with popular favor. The second edition, bearing the
imprint _London: Printed for F. Newbery, in Pater-Noster-Row,
MDCCLXVI._, was issued May 31, and the third on August 29.
Ninety-six editions were issued before 1886, and there are
translations in every European language.

This Francis Newbery, as we have said, was nephew and
successor to John Newbery. The elder man combined a successful
business in the publishing of books with the sale of quack
medicines,--not an unusual thing in those days. His list of
nostrums contained over thirty medicines, among them being
Dr. James's Fever Powder, Dr. Steer's Oil for Convulsions, Dr.
Harper's Female Pills, and a certain Cordial Cephalic Snuff.
His book-selling ventures demand more than passing mention,
since he really introduced "the regular system of a Juvenile
Library, and gave children books in a more permanent form than
the popular chap-books of the period,"--delightful books of
which more than one writer has spoken with affection. The
general character of the stories, splendidly bound in flowered
and gilt Dutch papers, may be gathered from a few of their
titles: _The History of Little Goody Two Shoes_, _The Renowned
History of Giles Gingerbread_, and _Blossoms of Morality_.

Newbery's publishing ventures were not confined to children's
books, by any means; his name gains additional luster by
appearing on the title-pages of several of Goldsmith's works.
Francis was mostly a reflection of his enterprising uncle, but
his connection with the _Vicar of Wakefield_ will ever cause
him to be remembered.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _2 ll., 214 pp._ Volume II:
_1 l., 223 pp._

LAURENCE STERNE

(1713-1768)

The real journey immortalized in the story was made in
October, 1765; in December, 1767, two volumes were completed,
and on February 27, the work was published at five shillings
for the two volumes. On the eighteenth of March, Sterne died.

Yorick, in _Tristram Shandy_, was represented as an
Englishman, descended from the Yorick of Shakespeare, "a
fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." Sterne also
used the pseudonym in his _Sermons by Mr. Yorick_, published
in 1760, so that the authorship of this book was probably
never in doubt. "The lively, witty, sensitive and heedless
parson," was, as Sir Walter Scott says, "the well-known
personification of Sterne himself."

Fitzgerald tells us in his biography of Sterne, that it was
the author's first thought to have the volume a stately quarto
with handsome margins, costing a half-guinea, but that he
finally decided to use the _Shandy_ size, which had become a
favorite with the public. The book, which is without ornament,
except for an engraving on copper of a coat of arms (Sterne's
book-plate), in the second volume, is a good specimen of the
best typography of the period. Large paper copies also
were issued. The first volume begins with a long list of
"Subscribers," the names starred being down for "Imperial
Paper."

Thomas Becket lived to be ninety-three years old, long enough,
as Charles Knight remarks, to see many revolutions in
literary taste; long enough, in fact, to see Sterne, his most
successful author, go out of fashion. He was an assistant to
Andrew Millar, before he became De Hondt's partner. It was
he who published the famous anonymous book, _The Pursuits of
Literature_ by Mathias, which had the distinction of running
into fourteen editions.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I, _xx, 203 pp._ Volume II,
2 _ll., 208 pp._

THE FEDERALIST

"The papers under the title of "Federalist," and signature of
"Publius," were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,
and John Jay, in the latter part of the year 1787 and the
former part of the year 1788. The immediate object of them
was, to vindicate and recommend the new Constitution to the
State of New York, whose ratification of the instrument was
doubtful, as well as important. The undertaking was proposed
by A. Hamilton (who had probably consulted Mr. Jay and others)
to J. M., who agreed to take a part in it. The papers were
originally addressed to the people of N. York, under the
signature of a "Citizen of New York." This was changed for
that of "Publius," the first name of Valerius Publicola. A
reason for the change was, that one of the writers was not
a Citizen of that State; another, that the publication had
diffused itself among most of the other States. The papers
were first published at New York in a newspaper printed by
Francis Childs, at the rate, during great part of the time,
at least, of four numbers a week; and notwithstanding this
exertion, they were not compleated till a large proportion of
the States had decided on the Constitution. They were edited
as soon as possible in two small volumes, the preface to the
first volume, drawn up by Mr. Hamilton, bearing date N. York,
March, 1788...." This from Madison in a letter to Mr. Paulding
at Washington, dated July 24, 1818.

The first seven papers appeared under the title _The
F[oe]deralist. No. 1. To the People of the State of New York_,
in _The Independent Journal_, and many of the succeeding
numbers first came out in that paper: some were issued in _The
New York Packet_, two appeared in _The Daily Advertiser_, six
appeared simultaneously in two or more papers, and nine were
not published until the whole was collected in book form.

Mr. Paul Leicester Ford, in his _Bibliotheca Hamiltoniana_,
gives Jay credit for five numbers; "Madison numbers 10, 14, 37
to 48 inclusive; numbers 18, 19 and 20 are the joint work of
Madison and Hamilton; numbers 49 to 58, 62 and 63 are claimed
by both Madison and Hamilton; the rest of the numbers are by
Hamilton."

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I, _vi, 227 pp._ Volume II, _vi,
384 pp._

TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT

(1721-1771)

_Roderick Random_, Smollett's first book, had appeared in
1748. The greater part of _Humphry Clinker_ was written in
the autumn of 1770, when its author was dying. He "had the
satisfaction of seeing his masterpiece, but not of hearing the
chorus of praise that greeted it."

Some copies of the first volume have, as in this instance, an
error in the date, 1671 being printed for 1771.

Collins, as we have seen, was associated with Francis Newbery
in the publication of _The Vicar of Wakefield_, and he was
also associated with nephew and uncle in the sale of Dr.
James's Fever Powder, and the manufacture of the celebrated
_Cordial Cephalic Snuff_. We are fortunate in having his
orderly and well-kept account books, in one of which is the
following entry, worthy of a place here, and at length:

From B. Collins' Publishing Book.

Account Of Books Printed, And Shares Therein.

No. 3. 1770 To 1785.

Humphrey Clinker: A Novel, 3 vols. 12mo.

Of which I have one moiety, in partnership with Mr. William
Johnston, London.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes._

ADAM SMITH

(1723-1790)

It is doubtful if any English book were ever longer in being
put to press than this one. Mr. John Rae, in his life of
Smith, says he took twelve years to write it, and that it was
in contemplation twelve years before that. It was explicitly
and publicly promised in the concluding paragraph of _The
Theory of Moral Sentiments_, which appeared in 1759.

Nothing definite is known of the terms on which the author
parted with the work to his publishers, but it is thought to
have been sold outright. It is estimated that Strahan paid
five hundred pounds for the first edition, and that he
published later editions at half profit. The selling price of
the first edition was £1 16s. The edition was exhausted in six
months, but the number of copies is unknown.

Beginning as a printer, in which capacity we have already seen
him in connection with Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, Strahan rose
rapidly to eminence as a publisher, figuring prominently
in the ventures of Hume, Gibbon, Robertson, Blackstone,
and Blair. He introduced into his dealings with his clients
amenities unknown before. His pecuniary successes, as in this
case, enabled him to set up the coach which Dr. Johnson said
was a credit to literature.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _6 ll., 510 pp._ Volume II:
_2 ll., 587 pp._

EDWARD GIBBON

(1737-1794)

We are fortunate in having an account of the publication of
this work written by Gibbon himself. In June, 1775, he says:

"The volume of my history, which had been somewhat delayed by
the novelty and tumult of a first session, was now ready for
the press. After the perilous adventure had been declined by
my timid friend Mr. Elmsley, I agreed, on very easy terms,
with Mr. Thomas Cadell, a respectable bookseller, and Mr.
William Strahan, an eminent printer; and they undertook the
care and risk of the publication, which derived more credit
from the name of the shop than from that of the author. The
last revisal of the proofs was submitted to my vigilance;
and many blemishes of style, which had been invisible in
the manuscript, were discovered and corrected in the
printed sheet. So moderate were our hopes, that the original
impression had been stinted to five hundred, till the number
was doubled by the prophetic taste of Mr. Strahan. During this
awful interval I was neither elated by the ambition of fame,
nor depressed by the apprehension of contempt. My diligence
and accuracy were attested by my own conscience...."

It was on the 17th of February that the first volume of the
great work finally "declined into the World," as the author
expressed it. Its success was immediate. "I am at a loss how
to describe the success of the work without betraying the
vanity of the writer. The first impression was exhausted in a
few days; a second and third edition were scarcely adequate to
the demand, and the bookseller's property was twice invaded by
the pyrates of Dublin. My book was on every table, and almost
on every toilette...."

The second edition was called for in 1776. On May 20th Gibbon
writes to J. B. Holroyd:

"In about a fortnight I again launch into the World in the
shape of a quarto Volume. The dear Cadell assures me that he
never remembered so eager and impatient a demand for a second
Edition." And again in June he writes to the same: "The 1500
Copies are moving off with decent speed, and the obliging
Cadell begins to mutter something of a third Edition for next
year." This third edition did not, however, appear until 1782.

In June, 1780, we find our author busy revising and correcting
for the press the second and third volumes of the first
edition, both of which appeared the next year. Under date of
April 13, 1781, he writes to his stepmother:

"The reception of these two volumes has been very unlike that
of the first, and yet my vanity is so very dextrous, that I
am not displeased with the difference. The effects of novelty
could no longer operate, and the public was not surprised by
the unexpected appearance of a new and unknown author. The
progress of these two volumes has hitherto been quiet and
silent. Almost everybody that reads has purchased, but few
persons (comparatively) have read them; and I find that the
greatest number, satisfied that they have acquired a valuable
fund of entertainment, differ the perusal to the summer, the
country, and a more quiet period. Yet I have reason to think,
from the opinion of some judges, that my reputation has
not suffered by this publication. The Clergy (such is the
advantage of a total loss of character) commend my decency
and moderation: but the patriots wish to down the work and the
author."

The concluding volumes were delayed for various reasons as
Gibbon said to Lord Sheffield in July, 1786: "A book takes
more time in making than a pudding." In June, 1787, he says:
"I am building a great book, which, besides the three stories
already exposed to the public eye, will have three stories
more before we reach the roof and battlement," and promises
that, with the diligence and speed then exerted, he hopes to
be able to have the work ready for the press in August, or
perhaps July. In an earlier letter he says:

"About a month ago I had a voluntary, and not unpleasing
Epistle from Cadell; he informs me that he is going to print
a new octavo edition, the former being exhausted, and that the
public expect with impatience the conclusion of the excellent
work, whose reputation and sale increases every day, etc. I
answered him by the return of the post, to inform him of the
period and extent of my labours, and to express a reasonable
hope that he would set the same value on the three last as he
had done on the three former Volumes. Should we conclude in
this easy manner a transaction as honourable to the author
and bookseller, my way is clear and open before; in pecuniary
matters I think I am assured for the rest of my life of never
troubling my friends, or being troubled myself; a state to
which I aspire, and which I indeed deserve, if not by my
management, at least by moderation."

The publishers had allowed Gibbon two thirds of the profits
for the first volume, which amounted on the first edition
to £490. In a letter written in 1788, to his stepmother, he
refers again to his relations with Cadell: "The public, where
it costs them nothing, are extravagantly liberal; yet I will
allow with Dr. Johnson 'that booksellers in this age are not
the worst patrons of literature.'" Allibone tells us that
the historian's "profit on the whole is stated to have been
£6,000, whilst the booksellers netted the handsome sum of
£60,000."

The sixth volume was finished June 27, 1787, and was published
with the fourth and fifth in April, 1788. Gibbon says:

"The impression of the fourth volume had consumed three
months; our common interest required that we should move with
quicker pace, and Mr. Strahan fulfilled his engagement, which
few printers could sustain, of delivering every week three
thousand copies of nine sheets. The day of publication was,
however, delayed, that it might coincide with the fifty-first
anniversary of my own birthday: the double festival was
celebrated by a cheerful literary dinner at Mr. Cadell's
house, and I seemed to blush while they read an elegant
compliment from Mr. Haley."

John Hall, historical engraver to George III, and one of the
engravers of the plates for Alderman Boydell's collection,
executed the portrait of Gibbon, after Sir Joshua Reynolds,
which faces the title-page of our first volume. The plate was
issued separately in 1780, Cadell having "strenuously urged
the curiosity of the public" as a reason for its immediate
publication. It was most appropriate to introduce, as he did,
the vignettes emblematic of Rome.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _Six volumes._

RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN

(1751-1816)

The first performance of the play occurred May 8, 1777, at
the Drury Lane Theatre, which had been opened under Sheridan's
management the previous year. A publisher immediately offered
five hundred guineas for a corrected copy of the comedy, and
Sheridan promised to prepare it for the press; but Mr. W.
Fraser Rae tells us that when importuned for the revised
manuscript Sheridan "always replied that he had never been
able to satisfy himself as to the version which he wished
to be published, and the comedy, with any of his final
corrections, has not yet been given to the world."

The Ewling edition was printed from an acting copy which
Sheridan had given to his sister, Mrs. LeFanu of Dublin, who,
for one hundred guineas and free admission to the theater for
herself and family, had let it go to Mr. Roger of the Theatre
Royal. A dated edition appeared in Dublin in 1781.

The omission of the author's name from the title-page recalls
the foolish statement made by Dr. Watkins on the authority of
Isaac Reed, "that the play was written by a young lady, the
daughter of a merchant in Thames Street [whose name and the
number of whose house are judiciously withheld], that, at
the beginning of the season when Mr. Sheridan commenced
his management, the manuscript was put into his hands for
judgment, soon after which the fair writer, who was then in a
stage of decline, went to Bristol Hot Wells, where she died."

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _vi, 93 pp., 1 l._

WILLIAM COWPER

(1731-1800)

In October, 1784, William Cawthorne Unwin,

"A friend whose worth deserves as warm a lay
As ever friendship penned,"

received from Cowper "four quires of verse" with the request
that it might be read by him and, if approved, conveyed to
Joseph Johnson, the publisher of Cowper's first volume.

"If, when you make the offer of my book [_The Task_], to
Johnson, he should stroke his chin, and look up at the ceiling
and cry 'Humph!', anticipate him, I beseech you, at once
by saying 'that you know I should be sorry that he should
undertake for me to his own disadvantage, or that my volume
should be in any degree pressed upon him. I make him the offer
merely because I think he would have reason to complain of
me if I did not.' But, that punctilio once satisfied, it is a
matter of indifference to me what publisher sends me forth."
Johnson, however, accepted.

"My imagination tells me," says Cowper to Unwin, "(for I know
you interest yourself in the success of my productions) that
your heart fluttered when you approached his door, and that it
felt itself discharged of a burthen when you came out again."

The "Advertisement," or preface, accounting for _The Task_, is
worth reprinting. It runs:

"The hiſtory of the following production is briefly this. A
lady, fond of blank verſe, demanded a poem of that kind from
the author, and gave him the SOFA for a ſubject. He obeyed;
and having much leiſure, connected another ſubject
with it; and purſuing the train of thought to which his
ſituation and turn of mind led him, brought forth at length,
inſtead of the trifle which he at firſt intended, a
ſerious affair--a Volume."

The lady, who was Cowper's friend, Lady Austin, was also
responsible for _John Gilpin_, for it was from her that
the poet first heard the tale. It is said that he wrote the
outline that night and sent it to _The Public Advertiser_,
anonymously, the next morning; but, in fact, it appeared in
November, 1782. It had a great success in the newspapers, and
in pamphlet form, and Henderson, the actor, gave it further
vogue by his recitations.

"I have not been without thoughts of adding 'John Gilpin' at
the tail of all," wrote Cowper, while _The Task_ was in press.
"He has made a good deal of noise in the world; and perhaps it
may not be amiss to show, that though I write generally with a
serious intention, I know how to be occasionally merry."

There was some discussion between the poet and the publisher,
as to the propriety of putting poems so different in character
into the same volume. The poet says to Mr. Newton: "I should
blame nobody, not even my intimate friends, and those who
have the most favorable opinion of me, were they to charge the
publication of John Gilpin, at the end of so much solemn and
serious truth, to the score of the author's vanity; and to
suspect that, however sober I may be upon proper occasions, I
have yet that itch of popularity that would not suffer me to
sink my title to a jest that had been so successful. But
the case is not such. When I sent the copy of the _Task_ to
Johnson, I desired, indeed, Mr. Unwin to ask him the question,
whether or not he would choose to make it a part of the
volume. This I did merely with a view to promote the sale of
it. Johnson answered, 'By all means.' Some months afterward,
he enclosed a note to me in one of my packets, in which he
expressed a change of mind, alleging, that to print John
Gilpin would only be to print what had been hackneyed in every
magazine, in every shop, and at the corner of every street.
I answered, that I desired to be entirely governed by his
opinion; and that if he chose to waive it, I should be better
pleased with the omission. Nothing more passed between us
on the subject, and I concluded that I should never have the
immortal honor of being generally known as the author of John
Gilpin. In the last packet, however, down came John, very
fairly printed, and equipped for public appearance. The
business having taken this turn, I concluded that Johnson had
adopted my original thought, that it might prove advantageous
to the sale; and as he had had the trouble and expense of
printing it, I corrected the copy, and let it pass."

The book appeared in June, having now grown into a volume of
poems, containing, as the title-page shows, four works, paged
continuously. It cost four shillings, in boards. The volume
was a great success, and two issues were made in the same
year. These show several variations, but chiefly in the
arrangement of the pages. A half-title, found in some copies,
and thought to belong only to late issues, reads: _Poems,
By William Cowper, Esq. Vol. II_. Herein we may possibly see
Johnson's afterthought to make the book a second volume to the
collection of _Poems_ issued in 1782, and referred to in the
advertisement on the last page: "Lately publiſhed by the
ſame Author, in one Volume of this Size. Price 4s. ſewed."
It would have been a shrewd plan thus to make the successful
later volume carry the unsuccessful earlier.

Cowper gave the copyright to Johnson, who afterward, when the
work proved so successful, would have allowed him to take back
his gift, but Cowper refused.

This Johnson was also the publisher of Horne Tooke, Fuseli,
Bonnycastle, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Miss Edgeworth. He, as
well as his successor, Rowland Hunter, was a dissenter, and
the building which he occupied, we are told, was "plain and
unadorned, befitting the head-quarters of the bookselling of
Protestant Dissent." Charles Knight, in _Shadows of the
Old Booksellers_, has a paragraph, which must be quoted in
connection with the appearance of Johnson's books.

"With wire-wove hot-pres'd paper's glossy glare,
Blind all the wise, and make the stupid stare."

The publisher of Cowper was an exception to his brother
publishers of that day, who are addressed in these lines.
Aikin says of him, "It is proper to mention that his true
regard for the interests of literature rendered him an enemy
to that typographical luxury which, joined to the necessary
increase of expense in printing, has so much enhanced the
price of new books as to be a material obstacle to the
indulgence of a laudable and reasonable curiosity to the
reading public."

It is quite certain that in making the _Task_ he did not sin
against these principles of philanthropy, even if he sinned
against many of the rules of good book-making.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _4 ll., 359 pp._

ROBERT BURNS

(1759-1796)

One of Burns's warmest friends, Gavin Hamilton, advised him to
publish his poems in order to get enough money to emigrate
to Jamaica, where it was hoped he would escape from the
complications incident upon his love affair with Jean Armour.
In the preface Burns tells us that none of the poems was
written with a view to publication, but as a counterpoise to
the troubles of the world.

The _Proposals For Publishing By Subscription, Scottish Poems,
By Robert Burns_, only one copy of which is known, appeared in
1786, and ran as follows: "The Work to be elegantly printed,
in one volume octavo. Price, stitched, Three Shillings. As the
Author has not the most distant mercenary view in publishing,
as soon as so many subscribers appear as will defray the
necessary expense, the work will be sent to Press." A stanza
of a poem by Alan Ramsay was followed by the agreement: "We
undersubscribers engage to take the above-mentioned work on
the conditions specified." The book went to press in June, and
appeared the last day of July. Six hundred and twelve copies
were printed; three hundred and fifty were taken by the
author's friends; and, by August 28, all but thirteen had been
sold. Burns cleared about twenty pounds.

In October a new edition of a thousand copies was suggested
by Burns, but the printer refused to proceed unless the author
would advance twenty-seven pounds, the price of the paper,
"But this, you know," says the luckless poet to Robert Aiken,
"is out of my power; so farewell hopes of a second edition
till I grow richer! an epocha, which, I think, will arrive at
the payment of the British National Debt."

Unlike Messrs. Dunlop and Wilson of Glasgow, to whom Burns is
said, without much authority, to have first offered the poem,
Wilson, the printer of the little volume, was not a great or
leading publisher; but he succeeded in making a volume that is
very charming in appearance, and not without reminders of the
French press-work of the period.

A copy of this book sold at the auction of the library of Mr.
A. C. Lamb of Dundee, in February, 1898, for the sum of five
hundred and seventy-two pounds, five shillings--"the most
amazing price ever realized for a modern book."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _240 pp._

GILBERT WHITE

(1720-1793)

"B. White" was Benjamin, next older brother of Gilbert, and
one of the chief publishers of books relating to natural
history. His interest in this book, therefore, must have
been more than usually great, an assumption justified by its
typographical appearance. It may, perhaps, be truly said
that, with the possible exceptions of Clarendon's History and
Percy's _Reliques_, it is the only work in our series having
special artistic merit.

Thomas Bensley was one of the first English printers to
turn his attention to printing as a fine art; and he may be
reckoned, with Bulmer, chief among the reformers of the
art. As Dibdin says, in the _Bibliographical Decameron_, he
"completed the establishment of a _self working_ press,
which prints on _both sides_ of the sheet by one and the same
operation--and throws off 900 copies in an hour! This really
seems magical. It is certainly without precedent." It was, no
doubt, with intent that Benjamin White gave the printing of
this book into such hands, and something of the sumptuousness
which afterward in Macklin's _Bible_ and Hume's _History of
England_ made Bensley famous may be seen in this work.

Our chief interest in the volume, as a piece of bookmaking,
centers in the illustrations, engraved by Peter Mazell and
Daniel Lerpinière. These comprise a vignette on the title-page
to _The Natural History_, with a line from White's own poem,
"The Invitation to Selbourne"; seven plates, one, the large
folding frontispiece, which is said to contain portraits of
four of White's friends; and a vignette on the title-page of
_The Antiquities_. They are all from drawings by a young Swiss
artist named Samuel Hieronymus Grimm, who settled in London in
1778, and was much employed in topographical work.

White's references to him in various letters give us quite
an insight into the details of making this delightful book.
Writing to Rev. John White, August 12, 1775, he says:

"Mr. Grimm, the Swiss, is still in Derbyshire; and is to
continue there and in Staffordshire 'til the end of the month.
I have made all the inquiry I can concerning this artist, as
it much behoves me to do. Mr. Tho. Mulso, and Brother Thomas,
and Benjamin, and Mr. Lort have been to his lodgings to see
his performances. They all agree that he is a man of genius;
but the two former say that he does hardly seem to stick
enough to nature; and that his trees are grotesque and
strange. Brother Benjamin seems to approve of him. They all
allow that he excels in grounds, water, and buildings. Friend
Curtis recommends a Mr. Mullins, a worker in oil-colours.
Grimm, it seems, has a way of staining his scapes with light
water-colours, and seems disposed much in scapes for light
sketchings; now I want _strong lights and shades_ and good
trees and foliage."

The inquiries seem, in the end, to have been satisfactory,
and by May the fifth of the next year the young man had been
engaged. An entry in _The Naturalists' Journal_, under date of
July 8, 1776, records: "Mr. Grimm, my artist, came from London
to take some of our finest views."

On August 9, 1776, he says:

"Mr. Grimm was with me just 28 days; 24 of which he worked
very hard, and shewed good specimens of his genius, assiduity,
and modest behaviour, much to my satisfaction. He finished
for me 12 views. He first of all sketches his scapes with a
lead-pencil; then he _pens_ them all over, as he calls it,
with india-ink, rubbing out the superfluous pencil-strokes;
then he gives a charming shading with a brush dipped in
indian-ink; and last he throws a light tinge of water-colours
over the whole. The scapes, many of them at least, looked
so lovely in their indian-ink shading, that it was with
difficulty the artist could prevail on me to permit him
to tinge them; as I feared those colours might puzzle the
engravers; but he assured me to the contrary."

In a letter to Mr. Samuel Barker, November 1, 1776, we find:

"In 24 days Mr. Grimm finished for me 12 drawings; the most
elegant of which are 1, a view of the village and hanger from
the short Lithe [the large folding frontispiece]; 2, a view of
the S. E. end of the hanger and its cottages, taken from
the upper end of the street; 3, a side view of the _old_
hermitage, with the hermit standing at the door, [the vignette
on the title-page]: this piece he is to copy again for Uncle
Harry; 4, a sweet view of the short Lithe and Dorton from the
lane beyond Peasecod's house. He took also two views of the
Church [opposite pp. 315, 323]; two views of my outlet; a view
of the Temple-Farm [opposite p. 342]; a view of the village
from the inside of the present hermitage; Hawkley hanger,
which does not prove very engaging; and a grotesque and
romantic drawing of the water-fall in the hollow bed of the
stream in Silkwood's vale to the N. E. of Berriman's house.
You need not wonder that the drawings you saw by Grimm did
not please you; for they were 3s. 6d. pieces done for a little
ready money; so there was no room for softening his trees, &c.
He is a most elegant colourist; and what is more, the use of
these fine natural stainings is altogether his own, yet his
pieces were so engaging in India-ink that it was with regret
that I submitted to have some of them coloured...." The plates
bear the legend, "Published Nov^r. 1. 1788 as the Act directs,
by B. White & Son."

The work appeared anonymously at the end of 1788, but it is
dated the next year. It was sold for one guinea, in boards.
Fifty copies were printed on large paper, with the plate on
page 3 in colors. Although it seems to have sold well, it was
the only edition issued during the author's lifetime. White
wrote to a friend in 1789: "My book is still asked for
in Fleet Street. A gent. came the other day, and said he
understood that there was a Mr. White who had lately
published two books, a good one and a bad one; the bad one
was concerning Botany Bay ['_A Voyage to New South Wales_,'
by John White (no relation), published in 1790], the better
respecting some parish."

The index, which White described when he was making it as
"an occupation full as entertaining as that of darning of
stockings," was criticised for not being full enough, a
criticism applicable to every edition issued since the first.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _1 l., v., 468 pp., 7 ll. Seven plates._

EDMUND BURKE

(1729-1797)

It was well known, long before the book appeared, that Burke
was at work upon this subject. As early as October, 1789,
he had written a letter expressing his opinion on the
revolutionary movement in France, and in this volume he
but gave in permanent form a more elaborate and careful
presentation of the same subject. Interest in the new volume
was in no way diminished, but rather increased by the delay;
and when the little book made its appearance, November 1, in
a modest unlettered wrapper of gray paper, selling for five
shillings, it created a profound impression. The King called
it "a good book, a very good book; every gentleman ought
to read it," and it ran into eleven editions, or eighteen
thousand copies, within a twelvemonth.

Our author and his publishers were well known to each other
at this time: they had issued his _A Vindication of Natural
Society_ in 1756; and he had been the conductor and chief
editor of the historical portion of their _Annual Register_
for a number of years.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _iv, 356 pp._

THOMAS PAINE

(1737-1809)

"Mr. Burke's Attack," as we have seen, appeared in November,
1790, and Paine immediately replied with the first part of
his "Answer." Joseph Johnson, who printed Cowper's _Task_,
and published for Horne Tooke, Fuseli, Bonnycastle and Miss
Edgeworth, began the work and issued a few copies, but he
became frightened at the serious outlook and gave it up. It
was then put into the hands of J. S. Jordan, of No. 166
Fleet Street, who reissued it March 13, 1791, under the
superintendence of three of Paine's friends, Paine himself
having in the meantime gone to Paris. There were a few
corrections in the spelling of some words, some passages were
softened, and a preface to the English edition, which Paine
sent back from Europe, was added to the new edition.

The success of the book was enormous, and it ran into edition
after edition. In a letter to Washington, to whom it was
dedicated, Paine says, under date of July 21, 1791:

"... I took the liberty of addressing my late work 'Rights of
Man', to you; but tho' I left it at that time to find its way
to you, I now request your acceptance of fifty copies as a
token of remembrance to yourself and my Friends. The work
has had a run beyond anything that has been published in
this Country on the subject of Government, and the demand
continues. In Ireland it has had a much greater. A letter I
received from Dublin, 10th of May, mentioned that the fourth
edition was then on sale. I know not what number of copies
were printed at each edition, except the second, which was ten
thousand....

"I have printed sixteen thousand copies; when the whole are
gone, of which there remain between three and four thousand,
I shall then make a cheap edition, just sufficient to bring in
the price of printing and paper as I did by Common Sense."

The earlier editions of the first part were made uniform
with Burke's _Reflections_, and sold, so we learn from the
half-title, for half a crown; the second edition sold for
three shillings; and the cheap edition, which was _Printed
For H. D. Symonds, Paternoster Row, M,DCC,XCII._, sold for
sixpence.

_The Gazetteer_ for January 25, contained the following
announcement: "Mr Paine, it is known, is to produce another
book this season. The composition of this is now past, and it
was given a few weeks since to two printers, whose presses it
was to go through as soon as possible. They printed about half
of it, and then, being alarmed by _some intimations_, refused
to go further. Some delay has thus occurred, but another
printer has taken it, and in the course of the next month it
will appear. Its title is to be a repetition of the former,
'The Rights of Man,' of which the words 'Part the Second,'
will show that it is a continuation."

The volume was the same size as the first part, and contained
178 pages, selling, as the half-title tells us, for three
shillings. It was dedicated to Lafayette. This part was also
issued by Symonds in a cheap edition, uniform with the first
part, which sold for sixpence.

The printer alarmed by the "intimations" was Chapman. He had
offered successively, at different stages of the publication,
£100, £500, and £1000, for the work, but Paine preferred to
keep it in his own hands, fearing, perhaps, that this was
a government attempt to suppress the book. From a financial
point of view he was wise, since, on July 4, he handed over
to the Society for Constitutional Information, £1000, which he
had already received from sales. After Chapman's withdrawal,
Jordan took up the printing, but with the understanding
that if questioned he should say that Paine was author and
publisher, and would personally answer for the work.

The fears of the printers proved anything but groundless.
The persecution, by imprisonment or fines, of those who were
connected with the publishing (printing and selling) of the
book would "astonish you", as Dr. Currie writes in 1793, "and
most of these are for offences committed many months ago. The
printer of the _Manchester Herald_ has had seven different
indictments preferred against him for paragraphs in his paper;
and six _different_ indictments for selling or disposing of
six different copies of Paine--all previous to the _trial_
of Paine. The man was opulent, supposed worth 20,000 l.; but
these different actions will ruin him, as they were intended
to do."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _1 l., 162 pp._

JAMES BOSWELL

(1740-1795)

Boswell had published, the year before, two specimens of his
work: _The Celebrated Letter from Samuel Johnson, LL.D.,
to Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, now first
published, with notes by James Boswell, Esq._, and _A
Conversation between His Most Sacred Majesty George III, and
Samuel Johnson, LL.D., illustrated with observations by
James Boswell, Esq._ They were probably issued to secure the
copyright, and sold for half a guinea apiece.

The whole matter of publication of the _Life_ was a source of
no small worry to our author. He was plunged, at that time,
in pecuniary difficulties due to the purchase of an estate for
£2500, and it seemed as if he might be obliged to accept the
offer of Robinson, the publisher, of £1000 for the copyright
of his beloved book. "But it would go to his heart," he said,
"to accept such a sum, which he considered far too low", and
he avoided the difficulty by borrowing the money. All of these
things made him very low-spirited:

"I am at present," he says, "in such bad spirits that I
have fear concerning it--that I may get no profit, nay, may
lose--that the public may be disappointed, and think that I
have done it poorly--that I may make many enemies, and
even have quarrels. But perhaps the very reverse of all may
happen."

He worked very hard over all the details connected with the
making of the book. "I am within a short walk of Mr. Malone,
who revises my 'Life of Johnson' with me. We have not yet
gone over quite a half of it, but it is at last fairly in the
press. I intended to have printed it upon what is called an
_English_ letter, which would have made it look better. I have
therefore taken a smaller type, called _Pica_, and even upon
that I am afraid its bulk will be very large." He gave much
thought to the title-page, and we are told that it was a long
time before he could be perfectly satisfied. This statement,
we are compelled to assume, refers to the literary composition
of the title, rather than to the construction of the page:
upon the latter he might have worked much longer and still
have been dissatisfied.

The work was at last delivered to the world May sixteenth (the
"Advertisement" is dated April twentieth), and was sold
for two guineas a copy. So successful was it that by August
twenty-second, 1200 out of the edition of 1700 copies were
disposed of, and the whole edition was exhausted before the
end of the year. A supplement was issued in 1793, at one
guinea; and a second edition with eight additional sheets
appeared in July of the same year.

With all Boswell's fussiness many mistakes crept into the
printing, and the book abounds in wrong paging, omission of
pages, and other things "of which," says Fitzgerald, "the
great exemplar is the first Shakespeare Folio." So bad were
these errors, indeed, that it was found necessary to issue a
small quarto volume of forty-two pages to correct them. This
pamphlet is sometimes bound up with the second edition. It is
entitled: _The | Principal Corrections and Addition | To The
First Edition Of | Mr. Boswell's Life | Of | Dr. Johnson. |
London: | Printed by Henry Baldwin, | For Charles Dilly In The
Poultry. | MDCCXCIII. | [Price Two Shillings and Sixpence.]_
"A Chronological Catalogue of the Prose Works of Samuel
Johnson, L.L.D.," is printed at the end.

Charles Dilly, the bookseller, was well known in his day.
Beloe speaks of him as "the queer little man ... characterized
by a dryness of manner peculiarly his own." He and his elder
brother, John, were famous not only for their successful
publishing ventures, but for their dinners as well. Boswell
speaks of "my worthy booksellers and friends, Messrs. Dilly,
in the Poultry, at whose hospitable and well covered table I
have seen a greater number of literary men than at any other,
except that of Sir Joshua Reynolds."

The engraved portrait of Doctor Johnson by James Heath, after
the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1756, which forms the
frontispiece to the first volume, bears the inscription:
"Samuel Johnson. From the original Picture in the
Poſseſsion of James Boswell, Esq. Publiſh'd April 10,
1791, by C. Dilly." A plate of facsimiles of Dr. Johnson's
handwriting, and another showing a "Round Robin, addreſsed
to Samuel Johnson, L.L.D., with FacSimiles of the Signatures,"
add to the interest of the second volume. Both plates were
engraved by H. Shepherd.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _xii pp., 8 ll., 516 pp._
Volume II: _1 l., 588 pp. Portrait. Two plates._

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

(1770-1850)

AND

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

(1772-1834)

In Cottle, the Bristol bookseller and poet, Wordsworth and
Coleridge found a friend whose appreciation of their genius
took a practical form. As early as 1795 we learn from a letter
of Coleridge to Thomas Poole that "Cottle has entered into an
engagement to give me a guinea and a half for every hundred
lines of poetry I write, which will be perfectly sufficient
for my maintenance, I only amusing myself on mornings; and all
my prose works he is eager to purchase." When the two poets
planned to issue a book in which Coleridge should show
"the dramatic treatment of supernatural incidents," while
Wordsworth should try to give the charm of novelty to "things
of ever[y] day," it was Cottle who bought it. He says: "A
visit to Mr. Coleridge at Stowey has been the means of my
introduction to Mr. Wordsworth, who read me many of his
Lyrical Pieces, when I perceived in them a peculiar but
decided merit. I advised him to publish them, expressing a
belief that they would be well received. I further said that
he should be at no risk; that I would give him the same sum
which I had given Mr. Coleridge and Mr. Southey, and that it
would be a gratifying circumstance to me to usher into the
world, by becoming the publisher of, the first volumes of
three such poets as Southey, Coleridge and Wordsworth--a
distinction that might never again occur to a provincial
publisher."

He gave Wordsworth thirty guineas for the copyright, and
issued the book with the following imprint: _Bristol: Printed
by Biggs and Cottle, for T. N. Longman, Paternoster Row,
London, 1798_. But this imprint did not remain upon the
title-page of the whole edition, for Cottle tells us that the
sale was so slow, and the severity of most of the reviews so
great, that its progress to oblivion seemed ordained to be as
rapid as it was certain. He parted with the largest proportion
of the five hundred at a loss, to Mr. Arch, a London
bookseller, who bound up his copies with a new title-page
bearing his name. The copies of the earlier issue are very
rare.

Shortly after the transfer, Cottle retired from business,
selling all his copyrights to Longman and Rees, far-sighted
publishers, both of whom were also Bristol men. In the
transfer the copyright of the _Lyrical Ballads_ was down in
the bill as worth nothing, whereupon Cottle begged the receipt
for the thirty guineas, and presented it to Wordsworth.

The work was entirely anonymous, with nothing to show that it
was a joint production. Coleridge's poem, _The Nightingale_,
inserted at the last minute, in place of _Lewti_, makes an
extra leaf between pages 68 and 69. It is numbered 69 (the
verso is blank), but no apparent confusion results since
the original page 69 is not numbered, in accordance with the
printer's scheme of numbering.

We catch an interesting glimpse of this poet-publisher in a
letter of Coleridge's to Robert Southey, written under date of
July 22, 1801:

"Poor Joseph! he has scribbled away both head and heart. What
an affecting essay I could write on that man's character! Had
he gone in his quiet way on a little pony, looking about him
with a sheep's-eye cast now and then at a short poem, I do
verily think from many parts of the "Malvern Hill," that he
would at last have become a poet better than many who have had
much fame, but he would be an Epic, and so

'Victorious o'er the Danes, I Alfred, preach,
Of my own forces, Chaplain-General.'"

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _viii, 68 pp., 1 l., 69-210 pp., 1 l._

WASHINGTON IRVING

(1783-1859)

Early in the year 1809 a notice in the newspapers, headed
"Distressing," announced the disappearance from his lodgings
of a "small elderly gentleman" named Knickerbocker; and
another notice, signed Seth Handaside, landlord of the
Independent Columbian Hotel, Mulberry Street, reads:

"Sir:--You have been good enough to publish in your paper a
paragraph about Mr. Diedrich Knickerbocker, who was missing
so strangely from his lodgings some time since. Nothing
satisfactory has been heard of the old gentleman since; but
a _very curious kind of a written book_ has been found in his
room in his own handwriting. Now I wish you to notice him, if
he is still alive, that if he does not return and pay off his
bill, for board and lodging, I shall have to dispose of his
Book, to satisfy me for the same."

On December 6, 1809, the actual publication of the work is
announced in the _American Citizen_:

"IS THIS DAY PUBLISHED,
BY INSKEEP AND BRADFORD--NO. 128 BROADWAY
A HISTORY OF NEW YORK.

In 2 vols. duodecimo--price 3 dollars.

"Containing an account of its discovery and settlement, with
its internal policy, manners, customs, wars, &c., &c., under
the Dutch government, furnishing many curious and interesting
particulars never before published, and which are gathered
from various manuscripts and other authenticated sources, the
whole being interspersed with philosophical speculations and
moral precepts.

"This work was found in the chamber of Mr. Diedrich
Knickerbocker, the old gentleman whose sudden and mysterious
disappearance has been noticed. It is published in order to
discharge certain debts he has left behind."

In this way Irving chose to introduce his satire to the world.
The book was put to press in Philadelphia instead of in New
York, in order the more easily to preserve its anonymous
character.

The pretence that it was a serious history was carried even
into the dedication "To the New York Historical Society," and
the work may really be described as a practical joke in book
form.

The volumes sold well, and, on the whole, were well received.
Some members of the old Dutch families of the state saw in
them a reflection upon their ancestors that they found it hard
to overlook, and Irving himself describes their indignation
against him. Mr. Pierre M. Irving tells us that he heard
his uncle say that the avails of the first edition of _The
History_ amounted to about three thousand dollars.

A narrow folded plate, in the first volume, is entitled, "New
Amsterdam (Now New-York) As it appeared about the year 1640,
while under the Dutch Government". A legend beneath the
engraving adds: "Copied from an ancient Etching of the same
size, Published by Justus Danckers at Amsterdam". The view is
often missing, being much sought after by print collectors.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _xxiii, 268 pp._ Volume II:
_1 l., 258 pp. Folded plate._

GEORGE GORDON BYRON,

SIXTH BARON

(1788-1824)

Robert Charles Dallas, a "well-meaning, self-satisfied, dull,
industrious man," Byron's friend, having read with enthusiasm
"a new attempt in the Spenserian stanza," which Byron brought
back from Italy with him, undertook to find a publisher for
it. William Miller, who afterward sold out to John Murray,
refused it on the ground that it contained "sceptical
stanzas," and that it attacked Lord Elgin as a "plunderer." To
this criticism Byron's reply is characteristic:

"REDDISH'S HOTEL, July 30th, 1811.

"SIR: I am perfectly aware of the justice of your remarks,
and am convinced that, if ever the poem is published, the same
objections will be made in much stronger terms. But as it was
intended to be a poem on _Ariosto's plan_, that _is_ to _say_
on _no plan_ at all, and, as is usual in similar cases, having
a predilection for the worst passages, I shall retain those
parts, though I cannot venture to defend them. Under these
circumstances I regret that you decline the publication, on
my own account, as I think the book would have done better in
your hands; the pecuniary part, you know, I have nothing to do
with. But I can perfectly conceive, and indeed _approve_
your reasons, and assure you my sensations are not
_Archiepiscopal_* enough as yet to regard the rejection of
my Homilies."

Murray, to whom the manuscript was next carried, was more than
willing to undertake the publication of the poem. He offered
six hundred pounds for the copyright of the first two cantos;
but Byron, refusing to keep the money himself, presented it to
the needy Dallas. Dallas was the intermediary, at first, as we
learn from Byron's letter to him dated August 21, 1811: "I
do not think I shall return to London immediately, and shall
therefore accept freely what is offered courteously--your
mediation between me and Murray." Again, in a letter to
Murray, August 23, 1811, he says: "My friend, Mr. Dallas,
has placed in your hands a manuscript poem written by me in
Greece, which he tells me you do not object to publishing."

The relations between Murray and Byron form one of the most
interesting chapters in the history of bookselling, redounding
equally to the credit of each. In a letter to the publisher,
dated September 5, 1811, the poet says: "The time seems to be
past when (as Dr. Johnson said) a man was certain to 'hear
the truth from his bookseller,' for you have paid me so many
compliments, that if I was not the veriest scribbler on earth,
I should feel affronted." Murray in one letter asked him to
"obviate" some expressions concerning Spain and Portugal, "and
with them, perhaps, some religious feelings which may deprive
me of some customers amongst the _Orthodox_," but Byron
refused to change anything, saying: "As for the '_Orthodox_'
let us hope they will buy, on purpose to abuse--you will
forgive the one if they do the other."

The following extracts give us an insight into our author's
feelings about the appearance and make-up of his book.
Speaking of its form, he says: "He [Murray] wants to have
it in a quarto, which is a cursed unsaleable size; but it is
pestilent long, and one must obey one's publisher." And to
Murray himself he writes in answer to a very natural question:
"... The printer may place the notes in his _own way_, or any
_way_, so that they are not in _my way_. I care nothing about
types or margins."

The use of the poet's name on the title-page caused some
discussion, as we see from a letter to Dallas already quoted:
"I don't think my name will answer the purpose, and you must
be aware that my plaguey Satire will bring the north and south
Grub Street down upon the _Pilgrimage_;--but, nevertheless, if
Murray makes a point of it, and you coincide with him, I
will do it daringly; so let it be entitled 'By the author of
_English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_...." There was another
reason why he did not want his name to appear: "Has Murray
shown the work to any one? He may--but I will have no traps
for applause ... I much wish to avoid identifying _Childe
Harold's_ character with mine, and that, in sooth, is my
second objection to my name appearing in the title-page."
Later, however, as we see, he gave way on this point.

We are indebted to Smiles, in his memoirs of John Murray, for
a vivid picture of Byron as a book-maker.

"He afterwards looked in [at 32, Fleet Street] from time
to time, while the sheets [of _Childe Harold_] were passing
through the press, fresh from the fencing rooms of Angelo and
Jackson. He used to amuse himself by renewing his practice of
_Carte et Tierce_, with his walking-cane directed against the
book-shelves, while Murray was reading passages from the poem
with occasional ejaculations of admiration, on which Byron
would say, 'You think that a good idea, do you, Murray?'
Then he would fence and lunge with his walking stick at some
special book which he had picked out on the shelves before
him. As Murray afterwards said, 'I was often very glad to get
rid of him!'"

The poem, that is, two Cantos of it, was published March 1,
1812, in an edition of five hundred copies, which were
all sold in three days. We hear from Elizabeth, Duchess of
Devonshire, that "the subject of conversation, of curiosity,
of enthusiasm, almost, one might say, of the moment is not
Spain, or Portugal, Warriors or Patriots, but Lord Byron!" "He
returned," she continues, "sorry for the severity of some
of his lines (in the _English Bards_), and with a new poem,
_Childe Harold_, which he published. This poem is on every
table, and himself courted, visited, flattered, and praised
whenever he appears. He has a pale, sickly, but handsome
countenance, a bad figure, and, in short, he is really the
only topic almost of every conversation--the men jealous of
him, the women of each other."

Thomas Davison, the printer of the book, was also responsible
for many of the volumes of Campbell, Moore and Wordsworth,
but he is known chiefly for his fine edition of Whitaker's
_History of Richmondshire_, Rogers's _Italy_, and Dugdale's
_Monasticon Anglicanum_. Timperley speaks of the singular
beauty and correctness of his works, which brought about him
a "connection" of the most respectable publishers of the day,
and he adds: "By improvements which he made in printing
ink, (a secret of which he had for a long time the exclusive
possession) and other merits, he acquired great celebrity; and
few indeed of his competitors, could approach the characters
of what issued from his press."

"For equal accuracy and beauty, let the palm be extended to
Davison and Moyes," cries Mr. Dibdin in _The Bibliographical
Decameron_. In a note he adds: "Mr. Davison is both an
excellent and an elegant printer. His _Gil Blas_, published
by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, and Co. is quite worthy of the
beautiful engravings with which that edition is adorned: but
his _Arabian Nights_, by Scott, 1811, in 6 octavo volumes, is,
to my eye, a more exquisite performance."

Early in their intercourse Murray had said to Byron: "Could
I flatter myself that these suggestions were not obtrusive,
I would hazard another, in an earnest solicitation that your
lordship would add the two promised Cantos, and complete the
_Poem_." But the volume containing the third Canto was not
issued until 1816, when Murray paid £2000 for it. The fourth
Canto, in a much thicker volume, came out two years afterward,
and for this £2100 were received by the poet. The second
volume sold for 5s. 6d., and the last for 12s.

Byron must have carried his point about the size, for these
last volumes were issued in octavo.

Quarto.

COLLATION: _vi pp., 1 l., 226 pp. Facsimile._

* Alluding to Gil Blas and the Archbishop of Grenada.

JANE AUSTEN

(1775-1817)

Egerton published _Sense and Sensibility_ in 1811, while
_Pride and Prejudice_ (originally named _First Impressions_),
which had been finished in August, 1797, was first offered by
Miss Austen's father to Cadell, the famous publisher, in the
following letter:

"Sir,--I have in my possession a manuscript novel, comprising
3 vols., about the length of Miss Burney's 'Evelina.' As I am
well aware of what consequence it is that a work of this sort
sh^{d} make its first appearance under a respectable name, I
apply to you. I shall be much obliged, therefore, if you will
inform me whether you choose to be concerned in it, what will
be the expense of publishing it at the author's risk, and
what you will venture to advance for the property of it, if on
perusal it is approved of. Should you give any encouragement,
I will send you the work.

"Steventon, near Overton, Hants.

"1^{st}. Nov. 1797."

Cadell refused the book without reading it, and it was finally
carried to Egerton, who accepted the story and made it into an
attractive volume, although Gifford, who afterward read it for
Murray with a view to publishing _Emma_, tells us that it
was "--wretchedly printed, and so pointed as to be almost
unintelligible."

_Mansfield Park_ and _Emma_, like her two earlier novels, were
issued anonymously during Miss Austen's lifetime. Though the
author's name was an open secret, it did not appear in any of
her books until the year after her death, when her brother,
Henry Austen, announced it in a short biographical notice
prefixed to _Northanger Abbey_ and _Persuasion_.

One hundred and fifty pounds were received from the sale of
_Sense and Sensibility_, and less then seven hundred pounds
from the sale of all four books issued before the two novels
of 1818.

The work, "my own darling child," as Miss Austen called it,
appeared in January, and she says of it: "There are a few
typical errors; and a 'said he,' or a 'said she,' would
sometimes make the dialogue more immediately clear; but 'I
do not write for such dull elves' as have not a great deal
of ingenuity themselves. The second volume is shorter than I
could wish; but the difference is not so much in reality, as
in look."

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes._

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

(1772-1834)

Coleridge, writing to his wife, April 4, 1803, says: "To-day I
dine again with Sotheby. He had informed me that ten gentlemen
who have met me at his house desired him to solicit me to
finish the 'Christabel,' and to permit them to publish it for
me; and they engaged that it should be in paper, printing,
and decorations the most magnificent thing that had hitherto
appeared. Of course I declined it. The lovely lady shan't come
to that pass! Many times rather would I have it printed at
Soulby's on the true ballad paper. However, it was civil, and
Sotheby is very civil to me."

It was not until May 8, 1816, that the still unfinished poem
of _Christabel_ was offered to Murray, who, upon Byron's
recommendation, so Lamb tells us, agreed to take it, paying
seventy guineas for it, "until the other poems shall be
completed, when the copyright shall revert to the author."
_Christabel_ is in two parts. The "three parts yet to come,"
and which Coleridge in the Preface said he hoped would be
finished in the present year, never appeared. _Kubla Khan; Or
A Vision In A Dream_ is prefaced by a short introduction.
The seventy guineas Coleridge turned over to a needy friend.
Murray also gave "£20 for permission to publish the other
fragment of a poem, _Kubla Khan_, but which the author should
not be restricted from publishing in any other way that he
pleased."

We may not pass over this book, modest as it is in appearance,
without giving a quotation from the voluble Dibdin on the
merits of its printer and his press, "The Shakespeare Press."
"Trivial as the theme may appear," says he, "there are some
very reasonable folks who would prefer an account of this
eminent press to the 'History of the Seven Years War:' and I
frankly own myself to be of that number. Nor is it--with due
deference be it said to William Bulmer & Co.--from the
least admiration of the _exterior_ or _interior_ of this
printing-office that I take up my pen in behalf of it; but
because it has effectually contributed to the promotion of
belles-lettres, and national improvement in the matter of
puncheon and matrix."

Dibdin might have said more, without exaggeration; some of
the chief glories of English typography came from the hands of
William Bulmer & Co., works like the edition of Shakespeare
of Alderman Boydell; _The Poetical Works of John Milton_, in
three volumes, with engravings after designs by R. Westall;
Goldsmith's _Traveller_ and _Deserted Village_, with
engravings upon wood by Thomas Bewick; Somerville's _Chase_,
with engravings by John and Thomas Bewick; Forster's edition
of _The Arabian Nights' Entertainments_ in five volumes, with
illustrations after Smirke's designs; and last, but not least,
Dibdin's own _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_. Specimens of printing
such as these justify Bulmer's claim that great strides had
been taken toward raising the art from the depths to which it
had fallen.

One is tempted to wonder if the ten gentlemen friends of
Sotheby, smitten by the mania for this new-found mode of
expression in book-making, could have had it in mind to issue
_Christabel_ with designs by Bewick, or Westall, or Smirke.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _vii, 64 pp., 2 ll._

SIR WALTER SCOTT

(1771-1832)

Constable offered "The Author of Waverley" £700 for its
copyright; but was told that the sum was too little if the
book succeeded, and too much if it failed. The success of
the novel, when it appeared, July 7, 1814, was enormous. One
thousand copies were sold in the first five weeks, and
six editions were necessary within the year. The whole
English-reading world waited for another book from the same
pen. _Ivanhoe_ appeared, December 18, 1819, and Mr. Leslie
Stephen says that it was "Scott's culminating success in a
book-selling sense, and marked the highest point both of his
literary and social prosperity."

The "Waverley novels" had been issued in duodecimo, but this
volume marked a change to a new size. The paper was finer than
hitherto, and the press-work much better. The price, too, was
raised from eight shillings the volume to ten. These changes
were made, Lockhart tells us, to assist the impression, which
it was thought best to create, that _Ivanhoe_ was by a new
hand; but "when the day of publication approached, [Constable]
remonstrated against this experiment, and it was accordingly
abandoned." The sale of the novel, in the early editions,
amounted to 12,000 copies. Its popularity to-day is as great
as ever.

Scott's persistence in keeping up his anonymity is well known.
In agreements with Constable a clause was introduced making
the publisher liable to a penalty of £2000 if the author's
name were revealed.

A survey of Scott's publishing ventures would hardly be
complete without a word concerning this publisher with whom
his fortunes were so inseparably connected. Curwen says: "From
1790 to 1820 Edinburgh richly deserved the honorable title of
'Modern Athens.' Her University and her High School, directed
by men preëminently fitted for their duties ... attracted and
educated a set of young men, unrivalled, perhaps, in modern
times for genius and energy, for wit and learning. Nothing,
then, was wanting to their due encouragement but a liberal
patron, and this position was speedily occupied by a publisher
who, in his munificence and venturous spirit, soon outstripped
his boldest English rival--whose one fault was, in fact,
that of always being a Mæcenas, never a tradesman." By his
liberality to writers, Constable transformed the publishing
business, and practically put it upon a new basis. He made it
possible for authors to do away with aristocratic patrons, and
to stand upon their own merits. Scott had good reason to say,
even after his disastrous participation in Constable and Co.'s
failure, "Never did there exist so intelligent and so liberal
an establishment."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes._

JOHN KEATS

(1795-1821)

The poems in this volume represent the labor of a little over
a year and a half--that is, from March, 1818, to October,
1819,--and were all written after the publication of
_Endymion_. The book was issued in the beginning of July,
and was the third, and, as it proved, the last of the poet's
works. "My book is coming out," said he, "with very low hopes,
though not spirits, on my part. This shall be my last trial;
not succeeding, I shall try what I can do in the apothecary
line." It was not lack of success, however, that led him to
discontinue the publishing line.

Among the "other poems" mentioned on the title-page is
_Hyperion. A Fragment_. The publishers, who seem to have
cordially appreciated Keats's genius, refer to it in a
special "Advertisement" placed after the title-page, and dated
Fleet-Street, June 26, 1820:

"If any apology be thought necessary for the appearance of the
unfinished poem of Hyperion, the publishers beg to state
that they alone are responsible, as it was printed at their
particular request, and contrary to the wish of the author.
The poem was intended to have been of equal length with
Endymion, but the reception given to that work discouraged the
author from proceeding."

The volume was issued in light brown paper-covered boards, at
7s. 6d., and our poet says in a letter to Charles A. Brown:
"My book has had good success among the literary people, and
I believe has a moderate sale." And again he writes on this
subject to Mr. Brown, August, 1820: "The sale of my book is
very slow, though it has been very highly rated. One of
the causes, I understand from different quarters, of the
unpopularity of this new book, is the offence the ladies take
at me. On thinking that matter over, I am certain that I have
said nothing in a spirit to displease any woman I would care
to please; but still there is a tendency to class women in my
books with roses and sweetmeats,--they never see themselves
dominant."

On the verso of the title-page of some copies, and at the
end of the book, we find _London: Printed by Thomas
Davison, Whitefriars_, a guarantee for the excellence of the
typography, the key-note of which is struck in the admirably
arranged title-page.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _3 ll., 199 pp._

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

(1792-1822)

Charles Ollier, the publisher, received the following
interesting letter from Shelley, dated at Pisa, June 8, 1821:

"Dear Sir,--You may announce for publication a poem entitled
"Adonais." It is a lament on the death of poor Keats, with
some interposed stabs on the assassins of his peace and of
his fame; and will be preceded by a criticism on "Hyperion,"
asserting the due claims which that fragment gives him to
the rank which I have assigned him. My poem is finished, and
consists of about forty Spenser stanzas. I shall send it you,
either printed at Pisa, or transcribed in such a manner as
it shall be difficult for the reviser to leave such errors as
_assist_ the obscurity of the "Prometheus." But in case I send
it printed, it will be merely that mistakes may be avoided;
[so] that I shall only have a few copies struck off in the
cheapest manner."

The latter course was finally decided upon. The manuscript was
sent to the printer at Pisa on June 16, 1821, and the first
finished copy, in a blue, ornamented paper wrapper, was
received July 13. This was not slow work, and the more
remarkable when it is known that there are very few printer's
errors in the book. This accuracy is due to the great pains
Shelley took in revising the proofs.

The volume, and especially the untrimmed copies measuring
10×7-1/2 inches, are beautiful in appearance. There is a
certain marked peculiarity in the typography, however, which
is explained by Mr. Forman in this way: "The frequent dashes,
which seem to have exactly the value usual with Shelley, are
all double the usual length, except in two instances. The fact
is that, in Shelley's bold writing, these dashes _were_ very
long: the English printers would understand this; but Didot's
people seem to have followed them literally; and the book
being boldly printed, this peculiarity would not be likely to
strike Shelley in revising."

The name of the press at Pisa is not given; the fact that the
"Types of Didot" were used does not of course necessarily mean
that the Didots had an office there, as Mr. Forman would seem
to imply.

In the preface Shelley speaks as if he had changed his mind
about issuing the criticism of _Hyperion_ with this volume, as
he planned to do in the letter to Ollier. "It is my intention
to subjoin to the London edition of this poem, a criticism
upon the claims of its lamented object to be classed among the
writers of the highest genius who have adorned our age." No
London edition is known, however.

The poem was first printed in England in the columns of
the _Literary Chronicle_ for December 1, 1821, where it was
appended to a review; but in this form stanzas XIX to XXIV
were omitted. The earliest separate reprint bears the impress
_Cambridge: Printed by W. Metcalfe, and sold by Messrs. Gee &
Bridges, Market-Hill_. MDCCCXXIX.

Two quotations from an interesting unpublished letter,
belonging to a member of the Grolier Club, show that Ollier,
who had been the publisher of most of Shelley's works, had
copies of the Pisa book for sale, shortly after it was
issued; the letter is addressed to "Meſs^r. Ollier & Co.,
Booksellers Vere Street, Bond St., London, Angleterre," and
reads:

"Bagni. July 27. 1821

"DEAR SIR

"I send you the bill of lading of the box containing Adonais:
and I send also a copy to yourself by M^r. Gisborne who
probably will arrive before the Ship.... The work I send you,
has been seen in print by M^r. Gisborne, & has excited, as it
must in every one, the deepest interest.

"Dear Sir, Yours very truly

"P. B. SHELLEY."

Quarto.

COLLATION: _25 pp._

CHARLES LAMB

(1775-1834)

"Poor Elia," says Lamb in a letter to the publisher, Taylor,
under date of July 30, 1821, "Poor Elia, the real (for I am
but a counterfeit), is dead. The fact is, a person of that
name, an Italian, was a fellow-clerk of mine at the South
Sea House thirty (not forty) years ago, when the characters
I described there existed, but had left it like myself many
years; and I, having a brother now there, and doubting how he
might relish certain descriptions in it, I clapt down the name
of Elia to it, which passed off pretty well, for Elia himself
added the function of an author to that of a scrivener, like
myself.

"I went the other day (not having seen him for a year) to
laugh over with him at my usurpation of his name, and found
him, alas! no more than a name, for he died of consumption
eleven months ago, and I knew not of it.

"So the name has fairly devolved to me, I think, and 'tis all
he has left me."

In this way our author himself accounts for the pseudonym,
which, by the way, he says should be pronounced "Ellia."

The _London Magazine, London: Printed for Baldwin, Cradock,
And Joy_, was established in January, 1820; but Taylor and
Hessey did not become its proprietors until July of the
following year, when Taylor, who was something of a writer
himself, especially on monetary subjects, acted as editor,
with Thomas Hood as sub-editor. John Scott, whom Byron
described as "a man of very considerable talents and of great
acquirements," had been called to the editorship when Lamb
began his essays, and William Hazlitt was on the staff.

The first of the series appeared in the August number,
1820, and the papers continued until October, 1822, when,
twenty-seven having been issued, they, with one other called
_Valentine's Day_, which had appeared in the _Indicator_ for
February, 1821, were collected to form this volume.

When the book was in press Lamb thought to use a dedication,
which he wrote and sent to Taylor with the following note,
dated December 7, 1822:

"Dear Sir--I should like the enclosed Dedication to be
printed, unless you dislike it. I like it. It is in the olden
style. But if you object to it, put forth the book as it is;
only pray don't let the printer mistake the word _curt_ for
_curst_.

C. L.

"On better consideration, pray omit that Dedication. The
Essays want no Preface: they are _all Preface_. A Preface is
nothing but a talk with the reader; and they do nothing else.
Pray omit it.

"There will be a sort of Preface in the next Magazine, which
may act as an advertisement, but not proper for the volume.

"Let Elia come forth bare as he was born."

The label on the paper-covered boards gives the price of the
volume as 9s. 6d., a fairish price for the neat, but in no way
remarkable piece of book-making which Thomas Davison executed
for the publishers.

Some copies of the first edition show a variation in the
imprint: Messrs. Taylor and Hessey having opened a new shop at
13, Waterloo Place, this address was printed in a line below
the old one. Occasion was also taken, at this time, to furnish
the book with a half-title.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _iv, 341 pp._

SAMUEL PEPYS

(1633-1703)

To the information given on the title-page, the noble editor
adds some further facts in a preface. He says that the six
volumes, closely written in short-hand by Pepys himself, had
formed a part of the collection of books and prints bequeathed
to Magdalen College, where they had remained unexamined (from
the date of Pepys's death) until the appointment of Lord
Braybrooke's brother, George Neville, afterwards called
Grenville, as master of the College. Under Neville's auspices
they were deciphered by Mr. Smith, whom his lordship had not
the pleasure of knowing.

Pepys used short-hand for his notes because he often had
things to say which he did not think fit for all the world to
know; and Lord Braybrooke found it "absolutely necessary" to
"curtail the MS. materially." The complete journal, all that
it is possible to print, was not issued until 1893.

Colburn, the publisher, known for his successful ventures, and
especially for the series called _Colburn's Modern Standard
Novelists_ and _The Literary Gazette_, containing works by
Bulwer Lytton, Lady Morgan, Captain Marryat, and others, had
been so fortunate with an issue of Evelyn's _Diary_ that he
was led into the present undertaking. With this edition, which
sold at six pounds six shillings, and with two succeeding
editions selling at five guineas, he is reputed to have made a
handsome profit on the twenty-two hundred pounds paid for the
copyright.

The large volumes with their broad margins are handsome
specimens of the excellent typographical work of the Bentleys.
They are embellished with two illustrations in the text,
and thirteen engraved plates. A frontispiece portrait of the
author, after the painting by Kneller, was engraved by T.
Bragg, and a smaller portrait used as a head-piece to the
Life is signed _R. W. ſculp_. This last is a copy of one of
Pepys's book-plates; it has the motto "Mens cujusque is est
Quisque" above the oval frame, and "Sam. Pepys. Car. Et.
Iac. Angl. Regib. A. Secretis Admiraliæ" in two lines below.
Another book-plate used by the Secretary is copied on the
title-page. Of the remaining portraits, one was engraved by
John Thomson, while five were the work of R. Cooper, who also
engraved the "View of the Mole at Tangier" and the "View of
Mr. Pepys' Library." The other plates, including one showing
facsimiles of Pepys's short- and long-hand; two of pedigrees,
and a folded map, are signed "Sid^y. Hall, Bury Str^t.
Bloomsb^y."

Some copies of the book on fine paper, with beautiful
impressions of the plates, are marked in red on the half-title
page, "Presentation Copies."

Quarto.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _1 l., xlii, 498, xlix pp._
Volume II: _2 ll., 348, vii, 311 pp. Seven portraits. Six plates._

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

(1789-1851)

_The Pioneers_ was the first of _The Leather Stocking Tales_.
It appeared in 1823, and was an immediate success; more than
3500 copies are said to have been sold before noon of the
day of publication. This was reason enough for following the
custom of the English novelists of putting on the title-page,
not the name of the author, but the name of his first success.
_The Last of the Mohicans_ appeared February 4, 1826, and was
also a prodigious success.

The surprising meagerness of bibliographical facts concerning
Cooper's works is, Professor Lounsbury says in his life of
the novelist, characteristic of a reticence and dislike of
publicity which extended to all his dealings. "The size of the
editions has never been given to the public. The sale of 'The
Pioneers' on the morning of its publication has already been
noticed, and there are contemporary newspaper statements to
the effect that the first edition of 'The Red Rover' consisted
of five thousand copies, and that this was exhausted in a few
days. But it was only from incidental references of this kind,
which can rarely be relied upon absolutely, that we, at this
late day, are able to give any specific information whatever.

"He was unquestionably helped in the end, however, by what in
the beginning threatened to be a serious if not insuperable
obstacle. He was unable to get any one concerned in the book
trade to assume the risk of bringing out 'The Spy.' That had
to be taken by the author himself. In the case of this novel,
we know positively that Cooper was not only the owner of the
copyright, but of all the edition; that he gave directions
as to the terms on which the work was to be furnished to the
booksellers, while the publishers, Wiley & Halsted, had
no direct interest in it, and received their reward by a
commission. It is evident that under this arrangement his
profits on the sale were far larger than would usually be the
case. Whether he followed the same method in any of his later
productions, there seems to be no method of ascertaining.
Wiley, however, until his death, continued to be his
publisher. 'The Last of the Mohicans' went into the hands
of Carey & Lea of Philadelphia, and this firm, under various
changes of name, continued to bring out the American edition
of his novels until the year 1844."

Henry Charles Carey, son of Matthew Carey, was as celebrated
for his writings on political economy as for his connection
with this publishing house, which was one of the largest in
the country.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _262 pp._ Volume II: _260 pp._

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

(1775-1864)

These volumes were issued in three or more styles of binding:
paper-covered boards, straight-grain dull green cloth, and
half roan with brown glazed paper boards all with paper
labels. The publishers' advertisements, two leaves at the end
of Vol. II. are the same with each style of binding.

This work was written by Landor during his residence at
Fiesole, but it was published after his return to England. His
own choleric temperament and irascible manner unfitted him for
personal dealings with publishers, as he had found from past
experiences, and so the arrangements for this publication were
intrusted to his friend Mr. G. P. R. James, the novelist, who
sold the manuscript to Saunders and Otley for £100.

The following unpublished letter of Landor's, belonging to
a member of the Grolier Club, is interesting as referring to
this transaction.

"MY DEAR SIR:

"When I offered my Pericles to MM. Saunders & Otley I did not
suppose there was more than enough for one volume, the size of
the Examination of Shakspeare. They told you it would form two
volumes of that size. Knowing that I had material for thirty
pages more, I said that if they would make the first vol: 300
pp. I would take care that the second should not fall short
of it more than a dozen pages. Now I have sent them not thirty
but a hundred--and they tell me to-day that there is not
remaining, for the second volume, more than 175 pp. I have,
you perceive, already sent above one third more than what I
calculated the whole at, when you had the kindness to make the
agreement for me.

"In reply to their letter I have said that, if they will give
me fifty pounds more, I will send one hundred more pages, 50
within three weeks, 50 more in the three following; and if
this does not appear equitable to them I leave it entirely to
you. I shall then have given them 200 pp. for fifty pounds,
when I offered them only 285 for a hundred. It will be my
business to take care that the remainder shall fall as
little short as possible of the preceding. I have furthermore
stipulated for twenty copies. Many of these will take nothing
from the profits, as more than a dozen will be given to people
who certainly would not have bought them, and who are not
likely to lend them.

"A friend has offered me some pheasants, which I have desired
to be sent to you. I hope they will please the young lion with
their plumage. The first of Feb. I set out for Clifton: an old
favorite of mine for winter and spring. I have requested MM
Saunders to favour me with two (I should be glad of three)
copies of the first volume as my friend Ablett's birthday is
on the 31 of this month, and mine on the 30, and I have three
friends to whom it would delight me to give them before I
leave Wales. With best compliments to Mrs. James, believe me
ever,

"Yrs very sincerely

"W. S. LANDOR

"LLAMBEDR, Jan. 18 [1836]

"I have seen the last sheet of Vol. I, but not the short
Preface sent from London.

"How can you complain of your English. There is hardly a fault
to be found in the 3 volumes. I have read them a second time.

"G. P. R. James, Esq.

"1 Lloyds Buildings

"Blackheath

"London"

The work appeared during the early part of 1836, and though
it was received with much praise by his friends, and had many
favorable reviews, the sale dragged. In October of the same
year, Landor, in one of his letters to Forster, refers to an
unfavorable review which appeared in _Blackwood_: "... I am
not informed how long this Scotchman has been at work about
me, but my publisher has advised me, that he loses £150. by my
_Pericles_. So that it is probable the Edinburgh Areopagites
have condemned me to a fine in my absence; for I never can
allow any man to be a loser by me, and am trying to economise
to the amount of this indemnity to Saunders and Otley...."
The money was in fact paid back, and yet, curiously enough,
as Forster relates, Landor not only forgot, three years later,
that he had received a payment for the copyright, but even
that he himself had sent back the money, and was making
further remittances to satisfy the supposed loss. This was
stopped by a statement from Mr. Saunders, to which Landor
refers in a letter to Forster: "Never, in the course of
my life, was I so surprised as at the _verification_ of my
account with Saunders; for such it is. Certain I am that no
part of the money was ever spent by me, nor can I possibly
bring to mind either the receiving or the returning of it...."

The first American edition of _Pericles and Aspasia_, in
two volumes, was published by Carey, Philadelphia, 1839, the
second English edition in 1849, and there have been frequent
editions since, both in England and in America.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _Two Volumes._ Volume I: _viii, 299 pp._
Volume II: _viii, 343 pp._

CHARLES DICKENS

(1812-1870)

An advertisement in the _Times_ for March 26, 1836, reads:

"THE PICKWICK PAPERS.--On the 31st of March will be published,
to be continued monthly, price One Shilling, the first number
of the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, containing
a faithful record of the Perambulations, Perils, Travels,
Adventures, and Sporting Transactions of the Corresponding
Members. Edited by Boz. Each monthly Part embellished with
four Illustrations by Seymour. Chapman & Hall, 186 Strand, and
of all booksellers."

Robert Seymour, a caricaturist, and the illustrator of such
works as _The Odd Volume_, _The Looking Glass_, and _Humorous
Sketches_, had been employed by Chapman and Hall to illustrate
a comic publication called _The Squib Annual_; and this
led him to suggest that he should make a series of Cockney
sporting plates which could be furnished with letter-press.
Hall applied to Dickens, then an unknown newspaper man, for
the text, a "something which should be a vehicle for certain
plates to be executed by Mr. Seymour." Dickens says of this
proposition: "I objected.... My views being deferred to, I
thought of Mr. Pickwick, and wrote the first number; from the
proof-sheets of which Mr. Seymour made his drawing of the
Club and his happy portrait of its founder. I connected Mr.
Pickwick with a club, because of the original suggestion; and
I put in Mr. Winkle expressly for the use of Mr. Seymour."

The work came out in twenty parts (parts nineteen and twenty
were bound together), beginning in April, 1836, and ending
with November, 1837. They were covered in light green paper
bordered with a design by Seymour, and engraved by John
Jackson, a pupil of Bewick and Hervey. The title reads, _The
Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_ [_Five lines_] _Edited
by "Boz. With Illustrations...."_

The publication of the second number was delayed by the
suicide of Seymour, whose mind gave way from overwork. This
sad event was announced to the public in a note, and an
apology was offered for the reduction of the number of plates
from four to three. "When we state that they comprise Mr.
Seymour's last efforts, and that on one of them, in particular
(the embellishment of the Stroller's Tale), he was engaged
up to a late hour of the night preceding his death, we feel
confident that the excuse will be deemed a sufficient one."

The third and succeeding numbers contained two plates each.
Those in the third part were originally executed by Robert
Buss, who learned to etch in order to produce them. But he
gave up the work, and his plates were replaced in later
issues by others by Hablot K. Browne, or "Phiz," who did the
remaining plates. The last or double part contained three
plates and an engraved title-page. With it subscribers
received also the printed title-page, dedication, preface,
contents, Directions to the Binder and Table of Errata.

In the eighteenth number, dated September 29, 1837, the
following important announcement appears:

"The subscribers to this work and the trade are respectfully
informed that Nos. XIX. and XX. (with titles, contents, &c.)
will be published together on 1^{st} of November; and that the
complete volume, neatly bound in cloth, price one guinea, will
be ready for delivery by the 14^{th} of that month, and for
which country producers are requested to send early orders to
their respective agents."

The venture was almost a failure at first, and it was not
until the appearance of Sam Weller, with the fifth number,
that the bookbinder, who had prepared four hundred copies of
the first number, was obliged to increase the supply. From
this time on, the demand grew until the enormous output of
forty thousand was reached with the fifteenth number.

There are differences in the various accounts of the amount
Dickens was to receive for his work. A letter from the
publishers to him mentions their terms as nine guineas a
sheet for each part consisting of a sheet and a half; fifteen
guineas a number was the sum as stated by Mr. Edward Chapman
to Mr. Forster; and Dickens himself, in a letter to Miss
Hogarth, afterwards his wife, says, fourteen pounds a month.
During publication, he received in checks from the publishers
£3000. In 1837 Chapman & Hall agreed that after five years he
should have a share in the copyright, on consideration that
he write a similar book for which he was to receive £3000,
besides having the whole copyright after five years. Forster
thinks the author received, in all, £25,000, while the
publishers' profits during the three years from 1836 to 1839
are said to have amounted to £14,000 on the sale of the work
in numbers alone.

Chapman & Hall issued the book in volume form in 1837, at
twenty-one shillings.

Mr. Frederic G. Kitton says:

"There are probably not more than a dozen copies of the first
edition of "Pickwick" in existence. An examination of a number
of impressions presumably of this edition results in the
discovery of slight variations both in plates and text. These
are especially noticeable in the illustrations, for, owing to
the enormous demand, the plates were re-etched directly they
showed signs of deterioration in the printing, and "Phiz," in
reproducing his designs, sometimes altered them slightly. The
earliest impressions of the work may be distinguished by
the absence of engraved titles on the plates, and by their
containing the _original_ etchings by Seymour and Buss, not
"Phiz's" _replicas_ of them."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _xiv pp., 1 l., 609 pp. Forty-five plates, including
engraved title-page._

THOMAS CARLYLE

(1795-1881)

Carlyle went up to London with _Teufelsdröckh_ in his satchel,
to find a publisher for it. He put much confidence in the help
of his friend Francis Jeffrey, the lord advocate, who exerted
himself chiefly to establish relations between the author and
John Murray.

Mrs. Carlyle, at home in Craigenputtoch, received the
following letter from her husband, August 11, 1831:

"... After a time by some movements, I got the company
dispersed, and the Advocate by himself, and began to take
counsel with him about 'Teufelsdröckh.' He thought Murray, in
spite of the Radicalism, would be the better publisher; to him
accordingly he gave me a line, saying that I was a genius and
would likely become eminent;... I directly set off with this
to Albemarle Street; found Murray out; returned afterwards
and found him in, gave an outline of the book, at which the
Arimaspian smiled, stated also that I had nothing else to
do here but the getting of it published, and was above all
anxious that his decision should be given soon...."

On the 22d he wrote again:

"On Saturday morning I set out for Albemarle Street. Murray,
as usual, was not in; but an answer lay for me--my poor
'Teufelsdröckh,' wrapped in new paper, with a letter stuck
under the packthread. I took it with a silent fury, and walked
off. The letter said he regretted exceedingly, etc.; all his
literary friends were out of town; he himself occupied with a
sick family in the country; that he had conceived the finest
hope, etc. In short, that 'Teufelsdröckh' had never been
looked into; but that if I would let him keep it for a month,
he would _then_ be able to say a word, and by God's blessing a
favorable one.

"I walked on through Regent Street and looked in upon James
Fraser, the bookseller. We got to talk about 'Teufelsdröckh,'
when, after much hithering and thithering about the black
state of trade, &c., it turned out that honest James would
publish the book for me on this principle: if I would give
_him_ a sum not exceeding 150 l. sterling! 'I think you had
better wait a little,' said an Edinburgh advocate to me since,
when he heard of this proposal. 'Yes,' I answered, 'it is
my purpose to wait to the end of eternity for it.' 'But the
public will not buy books.' 'The public has done the wisest
thing it could, and ought never more to buy what they call
books.'

"Spurning at destiny, yet in the mildest terms taking leave of
Fraser, I strode through the street carrying 'Teufelsdröckh'
openly in my hand.... Having rested a little, I set out again
to the Longmans, to hear what they had to say."

The Longmans, "honest, rugged, punctual-looking people," said
little to the point, however, and then, through Lord Jeffrey's
efforts in his behalf, Murray offered as follows: "The short
of it is this: Murray will print an edition (750 copies) of
Dreck on the half-profit system (that is, I getting _nothing_,
but also giving nothing); after which the sole copyright of
the book is to be mine...."

Carlyle then tried Colburn & Bentley, but with his mind made
up "unless they say about 100 l. I will prefer Murray." These
negotiations came to nothing, and back he went to Murray,
whose offer "is not so bad: 750 copies for the task of
publishing poor Dreck, and the rest of him _our own_." The
terms were accepted, the manuscript was sent to the printer,
and a page set up, when Murray repented his bargain, which had
never pleased him, and, having heard that Carlyle had carried
his MS. elsewhere, he seized the opportunity to send the
author a note saying that since he had, unbeknown to him,
carried his book to "the greatest publishers in London, who
had declined to engage in it," he must ask to have it read by
some literary friend, before he could in justice to himself
engage in the printing of it. The upshot was that the
manuscript was returned to its author.

"The printing of 'Teufelsdröckh,'" Carlyle says to his wife,
"which I announced as commencing, and even sent you a specimen
of, has altogether stopped, and Murray's bargain with me has
burst into air. The man behaved like a pig, and was speared,
but perhaps without art; Jack and I at least laughed that
night _à gorge déployée_ at the answer I wrote his base
_glare_ of a letter: he has written again in much politer
style, and I shall answer him, as McLeod advised my
grandfather's people, 'sharp but mannerly.' The truth of the
matter is now clear enough; Dreck cannot be disposed of
in London at this time. Whether he lie in my trunk or in a
bookseller's coffer seems partly indifferent. Neither, on the
whole, do I know whether it is not better that we have stopped
for the present. Money I was to have none; author's vanity
embarked on that bottom I have almost none; nay, some time
or other that the book can be _so_ disposed of it is certain
enough."

Nearly two years later, in 1833, the unlucky Dreck was
published "piecemeal," in ten parts of ten pages each, in
_Fraser's Magazine_, beginning with November and running
until August, 1834. With the shrewdness of his tribe, Fraser,
fearing failure, paid only twelve guineas a sheet for the
work, though he had been paying its author twenty guineas
a sheet, five guineas more than he paid to any other
contributor. It turned out, however, that he was wise, for the
great essay was not a success, even in the magazine.

"'Magazine Fraser' writes that 'Teufelsdröckh' excites the
most unqualified disapprobation--_à la bonne heure_," said
Carlyle; and again: "--Literature still all a mystery; nothing
'paying;' 'Teufelsdröckh' beyond measure unpopular; an oldest
subscriber came into him and said, 'If there is any more of
that d----d stuff, I will,' &c., &c.; on the other hand an
order from America (Boston or Philadelphia) to send a copy of
the magazine '_so long_ as there was anything of Carlyle's in
it.' 'One spake up and the other spake down.'"

After the work had run its course in the magazine, about fifty
copies were struck off from the types and stitched together
for distribution among friends.

It remained to the honor of America, to print the book in
1836, through the energetic efforts of Dr. LeBaron Russell.
Emerson furnished the copy and a preface; and before the end
of the year he was able to announce to Carlyle the sale of the
whole edition. Another edition of over a thousand copies was
sold before the first English edition, "a dingy, ill-managed
edition" of a thousand copies, was published anonymously by
Saunders and Otley in 1838.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _1 l., 107 pp._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

(1803-1882)

80. Nature. | [Quotation] Boston: | James Munroe And Company. |
MDCCCXXXVI.

"My little book is nearly done. Its title is 'Nature.' Its
contents will not exceed in bulk Sampson Reed's 'Growth of the
Mind.' My design is to follow it by another essay, 'Spirit,'
and the two shall make a decent volume." Thus Emerson wrote to
his brother William, from Concord, June 28, 1836.

_Nature_ was, however, published alone in September by
Metcalf, Torry and Ballou of the Cambridge Press. It received
little attention except from "the representatives of orthodox
opinion," who violently attacked it. Only a few hundred copies
were sold, and it was twelve years before a second edition was
called for.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _95 pp._

WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT

(1796-1859)

George Ticknor, in his life of Prescott, gives the story of
the production of the _History_ in the following words:

"The composition of the 'Conquest of Peru' was, therefore,
finished within the time he had set for it a year previously,
and the work being put to press without delay, the printing
was completed in the latter part of March, 1847; about two
years and nine months from the day when he first put pen
to paper. It made just a thousand pages, exclusive of the
Appendix, and was stereotyped under the careful correction and
supervision of his friend Mr. Folsom of Cambridge.

"While it was passing through the press, or just as the
stereotyping was fairly begun, he made a contract with the
Messrs. Harper to pay for seven thousand five hundred copies
on the day of publication at the rate of one dollar per copy,
to be sold within two years, and to continue to publish at
the same rate afterwards, or to surrender the contract to the
author at his pleasure; terms, I suppose, more liberal than
had ever been offered for a work of grave history on this side
of the Atlantic. In London it was published by Mr. Bentley,
who purchased the copyright for eight hundred pounds, under
the kind auspices of Colonel Aspinwall; again a large sum, as
it was already doubtful whether an exclusive privilege could
be legally maintained in Great Britain by a foreigner."

The demand for the book was large: in five months five
thousand copies were sold in America, and an edition of half
that number sold in England. By January 1, 1860, there had
been sold of the American and English editions together,
16,965 copies. It was translated into Spanish, French, German,
and Dutch.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _xl, 527 pp._ Volume II:
_xix, 547 pp._

EDGAR ALLAN POE

(1809-1849)

The poem first appeared in print in the columns of the _New
York Evening Mirror_ for January 29, 1845, where N. P. Willis,
its editor, says in a note: "We are permitted to copy,
(in advance of publication,) from the second number of the
_American Review_, the following remarkable poem by Edgar
Poe." Willis issued the poem again in the weekly edition of
the _Mirror_, dated February 8, and Charles F. Briggs, with
whom Poe afterward became associated, also published it in the
_Broadway Journal_ of the same date, crediting it to "Edgar A.
Poe." Both of these weeklies seem to have appeared before the
_American Review_ came out. We are not told the reason for
Mr. George H. Colton's editorial courtesy in permitting this
advance publication when the second, or February number of
his paper, _The American Review: A Whig Journal Of Politics,
Literature, Art And Science_, was so soon to appear. It is a
curious circumstance that Willis and Briggs gave the author's
name freely, while Colton's issue, as originally intended,
appeared with the pseudonym of "---- Quarles."

The poem was an immense success, and was copied far and wide
in all the newspapers of the country. Writing to F. W. Thomas,
May 4, Poe says:

"'The Raven' has had a great run, Thomas--but I wrote it for
the express purpose of running--just as I did the 'Gold Bug,'
you know. The bird beat the bug, though, all hollow."

This popularity was the poet's greatest reward, for we learn
that the actual money remuneration was only ten dollars. Poe
makes us think of the early writers, like Bacon and Browne,
whom we have seen take to printing their books to save them
from the errors of the unlicensed publisher. In a preface to
this volume he writes:

"These trifles are collected and republished chiefly with a
view to their redemption from the many improvements to which
they have been subjected while going at random 'the rounds of
the press.' If what I have written is to circulate at all,
I am naturally anxious that it should circulate as I wrote
it...."

From the original straw-colored paper covers in which it
appeared, about December, we learn that the book was issued
as one of a series, _Wiley And Putnam's Library Of American
Books. No. VIII._, and that its price was the unusual sum of
thirty-one cents. Among the other volumes, its companions
in the set, were _Journal of an African Cruiser_, edited by
Nathaniel Hawthorne; _Tales_ of Edgar A. Poe; _Letters from
Italy_, by J. T. Headley; _The Wigwam and the Cabin_, by W.
Gilmore Simms; and _Big Abel_, by Cornelius Mathews.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _4 ll., 91 pp._

CHARLOTTE BRONTË

(1816-1855)

Under date of August 24, 1847, Miss Brontë wrote a letter to
Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., in which she said: "I now send you
per rail a MS. entitled 'Jane Eyre,' a novel in three volumes,
by Currer Bell." The novel was accepted, was printed and
published by October sixteenth, and on the nineteenth the
publishers received the following:

"Gentlemen,--The six copies of 'Jane Eyre' reached me this
morning. You have given the work every advantage which good
paper, clear type, and a seemly outside can supply;--if it
fails, the fault will be with the author,--you are exempt.
I now await the judgment of the press and the public. I am,
Gentlemen, yours respectfully, C. Bell."

Their judgment was decisive, and the book was so great a
success that a second edition, dedicated to Thackeray, was
issued January 18, 1848.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes._

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

(1807-1882)

Writing in his journal under date of October 2, 1847,
Longfellow says: "Why does not Ticknor publish Evangeline? I
am going to town to ask him that very question. And his answer
was that he should do so without further delay." An entry,
dated October 30, says, "Evangeline published." On November 8,
he says: "Evangeline goes on bravely. I have received greater
and warmer commendations than on any previous volume. The
public takes more kindly to hexameters than I could have
imagined." On November 13, a third thousand is recorded, and
on April 8 of the following year we learn: "Next week Ticknor
prints the sixth thousand of Evangeline, making one thousand a
month since its publication."

In 1857 the following entry sums up the successful career of
the poem:

"Allibone wants to get from the publishers the number of
copies of my book sold up to date, the editions in this
country only," and _Evangeline_ is set down as 35,850 copies.

The poem was translated into German, Swedish, Danish, Italian,
Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, and French, and was made a
school-book in Italy.

Sextodecimo.

COLLATION: _163 pp._

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

(1806-1861)

85. Sonnets. | By | E. B. B. | Reading: | [Not For Publication.] 1847.

This is the first appearance in print of the _Sonnets from
the Portuguese_ which were not published until 1850, when they
were issued under the title _Sonnets from the Portuguese_, as
a part of the _Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning_.

Mr. Browning told the story of the Portuguese Sonnets to Mr.
Edmund Gosse, who printed the account in _Critical Kit-Kats_,
1896:

"The Sonnets were intended for her husband's eyes alone; in
the first instance, not even for his.... Fortunately for all
those who love true poetry, Mr. Browning judged rightly of the
obligation laid upon him by the possession of these poems.
'I dared not,' he said, 'reserve to myself the finest sonnets
written in any language since Shakespeare's.' Accordingly
he persuaded his wife to commit the printing of them to
her friend Miss Mitford; and in the course of the year they
appeared in a slender volume entitled 'Sonnets, by E. B.
B.,' with the imprint 'Reading, 1847,' and marked 'Not for
publication.'"

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _47 pp._

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

(1819-1891)

Writing to Thomas Hughes on September 13, 1859, Lowell says:
"I tried my first "Biglow Papers" in a newspaper, and found
that it had a great run. So I wrote the others from time to
time during the year which followed, always very rapidly, and
sometimes (as "What Mr. Robinson thinks") at one sitting.

"When I came to collect them and publish them in a volume, I
conceived my parson-editor with his pedantry and verbosity,
his amiable vanity and superiority to the verses he was
editing, as a fitting artistic background and foil."

The following extracts from letters show, in detail, the
evolution of the work.

"You will find a squib of mine in this week's _Courier_," said
he to Sidney H. Gay, on June 16, 1846, "I wish it to continue
anonymous, for I wish Slavery to think it has as many enemies
as possible. If I may judge from the number of persons who
have asked me if I wrote it, I have struck the old hulk of
the Public between wind and water...." On the last day of
December, 1847, he says to C. F. Briggs:

"I am going to indulge all my fun in a volume of H. Biglow's
verses which I am preparing, and which I shall edit under the
character of the Rev. Mr. Wilbur.... I am going to include in
the volume an essay of the reverend gentleman on the Yankee
dialect, and on dialects in general, and on every thing else,
and also an attempt at a complete natural history of the
Humbug--which I think I shall write in Latin. The book will
purport to be published at Jaalam (Mr. B's native place), and
will be printed on brownish paper with those little head and
tail-pieces which used to adorn our earlier publications--such
as hives, scrolls, urns, and the like."

The latter part of 1848 found the poet busily engaged in
getting out the book, and he wrote to Gay in September:

"This having to do with printers is dreadful business. There
was a Mr. Melville who, I believe, enjoyed it, but, for my
part, I am heartily sick of Typee."

In October he says:

"I should have sent you this yesterday, but it was not
written, and I was working like a dog all day, preparing a
glossary and an _index_. If I ever make another glossary or
index--!"....

"... Hosea is done with," he says in November, "and will soon
be out. It made fifty pages more than I expected and so took
longer." The volume appeared on the 10th, and on the 25th he
again writes to Gay: "... The first edition of Hosea is nearly
exhausted already."

The following retrospect, sent to the same friend on February
26, 1849, contains the lesson of experience:

"There were a great many alterations of spelling made in
the plates of the "Biglow Papers," which added much to the
expense. I ought not to have stereotyped at all. But we are
never done with cutting eye-teeth."

George Nichols, who published the book, was at one time an
owner of the University Book-store, and, later, one of the
proprietors of the University Press. He was noted for his
skill in proof-reading.

The printing was done by Metcalf and Company, printers to
the University; and the little book came out from their hands
innocent of hives, scrolls, urns, or any other ornament.
Something changed the author's mind, too, regarding _Jaalam_
as the purporting place of publication.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _12, xxxii, 163 pp._

WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY

(1811-1863)

The name of the book, as we see it in the delightful and
altogether characteristic drawing on the engraved title-page,
reminds us of what Miss Kate Perry says in her reminiscences
of Thackeray:

"He told me, some time afterward, that, after ransacking his
brain for a name for his novel, it came upon him unawares, in
the middle of the night, as if a voice had whispered, 'Vanity
Fair.' He said, 'I jumped out of bed, and ran three times
round my room, uttering as I went, 'Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair,
Vanity Fair.'"

It has been repeated, more than once, that _Vanity Fair_ was
refused by _Colburn's Magazine_, and various other publishers,
before Bradbury and Evans undertook it, but Vizetelly, in his
_Glances Back Through Seventy Years_, thinks that this could
not have been the case, since Thackeray did not finish the
story until long after it had been accepted, and, in fact, was
well along in the printer's hands. If refused, therefore, it
was refused before it was finished. "I know perfectly well
that after the publication commenced much of the remainder of
the work was written under pressure for and from the printer,
and not infrequently the first instalment of 'copy' needed
to fill the customary thirty-two pages was penned while the
printer's boy was waiting in the hall at Young Street."

Vizetelly also gives the following account of the final
arrangements for the publication of the book:

"One afternoon, when he called in Peterborough Court he had
a small brown paper parcel with him, and opened it to show
me his two careful drawings for the page plates to the first
number of _Vanity Fair_. Tied up with them was the manuscript
of the earlier part of the book, of which he had several times
spoken to me, referring to the quaint character that Chiswick
Mall--within a stone's throw of which I was then living--still
retained. His present intention, he told me, was to see
Bradbury & Evans, and offer the work to them.... In little
more than half an hour Thackeray again made his appearance,
and, with a beaming face, gleefully informed me that he had
settled the business. 'Bradbury & Evans,' he said, 'accepted
so readily that I am deuced sorry I didn't ask them for
another tenner. I am certain they would have given it.' He
then explained that he had named fifty guineas per part,
including the two sheets of letterpress, a couple of etchings,
and the initials at the commencement of the chapters. He
reckoned the text, I remember, at no more than five-and-twenty
shillings a page, the two etchings at six guineas each, while
as for the few initials at the beginnings of the chapters, he
threw those in."

Following the plan of Chapman and Hall, who issued Dickens's
works in monthly parts in green covers, and of Charles James
Lever's publishers, who brought him out in pink, Bradbury and
Evans published _Vanity Fair_ in yellow-covered numbers dated
January, 1847, to July, 1848, and costing one shilling a part.
The title on these paper covers ran: _Vanity Fair: Pen And
Pencil Sketches Of English Society. By W. M. Thackeray [Two
lines] London: Published At The Punch Office, 85, Fleet
Street. [One line] 1847._, and there was a woodcut vignette.

There are numerous illustrations in the text, and each part
has two plates, etchings, except the last, which has three and
the engraved title-page. The last part as published contained
the title-page, dedication, "Before the Curtain," a preface,
table of contents, and list of plates.

The earliest issues contain, on page 336, a woodcut of the
Marquis of Steyne, which was afterward suppressed, the type
from pages 336 to 440 being shifted to fill the vacancy. In
the first edition, too, the title at the head of Chapter I is
in rustic type.

At first the novel did not sell well; it was even questioned
whether it might not be best to stop its publication. But
later in the year, owing to some cause, perhaps the eulogistic
mention in Miss Brontë's preface to _Jane Eyre_, or, perhaps,
a favorable review in the _Edinburgh Review_, its success
became assured.

Mrs. Carlyle, writing to her husband, says: "Very good indeed,
beats Dickens out of the World."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _xvi, 624 pp. Forty plates, including the engraved
title-page._

THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY,

FIRST BARON MACAULAY

(1800-1859)

Trevelyan, in his _Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay_, tells
us there was no end to the trouble that the author devoted
to matters which most writers are glad to leave to their
publishers. "He could not rest until the lines were level to a
hair's breadth, and the punctuation correct to a comma; until
every paragraph concluded with a telling sentence, and every
sentence flowed like water."

In a footnote he adds this quotation from one of Macaulay's
letters to Mr. Longman, which, while it referred to the
edition of 1858, is also indicative of his attitude toward
this, the first edition:

"I have no more corrections to make at present. I am inclined
to hope that the book will be as nearly faultless, as to
typographical execution, as any work of equal extent that is
to be found in the world."

He was apprehensive concerning the success of the book. He
writes, "I have armed myself with all my philosophy for the
event of failure," but his fears were groundless.

"The people of the United States," says Trevelyan, "were even
more eager than the people of the United Kingdom to read about
their common ancestors; with the advantage that, from the
absence of an international copyright, they were able to read
about them for next to nothing. On the 4th of April, 1849,
Messrs. Harper, of New York, wrote to Macaulay: 'We beg you
to accept herewith a copy of our cheap edition of your work.
There have been three other editions published by different
houses, and another is now in preparation; so there will be
six different editions in the market. We have already sold
forty thousand copies, and we presume that over sixty thousand
copies have been disposed of. Probably, within three months
of this time, the sale will amount to two hundred thousand
copies. No work, of any kind, has ever so completely taken
our whole country by storm.' An indirect compliment to the
celebrity of the book was afforded by a desperate, and almost
internecine, controversy which raged throughout the American
newspapers as to whether the Messrs. Harper were justified in
having altered Macaulay's spelling to suit the orthographical
canons laid down in Noah Webster's dictionary."

This quotation refers to the first volume. The second volume
came out in the same year, but the third and fourth did
not appear until 1855. Volume five was edited by Macaulay's
sister, Lady Trevelyan, in 1861. It continued the portion of
the History which was fairly transcribed and revised by the
author before his death.

The posthumous appearance of the last volume reminds us of
what Mr. Alexander B. Grosart says in his life of Spenser,
apropos of the promise on the title-page of the _Fairy Queen_
that the work should be in twelve books fashioning twelve
moral virtues:

"Than this splendid audacity I know nothing comparable,
unless Lord Macaulay's opening of his _History of England_,
wherein--without any saving clause, as Thomas Fuller would
have said, of 'if the Lord will'--he pledges himself to write
his great Story down to 'memories' of men 'still living.'"

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Five volumes._

ALFRED TENNYSON,

FIRST BARON TENNYSON

(1809-1892)

89. In Memoriam. | London. | Edward Moxon, Dover Street. | 1850.

In May of the year 1850, _In Memoriam_ was privately printed
for the use of friends, and soon afterward was published
in the present form, at six shillings. A second and third
editions were issued in the same year. They are alike in
all particulars except for the correction of two literal
misprints. Though the book was anonymous, the authorship was
never in doubt.

A circumstance connected with its publication, though not
bibliographical in its bearing, demands a passing word. "If
'In Memoriam' were published," Hallam Tennyson says in his
life of the laureate, "Moxon had promised a small yearly
royalty on this and on the other poems, and so my father had
decided that he could now honourably offer my mother a home.
Accordingly after ten years of separation their engagement was
renewed.... Moxon now advanced £300--so my uncle Charles told
a friend,--at all events £300 were in my father's bank in his
name." With this and their small incomes combined they decided
to marry. The marriage took place June 13, the month that saw
the publication of "In Memoriam."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _vii, 210 pp._

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

(1804-1864)

James T. Fields, in his little life of Hawthorne, tells of a
visit to Salem to see the author. He goes on to say:

"... I caught sight of a bureau or set of drawers near where
we were sitting; and immediately it occurred to me that hidden
away somewhere in that article of furniture was a story or
stories by the author of the 'Twice-Told Tales,' and I became
so positive of it that I charged him vehemently with the fact.
He seemed surprised, I thought, but shook his head again; and
I rose to take my leave.... I was hurrying down the stairs
when he called after me from the chamber, asking me to stop
a moment. Then quickly stepping into the entry with a roll of
manuscript in his hands, he said: 'How in Heaven's name did
you know the thing was there? As you have found me out, take
what I have written, and tell me, after you get home and have
time to read it, if it is good for anything....' On my way up
to Boston I read the germ of 'The Scarlet Letter'; before I
slept that night I wrote him a note all aglow with admiration
of the marvellous story he had put into my hands, and told him
that I would come again to Salem the next day and arrange for
its publication."

It was Hawthorne's first intention to make the romance one of
a volume of several short stories, because, as he remarks to
Mr. Fields:

"A hunter loads his gun with a bullet and several buckshot;
and, following his sagacious example, it was my purpose to
conjoin the one long story with half a dozen shorter ones, so
that, failing to kill the public outright with my biggest and
heaviest lump of lead, I might have other chances with the
smaller bits, individually and in the aggregate." But this
plan was finally changed and it was decided to publish the
story alone. There was then some talk about a title for it.
"In this latter event" (the event of publishing alone), "it
appears to me that the only proper title for the book would
be 'The Scarlet Letter,' for 'The Custom House' is merely
introductory...." And so it was decided.

"If 'The Scarlet Letter' is to be the title," he asked Mr.
Fields, "would it not be well to print it on the title-page in
red ink? I am not quite sure about the good taste of so doing,
but it would certainly be piquant and appropriate, and, I
think, attractive to the great gull whom we are endeavoring to
circumvent." The reader might ask the bibliophile if the red
title line, for it was printed in that way, really did have
anything to do with the circumventing which eventually took
place.

On February 4, 1850, Hawthorne wrote to Horatio Bridges:

"I finished my book yesterday, one end being in the press in
Boston, while the other was in my head here in Salem; so that,
as you see, the story is at least fourteen miles long."

The book appeared about March 16. As Mr. George Parsons
Lathrop points out, there seems to have been no expectation of
a very successful sale, in spite of Mr. Fields's enthusiasm;
but to the surprise of all, the whole issue was exhausted in
ten days. A second edition, with a preface dated March 30, was
soon published, making, with the first, a total number of five
thousand copies. All these were printed by Metcalf &
Company of Cambridge. The third issue was entirely reset and
electrotyped, and numbered 307 pages.

The second issue, beside the preface, shows numerous changes,
especially in words. Among these the bookseller's favorite
catch-word "reduplicate" (p. 21, l. 20) was changed to
"repudiate." In late copies of the stereotyped form, this word
was changed to "resuscitate."

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _vi, 322 pp._

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

(1811-1896)

The first chapter of _Uncle Tom_ appeared June, 1851, in _The
National Era_ of Washington, a magazine edited by Gamaliel
Bailey, and one of the ablest mediums of opinion of the
anti-slavery party. It was finished in April, 1852. Mrs. Stowe
received $300 for her labor.

The interest which the story awakened led John Punchard
Jewett, a member of the first anti-slavery society in New
England, and himself a frequent contributor to the newspapers
on anti-slavery topics, to offer to bring it out immediately
in book form, giving the author ten per cent. on the sales.
The proposition was accepted, and the book was published March
20, 1852. The very remarkable sale of three thousand copies
the first day was only an earnest of what was to happen.
Over 300,000 copies were sold within the year, and eight
power-presses running day and night could hardly supply the
demand.

There is a vignette on the title-pages signed by the
engravers, _Baker-Smith_, and each volume contains three
unsigned plates, evidently by the same artist, and engraved
by the same hands as the vignette. The volumes were bound
in black with the vignette of the title-page stamped on the
covers, the front impression being in gold.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _312 pp._ Volume II: _322
pp. Six plates._

JOHN RUSKIN

(1819-1900)

These fine volumes, printed by Spottiswoode and Shaw, have a
particularly clean and clear type-page, and are excellent
in press-work. It is not the type, however, that demands our
especial attention, but the illustrations with which the work
is liberally furnished. These distinguish it from anything we
have hitherto seen in our list of books. The plates and cuts,
made by various processes, mezzo-tinting, lithography, line
engraving and wood-cutting, mark most clearly the advance
in bookmaking which had taken place within the half century.
Hitherto we have had illustrations for their own sakes, or for
the ornamentation of the books they are in, and depending for
their existence solely upon the liberality and intelligence of
the publisher; but here we have illustrations introduced
into the book for the sake of the text, of which they are an
integral part. Ruskin's own words about them, as found in the
Preface, are instructive:

"It was of course inexpedient to reduce drawings of crowded
details to the size of an octavo volume,--I do not say
impossible, but inexpedient; requiring infinite pains on the
part of the engraver, with no result except farther pain to
the beholder. And as, on the other hand, folio books are
not easy reading, I determined to separate the text and the
unreduceable plates. I have given, with the principal
text, all the illustrations absolutely necessary to the
understanding of it, and, in the detached work, such
additional text as had special reference to the larger
illustrations.

"A considerable number of these larger plates were at first
intended to be executed in tinted lithography; but, finding
the result unsatisfactory, I have determined to prepare the
principal subjects for mezzotinting,--a change of method
requiring two new drawings to be made for every subject; one
a carefully penned outline for the etcher, and then a finished
drawing upon the etching....

"For the illustrations of the body of the work itself, I
have used any kind of engraving which seemed suited to the
subjects--line and mezzotint, on steel, with mixed lithographs
and woodcuts, at a considerable loss of uniformity in the
appearance of the volume, but, I hope, with advantage, in
rendering the character of the architecture it describes."

"The illustrations to the new book," Collingwood adds, "were
a great advance upon the rough soft-ground etchings of the
_Seven Lamps_. He secured the services of some of the finest
engravers who ever handled the tools of their art. The English
school of engravers was then in its last and most accomplished
period. Photography had not yet begun to supersede it; and the
demand for delicate work in book illustration had encouraged
minuteness and precision of handling to the last degree. In
this excessive refinement there were the symptoms of decline;
but it was most fortunate for Mr. Ruskin that his drawings
could be interpreted by such men as Armytage and Cousen, Cuff
and Le Keux, Boys and Lupton.... The mere fact of their skill
in translating a sketch from a note-book into a gem-like
vignette, encouraged him to ask for more; so that some of
the subjects which became the most elaborate were at first
comparatively rough drawings, and were gradually worked up
from successive retouchings of the proofs by the infinite
patience of both parties. In other cases, working drawings
were prepared by Mr. Ruskin, as refined as the plates."

"Like much else of his work, these plates for 'Stones of
Venice' were in advance of the times. The publishers thought
them 'caviare to the general,' so Mr. J. J. Ruskin told his
son; but gave it as his own belief that 'some dealers in
Ruskins and Turners in 1890 will get great prices for what at
present will not sell.'"

An "Advertisement" in the second volume tells us, "It was
originally intended that this Work should consist of two
volumes only; the subject has extended to three. The second
volume, however, will conclude the account of the ancient
architecture of Venice. The third will embrace the Early, the
Roman, and the Grotesque Renaissance; and an Index...."

The first volume, called _The Foundations_, and having
twenty-one plates, and the second, called _The Sea-Stories_,
with twenty plates, each cost two guineas. The third volume,
called _The Fall_, with twelve plates, cost a guinea and a
half. They were bound in cloth, stamped in gold, with the
"Lion of St. Mark" on the back. A few copies of both volumes
one and two were issued in two parts. The first volume ran
into a second edition in 1858, and the second and third were
reissued in 1867.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes. Illustrations. Fifty-three plates._

ROBERT BROWNING

(1812-1889)

This was the only edition of _Men and Women_ published
separately. The poems it contained were afterward incorporated
in collected editions; with the exception of _In a Balcony_,
they were distributed under the respective headings of
_Dramatic Lyrics_, _Dramatic Romances_, and _Men and Women_.

The book was issued in a green cloth binding, at twelve
shillings a copy.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _iv, 260 pp._ Volume II:
_iv, 241 pp._

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY

(1814-1877)

Motley wrote a letter to his wife, dated at London, May 10,
1854, in which he says that he has had the matter of copyright
looked up, and finds that the English law will protect him
if he publish his book recently completed, first, by however
small an interval, in England. He then carried the manuscript
to Murray, who received him civilly, and professed interest
in his subject, promising an answer in a fortnight. But the
answer, when it came, was unfavorable, and, being of the mind
that "if Murray declines ... I shall doubt very much whether
anybody will accept, because history is very much in his
line," he seems to have tried no farther, but to have arranged
with Mr. John Chapman to publish the _Dutch Republic_ himself.

Throughout the transaction Motley was very modest and not at
all sanguine for the success of his venture.

"It cannot take in England," he says to his mother in 1855,
"and moreover the war, Macaulay's new volumes, and Prescott's,
will entirely absorb the public attention." And again to his
father, May 13, 1856, he says:

"I have heard nothing from Chapman since the book was
published, but I feel sure from the silence that very few
copies have been sold. I shall be surprised if a hundred
copies are sold at the end of a year."

In reality, the book, as Dr. Holmes said, was "a triumph."
Seventeen thousand copies were sold in England alone during
the first year, and in America, where it was issued by the
Harpers, just long enough after the English edition to fulfill
all the demands of the copyright law, it was equally popular.
Mr. Murray afterward asked to be allowed to publish _The
History of the United Netherlands_, and expressed his
regret "at what he candidly called his mistake in the first
instance." Prescott, Motley's friend and generous rival, wrote
from Boston, April 18, 1856:

"You have good reason to be pleased with the reception the
book has had from the English press, considering that you had
no one particularly to stand godfather to your bantling, but
that it tumbled into the world almost without the aid of
a midwife. Under these circumstances success is a great
triumph...."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes._

GEORGE ELIOT

MARY ANN _or_ MARIAN CROSS

(1819-1880)

_Scenes from Clerical Life_ had appeared in the early part of
January, 1858, and had proved an unexpected success, but the
name of its author, concealed under a pseudonym, long proved a
mystery.

"The first volume [of Adam Bede]," says Mrs. Cross, "was
written at Richmond, and given to Blackwood in March. He
expressed great admiration of its freshness and vividness, but
seemed to hesitate about putting it in the Magazine, which was
the form of publication he, as well as myself, had previously
contemplated. He still _wished_ to have it for the Magazine,
but desired to know the course of the story. At _present_ he
saw nothing to prevent its reception in 'Maga,' but he would
like to see more. I am uncertain whether his doubts rested
solely on Hetty's relation to Arthur, or whether they were
also directed towards the treatment of Methodism by the
Church. I refused to tell my story beforehand, on the ground
that I would not have it judged apart from my _treatment_,
which alone determines the moral quality of art; and
ultimately I proposed that the notion of publication in 'Maga'
should be given up, and that the novel should be published in
three volumes at Christmas, if possible. He assented."

"... When, on October 29, I had written to the end of the
love-scene at the Farm between Adam and Dinah, I sent the MS.
to Blackwood, since the remainder of the third volume could
not affect the judgement passed on what had gone before. He
wrote back in warm admiration, and offered me, on the part of
the firm, £800 for four years' copyright. I accepted the
offer.... The book would have been published at Christmas, or
rather early in December, but that Bulwer's 'What will he do
with it?' was to be published by Blackwood at that time, and
it was thought that this novel might interfere with mine."

The book was published the first day of January with the still
unpenetrated pseudonym on the title-page. It cost thirty one
shillings and six pence. The advance subscriptions amounted
to 730 copies, and the following note, written March 16, gives
the history of its success:

"Blackwood writes to say I am 'a popular author as well as
a great author.' They printed 2,090 of 'Adam Bede,' and have
disposed of more than 1800, so that they are thinking of a
second edition."

In May, Blackwood proposed to add, at the end of the year,
£400 to the £800 originally given for the copyright. A fourth
edition of 5000 volumes was issued in 1859, all of which were
sold in a fortnight; a seventh was printed the same year, and
in October Blackwood felt justified in proposing to pay £800
more at the beginning of the new year. The sale amounted to
16,000 volumes in one year.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _Three volumes._

CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN

(1809-1882)

The simplicity and honesty of Darwin's character are nowhere
more clearly seen than in his correspondence over the
production of this book, which, from its unorthodoxy, he
feared might expose others as well as himself to censure. For
example, he says in a letter of March 28, 1859, to Sir Charles
Lyell, the famous geologist, who made the arrangements for the
publication of the work:

"P.S. Would you advise me to tell Murray that my book is not
more _un_-orthodox than the subject makes inevitable....
Or had I better say _nothing_ to Murray, and assume that he
cannot object to this much unorthodoxy, which in fact is not
more than any Geological Treatise which runs slap counter to
Genesis."

Afterward, in a letter to J. D. Hooker, under date of April 2,
1859, he says:

"... I wrote to him [Mr. Murray] and gave him the headings of
the chapters, and told him he could not have the MSS. for ten
days or so; and this morning I received a letter, offering
me handsome terms, and agreeing to publish without seeing
the MS.! So he is eager enough; I think I should have been
cautious, anyhow, but, owing to your letter, I told him most
_explicitly_ that I accepted his offer solely on condition
that, after he has seen part or all the MS., he has full power
of retracting. You will think me presumptuous, but I think
my book will be popular to a certain extent (enough to ensure
[against] heavy loss) amongst scientific and semiscientific
men.... Anyhow, Murray ought to be the best judge, and if
he chooses to publish it, I think I may wash my hands of all
responsibility...."

His views on the success of the book are worth recording. To
Murray he writes, April 5, 1859: "It may be conceit, but I
believe the subject will interest the public, and I am sure
that the views are original. If you think otherwise, I must
repeat my request that you will freely reject my work; and
though I shall be a little disappointed, I shall be in no way
injured." And again to J. D. Hooker: "... Please do not say
to any one that I thought my book on Species would be fairly
popular, and have a fairly remunerative sale (which was the
height of my ambition), for if it proves a dead failure, it
would make me the more ridiculous."

After the book went to press he found it necessary to make
many corrections involving no slight extra expense; without
waiting for Murray to complain he took the initiative in
setting the matter upon the proper footing in the following
manner, in a letter written June 14, 1859:

"P.S. I have been looking at the corrections, and considering
them. It seems to me that I shall put you to quite unfair
expense. If you please I should like to enter into some such
arrangement as the following:

"When work completed, you to allow in the account a fairly
moderately heavy charge for corrections, and all excess
over that to be deducted from my profits, or paid by me
individually."

"... But you are really too generous about the, to me,
scandalously heavy corrections. Are you not acting unfairly
towards yourself? Would it not be better at least to share the
£72 8s.? I shall be fully satisfied, for I had no business
to send, though quite unintentionally and unexpectedly, such
badly composed MS. to the printers."

The first edition, a child, Darwin calls it, in whose
appearance he takes infinite pride and pleasure, was published
November 24:

"It is no doubt the chief work of my life. It was from the
first highly successful. The first small edition of 1250
copies was sold on the day of publication, and a second
edition of 3000 copies soon afterward. Sixteen thousand copies
have now (1876) been sold in England; and considering
how stiff a book it is, this is a large sale. It has been
translated into almost every European tongue, even into such
languages as Spanish, Bohemian, Polish, and Russian. It has
also, according to Miss Bird, been translated into Japanese
[a mistake] and is there much studied. Even an essay in Hebrew
has appeared on it, showing that the theory is contained in
the Old Testament!"

The second edition of 3000 copies, only a reprint, yet with
a few important corrections, was issued January 7, 1860. An
edition of 2500 copies was issued in the United States, where
it enjoyed great popularity. "I never dreamed," said he, "of
my book being so successful with general readers; I believe
I should have laughed at the idea of sending the sheets to
America."

The sum of £180 was received by the author for the first
edition, and £636 13s., for the second.

Duodecimo.

COLLATION: _ix, 502 pp. Folded plate._

EDWARD FITZGERALD

(1809-1883)

Fitzgerald first offered his translation to the editor of
_Fraser's Magazine_, who returned it after holding it a long
time, apparently afraid to publish it. It was not until years
afterward that the poet, having nearly doubled the number of
the verses, issued it himself, anonymously, inserting in the
imprint, without even asking permission, the name of Bernard
Quaritch.

The little pamphlet in brown paper, with its eleven pages of
biography, and five pages of notes, against sixteen pages of
poem, was not attractive in appearance; and we are told that
it was not advertised in any way except by entry among the
Oriental numbers of Quaritch's catalogue. So it is really not
to be greatly wondered at that its sale was slow, even though
the price was set as low as five shillings. Two hundred copies
remaining on his hands, Quaritch, who had consented to act as
bookseller, finally resorted to the expedient of offering them
at half-a-crown, then at a shilling, then at sixpence, until
finally they were cleared out at a penny a volume.

Those who read it at this price acted as leaven, and nine
years afterward, in 1868, a second edition was called for; a
third was published in 1872, and a fourth in 1879. These were
all issued by Quaritch at his own expense, and all without
the translator's name. Quaritch paid Fitzgerald a small
honorarium, which he promptly gave away in charity.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _xiii, 21 pp._

JOHN HENRY NEWMAN,

CARDINAL

(1801-1890)

The pamphlet _"What, Then, Does Dr. Newman Mean?" A Reply to
a Pamphlet lately published by Dr. Newman. By the Rev. Charles
Kingsley._, was issued in March, 1864. Cardinal Newman's
rejoinder took the form of a series of pamphlets. The first
appeared on Thursday, April 21, and its brown paper cover bore
the title given above, with the additional line, _Pt. I. Mr.
Kingsley's Method of Disputation_. Thereafter, on successive
Thursdays, until June 16, the following numbers appeared: _Pt.
II. True Mode Of Meeting Mr. Kingsley._ _Pt. III-VI. History
Of My Religious Opinions._ _Pt. VII. General Answer To Mr.
Kingsley._ _Appendix. Answer in Detail To Mr. Kingsley's
Accusations._

A title-page and "Contents" were issued with the Appendix.
Parts I, II, and III cost a shilling each, Parts IV, V, and
VII, two shillings each, Part VI, and the Appendix, each two
shillings sixpence.

The parts were issued afterward in a cloth binding. In later
editions almost all of Parts I and II, and about half of the
Appendix were omitted, while some new matter was added in the
form of notes.

Octavo.

COLLATION: _iv, 430, 127 pp._

MATTHEW ARNOLD

(1822-1888)

The first edition contained a satirical and not altogether
tasteful preface which, Arnold said in a letter to his mother
before the book was out, "will make you laugh." But later, in
a letter to Lady de Rothschild written February 11, 1865, he
says of it: "I had read the Preface to a brother and sister of
mine, and they received it in such solemn silence that I began
to tremble...." The silence of his friends and the criticism
of others produced their effect upon him, and he writes again,
to Lady de Rothschild: "I think if I republish the book I
shall leave out some of the preface and notes, as being too
much of mere temporary matter...."

The volume contained nine essays, afterward made ten.

Professor Saintsbury says, in reviewing the book:

"I am afraid it must be taken as only too strong a
confirmation of Mr. Arnold's belief as to the indifference of
the English people to criticism that no second edition of the
book was called for till four years were past, no third for
ten, and no fourth for nearly twenty."

We get an intimation of the terms on which the book was
published from the following note to Miss Quillinan, dated
March 8, 1865:

"The book is Macmillan's, not mine, as my Poems were, and I
have had so few copies at my own disposal that they have not
even sufficed to go the round of my own nearest relations, to
whom I have always been accustomed to send what I write."

Octavo.

COLLATION: _xx, 302 pp._

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

(1807-1892)

It was at first proposed to publish the poem with
illustrations by Felix Octavius Darley, who so successfully
illustrated Cooper, Irving, Longfellow, Lossing, and many
others; but, for some reason, this idea was abandoned, and
illustration of the work was reduced to a vignette showing
"a view of the old farm house in a snow storm, copied from a
photograph ..." It was drawn by Harry Fenn. We might regret
that we are thus the losers of some characteristic work by
Darley, but, on the other hand, we must agree with Whittier,
who, when referring to the proposed illustrations of _The
Pageant_, published later, said: "I know of no one who could
do it, however, so well as Harry Fenn." The bit of work
reproduced here is in its way quite as worthy of commendation
as that drawn by this "Nestor of his guild," for _Ballads
of New England_, 1869, and so appreciatively reviewed by Mr.
William Dean Howells in _The Atlantic_ for December.

The poet took an unusual interest in the make-up of his book.
For example, he says of the vignette:

"In the picture of the old home, the rim of hemlocks, etc., at
the foot of the high hill which rises abruptly to the left, is
not seen. They would make a far better snow picture than the
oaks which are in the view."

His remarks, too, about his portrait are particularly
entertaining.

"I don't know about the portrait. At first thought, it strikes
me that it would be rather out of place at the head of a
new venture in rhyme. I don't want to run the risk of being
laughed at. However, do as thee likes about it. Put thyself in
the place of Mrs. Grundy, and see if it will be safe for any
'counterfeit presentment' to brave the old lady's criticism."

Mr. Fields evidently dared to add the portrait. It is a
steel engraving, and bears, besides the name, the following
inscription: "Engraved By H. W. Smith. From a Photograph
By Hawes." The book is further embellished by a woodcut
head-piece and an initial letter, representing snow scenes.

From other letters we learn that Whittier liked the page
and type of the volume, and in this he showed himself a good
judge. His opinion is confirmed by those who see in the book
an example worthy of its publishers, all of whose productions,
issued at this period, are good, while some are beautiful in
their simplicity and elegance. When the matter of paper was
brought up, the author said, "Don't put the poem on tinted or
fancy paper, let it be white as the snow it tells of." Fifty
copies were printed on large paper, and were probably given
by the poet only to his friends. These embodied all the
corrections afterward incorporated in the regular editions.

Whittier's feeling for appropriateness is shown also in the
following quotation:

"I wish it could come out in season for winter fireside
reading--the very season for it.... I shall dedicate it to my
brother, and shall occupy one page with quotations from Cor.
Agrippa, and from Emerson's 'Snow Storm.'..."

He changed his mind about the dedication, however, for
the book is inscribed "To the memory of the household it
describes."

Among the errors which crept into the poem, one, the phrase
"Pindus-born Araxes," was afterward corrected to "Pindus-born
Arachthus"; and another,

"The wedding _knell_ and dirge of death,"

held its ground from 1866 until 1893.

Whittier's share in the profits of _Snow-Bound_, we are told,
amounted to ten thousand dollars.

COLLATION: _52 pp. Portrait._

CORRIGENDA

PAGE LINE READ

4 7 copies are known
9 2 adminiſtracion
15 4 The | Firſte
16 32 Arber
25 3 authors' names
25 10 youngmans
33 20 Imprented
34 4 diſſwaſion. |
34 6 the | blacke
40 6 omnia: | fiue
41 11 duodecimi
41 23 Odysses
41 24 Mihi q^d viuo
41 34 end, in some copies,
45 1 are found
45 8 1585
48 18 Maſques
48 30 The second Volume Containing These
56 7 length
61 19 Grosart
67 4 Decem.
69 7 Beaumont
77 5 Dunstan's
79 9 in
86 27 The month of September, 1694
89 8 Theater
94 18 Charles
121 28 1759
126 4 By |
128 6 A. M'Lean
147 6 Intitled

* * * * *

INDEX TO AUTHORS AND TITLES

* * * * *

INDEX TO AUTHORS AND TITLES

Absalom And Achitophel, 84, 85

Adam Bede, 211, 212

Addison (Joseph). The Spectator, 94-96

Adonais, 169, 170

Analogy (The) Of Religion, 104

Anatomy (The) Of Melancholy, 51, 52

Apologia Pro Vita Sua, 217

Arcadia. The Countesse Of Pembrokes, 29-31

Arnold (Matthew). Essays In Criticism, 218

Austen (Jane). Pride And Prejudice, 161, 162

B. (E. B.) Sonnets, 193

Bacon (Francis), Baron Verulam. Essaies, 34, 35

Baldwin (William), Thomas Sackville, and others. A Myrrour For
Magiſtrates, 19-21

Beaumont (Francis) and John Fletcher. Comedies And Tragedies, 69-71

Bell (Currer). Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. Edited by, 191

Bible. The Holy, 44-47

Biglow Papers (The), 194, 195

Blackstone (Sir William). Commentaries, 121, 122

Booke (The) of the common praier, 9-11

Boswell (James). The Life Of Samuel Johnson, 150-152

Braybrooke (Richard, Lord). _See_ Pepys (Samuel). Memoirs, 173, 174

Broken Heart (The), 58

Brontë (Charlotte). Jane Eyre, 191

Browne (Sir Thomas). Religio Medici, 65, 66

Browning (Elizabeth Barrett). Sonnets, 193

Browning (Robert). Men and Women, 208

Bunyan (John). The Pilgrims Progreſs, 82, 83

Burke (Edmund). Reflections On The Revolution In France, 146

Burns (Robert). Poems, 141, 142

Burton (Robert). The Anatomy Of Melancholy, 51, 52

Butler (Joseph), Bishop of Durham. The Analogy Of Religion, 104

Butler (Samuel). Hudibras. 77, 78

Byron (George Gordon), Sixth Baron. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,
157-160

Canterbury Tales (The), 3, 4

Carlyle (Thomas). Sartor Resartus, 183-185.

Chapman (George). The Whole Works Of Homer, 40-43.

Chaucer (Geoffrey). The Canterbury Tales, 3, 4

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, 157-160

Christabel: Kubla Khan ... The Pains Of Sleep, 163, 164

Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, 15-18

Clarendon (Edward Hyde, First Earl of). The History Of The
Rebellion, 89, 90

Clarissa, 110, 111

Coleridge (Samuel Taylor). Christabel, 163, 164

Coleridge (Samuel Taylor) and William Wordsworth. Lyrical Ballads,
153, 154

Collins (William). Odes, 109

Comedies And Tragedies, 69-71

Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, 53-55

Commentaries On The Laws Of England, 121, 122

Common praier. The booke of the, 9-11

Compleat Angler (The), 75, 76

Confeſſio amantis, 5, 6

Congreve (William). The Way of the World, 88

Conquest Of Peru. History Of The, 187, 188

Cooper (James Fenimore). The Last Of The Mohicans, 175, 176

Countesse Of Pembrokes Arcadia (The), 29-31

Cowper (William). The Task, 137-140

Cross (Mary Ann or Marian). Adam Bede Edited By George Eliot, 211,
212

D. (J.). Poems by, 62-64

Darwin (Charles Robert). On The Origin Of Species, 213-215

Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire. The History Of The, 133-135

Defoe (Daniel). The Life And Strange Surprizing Adventures Of
Robinson Crusoe, 97, 98

Democritus Iunior. _See_ Burton (Robert).

Dickens (Charles). The Posthumous Papers Of The Pickwick Club,
180-182

Dictionary (A) Of The English Language, 117, 118

Donne (John). Poems, 62-64

Dorset (Thomas Sackville, First Earl of). _See_ Thomas Sackville.

Dryden (John). Absalom And Achitophel, 84, 85

Dutch Republic. The Rise Of The, 209, 210

Dutchesse of Malfy. The Tragedy Of The, 56

Elegy (An) Wrote In A Country Church Yard, 114-116

Elia. Essays Which Have Appeared Under That Signature, 171, 172

Emerson (Ralph Waldo). Nature, 186

Essaies. Religious Meditationes, 34, 35

Essay (An) Concerning Humane Understanding, 86, 87

Essay (An) On Man, 102, 103

Essays In Criticism, 218

Euphues, 26-28

Evangeline, 192

Eve Of St. Agnes (The). Lamia, Isabella, 167, 168

Expedition (The) Of Humphry Clinker, 130, 131

Faerie Queene (The), 32, 33

Famous Tragedy (The) Of The Rich Ievv Of Malta, 59

Federalist (The), 128, 129

Ferrex and Porrex. The Tragidie of, 24, 25

Fielding (Henry). The History Of Tom Jones, 112, 113

Fitzgerald (Edward). Rubáiyát Of Omar Khayyám, 216

Fletcher (John) and Francis Beaumont. Comedies And Tragedies, 69-71

Ford (John). The Broken Heart, 58

Franklin (Benjamin). Poor Richard improved, 119, 120

George Eliot. Adam Bede, 211, 212

Gibbon (Edward). The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman
Empire, 133-135

Goldsmith (Oliver). The Vicar Of Wakefield, 123-125

Gower (John). Confeſſio amantis, 5, 6

Gray (Thomas). An Elegy Wrote In A Country Church Yard, 114-116

Gulliver (Lemuel). Travels Into Several Remote Nations ... By,
99-101

Hakluyt (Richard). The Principal Navigations, etc., 36-39

Hawthorne (Nathaniel). The Scarlet Letter, 202, 203

Herbert (George). The Temple, 60, 61

Herrick (Robert). Hesperides, 72, 73

Hesperides, 72, 73

History (The) of England, 199, 200

History (A) Of New York ... By Diedrich Knickerbocker, 155, 156

History Of The Conquest Of Peru, 187, 188

History (The) Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, 133-135

History (The) Of The Rebellion, 89, 90

History (The) Of Tom Jones, 112, 113

Holinshed (Raphael). Chronicles, 15-18

Holy Bible (The), 44-47

Holy Living. The Rule And Exercises Of, 74

Homer. The Whole Works Of, 40-43

Howard (Henry), Earl of Surrey, and others. Songes And Sonnettes,
22, 23

Hudibras, 77, 78

Humane Understanding. An Essay Concerning, 86, 87

Humphry Clinker. The Expedition Of, 130, 131

Hyde (Edward), First Earl of Clarendon. The History Of The
Rebellion, 89, 90

In Memoriam, 201

Inquiry (An) Into The Nature and Cauſes Of The Wealth Of
Nations, 132

Irving (Washington). A History Of New York, 155, 156

Isabella, The Eve Of St. Agnes. Lamia, 167, 168

Ivanhoe, 165, 166

Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. Edited By Currer Bell, 191

Johnson (Samuel). A Dictionary Of The English Language, 117, 118

Johnson, The Life Of Samuel, 150-152

Jonson (Benjamin). The Workes, 48-50

Keats (John). Lamia, Isabella, The Eve Of St. Agnes, 167, 168

Knickerbocker (Diedrich). A History Of New York ... By, 155, 156

Kubla Khan, A Vision; The Pains Of Sleep. Christabel, 163, 164

Lamb (Charles). Elia, 171, 172

Lamia, Isabella, The Eve Of St. Agnes, 167, 168

Landor (Walter Savage). Pericles And Aspasia, 177-179

Langland (William). The Vision of Pierce Plowman, 12-14

Last Of The Mohicans (The), 175, 176

Life (The) And Strange Surprizing Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe,
97, 98

Life (The) Of Samuel Johnson, 150-152

Locke (John). An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, 86, 87

Longfellow (Henry Wadsworth). Evangeline, 192

Lowell (James Russell). The Biglow Papers, 194, 195

Lucubrations (The) Of Isaac Bickerſtaff Eſq., 91-93

Lyly (John). Euphues, 26-28

Lyrical Ballads, With A Few Other Poems, 153, 154

Macaulay (Thomas Babington), First Baron Macaulay, The History Of
England, 199, 200

Malfy. The Tragedy Of The Dutchesse Of, 56

Malory (Sir Thomas). Le Morte Darthur, 7, 8

Marlowe (Christopher). The Famous Tragedy Of The Rich Ievv Of
Malta, 59

Massinger (John). A New Way To Pay Old Debts, 57

Melib[oe]us-Hipponax. The Biglow Papers. Edited ... By Homer
Wilbur, 194, 195

Memoirs Of Samuel Pepys, Esq. F.R.S., 173, 174

Men And Women, 208

Milton (John). Paradiſe loſt, 79-81

Morte Darthur. (Le), 7, 8

Motley (John Lothrop). The Rise Of The Dutch Republic, 209, 210

Myrrour For Magiſtrates (A), 19-21

Natural History (The) And Antiquities Of Selborne, 143-145

Nature, 186

New Way (A) To Pay Old Debts, 57

Newman (John Henry), Cardinal. Apologia Pro Vita Sua, 217

Norton (Thomas) and Thomas Sackville. The Tragidie of Ferrex and
Porrex, 24, 25

Odes On Several Deſcriptive and Allegoric Subjects, 109

Omar Khayyám. Rubáiyát Of, 216

On The Origin Of Species, 213-215

Paine (Thomas). Rights Of Man, 147-149

Pains Of Sleep. Christabel: Kubla Khan ... 163, 164

Paradiſe loſt, 79-81

Pepys (Samuel). Memoirs, 173, 174

Percy (Thomas), Bishop of Dromore. Reliques Of Ancient English
Poetry, 105-108

Pericles And Aspasia, 177-179

Pickwick Club. The Posthumous Papers Of The, 180-182

Pierce Plowman. The Vision of, 12-14

Pilgrims Progreſs (The), 82, 83

Poe (Edgar Allan). The Raven, 189, 190

Poems, By J. D., 62-64

Poems, Chiefly In The Scottish Dialect, 141, 142

Poor Richard improved, 119, 120

Pope (Alexander). An Essay On Man, 102, 103

Posthumous Papers (The) Of The Pickwick Club, 180-182

Prescott (William Hinckling). History Of The Conquest Of Peru,
187, 188

Pride And Prejudice, 161, 162

Principal Navigations, (The) Voiages, Traffiques And Discoueries
of the Engliſh Nation, 36-39

Raven (The) And Other Poems, 189, 190

Reflections On The Revolution In France, 146

Religio Medici, 65, 66

Reliques Of Ancient English Poetry, 105-108

Revolution In France. Reflections On The, 146

Richardson (Samuel). Clarissa, 110, 111

Rich Ievv Of Malta. The Famous Tragedy Of The, 59

Rights Of Man, 147-149

Rise Of The Dutch Republic, 209, 210

Robinson Crusoe. The Life And Strange Surprizing Adventures Of,
97, 98

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, 216

Rule And Exercises Of Holy Living, 74

Ruskin (John). The Stones of Venice, 205-207

Sackville (Thomas), First Earl of Dorset, and Thomas Norton. The
Tragidie of Ferrex and Porrex, 24, 25

Sackville (Thomas), First Earl of Dorset, William Baldwin and
others. A Myrrour For Magiſtrates, 19-21

Sartor Resartus, 183-185

Scarlet Letter (The), 202, 203

School (The) For Scandal, 136

Scott (Sir Walter). Ivanhoe, 165, 166

Selborne. The Natural History And Antiquities Of, 143-145

Sentimental Journey (A), 126, 127

Shakespeare (William). Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, 53-55

Shelley (Percy Bysshe). Adonais, 169, 170

Sheridan (Richard Brinsley). The School For Scandal, 136

Sidney (Sir Philip). The Countesse Of Pembrokes Arcadia, 29-31

Smith (Adam). An Inquiry Into The Nature and Causes Of The Wealth
Of Nations, 132

Smollett (Tobias George). The Expedition Of Humphry Clinker, 130,
131

Snow-Bound, 219, 220

Songes And Sonnettes, 22, 23

Sonnets. By E. B. B., 193

Spectator (The), 94-96

Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene, 32, 33

Steele (Sir Richard). The Tatler, 91-93

Sterne (Laurence). A Sentimental Journey, 126, 127

Stones of Venice (The), 205-207

Stowe (Harriet Beecher). Uncle Tom's Cabin, 204

Surrey (Henry Howard), Earl of. Songes And Sonnettes, 22, 23

Swift (Jonathan). Travels Into Several Remote Nations ... By
Lemuel Gulliver, 99-101

Task (The), 137-140

Tatler (The), 91-93

Taylor (Jeremy). The Rule And Exercises Of Holy Living, 74

Temple (The), 60, 61

Tennyson (Alfred), First Baron Tennyson. In Memoriam. 201

Thackeray (William Makepeace). Vanity Fair, 196-198

Tom Jones. The History Of, 112, 113

Tragedy (The) Of The Dutchesse Of Malfy, 56

Tragedy of The Rich Ievv Of Malta. The Famous, 59

Tragidie (The) of Ferrex and Porrex, 24, 25

Travels Into Several Remote Nations ... By Lemuel Gulliver, 99-101

Uncle Tom's Cabin, 204

Vanity Fair, 196-198

Vicar Of Wakefield (The), 123-125

Vision (The) of Pierce Plowman, 12-14

Waller (Edmund). The Workes, 67, 68

Walton (Izaak). The Compleat Angler, 75, 76

Way of the World (The), 88

Wealth Of Nations. An Inquiry Into The Nature and Cauſes Of The,
132

Webster (John). The Tragedy Of The Dutchesse Of Malfy, 56

White (Gilbert). The Natural History And Antiquities Of Selborne,
143-145

Whittier (John Greenleaf). Snow-Bound, 219, 220

Wilbur (Homer) ... The Biglow Papers. Edited ... by, 194, 195

Wordsworth (William) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Lyrical Ballads,
153, 154.

* * * * *

[Illustration:
καὶ μὴν ἀριθμὸν
ἔξοχον σοφισμάτων
έξεῦρον αὐτοῖς
γραμμάτών τε συνθέσεις
μνήμην θ'ἁπάντων
μουσομήτορ' ἐργάτιν

THE DE VINNE PRESS

IMPRIMATVR]

[Greek:
kai mên arithmon
exochon sophismatôn
exeuron autois
grammatôn te syntheseis
mnêmên th'apantôn
mousomêtor' ergatin]

Translation (De Vinne Press - https: //printinghistory.org/de-vinne/):
"and further I discovered for them [i.e., mankind] numeration, most
striking of inventions, and composition, nurse of the arts, producer
of the record of all things."--Prometheus.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note:

This book contains many instances of ſ (long s), which have been
retained, though its use is not necessarily consistent.

Some joining m-dashes (—) (usually in dates) have been changed
to hyphens (-).

Lines 921, 927 (page 16): 'trust' has twice appeared on this page as
'trust', instead of the expected 'truſt'. It may have been deliberate,
and has been retained.

"thoſe yet whom he left in trust to diſpoſe his things
after...."

"and the rather to anſwere that trust which the deceaſſed
repoſed in me,..."

Line 1070 (page 20): 'fyrst' has been retained.

"as the fyrst part doth of other mens," ... ... "wurthy wittes to
enterpryſe and performe the reſt."

Line 1122 (Page 21): ([backwards P?R] one) and ([backwards P?R] I).
This appears to be a monogram, either qR, joined, or backwards-P
joined to R.

Line 1718 (Page 36): 'christopher Barker' is as printed.

"... christopher Barker, Printer to the Queenes moſt excellent
Maieſtie."

Line 1723 (Page 36): Decorative 'A', or SA monogram?

"... and there are two large pictorial initials at the beginning
signed A."

(also Line 1807 on Page 38)

Line 1982 (Page 42): 'χαριsńgιον' corrected to 'χαριϛήριον'
[Greek: Charistêrion]

Line 2754: (Page 63): 'fory' corrected to 'ſory'

"I am ſory that I muſt deceive you; but you will not...."

Lines 3799-3800 (Page 90): 'MBurg.' and 'MBurghers', with M and B
close together - a monogram?

"... is signed "delin MBurg. ſculp. Univ. Ox.," in the first two
volumes, and "delin MBurghers ſculpt, Univ. Ox. 1704," in the
third,..."

Line 3805 (Page 90): "A portrait of Clarendon, occurs as a
frontispiece in each of the three volumes." ... either extraneous
comma after 'Clarenden' or missing comma after 'portrait'. Extraneous
comma removed for clarity.

Line 3971 (Page 94): 'ſumum' corrected to 'fumum'

"Non fumum ex fulgore, ſed ex fumo dare lucem"

Line 4913 (Page 118): "... they received 23s. a week, which he agreed
to raise to 2l. 2s., not, it is to be hoped, out of the 1,575l."

l = £ (pound/pounds); so,

"... they received 23 shillings a week, which he agreed to raise to
£2. 2s. (2 pounds 2 shillings, or 42 shillings), not, it is to be
hoped, out of the £1575 (1,575 pounds)."

Line 5505, Page 135: 'historians'' corrected to 'historian's'

(re Gibbon) "... the historian's "profit on the whole is stated...."

Line 9236 (Page 226): 'surprising' corrected to 'surprizing' to match
title, and other index entry.

"Robinson Crusoe. The Life And Strange Surprizing Adventures Of, 97,
98"

Lines 9370, 9378 (Page 230): The transliteration of the Greek poem in
the De Vinne Press Logo, and the translation supplied by the De Vinne
Press website, have been added for readers' benefit.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Bibliographic Notes on One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature" ***

Home