v. APRIL 28, 1906.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
321
LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1906.
CONTENTS.-No. 122.
NOTES :-Gray's Poems,' 1768, 321 The Gunnings of Castle Coote, 323-Archibald Constable, Sir Walter Scott's Publisher, 324 May Day: Maypole ' Things Indian' Lava, 325 Hornby and Feilden M.P.s Stewart of Lome Effigy" Hominy" : its Etymology, 326 Abbey or Priory "Roman Catholic," 327.
QUERIES: "Pleachy" English Government Fund for French Emigres Cox's 'History of Warwickshire' Capt. William Wade, 327 Baskish Inscriptions in New- foundland Chodzko on the Siege of Kazan Hamilton Family of Arran Maiden Road, Stratford" Ragotin, ce matin" Black Ewe in the ' Iliad' Axholme Priory " Gordon's formulae " Mary Gavinne Maclean "Two Sneezing Cats "Irvine's ' History of the Irvine Family' Stubbs : Reynolds : Nolloth : City-Road Chapel, 328- Polynesian Islands Welds of Willey Park, Salop, 329.
REPLIES: "Pour," 329 -"Place, "333-Christian of Miln- town, 33i Ralph Gout; Watchmaker " Rattling good thing " Heraldic, 335 Royal Arms in Churches John Penhallow Whitchurch, Middlesex, 336 Dr. William Mead Edward Brerewood Allan Cunningham's * King of the Peak ' Fencible Regiment Lewes Grammar School Ben Jonson's 'Underwoods,' XLI. 'Speculum Episcopi ' The Henry Brougham, 337 Holborn Grant- ham of Goltho Family, 338 Mozarabic Mass in Spain, 339.
NOTES ON BOOKS: Besant's 'Medieval London' Bedfordshire Monumental Brasses Stratford - on - Avon Shakespeare' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal ' ' Berks, Bucks, and Oxon Archaeological Journal ' Guide to Saffron Walden.
Notices to Correspondents.
GRAY'S * POEMS,' 1768.
IN a letter to James Beattie, dated 24 Dec., 1767, Gray refers to a proposal which Beattie had made to him about printing at Glasgow what little he had ever written. Apparently Foulis, the Glasgow printer, had originated the suggestion, and Gray observes that he ought to be acquainted with what had already been done in the matter. He goes on to say:
" When I was in London the last spring, Dodsley, the bookseller, asked my leave to reprint, in a smaller form, all I ever published ; to which I consented : and added, that I would send him a few explanatory notes ; and if he would omit entirely the 'Long Story' (which was never meant for the public, and only suffered to appear in that pompous edition because of Mr. Bentley's designs, which were not intelligible without it), I promised to send him something else to print instead of it, lest the bulk of so small a volume should be reduced to nothing at all."
Gray, in a spirit of great fairness, admits that he would rather see his poems printed at Glasgow, under the supervision of Beattie, than at London ; but he could not retract his promise to Dodsley, to whom he had explained that there would be an edition put out in Scotland by a friend of his, whom he could not refuse ; and he engaged to let both Dodsley and Foulis have copies of his
notes and additions. These, he said, were
imitations of two pieces of old Norwegian
poetry, " in which there was a wild spirit that
struck me," and a few parallel passages and
notes. Gray himself had no interest in the
publication : the expense was the publisher's,
and so was the profit, if any profit there
were. The result was that both Dodsley and
Foulis agreed to publish the poems.
Dodsley was first in the field, and brought out two editions (one of 1,500 copies, and the other of 750) before Foulis issued his book. Gray writes to Beattie under date 31 Oct., 1768, that he had received two copies of the poems from Foulis, and describes the edition as most beautiful. Dodsley's editions, he adds, are both far inferior to that of Glasgow, but were sold at half the price. Dodsley's first issue is therefore the editio princeps of Gray's collected poems, although the greater part of the contents had previously appeared in different forms. It is curious that some doubt appears to exist with regard to this issue, and some years ago one of the most eminent booksellers in London announced in his catalogue the second issue, or rather edition, as the first. I drew his attention to this error, of which he professed himself unconscious. I therefore venture to give the title-page and a brief collation of the volume :
"Poems I by | Mr. Gray. | [Publisher's monogram.] | London: Printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-mall. | MDCCLXVIII."
Collation. Small octavo ; pp. iv + 122, consisting of half-title, * Gray's | Poems,' marked A at foot, pp. [i, ii], verso blank ; title as above, pp. [iii, iv], verso blank ; text of the poems, pp. [1]-120 ; Contents, p. [121]; p. [122] blank. The register is : A, 2 leaves ; B-H, in eights ; I, 4 leaves, K, 1 leaf. Each poem has a separate half-title.
The contents of the volume are :
'Ode on the Spring' (previously printed in Dodsley's 'Collection,' 1748, vol. ii., under the title cf * Ode, 5 and under the same title in the * Designs by Mr. Bentley for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, 1 1753 and 1765).
'Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat' (previously printed in Dodsley's ' Collection,' 1748, vol. ii., and in the ' Designs,' 1753 ana 1765).
'Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (previously printed in a folio pamphlet of eight pages for R. Dodsley, 1747, in Dodsley's ' Collection,' 1748, vol. ii., and in the ' Designs,' 1753 and 1765).
'Hymn to Adversity' (previously printed in Bentley's ' Designs/ 1753 and 1765, and in Dodsley's 'Collection, 1 1755, vol. iv.).
