PREFACE.

PREFACE.

The very miscellaneous nature of the contents of this third and last volume of the present edition of Crabbe’sPoemsobliges me to trouble the reader with a rather lengthy series of prefatory remarks. Before, however, entering on these, I should like to supplement what was said in the Preface to Vol. 1 with regard to the source of the earliest among theJuveniliathere printed. Since writing that Preface I have at last had an opportunity of examining the whole set of Vols.I-VI(for the years 1770–5) of the elusiveLady’s Magazine, of which Vol.Iwas published by Robinson and Roberts, and the remaining five volumes by Robinson. Curiously enough, the 1773 volume of thisMagazinecontains, in the February number, a long piece of verse, apparently a prize poem, entitledAn Essay on Hope; but the six lines quoted by the younger Crabbe are not to be found in this poem any more than in that printed in the October number of the 1772 volume of theMagazine. By another coincidence, a poem calledThe Bee, signed “Louisa Broughton,” appears in the April number of the sameMagazinefor 1774. I may add, that the June number of the same volume contains a poem, in Shenstone’s manner, addressed “To Miss E——r M——,” and signed “G. C., Cambridge, May 2, 1774.” It has an apologetic introductory note, whichmight have beenwritten by Crabbe.

To turn to the present volume. TheTales of the Hall(Bks.XII-XXII), which occupy its earlier pages are, like the previousTalescontained in Vol.II, printed from the edition of 1823; and the variants are taken from the first edition (1819) and from the “Original MS.” readings given as footnotes in the edition of 1834. ThePosthumous Talesare printed from Vol.VIIIof thePoetical Works of Crabbeedited by his son (1834). The sources of the variants in thePosthumous Taleswill be indicated immediately.

With regard to the remaining contents of the present volume, it may be convenient if I here, in accordance with a promise made in the Preface to Vol.IIof the present edition, furnish some account of the Crabbe MSS. now in the possession of the Cambridge University Press, as well as of certain other collections of MSS. of which I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to make use. In each case, I have, for purposes of reference, indicated the marks by which, in a list given at the end of the Bibliography included in the present volume, the previously unpublished pieces by Crabbe, here printed from transcripts of the originals in the several collections, have been distinguished.

The MS. books acquired by the Cambridge University Press (U.P.) are five in number. One of these, half-bound in red, is throughout in Crabbe’s handwriting, and contains, together with fragments of thePosthumous TalesI,III,VI,VIIandX, and a version ofLines written at Warwick(p.428), in each case offering some variants which have been duly noted,Joseph’s Dream(p.521) and some other pieces now printed for the first time. The writing, partly in pen, partly in pencil, on the first and the last four pages of this volume, hasbeen disregarded, as not sufficiently coherent to warrant an attempt at printing it. A note superscribed “Duchess of Rutland, Oct. 11th, 1824” (perhaps the lines in question were written in the Duchess’s album) states that the verses here entitledOn a View of Barford(p.505) refer to a picture drawn by Miss Bagot of that house, when occupied by Mr and Mrs Mills. This note further states thatAn Inscription at Guy’s Cliffwhich Crabbe has marked as “By ——,” and the verses added by him (p.504) refer to a picture of Guy’s Cliff near Leamington, the property of Mr Bertie Greathead. Another note explains that the versesOn a Drawing of Cadlands(p.518) refer to a picture of Mr Drummond’s seat of that name by Lady Elizabeth Drummond; and that the “drawing by the Hon. Mrs. Smith (Eliza Forrester)” (p.519) consisted of “a Landscape and other pieces.” This MS. book also contains an earlier copy of the lines entitledLa Femme Jalouse(p.507). The last three stanzas of the poem on a drawing ofBrompton Park Cottage(p.506) are added from the version given in this MS. book. From it are also taken a few readings in the stanzasFor the Drawing of the Lady in the Green Mantle(p.520). From it is also printed the fragmentJoseph and Charles(p.492), with which should be compared Vol.VIII, pp. 63 sq. of the edition of 1834, and indeed the whole tale ofThe Family of Love. It also contains a draft ofThe Equal Marriage(Posthumous Tales,III), with a few variants, noted among those printed at the end of the present volume; also a draft ofSilford Hall(Posthumous Tales,I), with a considerable number of variants, of which the chief have been noted in the same place. There are also to be found here drafts ofLines written at Warwick(p.428), and of the linesOn a Drawing of the Elm Tree(p.431),&c., there stated to be by Miss Chilibeen(?), both with variants. Finally, the same MS. book contains the lines which I have entitledRest in the Lord(p.523) and the unfinished linesAnd He said unto her, “Thy Sins are forgiven”(p.524).

On the fly-leaf of a second Crabbe MS. book in the possession of the Cambridge University Press (U.P.) is written: “This MS. is by the Poet Crabbe and in his autograph. It is one of his Memorandum Books.” This book begins with three pages of almost illegible verse, which appear to contain an earlier draft of a portion of what follows. Then ensues the long MS. entitledTracy, to which is prefixed, in Crabbe’s own handwriting, the date “1 Jan. 1813,” and which is interrupted at intervals by further illegible passages. On pp. “18–19” of this MS. book there is an account, only in part legible, of the beginning of the Lady’s Vision, which is continued in the portion printed in the present volume (from p.450). The lines beginning “The good are happy,” appear to form no part ofTracy, though they have been inserted in the middle of it, and are therefore here printed as a separate piece, to which I have given the titleConscious Guiltiness(p.498). The verses superscribedJane Adair, which are similarly inserted in the text ofTracy, are likewise printed separately (p.512), as are also those which I have respectively calledHoratio(p.513),Jacob and Rachel(p.514),David and Saul(p.515),Belief and Unbelief(p.499), andThe Task(p.498). Then follows a version of the linesOn receiving from a Lady a Present of a Ring(p.432); then a version ofVillars(Posthumous Tales,V); then the fragment of a tale, which I have entitledSusan and her Lovers(p.462), interspersed with some illegible passages; then anotherfragment of a tale,Captain Godfrey(p.468); then a further fragment,The Amours of G[eorge], which is obviously an early draft, in a different metre, of a large portion ofThe Elder Brother(Tales of the Hall, Bk.VII); then theCharade(Modesty) (p.516); then a variant of the conclusion of the tale ofVillars(see above); then the linesTragic Tales, Why?a fragment (p.474). Opening this volume at the other end, we find it to contain prose-sketches of certain of theTales; a criticism of Gibbon and other miscellaneous matter; besides the verses onMiss Waldron’s Birthday(p.502), and some partially illegible and quite incoherent fragments.

A third, small, MS. book (U.P.), of which the writing is throughout remarkably clear, and which has few variants from the text of the 1834 edition, contains, together with fifteen of thePosthumous Tales,The Funeral of the Squire, obviously designed as one of this series, and now printed for the first time (p.489). There is nothing in this book that has not been previously printed exceptThe Funeral.

A fourth, small, MS. book (U.P.) contains, together with some fragments ofTales of the Hall, Bks.VIIandXI, of which the variants have been noted in Vol.IIof this edition, and a version of the linesOn the Death of Sir Samuel Romilly(p.439), the stanzas entitledMatilda(p.516). A number of pages in pencil have been unavoidably disregarded. In the same little book are a few fragmentary lines, hitherto unprinted, that must originally have been intended to form part of theTales of the Hall(p.473).

A fifth, also small, MS. book (U.P.) contains, besides a catalogue of Crabbe’s library at Trowbridge, and a few accounts, the two short pieces printedin the present volume under the titlesMomentary Grief(p.507) andEnigma(Sovereign) (p.515). A number of pages at the end of this volume have been cut out.

Through the kind offices of the Vice-Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Mr W. Aldis Wright, I was allowed to examine a MS. volume in the Trinity Library (T.C.) which bears the following inscription: “This volume, which formerly belonged to Crabbe the poet was given to the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by Edward FitzGerald, M.A., April, 1871.” The obverse of the volume contains a list of Plants, beginning withCryptogamia. On a fly-leaf are written, in a tremulous hand (probably Crabbe’s), the lines which I have entitledA Fragment(p.497). Then follow, in Crabbe’s ordinary writing, the lines printed in the present volume under the title ofPoverty and Love(ib.); and towards the end of the book, are, in Crabbe’s handwriting, the lines here calledThe Curate’s Progress(ib.). The reverse of this MS. book, which is on the cover very neatly dated September 23, 1793, contains, besides another shorter list of plants and much miscellaneous matter, a scribbled page of verse, from which I was only able to extract the following entire couplet:

“The Sum on Dress by this fair Creature spentWould more than equal Colin’s yearly rent.”

“The Sum on Dress by this fair Creature spentWould more than equal Colin’s yearly rent.”

“The Sum on Dress by this fair Creature spentWould more than equal Colin’s yearly rent.”

“The Sum on Dress by this fair Creature spent

Would more than equal Colin’s yearly rent.”

Professor E. Dowden, LL.D., of Trinity College, Dublin, has added to previous obligations conferred on me in connexion with the present edition by allowing me the use of two small books belonging to him, in Crabbe’s handwriting (D.). One of these supplies the complete Tale ofThe Deserted Family, now for the first time printed (pp.477–488). The other containsdrafts ofPosthumous TalesVI-XVIandXXII; the more important variants offered by these are inserted in the list at the end of the present volume. From this MS. book are also taken the verses entitledThe Prodigal Going(p.517).

The originals of certain pieces contained in the present volume are to be found in a book belonging to Mrs Mackay, of Trowbridge, which she has with the utmost liberality placed at my service. This interesting portion of Mrs Mackay’s collection (M.) contains a series of proof-engravings of Corbould’s, Westall’s and other illustrations of certain among the earlier editions of Crabbe’sPoems. It also includes a draft of a portion ofThe Sisters(Tales of the Hall, Bk.VIII; see Vol.II, and variants,ib.), and the linesTo Lady Jersey(p.435), in a version, of which the variants have been duly noted. From this book are taken the following poems: the stanzas called by meThe Flowers of the Spring(p.508), of which I have ventured to transpose the last two, and the fragment which I have namedLa Belle Dame sans Merci(p.509). Both pieces are here printed for the first time. Mrs Mackay’s collection also contains, written on separate leaves, the blank-verse lines entitled by meThe Passionate Pilgrim(p.496), which are subscribed “Crabbe,” and of which the handwriting in several respects resembles that in Crabbe’s autograph ofMidnight(see Vol.I), though less flowing than this; the couplets called by meSorrow(p.496), which are not in the handwriting of Crabbe; and, finally, the linesTo the Hon. Mrs Spencer(p.503), which are signed “Geo. Crabbe.”

Mr Buxton-Forman has most generously allowed me to print a series of pieces from his collection ofMSS. (B.F.). It includes the verses which are entirely in Crabbe’s handwriting, as is perhaps the signature appended, and which I have calledHopeless Love(p.510); the fragmentDavid Jones(p.476) of which the text may be, the title is certainly not, in Crabbe’s hand; and the fragment which I have calledRobert and Catharine(p.475), as to which it seems uncertain whether the text is in Crabbe’s hand. It is manifestly an early draft ofThe Cousins(Posthumous Tales,XXI); but the actual phraseology in the two versions is very rarely the same. The following pieces are also derived from the same collection: those called by meUnion(p.511) andRevival(ib.), of which latter the third stanza appears in a rather different form on a separate leaf;Metamorphosis(p.512); andContentment(p.493), a fragment of a tale. Mr Buxton-Forman’s Crabbe MSS. also include memoranda for Tales and drafts of parts ofThe Will(Posthumous Tales,XX) and ofBelinda Waters(ib.XV). In neither case are the variants offered by these drafts of importance.

Finally, the late Duke of Rutland was so kind as to allow several pieces of verse in Crabbe’s own handwriting preserved at Belvoir to be transcribed for insertion in the present edition (B). Some of these, I cannot but think, were transcribed by the Duke’s own hand. Most of them were exhibited at the Crabbe Celebration held at Aldborough in September, 1905, and successfully arranged and organised by Mr Charles Ganz. TheVerses to the Duke of Rutlanddated Belvoir, August, 1784, were most kindly transcribed for me after the death of the late Duke by his Grace’s Chaplain and Librarian, the Rev. F. W. Knox. Of these pieces, theVerses written for the Duke of Rutland’s Birthday(January 4, 1817) (p.499) and the lines entitledLaFemme Jalouse(Teniers) (p.507) are here printed for the first time; to the latter a few variants have been furnished from an earlier copy in one of the MS. books in the possession of the University Press (U.P.). The stanzas Forthe Drawing of the Lady in the Green Mantle(p.520), andBrompton Park Cottage(p.506), are also printed for the first time, from transcripts made by the late Duke of Rutland, or by his Grace’s instructions, from the originals at Belvoir. In the former case the original states the “Fair Artist” who drew the picture to have been Miss Isabella Forrester. In the latter the drawing in question is stated to have been made by Lady Sophia Norman, the cottage having been lent to the Duke, when ill, by Mr Greenwood. In the former case the last three stanzas, and in the latter a few various readings, have been supplied from one of the Crabbe MS. books in the possession of the Cambridge University Press (U.P.). To the linesFrom Belvoir Castle(p.389),Storm and Calm(p.396), andTo Sarah, Countess of Jersey, on her Birthday(p.435), previously printed in the 1834 edition, variants have been supplied from the Duke’s transcripts.

Of theMiscellaneous Verses previously printedreprinted in the present volume the twoPoetical Epistles(April, 1780) are, by the kind permission of Mr Buxton-Forman, owner of the MSS., and of Dr W. Robertson Nicoll and Mr T. J. Wise, editors ofLiterary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century(1896), and of Messrs Hodder and Stoughton, reproduced at length from Vol.IIof that work. Ten lines from theEpistle to Mirahad already been printed in Vol.I(p.67) from theLife(p.58) in Vol.Iof the 1834 edition.

From this edition also come, with the exception of the last but two and the last, all the remaining shorterpieces already published (some with variants, duly noted, from the University Press and Belvoir MSS., from the MSS. of Mrs Mackay, and from an article entitledTreasure Trovecontributed by Miss M. Jourdain toThe Book Monthlyfor May, 1906). This article, of which Miss Jourdain and her publishers (Messrs Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co.) kindly allowed me to make use, consists of pieces printed from transcripts made at Belvoir Castle. In Miss Jourdain’s article is included stanza v ofThe Friend in Love(p.437), which is missing in the stanzas given in theLife(1834). A few variants in this version have been duly noted. I may add that betweenThe World of DreamsandSir Eustace Greywhich in metre and otherwise are so closely associated with one another, no actual parallelisms either of sense or of form are noticeable. The exceptions referred to are the following.The Lines(Edinburgh, August 15, 1822) (p.440) are printed, without variants, from a separately printed leaflet in my possession: and theLines addressed to the Dowager Duchess of Rutland(p.441) fromThe Casket(1829), with variants from Miss Jourdain’s article inThe Book Monthly.

Of the Poems hitherto unpublisheda list giving the source of each will be found at the close of the Bibliography in this volume. In the general sequence of these pieces I have so far as possible adopted a chronological order; the whole body of previously unpublished verse has however been divided into two groups—viz. tales and fragments of tales, and lyrical pieces; and, where there was no indication of date, the poems taken from the same collection of MSS. have been kept together.

It remains for me to return my sincere thanks tothe possessors of Crabbe MSS. already mentioned, and to others who have in various ways aided me in making this concluding volume of Crabbe’sPoems, and therewith the edition as a whole, as complete as possible. I should like, in especial, to thank ProfessorMorfillof Oxford for enriching the Bibliography at the close of this volume by enabling us to refer to two works which attest the very curious and significant fact of the interest in Crabbe taken in Russia.

The Bibliography itself has been drawn up by MrA. T. Bartholomew, of Peterhouse and the University Library, who has again compiled the list of Variants, and to whom the present volume of this edition, like its predecessors, is throughout indebted for his continuous cooperation. It is a true pleasure to me to have been so zealously and efficiently aided in the performance of my task by a member of my own College.

A. W. WARD.

Peterhouse Lodge, Cambridge.December 10th, 1906.

Peterhouse Lodge, Cambridge.December 10th, 1906.

Peterhouse Lodge, Cambridge.December 10th, 1906.

Peterhouse Lodge, Cambridge.

December 10th, 1906.

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