B is a Consonant [h]at[h] no name-sake, as none oug[h]t to have. For put a vowel before or after it, its all one for the name and value, for every value of a letter is according to its name, or oug[h]t to be, for the name is proper to the figure as call, de or ed, ’tis all one, as r o ed, rod. Call b be, or eb; but use custom, ’tis [h]elpful w[h]en proper; [h]urtful w[h]en improper. B is overplus in Lamb, t[h]umb, debt, doubt; and w[h]at need is t[h]ere of t[h]ese unnecessary bees; scarce one in a Parish besides the Parson t[h]inks t[h]e two last come of Latin words, debitum and dubito, w[h]ere t[h]ey are pronounc’d.
B is a letter of t[h]e lips, shutting t[h]e lips before t[h]e vowel, w[h]en it begins a syllable, and after a vowel when it ends: So do the rest in BUMaFviz.ev, we, m, f, p.
A Rule useful for School-Teachers, for short Tongu’d Children, for easy Utterance use the upper Letters for the neather.
With letter-substitution
By one I had a Scholar, could speak none of the neather Letters, till he [h]ad learn’d (after theWest[G]untry fashion, and the Rules of the Learn’d Grammars) to pronounce the upper first.
We are not awar [h]au muh our deseitful lettrz [h]indr uthr Learning, and refining Inglish, and [h]au tru letrz would furthr it.
MadC w’[c]s spelz sound [c]e sàm,Stilo novo.Betráz q h and k.
Desetfule deniz its nam,And s do[c] it betra.
Dissembli[v] C wi[c] nidles vot,Ov ridi[v] brex [c]e nec.
Unles it [h]av a proper nam,And spelli[v] suits wi[c] C.
C[g]ivzan il exampl,And iz a tripl tna[v]: CCC ERAS. Ad.
On gustis it do[c] trampl,Scab’d for aol [h]er aolzbra[v].
Ov sierz [c]e blind ledr iz:[D]eded [c]e livi[v] rul. ARISTOF.
And[w]ota tirsum tasc iz [c]isTo wat upon a Fuul?
Larg [h]ausn [h]av wi in larg taunz,And largr hevnle buux:
Larg Cots andTlox[h]av wi and [G]aunz,Aur fit inletrstox.
It nivr iz tuu lat to [t]riv,Nor to inven[j]onz ad:
For Silvr auns wi ra[c]r striv,Dunmane paundz ov Led.
Nau [c]at I ma u trule si,Sertante to mi sa:
If lic u sim and no frend be,Non ledz mi wursr wa.
In cruuced waz [c]is aol iz il,Men tno not[c]at[c]a er.
And [c]at men luv darcnes stil,No faot in endless fir.
With letter-substitution
As c t and h do fuul our erz ovr and ovr in hatch and catch,&c.so dodh D (non withoutdeset) in Wednesday, Hedg, Judg, spring, grudg, badg,where g may do well without its false [h]elp or cumber-place.
F is unpronounc’d in mastiff and t is spoken instead of f, in handful, armful, sackful. But it hath manifest wrong done it, by his convertible p, and its unconvertible h, against their own names too, as Philip. Whereas ph help no more for spelling Filip, than it doth Alexander. Now if you had said HURH spells Church, and GUG spells Judge, I could easily believe it.
But heap, God, thy, thigh, hang, shame, which are none of the seven spell’d by the Letters we intend should spell them: neither can any Englishman for his ears, eyes and wits, spell any of these words, and MILLIONS more like ’em, more by his 24 English Letters, make what shift he can, whileInglandisIngland, and have both Universities,CAMBRIGEandOxfordto help him, and all the Universities beyond the Seas to help them.
Viz.[Y]èp, [G]od, [C]i, [T]i, [Y]a[v], [J]à[v], [W]ih; also [F]aun, [R]ûm; and Hif, Ked,Plejr. For
Turpe est doctore cum culpa redarguit ipsum.
According toCato:
Unto the Teacher its a shame,In others his own Faults to blame.
Thus you percieve the whole World is but in the Battle-dore, and Lerning is in the Cradle, and the sayings of this Book, as Macroons to invite her to the taking her Letters to keep up old custom. AsHoras[h]ath it in his first Sermon.
——Pueris dant crustula blandiDoctores elementa velint ut discere prima.Kind Teachers give Boys Bun and Cake,Their Letters for to Learn them make.
G is deaf in sign, not signifie, and g[h] in boug[h]t, broug[h]t, not in coug[h], throug[h], enoug[h], w[h]ih is strangly spoken, stuff, enoug[h], boug[h]s, enoug[h],(corn enoug[h]) and sig[h]ed, and g[h]ed spells [h]ead, if ec be not cast away; let k be g[h]a, else k (unless for g[h]) as in back, stack, crack, would be a vain impertinent Letter, and deserves (as suh) in an orderly Family to be cic’d out o’ th’ doors. For our Battle-dore is a well-[g]overn’d SITY, w[h]ih shuts out all idle impertinent persnz, as vagrants wit[h] t[h]eir extravagancies out o’ t[h]’ Gates.
H is vain, in Ghost, Sc[h]olar, not in Churh, but c is, t[h]erefore it deserves to be turn’d out of doors, for loosing its good name, [h]aving work enoug[h] to live of its trade, and is an Interlooper, sounding one t[h]ing by its self, anot[h]er in word-spelling, that she ma not be [h]onest by [h]er self, and a knave in company.
L in will, bell, mall, full, and t[h]ousands more.
M in gemm, stem,&c.
N in Henry and proper names, as Normanton, Rependon, Donington. T[h]e former n is un[h]eard.
P in receipt, not except, and mig[h]t as well be left out, as in deceit, conceit, of t[h]e same sin, so empty temptation.
S in isle, island, ass, as is uz, s single is as
T in whitsunday, and watch, catch, clutch.
U is turn’d into EV, Coventry, Daventry, Oven for Couentry, Dauntry, Ouen, an eut; see Mr.Dugdal.
So ourLettersrat[h]er marr than mend our Language, w[h]en wrong spell’d: but more Letters would do well in the Alfabet, (w[h]ih is preparing) but fewer in most words to spell properly.
We is us’d t[h]ree ways, as a vowel, as now, [h]ow, as a consonant in we, went, as nothing, in know, show, andbo.
Ye is us’d four ways, as a consonant, as yea, yes, as a long and short vowel, as w[h]y, [h]oly and doubtful, as my, t[h]y, and as not[h]ing in may day.
W[h]en each Letter [h]at[h] but one meaning 1; the Reading is certain as two and twenty one, one wants w, and two ma spare it.
Z is scarce us’d in vain, but as many consonants are double to make a short vowel, as Buzze, but is most us’d for s after all Letters but p, c, t, for plurals and t[h]e like, s and z seem to cross one another, as raze and raise, and x for z, as beaux.
Since renoun’d Aut[h]ors of late [h]ave left out ugh, as t[h]oug[h] and the like, writing t[h]o’, if they [h]ad left out w and y superfluous, as know, row, da, t[h]are, and put out all vain letters, and cambril the vowels, the idle Letters would never [h]ave come in again.
Now if Books were begun to be all printed by t[h]ese directions, t[h]ey would make all other old books easier read, and more truly pronounced, t[h]e false spelling being discover’d and amended.
But Letters are neither here nor there, for all this, in every circuit there is something of a particular dialect, differing from the common English, though the Western and Northern differ most.
Now when we speak of altering the Letters, we alter not, but establish and settle the known speech, which is no more but to alter or remove the sign when it directedh to the wrong [h]ouse, but the Inn all the while is the same. If one be in the North or West, he had best speak as they do, that he may be readily understood, which is the end of speech.
We have corruptions enough in our Letters to corrupt all Languages writ with them.
If our Letters were thus Corrected, a stranger, or home-bred, might learn as much English in a day, as otherwise in a month or more.
Put nature in arts Cradle, and itsfet in the stox.
There have been many changes of [G]overnment this hundred years, yet the same errors rule, that we are, and no body for promisiz better.
But what ails you to be so bitter against the Letters? Why I look at them as the dark-house to lodge all our errors in, and a feather-bed, where all, both errors and unknown sins may be lodg’d, therefore I pull out the Straws out of your bolster, that I may let light into the house, that you ma see you lodge in a thorn-bush instead of a feather-bed. But I find, (God [h]elp us both) that at all final errors are friends of the greater, that neither am I able by these letters to speak, nor you to understand me by Writing. Nay no man is by oldLetters able so much as to hint what he would have the new ones call’d, but the old will insinuate their sufficiency.
The first Table, wherein the self-same sounds are Spell’d by different Letters, first Right, and then Wrong.
Aas a, Manna, Joshua, Asia, Judah, Hannah; why ma we not cast awa the Hebrew He out of words, as well as the Latins and Greeks have done? Day, say, their, they, fair. These Letters that be, not pronounc’d are very wellcome to be gone, the door stands wide open.
E, as be, the, Phebe, yea, weigh, key, holy. If propagating Error be lawful, ’tis lawful to teach wrong.
I, as Ivi; lie, lye, thy, why, thigh, buy, for the first might as lawfully be spell’d like the last, as UYe I, as the last is wrong spell’d, but more lawfully ma the last be spell’d as your first.
O, do, no, so, to, right, tow, dough, Bowes, beau, sloe,slow. (If u be pronounc’d inflow, ’tis a diphthong, let u take its place) wrong.
U, as tru, blue, Hugh, new, a singl u might stand for you (if it please u) but not for your, beauty.
Ao, gaol, gaot, graot, goal, law, sauce, calf, scalp, caug[h]t, taug[h]t.
Al, as ale, fail, but, fayl in old Books.
El, as kele, meale, seale, veil, and veal.
Il, mile, isle, island, boile, pyle.
Ol, mole, soul, coal, roll, poll.
Ul, deul, the straig[h]test road, the shortest rule.
Sore against shins it goes to go about,Where you’ve but one road, you cannot go out.
So âm, em, im, om, um, and an, en, in, on, un, as claim, p[h]legm, rooms, [h]olmes, tombs, soveraign, foreigners, sign, groan, hewn.
Hav two strait lines from point to point you shall,* Pseudografy ageometrical. *Bz.
So a, e, and sofort[h], before, before, r, s, t, z, bier, [h]ig[h]er, bore, soar, four, lower, case, ace, raze, bass, peace, cease, rise, price, justice, prose, sloce, prize, wise, eyes, lies, rise verb, sighs, use, noun, truce, nose, foes, blows, use verb; suit, anevet: but s is us’d for z too oft, the more intollerable; but z should be us’d when it makes a distinction between noun and verb, as use, rise, abuse:
Conceit wit[h]out receit, is mere deceit.
Jams, gaol, Jo[h]n, goal, magistrate, majesty, geese, fleece, sig[h]ed, [h]ead, sadled, glad, titled, clad, battled, know, frenh, wensh, good, blood, wort[h], [h]unt, gentl, jear, rih, wit[h], city, sit, scituate, year, be[h]aviour, Joshua, wa, now, noug[h]t.
S, as factious, precious, anctious, conscience, sho, fashion, Je[h]oschua, these wi the help ov the Frenh, as quelque hose, and old Authors ma be quadrupled all wrong.
So x for ckes, as flax, stackes, sex, necks, six, stickes, fox, rokes, flux, bucks.
What spells g u g, q i c, [w] i h, R e p n, s c o l r; if wrong (w [h]as no business there) be plesant, rite, (gh [h]at[h] not[h]ing to do t[h]ere) is plezantr, unless to please t[h]ose t[h]at [h]ave t[h]eir wits wit[h]out ’em, will [h]ave t[h]e ears misled by t[h]e eys, and t[h]e soul by t[h]e body, t[h]erefore(suppose t[h]at t[h]ere are fashions for t[h]e soul as well as the body) in t[h]e old Church Bible ovK. J.its [h]ye, now [h]ig[h]; so formerly forainers, now foreigners, Rawley, Rawleigh, [h]ere’s wit with a witness: But these are no more besides their wits, t[h]an t[h]ey are wit[h]out their wits, t[h]at [h]ave t[h]eir wits wit[h]in t[h]em. These that can, paint the vois, can limb out souls too. No doubt very Learn’d men!
You t[h]at understand t[h]e frets on t[h]e great Fidle, and wit[h]out Gammut, can pric down proper sounds to words in visible shapes, according to t[h]e nu fashion; pra take not awa the falals the old Fat[h]ers put to t[h]eir words, lest posterity serve you no better, as Hierom, Hierusalem, ripe, snite, knight, as haucer.
The time shall come that Doctors and KnightsShall be as common as Woodcox and Snites,
With Crambo’s or Books ful many a score,As good as these you find, I’ll ad no more.
Fpsti.Difficilia quæ pulchra.Hard to be dun, a dute iz sur dhe gratest bute.
As with, with, bath, bathe, sith, sithe, both, both, loath, loath, oath, oathes, smith, smithy, breath, of, off, then, yet, liveth or liveth, joth or joth, mouth, mouth, path or path, wrath, wreath, faith or faith, thy, thigh, this, thistle, thou, thousand, thank, they, them, theame, thus, thunder, thine, thin, goal or goal, as afore, motion, crimson, action, Acteon, singed, hanged, changed, shepherd, Shaphat, dishonour, asham’d, bishop, mishap, character, charity, duckherd, blockhead, Dutchess, gather, success, suggest, or suggest, or suggest, or suggest, haov, rij, [w]heg and who, come, on, you know what I mean, as well as [h]orses. War rod: scepter, sceptic, syllables, bless, access, axes, oxen, Christ-cross, beaux, beauty, ancre, kernel, acres, craz’d, threatned, knead, bootes, Bootes, winged, gnaw’d: th is cut of from with,cum, after another of the same, at wi’ them.
To Read English after the names ov the Letters, which is blameless, max English as strang as to read after the French fashion; what would become of Gire-eagle, wither, league, thing, Jehosaphat.
Put an Apostrophe (call’d Swa in Hebru) between every two consonants (viz.a short i) the spelling is discern’d as well as with a touch-stone, that you may perseve easily that falsehood is not in good earnest.
So george, gorge, Gomorrha, Esau, Hus or uz, Nubes, Ragau, Joshua, where ([V] [v]) is the first letter in the four first, middlemost in fist, a in the last all wrong. That no wonder if the Bible Translators took up the blanket, and left the Child behind ’em, when St. Hierom says, the Hebrew Letters are not to be exprest by the Western figures (I think truly) And for want of axents Church-Readers wickedly miscall Bible-words, as Theobulus, Jericho, Goliah, Cæsarea, a Decapolis, Penacutes or Prepenacutes, also Haggi four ways.
A duble Letter in Hebrew of the same sort, being dageshed, prevents all mistakes, asהגּיSo’[G]od”es”for the Goddesses.
But for example sake, as far as any thing can really be exprest by English Letters, without bodging patching, or bungling balderdash or barbarous gallimofry of our Romantic Letters, obscurer than the Egiptian Hieroglifix. I will subscribe an old saing in English, as easy as any thing, if custom and fashiontnuit:
An As an Mul carrid Runlets ov Wine,But d’ Ass did gron undr er burdn gret:
Qo’d’ Mul, Modr, wat al u dus to win?And under your lijt lod so sor to swet?
Ist dubl ber if I tac won ov din.Wijst ber a lic if dau tac won ov min.
Pride cind Gometer do us dis fet.
Doctrinanon habet inimicum præter ignorantem.
Of erudition dher’s no sircumstansHadh ani enimi but ignorans.
But ’premisses rightly understood desier the exhibition of a compleat Alfebet, to read English as easily as [G]reek; therefore I shall end this Book wi’ the first Letter ov the ensuing Batl-dur.
[A] [a] A a B b[D] d D [c]E e F f G g [G] [g] H h [Y] [h] I i J j C c K k[F] [f] M m N n [V] [v] O o P p Q q R r S s [J] [j] T t [T] [t] U u V v W w [W] [w] X x Y yz&. †
With letter-substitution
General Editors
R. C. BoysUniversity of Michigan
Vinton A. DearingUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Ralph CohenUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Lawrence Clark PowellWm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Corresponding Secretary:Mrs.Edna C. Davis, Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library
The Societyexists to make available inexpensive reprints (usually facsimile reproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works. The editorial policy of the Society remains unchanged. As in the past, the editors welcome suggestions concerning publications. All income of the Society is devoted to defraying cost of publication and mailing.
All correspondence concerning subscriptions in the United States and Canada should be addressed to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2205 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles 18, California. Correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to any of the general editors. The membership fee is $3.00 a year for subscribers in the United States and Canada and 15/- for subscribers in Great Britain and Europe. British and European subscribers should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.
Publications for the twelfth year [1957-58](At least six items, most of them from thefollowing list, will be reprinted.)Henry Fielding,The Voyages of Mr. Job Vinegar(1740). Introduction by Sam Sackett.William Herbert, Third Earl of Pembroke,Poems(1660). Introduction by Gaby Onderwyzer.An Historical View of the Political Writers of Great Britain(1740). Introduction by Robert L. Haig.Francis Hutcheson,Essays on Laughter(1729).Samuel Johnson,Notes to Shakespeare, Vol. III, Tragedies. Edited by Arthur Sherbo.Richard Savage,An Author to be Let(1732). Introduction by James Sutherland.Elkanah Settle,The Notorious Impostor(1692). Introduction by Spiro Peterson.Seventeenth Century Tales of the Supernatural. Selected, with an Introduction, by Isabel M. Westcott.Publications for the first eleven years (with the exception of Nos. 1-6, which are out of print) are available at the rate of $3.00 a year. Prices for individual numbers may be obtained by writing to the Society.
Publications for the twelfth year [1957-58]
(At least six items, most of them from thefollowing list, will be reprinted.)
Henry Fielding,The Voyages of Mr. Job Vinegar(1740). Introduction by Sam Sackett.
William Herbert, Third Earl of Pembroke,Poems(1660). Introduction by Gaby Onderwyzer.
An Historical View of the Political Writers of Great Britain(1740). Introduction by Robert L. Haig.
Francis Hutcheson,Essays on Laughter(1729).
Samuel Johnson,Notes to Shakespeare, Vol. III, Tragedies. Edited by Arthur Sherbo.
Richard Savage,An Author to be Let(1732). Introduction by James Sutherland.
Elkanah Settle,The Notorious Impostor(1692). Introduction by Spiro Peterson.
Seventeenth Century Tales of the Supernatural. Selected, with an Introduction, by Isabel M. Westcott.
Publications for the first eleven years (with the exception of Nos. 1-6, which are out of print) are available at the rate of $3.00 a year. Prices for individual numbers may be obtained by writing to the Society.
Make check or money order payable toThe Regents of the University of California.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETYTranscriber’s Note:Many of the listed titles are available from Project Gutenberg. Where possible, links are included.First Year (1946-1947)Numbers 1-6 out of print.Titles:1.Richard Blackmore’sEssay upon Wit(1716), and Addison’sFreeholderNo. 45 (1716).2.Anon.,Essay on Wit(1748), together with Characters by Flecknoe, and Joseph Warton’sAdventurerNos. 127 and 133.3.Anon.,Letter to A. H. Esq.; concerning the Stage(1698), and Richard Willis’Occasional PaperNo. IX (1698).4.Samuel Cobb’sOf PoetryandDiscourse on Criticism(1707).5.Samuel Wesley’sEpistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry(1700) andEssay on Heroic Poetry(1693).6.Anon.,Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the Stage(1704) and anon.,Some Thoughts Concerning the Stage(1704).Second Year (1947-1948)7.John Gay’sThe Present State of Wit(1711); and a section on Wit fromThe English Theophrastus(1702).8.Rapin’sDe Carmine Pastorali, translated by Creech(1684).9.T. Hanmer’s(?)Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet(1736).10.Corbyn Morris’Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, etc.(1744).11.Thomas Purney’sDiscourse on the Pastoral(1717).12.Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph Wood Krutch.Third Year (1948-1949)13.Sir John Falstaff (pseud.),The Theatre(1720).14.Edward Moore’sThe Gamester(1753).15.John Oldmixon’sReflections on Dr. Swift’s Letter to Harley(1712); and Arthur Mainwaring’sThe British Academy(1712).16.Nevil Payne’sFatal Jealousy(1673).17.Nicholas Rowe’sSome Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespeare(1709).18.“Of Genius,” inThe Occasional Paper, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719); and Aaron Hill’s Preface toThe Creation(1720).Fourth Year (1949-1950)19.Susanna Centlivre’sThe Busie Body(1709).20.Lewis Theobold’sPreface to The Works of Shakespeare(1734).21.Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and Pamela(1754).22.Samuel Johnson’sThe Vanity of Human Wishes(1749) and TwoRamblerpapers (1750).23.John Dryden’sHis Majesties Declaration Defended(1681).24. Pierre Nicole’sAn Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in Which from Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting Epigrams, translated by J. V. Cunningham.Fifth Year (1950-1951)25.Thomas Baker’sThe Fine Lady’s Airs(1709).26.Charles Macklin’sThe Man of the World(1792).27. Out of print.27.Frances Reynolds’An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Taste, and of the Origin of Our Ideas of Beauty, etc.(1785).28.John Evelyn’sAn Apologie for the Royal Party(1659); andA Panegyric to Charles the Second(1661).29.Daniel Defoe’sA Vindication of the Press(1718).30.Essays on Taste from John Gilbert Cooper’sLetters Concerning Taste, 3rd edition (1757), & John Armstrong’sMiscellanies(1770).Sixth Year31.Thomas Gray,Elegy in a Country Church Yard(1751); andThe Eton College Manuscript.32.Prefaces to Fiction; Georges de Scudéry’s Preface toIbrahim(1674), etc.33.Henry Gally’sA Critical Essayon Characteristic-Writings (1725).34. Thomas Tyers’ A Biographical Sketch of Dr. SamuelJohnson(1785).35.James Boswell, Andrew Erskine, and George Dempster.Critical Strictures on the New Tragedy of Elvira, Written by Mr. David Malloch(1763).36.Joseph Harris’sThe City Bride(1696).Seventh Year (1952-1953)37. Thomas Morrison’sA Pindarick Ode on Painting(1767).38. John Phillips’A Satyr Against Hypocrites(1655).39. Thomas Warton’sA History of English Poetry.40. Edward Bysshe’sThe Art of English Poetry(1708).41. Bernard Mandeville’s “A Letter to Dion” (1732).42. Prefaces to Four Seventeenth-Century Romances.Eighth Year (1953-1954)43. John Baillie’sAn Essay on the Sublime(1747).44. Mathias Casimire Sarbiewski’sThe Odes of Casimire, Translated by G. Hils (1646).45. John Robert Scott’sDissertation on the Progress of the Fine Arts.46. Selections from Seventeenth Century Songbooks.47. Contemporaries of theTatlerandSpectator.48. Samuel Richardson’s Introduction toPamela.Ninth Year (1954-1955)49. Two St. Cecilia’s Day Sermons (1696-1697).50. Hervey Aston’sA Sermon Before the Sons of the Clergy(1745).51. Lewis Maidwell’sAn Essay upon the Necessity and Excellency of Education(1705).52. Pappity Stampoy’sA Collection of Scotch Proverbs(1663).53. Urian Oakes’The Soveraign Efficacy of Divine Providence(1682).54. Mary Davys’Familiar Letters Betwixt a Gentlemen and a Lady(1725).Tenth Year (1955-1956)55. Samuel Say’sAn Essay on the Harmony, Variety, and Power of Numbers(1745).56.Theologia Ruris, sive Schola & Scala Naturae(1686).57. Henry Fielding’sShamela(1741).58. Eighteenth Century Book Illustrations.59. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. I, Comedies, Part I.60. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. I, Comedies, Part II.Eleventh Year (1956-1957)61.Elizabeth Elstob’sAn Apology for the Study of Northern Antiquities(1715)62.Two Funeral Sermons(1635)63.Parodies of Ballad Criticism(1711-1787)64.Prefaces to Three Eighteenth Century Novels(1708, 1751, 1797)65. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. II, Histories, Part I.66. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. II, Histories, Part II.
Transcriber’s Note:Many of the listed titles are available from Project Gutenberg. Where possible, links are included.
First Year (1946-1947)
Numbers 1-6 out of print.
Titles:1.Richard Blackmore’sEssay upon Wit(1716), and Addison’sFreeholderNo. 45 (1716).2.Anon.,Essay on Wit(1748), together with Characters by Flecknoe, and Joseph Warton’sAdventurerNos. 127 and 133.3.Anon.,Letter to A. H. Esq.; concerning the Stage(1698), and Richard Willis’Occasional PaperNo. IX (1698).4.Samuel Cobb’sOf PoetryandDiscourse on Criticism(1707).5.Samuel Wesley’sEpistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry(1700) andEssay on Heroic Poetry(1693).6.Anon.,Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the Stage(1704) and anon.,Some Thoughts Concerning the Stage(1704).
Titles:
1.Richard Blackmore’sEssay upon Wit(1716), and Addison’sFreeholderNo. 45 (1716).
2.Anon.,Essay on Wit(1748), together with Characters by Flecknoe, and Joseph Warton’sAdventurerNos. 127 and 133.
3.Anon.,Letter to A. H. Esq.; concerning the Stage(1698), and Richard Willis’Occasional PaperNo. IX (1698).
4.Samuel Cobb’sOf PoetryandDiscourse on Criticism(1707).
5.Samuel Wesley’sEpistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry(1700) andEssay on Heroic Poetry(1693).
6.Anon.,Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the Stage(1704) and anon.,Some Thoughts Concerning the Stage(1704).
Second Year (1947-1948)
7.John Gay’sThe Present State of Wit(1711); and a section on Wit fromThe English Theophrastus(1702).
8.Rapin’sDe Carmine Pastorali, translated by Creech(1684).
9.T. Hanmer’s(?)Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet(1736).
10.Corbyn Morris’Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, etc.(1744).
11.Thomas Purney’sDiscourse on the Pastoral(1717).
12.Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph Wood Krutch.
Third Year (1948-1949)
13.Sir John Falstaff (pseud.),The Theatre(1720).
14.Edward Moore’sThe Gamester(1753).
15.John Oldmixon’sReflections on Dr. Swift’s Letter to Harley(1712); and Arthur Mainwaring’sThe British Academy(1712).
16.Nevil Payne’sFatal Jealousy(1673).
17.Nicholas Rowe’sSome Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespeare(1709).
18.“Of Genius,” inThe Occasional Paper, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719); and Aaron Hill’s Preface toThe Creation(1720).
Fourth Year (1949-1950)
19.Susanna Centlivre’sThe Busie Body(1709).
20.Lewis Theobold’sPreface to The Works of Shakespeare(1734).
21.Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and Pamela(1754).
22.Samuel Johnson’sThe Vanity of Human Wishes(1749) and TwoRamblerpapers (1750).
23.John Dryden’sHis Majesties Declaration Defended(1681).
24. Pierre Nicole’sAn Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in Which from Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting Epigrams, translated by J. V. Cunningham.
Fifth Year (1950-1951)
25.Thomas Baker’sThe Fine Lady’s Airs(1709).
26.Charles Macklin’sThe Man of the World(1792).
27. Out of print.
27.Frances Reynolds’An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Taste, and of the Origin of Our Ideas of Beauty, etc.(1785).
27.Frances Reynolds’An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Taste, and of the Origin of Our Ideas of Beauty, etc.(1785).
28.John Evelyn’sAn Apologie for the Royal Party(1659); andA Panegyric to Charles the Second(1661).
29.Daniel Defoe’sA Vindication of the Press(1718).
30.Essays on Taste from John Gilbert Cooper’sLetters Concerning Taste, 3rd edition (1757), & John Armstrong’sMiscellanies(1770).
Sixth Year
31.Thomas Gray,Elegy in a Country Church Yard(1751); andThe Eton College Manuscript.
32.Prefaces to Fiction; Georges de Scudéry’s Preface toIbrahim(1674), etc.
33.Henry Gally’sA Critical Essayon Characteristic-Writings (1725).
34. Thomas Tyers’ A Biographical Sketch of Dr. SamuelJohnson(1785).
35.James Boswell, Andrew Erskine, and George Dempster.Critical Strictures on the New Tragedy of Elvira, Written by Mr. David Malloch(1763).
36.Joseph Harris’sThe City Bride(1696).
Seventh Year (1952-1953)
37. Thomas Morrison’sA Pindarick Ode on Painting(1767).
38. John Phillips’A Satyr Against Hypocrites(1655).
39. Thomas Warton’sA History of English Poetry.
40. Edward Bysshe’sThe Art of English Poetry(1708).
41. Bernard Mandeville’s “A Letter to Dion” (1732).
42. Prefaces to Four Seventeenth-Century Romances.
Eighth Year (1953-1954)
43. John Baillie’sAn Essay on the Sublime(1747).
44. Mathias Casimire Sarbiewski’sThe Odes of Casimire, Translated by G. Hils (1646).
45. John Robert Scott’sDissertation on the Progress of the Fine Arts.
46. Selections from Seventeenth Century Songbooks.
47. Contemporaries of theTatlerandSpectator.
48. Samuel Richardson’s Introduction toPamela.
Ninth Year (1954-1955)
49. Two St. Cecilia’s Day Sermons (1696-1697).
50. Hervey Aston’sA Sermon Before the Sons of the Clergy(1745).
51. Lewis Maidwell’sAn Essay upon the Necessity and Excellency of Education(1705).
52. Pappity Stampoy’sA Collection of Scotch Proverbs(1663).
53. Urian Oakes’The Soveraign Efficacy of Divine Providence(1682).
54. Mary Davys’Familiar Letters Betwixt a Gentlemen and a Lady(1725).
Tenth Year (1955-1956)
55. Samuel Say’sAn Essay on the Harmony, Variety, and Power of Numbers(1745).
56.Theologia Ruris, sive Schola & Scala Naturae(1686).
57. Henry Fielding’sShamela(1741).
58. Eighteenth Century Book Illustrations.
59. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. I, Comedies, Part I.
60. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. I, Comedies, Part II.
Eleventh Year (1956-1957)
61.Elizabeth Elstob’sAn Apology for the Study of Northern Antiquities(1715)
62.Two Funeral Sermons(1635)
63.Parodies of Ballad Criticism(1711-1787)
64.Prefaces to Three Eighteenth Century Novels(1708, 1751, 1797)
65. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. II, Histories, Part I.
66. Samuel Johnson’sNotes to Shakespeare. Vol. II, Histories, Part II.
Transcriber’s AnnotationsA.The printed text uses 26 ordinary English letters, distinguishing betweeniandjand betweenuandv. It also uses ſ (longs).B.The Hebrew terms are usually written קרי (Keri) and כתיב (Kethiv).C.The “herb Gohn” is probably St. John’s Wort, which can be made into a mash or “porridge”.partial page imageD.Text unchanged. The preceding paragraph implies “m'l” or “mıl” (dotless i, or i without “tittle”) in the first line, “m—l” in the second.E.“Taurus” (astrological symbol ♉) refers to the “ou” ligature (ȣ, or upsilon balanced atop omicron) used in printed Greek.Alternative TextOn page 8 the author writes:... we want to borrow Two letters of the Greek,Gama, andTheta, and Four of the Hebrew,Thaleth,He,Aim, andShin...It is not clear whether he intended to use the actual Greek and Hebrew letters where the printed text shows upside-down Roman letters.The substitutions would be (note that [c] is used for [d] and [Y] for [H]):[D] [c]“thaleth” ד[G] [g]“gama” Γ[Y] [h]he ה[J] [j]shin ש[V] [v]“aim” (ayin) ע[T] [t]theta Θ[w] [f] [a] [r]author’s intention unclearPage 8, “Gothám” paragraph, with silent correction of apparent typographic errors:Gôtham, Γôtham, Gótham, Γótham, Gôθam, Γôθam, Góθam, Γóθam, Gôדam, Γôדam, Góדam, Γóדam, Gothâm, Γothâm, Gothám, Γothám, Goθâm, Γoθâm, Goθám, Γoθám, Goדâm, Γoדâm, Goדám, Γoדám.Page 21, “A Rule useful for School-Teachers,” with conjectural corrections:BΓDVGJZדה[R]ForPCTFHשSΘKRPage 22, entire poem. Line-initial Dalet ד is shown as Delta Δ to avoid script-direction confusion in some computers. The letter-sequencestnandtlmay representkn(knave, know) andkl/cl.Mad C w’ד s spelz sound דe sàm,Stilo novo.Betráz q h and k.Desetfule deniz its nam,And s doד it betra.Dissembliע C wiד nidles vot,Ov ridiע brex דe nec.Unles it הav a proper nam,And spelliע suits wiד C.C γivz an il exampl,And iz a tripl tnav: CCC ERAS. Ad.On gustis it doד trampl,Scab’d for aol הer aolz brav.Ov sierz דe blind ledr iz:Δe ded דe liviע rul. ARISTOF.And wot a tirsum tasc iz דisTo wat upon a Fuul?Larg הausn הav wi in larg taunz,And largr hevnle buux:Larg Cots and Tlox הav wi and Γaunz,Aur fit in leθr stox.It nivr iz tuu lat to θriv,Nor to invenשonz ad:For Silvr auns wi raדr striv,Δun mane paundz ov Led.Nau דat I ma u trule si,Sertante to mi sa:If lic u sim and no frend be,Non ledz mi wursr wa.In cruuced waz דis aol iz il,Men tno not דat דa er.And דat men luv darcnes stil,No faot in endless fir.Page 32, full alphabet:[A] [a] A a B b D d ד E e F f G g Γ γ H h ה I i J j C c K k [F] [f] M m N n ע O o P p Q q R r S s ש T t Θ θ U u V v W w [W] [w] X x Y y z &. †[A] [a], [F] [f] and [W] [w] are not explained in the text. [F] occurs in place of L, which seems to have been omitted by mistake, as noted in the Introduction. Capital Z is missing.John WildA more recent candidate for “G. W.” is John Wild, whose name appears on this 1710 broadsheet:broadsidelarger view
A.The printed text uses 26 ordinary English letters, distinguishing betweeniandjand betweenuandv. It also uses ſ (longs).B.The Hebrew terms are usually written קרי (Keri) and כתיב (Kethiv).C.The “herb Gohn” is probably St. John’s Wort, which can be made into a mash or “porridge”.partial page imageD.Text unchanged. The preceding paragraph implies “m'l” or “mıl” (dotless i, or i without “tittle”) in the first line, “m—l” in the second.E.“Taurus” (astrological symbol ♉) refers to the “ou” ligature (ȣ, or upsilon balanced atop omicron) used in printed Greek.
A.The printed text uses 26 ordinary English letters, distinguishing betweeniandjand betweenuandv. It also uses ſ (longs).
B.The Hebrew terms are usually written קרי (Keri) and כתיב (Kethiv).
C.The “herb Gohn” is probably St. John’s Wort, which can be made into a mash or “porridge”.
partial page image
D.Text unchanged. The preceding paragraph implies “m'l” or “mıl” (dotless i, or i without “tittle”) in the first line, “m—l” in the second.
E.“Taurus” (astrological symbol ♉) refers to the “ou” ligature (ȣ, or upsilon balanced atop omicron) used in printed Greek.
On page 8 the author writes:
... we want to borrow Two letters of the Greek,Gama, andTheta, and Four of the Hebrew,Thaleth,He,Aim, andShin...
It is not clear whether he intended to use the actual Greek and Hebrew letters where the printed text shows upside-down Roman letters.
The substitutions would be (note that [c] is used for [d] and [Y] for [H]):
Page 8, “Gothám” paragraph, with silent correction of apparent typographic errors:
Gôtham, Γôtham, Gótham, Γótham, Gôθam, Γôθam, Góθam, Γóθam, Gôדam, Γôדam, Góדam, Γóדam, Gothâm, Γothâm, Gothám, Γothám, Goθâm, Γoθâm, Goθám, Γoθám, Goדâm, Γoדâm, Goדám, Γoדám.
Page 21, “A Rule useful for School-Teachers,” with conjectural corrections:
Page 22, entire poem. Line-initial Dalet ד is shown as Delta Δ to avoid script-direction confusion in some computers. The letter-sequencestnandtlmay representkn(knave, know) andkl/cl.
Mad C w’ד s spelz sound דe sàm,Stilo novo.Betráz q h and k.
Desetfule deniz its nam,And s doד it betra.
Dissembliע C wiד nidles vot,Ov ridiע brex דe nec.
Unles it הav a proper nam,And spelliע suits wiד C.
C γivz an il exampl,And iz a tripl tnav: CCC ERAS. Ad.
On gustis it doד trampl,Scab’d for aol הer aolz brav.
Ov sierz דe blind ledr iz:Δe ded דe liviע rul. ARISTOF.
And wot a tirsum tasc iz דisTo wat upon a Fuul?
Larg הausn הav wi in larg taunz,And largr hevnle buux:
Larg Cots and Tlox הav wi and Γaunz,Aur fit in leθr stox.
It nivr iz tuu lat to θriv,Nor to invenשonz ad:
For Silvr auns wi raדr striv,Δun mane paundz ov Led.
Nau דat I ma u trule si,Sertante to mi sa:
If lic u sim and no frend be,Non ledz mi wursr wa.
In cruuced waz דis aol iz il,Men tno not דat דa er.
And דat men luv darcnes stil,No faot in endless fir.
Page 32, full alphabet:
[A] [a] A a B b D d ד E e F f G g Γ γ H h ה I i J j C c K k [F] [f] M m N n ע O o P p Q q R r S s ש T t Θ θ U u V v W w [W] [w] X x Y y z &. †
[A] [a], [F] [f] and [W] [w] are not explained in the text. [F] occurs in place of L, which seems to have been omitted by mistake, as noted in the Introduction. Capital Z is missing.
A more recent candidate for “G. W.” is John Wild, whose name appears on this 1710 broadsheet:
broadside