Bibliographic Notes on One Hundred Books Famous in English LiteratureKent, Henry Watson
History
Bibliographic Notes on One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature
Kent, Henry Watson
Best books; English literature -- First editions -- Bibliography; English literature -- History and criticism
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:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account