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.