Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 116, January 17, 1852: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.Various
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Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 116, January 17, 1852: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
Various
Questions and answers -- Periodicals
Mr. BOLTON CORNEY says, that I seem to regard his project with somewhat
less of disfavour. Now I do not wish to be misunderstood. As a
substitute for the Caxton Memorial, originally proposed at the great
meeting over which the Earl of Carlisle presided, I am disposed to
reject it altogether, for reasons which I have already stated in your
columns. But as a literary undertaking I am willing to give it a fair
consideration upon its own merits. The apothegm that a man's best
monument consists in his own works, is capable of considerable
modification from the nature of the works themselves. In the case before
us, I believe the interest felt by the public in the works of Caxton to
be too limited to justify the republication of his collected works. The
proposal which Mr. CORNEY makes for a selection from those works, with a
new life of the author, and a glossary, the latter proving how much they
are out of date, is much more feasible than his original plan. There is
a Caxton Society which has already issued several publications, and
whose usefulness would be materially increased by such a publication as
that suggested by Mr. CORNEY, if the Society to which he alludes (the
Camden, I presume) should not be disposed to undertake it. The true
object of these and similar societies is the production of books of
interest and value, which are not sufficiently popular to justify a
bookseller, or an individual, in incurring the pecuniary risk of their
separate publication. Mr. CORNEY's literary memorial of Caxton appears
to me to come under this head, and as such might be properly undertaken
by any of the clubs or societies formed for the cultivation of early
English literature. He might perhaps more easily attain the object of
his wishes in this manner than by that which he has hitherto pursued.
When a selection is to be made from the works of any author, much will
depend upon the taste and discretion of the editor. Now I gather from
Mr. CORNEY's letter, that he is fully prepared to undertake that office
himself; and I may be permitted to add that his scrupulous accuracy and
unwearied diligence afford the best guarantee that the work will be
executed in such a manner as to fully satisfy the public interest in
Caxton, and to form a graceful and appropriate tribute to the
illustrious father of the English press.
BERIAH BOTFIELD.
Norton Hall, Jan. 3. 1852.
SETTLE'S FEMALE PRELATE, OR POPE JOAN; A TRAGEDY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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