This Dover edition, first published in 1965, is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the work originally published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, as follows: Vol. I--Part I, 1882; Part II, 1884 Vol. II--Part III, 1885; Part IV, 1886 Vol. III--Part V, 1888; Part VI, 1889 Vol. IV--Part VII, 1890; Part VIII, 1892 Vol. V--Part IX, 1894; Part X, 1898. This edition also contains as an appendix to Part X an essay by Walter Morris Hart entitled "Professor Child and the Ballad," reprinted _in toto_ from Vol. XXI, No. 4, 1906 [New Series Vol. XIV, No. 4] of the _Publications of the Modern Language Association of America_. _Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 65-24347_ Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc. 180 Varick Street New York, N.Y. 10014 _To_ _FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL, ESQ._ _OF LONDON_ _MY DEAR FURNIVALL_: _Without the Percy MS. no one would pretend to make a collection of the English Ballads, and but for you that manuscript would still, I think, be beyond reach of man, yet exposed to destructive chances. Through your exertions and personal sacrifices, directly, the famous and precious folio has been printed; and, indirectly, in consequence of the same, it has been transferred to a place where it is safe, and open to inspection. This is only one of a hundred reasons which I have for asking you to accept the dedication of this book from_ _Your grateful friend and fellow-student_, _F. J. CHILD._ _Cambridge, Mass., December 1, 1882._ ADVERTISEMENT TO PART I NUMBERS 1-28