Dec. 16. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



477 



LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1854. 



NOTES ON EDITIONS OF " THE DUNCIAD." 



If Pope and his coadjutors in The Dunciad in- 

 tended to mystify their cotemporaries, and in- 

 volve in a sea of doubt and difficulty the readers 

 of after ages who might attempt to solve the mys- 

 teries attendant -on such publication, their inten- 

 tion has very nearly been accomplished. We are 

 of opinion that the various issues and editions of 

 The Dunciad appeared in the following order. 

 There are probably copies of other editions in 

 existence, but all those which we have seen be- 

 long to one or other of the following classes. 



(4.) THE DUNCIAD. AN HEROIC POEM. IN THBEK 

 BOOKS. DUBLIN, PRINTED, LONDON REPRINTED, 



POB A. DODD. 1728. 12mo. 



The Frontispiece. An owl (with a label from 

 the beak inscribed The Dunciad) perched on a 

 pile of books, marked, P. & K. Arthur. ; Shakesp. 

 Restor'd ; Ogilby ; Dennis's Works ; Newcastle ; 

 Gibber's iPlays ; " and at the bottom, engraved in 

 one line, the words " Dublin, Printed, London 

 Reprinted, for A. Dodd." 



On p. iii. commences " The Publisher to the 

 Reader," which extends to p. viii. This begins, 

 " It will be found a true observation," &c., and 

 ends with the quotation from La Bruyere : 



" Voudriez-vous, Theobalde, que je crusse que vous etes 

 baisse," &c. 



and is In short the preface which is printed in the 

 later editions as that " prefixed to the five Imper- 

 fect editions of The Dunciad,''' &c. 



Then follows bastard title, The Dunciad, in 

 Three Books. 



Commences on p. 1. sig. B. 

 " Boolrand the man I sing, the first who brings." 



And in the word " who," which is at the end of 

 the line, the o has slipped. 



Page 1. The Dunciad. Book the First. This 

 ends on p. 14. 1. 250. : 



" And the loud nation croak'd, God save King Log ! " 



Page 15. The Dunciad. Book the Second. 

 This ends on p. 35. 1. 382. : 



" (Haunt of the Muses) made their safe retreat." 



Page 36. The Dunciad. Book the Third. 

 This ends on p. 51. 1. 285-6. : 



" No more the monarch could such raptures bear ; 

 He wak'd, and all the vision mix'd with air." 



Finis. 



There is no doubt that this is the first edition, 

 as shown by our correspondent The Writer, &c. 

 {ante, p. 198.), who there gives, from The Daily 

 Post, the advertisement dated May 18, announcing 

 " This day is published," &c. ; and the accuracy 



of our correspondent's conjecture is borne out 

 by a copy which formerly belonged to Malone 

 (now the property of Mr. Peter Cunningham^ 

 and in which is the following note by that dili- 

 gent antiquary : 



"First published at London in May 1728. See the 

 Monthly Chronicle of that year. The words ' Dublin 

 printed ' were merely a disguise. The price of this first 

 edition was only sixpence. — E. M." 



(B.) the DUNCIAD. AN HEROIC POEM. IN THREE 

 BOOKS. DUBLIN, PRINTED, LONDON REPRINTED, 



FOR A. DODD. 1728. 8vo. Owl FrontlspIecc. 



This, of which there is a copy in the British 

 Museum, is the same precisely as A., but it has 

 been worked In octavo. It is from the identical 

 type, and contains precisely the same errors, mis- 

 arranged letters, &c., as the preceding. 



Although there is really no direct proof that B. 

 may not have been first Issued, we are inclined to 

 believe that A. was so, because it was obviously 

 composed for a 12mo. page ; and, with the excep- 

 tion of the Museum copy of B., all the other Issues 

 of this first composition have been in 12mo. 



(0.) THE DUNCIAD. AN HEROIC POEM. IN THREE 

 BOOKS. DUBLIN, PRINTED, LONDON REPRINTED, 



FOR A. DODD. 1728. 12mo. Owl Frontispiece. 



This is a third Issue or edition from the same: 

 types, but with some few corrections, as in the 

 opening line, which here reads correctly " Books," 

 Instead of "Book," and in the note respecting 

 John Hey wood, on p. 5., where "/nterludes" is 

 altered to "irJnterludes," which is the orthography 

 of the 4to., 17-29. 



This edition, which, like A. and B,, ends on 

 p. 51., has on the verso of that page the following 

 advertisement : 



" Speedily will be Published, The Progress of Dulness, 

 an Historical Poem. By an Eminent Hand. Price 

 Is. 6d." 



All three of these impressions show that they 

 have been taken from the same types, as may be 

 seen by a reference to the word "half" in the 

 second line of Book the Second, where the f is 

 misplaced, and In line 56 of the same book, where 

 " spirts " Is misprinted " spirits." 



Finally, they all three read, book I. line 94. : 

 " And furious D n foam in Wh 's rage." 



(D.) THE DUNCIAD. AN HEROIC POEM. IN THREE 



BOOKS. THE SECOND EDITION. (Here a woodcut 

 ornament, which differs from that in the title- 

 pages of A., B., C.) DUBLIN, PRINTED ; LONDON, 



REPRINTED FOR A. DODD. 1728. 12mo., wlth the 

 Frontispiece of the Owl. 



This edition, of which there is a copy in the 

 British Museum, is printed from the same types as 

 A., B., C, but they have been reimposed, and some 

 corrections made. 



The Preface commences on p. iii. and ends on 

 p. viii. 



