Albemarle Street, 

 March, 1871. 



MR. MURRAY'S 



LIST OF WORKS NOW READY. 



THE WORKS OF ALEXANDER POPE. 



A NEW EDITION, COLLECTED IN PART BY THE LATE 



EIGHT HON. J. W. CROKER. 



WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES. 



By REV. WHITWELL EL WIN. 



With Portraits. Vols. I. to III. 8vo. 10s. 6d. each. 



" There is not, we think, a poet in the language whose works are so difficult to edit as the 

 works of Pope. They demand such a profound knowledge of the times, and of the man, 

 they contain so many enigmas, they exact so much critical sagacity, they so often lead one off 

 the main thoroughfares into by-paths and intricate labyrinths, out of which it is hard to find 

 the way, that the editor who can do justice to them must be blessed with consummate patience, 

 and endowed with no ordinary qualifications. It would be premature perhaps to judge 

 decisively of Mr. Elwin's editorial capacity from a single volume of an extensive publication ; 

 but since in this preliminary volume the mystery of the correspondence, which is by far the 

 most difficult of all the Pope mysteries, is elaborately discussed, and, to our thinking, satis- 

 factorily explained, we are justified in anticipating that the work as it progresses will fulfil 



the promise of its opening pages The best notes of former editors are retained, and 



Mr. Elwiu adds his own, which strike us as lucid and judicious." — Athencetwi. 



" One of the most valuable contributions to English literary history which has ever 

 appeared, and we predict a wide circulation and an extensive popularity for it. The materials 

 were collected in the first instance by the late Mr. Croker, whose habit it was to write out his 

 notes in full as he prepared them, and the present editor has thus at his disposal a rich mine 

 of most valuable information. He has also had access to Lord Oxford's papers, preserved at 

 Longleat, which throw much light on Pope's character and conduct. The Caryll papers now 

 presented to the British Museum, have also been most useful ; and the services wbich the late 

 Mr. Dilke has rendered to the editor, not only in reference to these papers, which he had so 

 carefully annotated, but also by the advice and assistance which he has privately afforded, are 

 gratefully acknowledged. From these and other sources have accumulated a mass of un- 

 published letters more numerous than those collected by Warburton, Wai'ton, Bowles, and 

 lioscoe combined." — John Bull. 



" We congratulate the admirers of Pope on the appearance of this first volume of a new 



edition of his works, which will do justice to the poet and credit to English scholarship 



We cannot follow Mr. Elwin in his judicious exposure of the errors and defects of his pre- 

 decessors. It was doubtless the recognition of these that prompted Mr. Croker to undertake 

 the task of purging the dross from the existing commentaries and to employ his extraordinary 

 power of penetrating the mysteries of our personal, political, and social history to the 

 elucidation of the many obscure allusions scattered thi'ough the poet's writings, and the result 

 was a vast accumulation of curious materials." — Notes und Querus. 



