Imatges de pàgina
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J. E. P.

Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia sola

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It is now rather more than a century since George Frederick Nott published his elaborate edition of the works of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. Since then no scholarly edition has been attempted. During this time, however, many facts bearing upon the career of Surrey have come to light, a noteworthy biography has been published, studies dealing with various phases of the poetry have appeared, and manuscript versions of many of the lyrics and two fresh texts of the fourth book of the Æneid have been discovered. The time therefore seems ripe for a new edition that will take advantage of this fresh knowledge, giving more authoritative readings in the poems and furnishing the equipment needed by the scholar. The present volume aims to meet this need.

I have classified the poems by subject-matter rather than by metrical forms, thinking that this classification may furnish a more human approach. I trust that this arrangement, as well as the titles which I have supplied in place of the long traditional titles in Tottel's Miscellany, will meet with the reader's approval. For the convenience of those who wish to make a critical study of the translation of the Æneid, I have printed Tottel's version of the fourth book and a version based upon the text in Manuscript Hargrave 205, on opposite pages. The latter version departs from the manuscript readings only where there is strong presumptive evidence that the revisions restore the original. If these revisions have been based upon correct reasoning, this text should approximate Surrey's original version, and should be regarded as the authentic one. If I have erred in restoring the text, it has been on the side of conservatism. The early spellings have been consistently followed throughout, but the punctuation is modern.

Students of Surrey will appreciate how much the Introduction owes to Bapst's scholarly biography of the poet and how much the Critical Notes owe to the researches of former scholars, notably to Koeppel's examination of the Italian sources.

I acknowledge with much gratitude my indebtedness to Miss Gladys D. Willcock of the Royal Holloway College, a new scholar in the English field, who very kindly furnished me with the proof sheets of her collation of the variants in the 1554 edition of the fourth book of the Eneid, this expediting the completion of the notes. I would also express my obligations, both longstanding and recent, to John A. Herbert, Esquire, of the British Museum, who placed in my hands the principal manuscript of Surrey's lyrics just after its purchase by the Museum in 1905, and who has more recently secured for me rotographs of rare manuscripts and books. To the Harvard Library I am indebted for the loan of the works of Gawin Douglas. Finally, I wish to recognize the many helpful suggestions of my colleague, Professor Vernon L. Parrington, and to thank my secretary, Mrs. Lois J. Wentworth, for assistance in revising the proofs. With this volume the University inaugurates a new series of publications, which we hope will contribute to the advancement of scholarship in the field of letters. FREDERICK MORGAN PADELFORD.

Seattle, October 20, 1920.

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