It is a fortunate
circumstance
that the
first editor was so thoroughly competent.
first editor was so thoroughly competent.
Thomas Chatterton - Rowley Poems
Speght's edition of Chaucer, the glossary of which Chatterton
used in the compilation of his Rowley Dictionary.
1708. Kersey's _Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum_, and
1737. Bailey's _Universal Etymological Dictionary_. (8th Enlarged
Edition. ) Bailey is largely copied from Kersey, but Chatterton
certainly used both dictionaries in making his antique language.
1777. Tyrwhitt's edition of the Rowley poems. Tyrwhitt was
Chatterton's first editor and in his edition many of the poems
were printed for the first time. 'The only really good edition is
Tyrwhitt's. ' 'This exhibits a careful and, I believe, extremely
accurate text . . . an excellent account of the MSS. and transcripts
from which it was derived.
It is a fortunate circumstance that the
first editor was so thoroughly competent. ' (Professor Skeat, Introd.
to Vol. II of his 1871 edition. )
1778. Tyrwhitt's third edition, from which the present edition is
printed. With this was printed for the first time 'An appendix . . .
tending to prove that the Rowley poems were written not by any ancient
author but entirely by Thomas Chatterton. ' This edition follows the
first nearly page for page; but was reset.
1780. _Love and Madness_ by Sir Herbert Croft. This strange book
deserves a brief description as it is the source of almost all our
knowledge of Chatterton.
A certain Captain Hackman, violently in love with a Miss Reay,
mistress of the Earl of Sandwich, and stung to madness by his jealousy
and the hopelessness of his position, had in 1779 shot her in the
Covent Garden Opera House and afterwards unsuccessfully attempted
to shoot himself. Enormous public interest was excited, and
Croft--baronet, parson, and literary adventurer--got hold of copies
which Hackman had kept of some letters he had sent to the charming
Miss Reay.
used in the compilation of his Rowley Dictionary.
1708. Kersey's _Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum_, and
1737. Bailey's _Universal Etymological Dictionary_. (8th Enlarged
Edition. ) Bailey is largely copied from Kersey, but Chatterton
certainly used both dictionaries in making his antique language.
1777. Tyrwhitt's edition of the Rowley poems. Tyrwhitt was
Chatterton's first editor and in his edition many of the poems
were printed for the first time. 'The only really good edition is
Tyrwhitt's. ' 'This exhibits a careful and, I believe, extremely
accurate text . . . an excellent account of the MSS. and transcripts
from which it was derived.
It is a fortunate circumstance that the
first editor was so thoroughly competent. ' (Professor Skeat, Introd.
to Vol. II of his 1871 edition. )
1778. Tyrwhitt's third edition, from which the present edition is
printed. With this was printed for the first time 'An appendix . . .
tending to prove that the Rowley poems were written not by any ancient
author but entirely by Thomas Chatterton. ' This edition follows the
first nearly page for page; but was reset.
1780. _Love and Madness_ by Sir Herbert Croft. This strange book
deserves a brief description as it is the source of almost all our
knowledge of Chatterton.
A certain Captain Hackman, violently in love with a Miss Reay,
mistress of the Earl of Sandwich, and stung to madness by his jealousy
and the hopelessness of his position, had in 1779 shot her in the
Covent Garden Opera House and afterwards unsuccessfully attempted
to shoot himself. Enormous public interest was excited, and
Croft--baronet, parson, and literary adventurer--got hold of copies
which Hackman had kept of some letters he had sent to the charming
Miss Reay.
