No More Learning

'Errata' in the previous volumes are corrected: several thousand new
notes have been added, many of the old ones are entirely recast: the
changes of text, introduced by Wordsworth into the successive editions
of his Poems, have all been revised; new readings--derived from many MS.
sources--have been added: while the chronological order of the Poems
has, in several instances, been changed, in the light of fresh evidence.

The distinctive features of my edition of 1882-6 were stated in the
Preface to its first volume. So far as these features remain in the
present edition, they may be repeated as follows:

FIRST, the Poems are arranged in chronological order of composition, not
of publication. In all the collective editions issued by Wordsworth
during his lifetime, the arrangement of his poems in artificial groups,
based on their leading characteristics--a plan first adopted in
1815--was adhered to; although he not unfrequently transferred a poem
from one group to another. Here they are printed, with one or two
exceptions to be afterwards explained, in the order in which they were
written.

SECOND, the changes of text made by Wordsworth in the successive
editions of his Poems, are given in footnotes, with the dates of the
changes.

THIRD, suggested changes, written by the Poet on a copy of the
stereotyped edition of 1836-7--long kept at Rydal Mount, and bought,
after Mrs. Wordsworth's death, at the sale of a portion of the Library
at the Mount--are given in footnotes.

FOURTH, the Notes dictated by Wordsworth to Miss Isabella Fenwick--a
dear friend of the Rydal Mount household, and a woman of remarkable
character and faculty--which tell the story of his Poems, and the
circumstances under which each was written, are printed in full.

FIFTH, Topographical Notes--explanatory of allusions made by Wordsworth
to localities in the Lake District of England, to places in Scotland,
Somersetshire, Yorkshire, the Isle of Man, and others on the Continent
of Europe--are given, either at the close of the Poem in which the
allusions occur, or as footnotes to the passages they illustrate.

SIXTH, several complete Poems, and other fragments of verse, not
included in any edition of his Works published during Wordsworth's
lifetime, or since, are printed as an appendix to Volume VIII.

SEVENTH, a new Bibliography of the Poems and Prose Works, and of the
several editions issued in England and America, from 1793 to 1850, is
added.

EIGHTH, a new Life of the Poet is given.

These features of the edition of 1882-6 are preserved in that of 1896,
and the following are added:

FIRST, The volumes are published, not in library 8vo size, but--as the
works of every poet should be issued--in one more convenient to handle,
and to carry.
Eight volumes are devoted to the Poetical Works, and among
them are included those fragments by his sister Dorothy, and others,
which Wordsworth published in his lifetime among his own Poems. They are
printed in the chronological order of composition, so far as that is
known.

SECOND, In the case of each Poem, any Note written by Wordsworth
himself, as explanatory of it, comes first, and has the initials W. W. ,
with the date of its first insertion placed after it. Next follows the
Fenwick Note, within square brackets, thus [ ], and signed I. F. ; and,
afterwards, any editorial note required. When, however, Wordsworth's own
notes were placed at the end of the Poems, or at the foot of the page,
his plan is adopted, and the date appended. I should have been glad, had
it been possible--the editors of the twentieth century may note this--to
print Wordsworth's own notes, the Fenwick notes, and the Editor's in
different type, and in type of a decreasing size; but the idea occurred
to me too late, i. e. after the first volume had been passed for press.

THIRD, All the Prose Works of Wordsworth are given in full, and follow
the Poems, in two volumes. The Prose Works were collected by Dr.
Grosart, and published in 1876. Extracts from them have since been
edited by myself and others: but they will now be issued, like the
Poems, in chronological order, under their own titles, and with such
notes as seem desirable.