Bibliographical Description of the 1669 Poems.

POEMS [Wing D1871] fifth edition                    8^o 1669

Title: Poems, & . . . In the Savoy, Printed by T.N. for Henry Herringman, at the sign of the Anchor, in the lower-walk of the New-Exchange. 1669. [see photograph].

Collation: A⁴B-Z⁸ Aa-Dd⁸; 212 leaves.

Contents: A1 blank; A2 title; A3r-A4v dedication to Lord Craven; A4v Hexastichon etc.; B1r-Dd7v (pp. 1-414) text; Dd8 blank. [see index of poems.]

Note: Most of the press variants identified in the transcriptions (and summarized in the "composite list of variants") are concentrated on pp. 145, 148, 149, 152, 153, 156, 157, and 160, which constitute the outer forme of sig. L. The copies we have proofed of this quire present the text in three different states: CtY, L, and TxAM contain one major—and highly corrupt—state; Matt and CSmH (shelfmark 122734) contain another, more correct state, but also evince slight differences between themselves (yielding states two and three). As Stephen Tabor has pointed out,^* the differences between the two major groups are due to the resetting of major portions of the text, an unusual occurrence perhaps necessitated by some damage to the forme during the print run.

In light of this resetting, the usual uncorrected-to-corrected progression of the text is not necessarily reflected in these artifacts: the more corrupt CtY-L-TxAM version could be the product of the second typesetting, possibly "a faulty job done in haste and irritation," in Tabor's words. And the variations in the other major group (CSmH and Matt) leave it uncertain which of these is the corrected, which the uncorrected, state of that setting: in line 48 of "The Calm," for instance (p. 148), where both copies incorrectly read "sourge" for "scourge," Matt incorrectly reads "forgot," while CSmH corrects this to "forget." On the other hand, in line 48 of "To Sir Henry Wootton" ("Sir, more than kisses" [p. 149]) Matt correctly reads "Inn any where … ," whereas CSmH gives the corrupt "In any where … ."

Because of this extraordinary set of circumstances, in this signature we have attempted simply to distinguish between "right" and "wrong" readings, not between readings that are chronologically earlier or later in the print run. The terms "corrected" and "uncorrected" are thus used differently here than in other places on this web site.

* In private correspondence. Tabor is Curator of Early Printed Books at the Huntington Library.