Pottle, Frederick A.

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Colby Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 7 June Article 4 June 1944 The Pope Collection At Colby Frederick A. Pottle Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq Recommended Citation Colby Library Quarterly, series 1, no.7, June 1944, p.106-112 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Quarterly by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. 106 Colby Library Quarterlyus look round upon the present time, and back upon thepast ... , and the pretensions of Pope will be no more dis-puted. Had he given the warld only his version [of Homer],the name of poet must have been allowed him."Alexander Pope died on May 30, 1744. On the two hun-dredth anniversary of this date the Colby College Libraryopened an exhibition of twenty-eight First Editions andother early issues of books by Pope, all now in the ColbyLibrary. Eight of these books are recent purchases; theot'her twenty are part of a splendid gift from Mr. Carroll A.Wilson, of New York City, without whose generosity sorepresentative an exhibition as this would have been im-possible.THE POPE COLLECTION AT COLBYBy FREDERICK A. POTTLEWHEN Wordsworth and Coleridge, early in 1801,brought out the second and enlarged edition of theLyrical Ballads with the famous Preface and the punningmotto depreciating Pope'! they were deliberately bent onoverthrowing the authority of the greatest name in Englishpoetry of the eighteenth century. "I am willing to allow,"wrote Wordsworth, "that, in order entirely to enjoy thepoetry which I am recommending, it would be necessaryto give up much of what is ordinarily enjoyed," and hemeant it. Leigh Hunt took up the cry; Keats, in his firstvolume, excommunicated the whole neo-classical school as"a schism nurtured by foppery and barbarism"; Shelleyannounced that didactic poetry was his aversion. Byron's1 Quam nihil ad genium, Papiniane, tuurn! Professor Garrod issurely right in ignoring the original application of the verse-it hasnot been traced beyond Selden, ,vho appears to be quoting it-and inconsidering "Papinianus" to be a Coleridigean pun: "How absolutelyworthless all these poems ,vill seem to the taste of the hanger-on of theschool of Pope!"1Pottle: The Pope Collection At ColbyPublished by Digital Commons @ Colby, 1944Colby Library Quarterly 107intemperate but by no means insincere defence of Pope waspowerless to halt the progress of the revolution. MatthewArnold in 1880 gravely summed the matter up in a para-dox: Pope was not a classic of our poetry but of our prose.Every school-text of my childhood treated the RomanticMovement as the blooming of the poetic spirit after a longdrought.It would be saying too much to maintain that the worldnow knows better. The taste of the majority of readers ofthe present day is still romantic; that is, finds itself morefully expressed in the poetry of 'tVordsworth than in thepoetry of Pope. But there are clear signs that another revo-lution is in progress, and that before the end of this cen-tury-perhaps much sooner-Romantic poetry will in itsturn fall under the ban, and Pope will resume his positionan10ng the great English poets. Poets, I repeat; not writersof prose. Let us hope that by that time we shall have real-ized that thougII the establishment of a new idiom prob-ably does call for "the giving up of much that is ordinarilyenjoyed," the giving up is not permanent. The battle won,the idiom established, and lot wpat you rebelled againstseems not merely inoffensive but admirable, and it is theestablished authority that puts your back up. I speak toyounger readers of this Quarterl),: when you feel impelledto settle Shelley's business, read what the Romantics andthe Victorians wrote about Pope, and then see if you can'tdo better; that is, see if you can't separate the attempt todefine an idiom appropriate to your own time from theattempt to evaluate great figures of the past.Pope, I have been trying to say, is not merely a greatpoet but one whom it is particularly important for librariesat the present time to have in significant early editions, forthe rehabilitation of a poetic reputation calls for, and is inpart based on, minute textual study. The Twickenhamedition, of which the first volunle appeared in 1939, will bethe first genuinely critical edition of Pope. (An amusingbit of evidence of this need for possessing early editions: it2Colby Quarterly, Vol. 1, Iss. 7 [1944], Art. 4https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq/vol1/iss7/4108 Colby Library Quarterlywas possible for Roscoe to accuse Bowles of faking a pas-sage in Pope's letters, neither realizing that there vvere atleast twenty variant printings of the letters in the year1735, and each relying on the one text he happened tohave at hand.) The gift to the Colby Library by Carroll A.Wilson (LL.D. 1940) of twenty early editions of Pope raisesthe Colby collection at one bound from insignificance tosplendor. I have not been able to examine the texts, and inany case am not enoug,h at home in the bibliography ofPope to go into detail without making mistakes, but thegeneral nature of the gift is clear enough. It contains firsteditions of practically all the poems published by Popefrom 1732 to the end of his life; that is, all the maturesatires plus the Essay on Man and Th.e Universal Prayer. Thefour parts of An Essay on Alan (not merely first editions butfirst issues of first editions) form a group that few librariesin the world will not covet. The Universal Prayer is also apiece of great rari ty.The individual pieces, in short, are of great interest, butperhaps the finest thing about the gift is its comprehensive-ness. To assemble all the first editions of an important andprolific author during half his poetic career is somethingthat a college library, with its limited funds and its manyobligations, accomplishes very slowly. It is not hard to getbooks enough for any author to make a showing, but to fillin the gaps-even when the pieces are individually not tooexpensive-is the sort of thing that private coll~ctors dobetter than institutions. In this gift Mr. Wilson tenders usnot only the equivalent of a considerable sum of money,but also his kno,vledge, perseverance, and skill.THE BICENTENARY EXHIBITIONNo work can be done with early editions of Pope with-out reference to the universally hailed authoritativestudy by R. H. Griffith, Alexander Pope: A Bibliography,Austin, University of Texas: Part I (17°9-1734),1922; PartII (1735-1751),1927. Griffith identifies 752 Pope books pub-3Pottle: The Pope Collection At ColbyPublished by Digital Commons @ Colby, 1944Colby Library Quarterly 109lished during the forty-twa-year period. To save nlinutedescription, each of the Colby books is here identified bythe number assigned it by Griffith. [Identifications andnotes by Carl J. Weber.] All were published in London."l\1any years ago, in 1882 to be exact," so "vrote A. Ed-ward Newton in the privately printed pamphlet referredto on page lOS, "I determined that I would one day have alibrary, and I asked a man ... where to begin. I said Iwanted to begin at the beginning. 'Very well,' he replied,'get Pope's Homer's Iliad.'" In this qualified sense, theColby Pope Bicentenary Exhibition begins "at the begin-ning." T,he number prefixed to it is the number in theGriffith Bibliography.42. The Iliad oj Homer Translated by Mr. Pope. Folio,6 vols. Vol. I: 171S, with pages 2-3 of Book II wrongly num-bered 34-35. In this copy pages 21-24 are missing.So. Iliad. Vol. II: 1716. Folio.78. Iliad. Vol. III: 1717. Folio.96. Iliad. Vol. IV: 1718. Folio.lIS. Iliad. Vol. V: 1720. Folio.11g. Iliad. Vol. VI: 1720. Folio.21S. The Dunciad, With Notes Variorum, 1729. Octavo.Griffith points out (p. 168) that pages 189-19° were can-celled and a substitute leaf pasted on the stub of the can-celled pages. In this copy the substitute leaf is missing.267. OJ False Taste. An Epistle to the Right HonourableRichard Earl oj Burlington. 1731 [really January 1732].Folio. Third edition, but the first to print the explanatoryletter: "My Lord ... A. Pope." Wilson gift.280. OJ the Use oj Riches. An Epistle to the Right Honorable[sic] Allen Lord Bathurst. 1732 [i.e., January 1733]. Folio;first issue. Wilson gift.290. The First Satire oj the Second Book oj Horace, Imitated.Folio. Second issue. Wilson gift.294. An Essay on Man. Part I. [1733.] Large Paper Folio.First issue, with line 250 misnumbered 245. Samuel John-son relnarked: "The Essay on Man tells us much that every4Colby Quarterly, Vol. 1, Iss. 7 [1944], Art. 4https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq/vol1/iss7/4110 Colby Library Quarterlyman knows, ... but it was never till now recommended bysuch a blaze of embellishment, or such sweetness of mel-ody." Wilson gift.300. An Essay on Man. Epistle II. [1733.] Large PaperFolio. First issue, with line 220 misnumbered 120. Wilsongift.308. An Essay on Man. Epistle III. [1733.] Large PaperFolio. Wilson gift. ·329. An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Lord Visct.Cobham. - OJ the Knowledge and Characters oj Men. 1733 [i.e.,January 1734]. Large Paper Folio. First issue. Wilson gift.331. An Es~ay on Man. Epistle IV. [1734.] Large PaperFolio. First issue: page 17 is misnumbered 71. Wilsongift.352. An Epistle from Afr. Pope to Dr. Arbuthnot. 1734 [i.e.,January 1735J. Large Paper Folio. First edition; page 20is misnumbered 30. 't\lilson gift.360. OJ the Characters oj Women: An Epistle to a Lady.1735. Large Paper Folio. "Flettstreet" for "Fleet Street"on the title-page. Wilson gift.410. The Second Satire oj the Second Book oj Horace Pra-prhased [sicJ. 1735. Large Paper Folio. So scarce thatGriffith remarks: "I have not seen a copy of this edition."Wilson gift.443. Horace his Ode to T/enus. Lib. IV. Ode I. Imitated. 1737.Folio. rrhis copy lacks the title-page. Wilson gift.447. The Second Epistle oj the Second Book oj Horace) Imi-tated. 1737. Folio. First issue. Wilson gift.458. The First Epistle oj the Second Book oj Horace) Imitated.1737. Folio. First issue. Wilson gift.465. The Impertinent: or, A Visit to the Court. 1737. ThirdEdition. Folio. Wilson gift.476. The Sixth Epistle oj the First Book oj Horace Imitated.1737 [i.e., January 1738]. First issue. Folio. Wilson gift.480. The First Epistle oj the First Book.oj Horace Imitated.1737 [i.e., March 1738]. First issue. Folio. Pages 18-19 aremisnumbered 20-21. Wilson gift.5Pottle: The Pope Collection At ColbyPublished by Digital Commons @ Colby, 1944Colby IJibrary Quarterly III484. One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight. AIJialogue Son:ething like Horace. [1738.] Folio. First Edition,first issue. Wilson gift.492. The Universal Prayer. 1738. Folio. First Edition.Wilson gift.494. One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight. Dia-logue II. 1738. Folio. First Edition. Wilson gift.546. The Ne7.v Dunciad: As it Ivas Found In the Year I74I.Quarto. 1742 . This copy lacks the half-title (page 1). Pur-chased.Also included in the exhibition were the following un-numbered accessory volumes:An Epistle to Mr. Pope) from a Young Gentleman at Rome[George Lord LytteltonJ. London, 1730. Folio. Wilsongift.Verses Addressed to the Imitator oj the First Satire oj the SecondBook oj Horace~ by a Lady [Lady Mary Wortley Montagu].London [1733]. Large Paper Folio. Wilson gift.Advice to a LJady [by George Lord Lyttelton]. London,1733. Folio. Wilson gift.An Epistle to Mr. Pope) Occasioned by his Essay on Man) byRobert Dodsley. London, 1734. Large Paper Folio. Wil-son gift.Catalogue oj the First Editions oj the Works oj AlexanderPope: New York, The Grolier Club, 1911.~4 Pope LibraYy~ T. J. Wise: London, 1931. This book wasopened to exhibit the facsimile of the title-page of AnEssay on Criticism) 1711.The R. B. Adam Library) New York, Oxford UniversityPress, 1929. 3 vols. Gift of H. B. Collamore, Esq. VolumeIII ,vas opened to the inserts bet,veen pages 197-198, show-ing a picture of Pope's Villa at T,vickenham, and a holo-graph letter (reproduced) dated "March 18" and signed"A. Pope."The Complete Poetical J1l orks of Alexander Pope: NewYork, T. Y. Crowell & Co. From Edwin Arlington Robin-son's family library.6Colby Quarterly, Vol. 1, Iss. 7 [1944], Art. 4https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq/vol1/iss7/4112 Colby Library QuarterlyA LIST OF DESIDERATA FOR THEPOPE COLLECTIONT HE following selected titles would make the collectionrepresentative of Pope's entire poetic career. The ma-jority are not expensive. To save minute description eachitem is identified by the number in Griffith's bibliographyof Pope.*2. An Essay on Criticism) 17l1.6. Lintot Miscellany, 1712: The Rape oj the Lock, two-canto version.29. 1'he Rape oj the L.ock) five-canto version, 17 14.151, 155, 159, 166, 170 . The Odyssey) 172 5, 1726. 5 vols.370. liT/arks) 1735. Quarto.454, 52 9. Letters~ 1737, 174 1 . Quartos.643. Works) edited by Warburton, 1751. 9 vo1s.Works) Twickenham Edition, 1939-EARI-JY M ..t\INE Il\1PRINTS OF POPEBy CARL]. WEBERDOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER, writing in theMarch, 1944, issue of The AmeTican Scholar~ remarked:"I knew in my childhood a very old great-uncle, so ven-erable when I knew him, that his literary tastes were of thepre-Romantic school. To have come under the influenceof someone who enormously admired ALEXANDER POPEseems almost as strange an experience as if I had knownsomeone who still believed in the Ptolemaic theory of theuniverse."* In making this list I have been greatly helped by Professor May-nard Mack, editor of the Essay on Man in the Twickenham Edi-tion.-F.A. P.7Pottle: The Pope Collection At ColbyPublished by Digital Commons @ Colby, 1944

The Pope Collection At Colby

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The Pope Collection At Colby

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