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Complete Works of Robert Browning Volume 9: With Variant Readings And Annotations PDF

385 Pages·1989·16.68 MB·English
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Preview Complete Works of Robert Browning Volume 9: With Variant Readings And Annotations

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ROBERT BROWNING, VOLUME IX ~ ~ ~~~ ~ Photograph, by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1870 EDITORIAL BOARD J A C K W. H E R R I N G General Editor ROMA A. KING. JR. PARK HONAN A L L A h' C. D 0 0 L E Y Exemfive Editor (Revised for vol. 9) Browning, Robert, 1812-1889. The complete works of Robert Browning, with variant readings & annotations. Editorial board. Vol. 7- : general editor, Jack W. Herring. Vol. 8-9 have imprint: Waco, Tex. : Baylor University; Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. I. King, Roma A. (Roma Alvah), 1914-ed. 11. Herring, Jack W19 .,2 5- . 111. Title. PR4201.K5 1969 821'.8 68-18389 ISBN 0-8214-0381-8 Ohio University Press books are printed on acid free paper. m Copyright 0 1989 by Ohio University Press and Baylor University A11 rights reserved Printed in the United Stateso f America CONTENTS Page Number PREFACE vii TABLES xx ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxiv THE RING AND THE BOOK Book IX. Juris Doctor Johannes-Baptista Bottinius 5 Book X. The Pope 71 Book XI. Guido 161 Book XII. The Book and the Ring 253 EDITORIAL NOTES 287 This Page Intentionally Left Blank PREFACE This edition of the works of Robert Browning is intended to be complete. It will comprise at least fourteen volumes and will contain: 1. The entire contents of the first editions of Browning’s works, arranged in their chronological order of publication. (The poems included in Dramatic Lyrics, Dramatic Romanceasn d Lyrics, and Men and Women, for example, appear in the ordeofr their first publication rather than in the order in which Browning rearrangedt hem for later publication.) 2. All prefacesa nd dedications which Browning is kntoow hnav e written for his own works and for those of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 3. The two prose essays thatB rowning is known to have published: the review of a book on Tasso, generallyr eferred to as the “Essay on Chatterton,”a ndt he prefacef or ac ollection of letters supposed to have been written by PercyB ysshe Shelley, generally referred to as the “Essay on Shelley.” 4. The front matter and thtaeb le of contents of each of thecollect- ed editions(1849,1863,1865,1868, 1888-1889) which Browning himself saw through the press. 5. Poems published duringB rowning’s lifetime but nocot llected by him. 6. Poems not published during Browning’s lifetime which have come to light since his death. 7. John Forster’s Thomas Wentworth,E arl of Strafford, to which Browning contributed significantly, though the precise extent of his contribution has not been determined. 8. Variants appearing in primary and secondary materials as defined in Section I1 below. 9. Textual emendations. 10. Informational and explanatory notes for each work. 11 PRIMARYA NDS ECONDARYM ATERIALS Aside from a handfulo f uncollected short works, all of Browning’s works but Asolando (1889) went through two or more editions during vii his lifetime. Except for Pauline (l833), Strafford (1837), and Sordello (1840),a ll the works publishbeedfo re 1849 were reviseadn d corrected for the 1849 collection. Strafford and Sordellow ere reviseda nd corrected for the collection of1 863, as were all the other works in that edition. Though no furtherp oems were added in the collectiono f 1865, all the works were once againc orrected and revised. The 1868 collection added a revised Pauline and Dramatis Personae (1864) to the other works, which were themselves again revised and corrected. The printingof the last edition of theP oetical Works over which Browning exercised control began in 1888, and thef irst eight volumesaredated thus on their title-pages. Volumes 9 through1 6 of this first impression are date1d8 89, and we have designated them 1889a to distinguish them from s ethceo nd impression of all 16 volumes, which was begun and completed in 1889. Some of the earlier volumes of the first impression sold out almost immediately, and in preparation for a second impression, Browning revised and corrected the first ten volumes before he left for Italy in late August, 1889. The second impression, inw hich all sixteen volumes bear the date 1889 on their title-pages, consisted of a revised and corrected second impression of volumes 1-10, plus as econd impression of volumes 11 -16 altered by Browning in one instance. This impression we term 1889 (see section I11 below). Existing manuscripts and editionsc l aasrsei fied as either primary or secondary material. The primary materials include the following: 1. The manuscript of a work when such is known to exist. 2. Proof sheets, when known to exist,t hatc ontaina uthorial corrections and revisions. 3. The first ands ubsequente ditions of a work that preserve evidence of Browning’s intentions andw ere under his control. 4. The collected editions over which Browning exercised control: 1849-Poems. Two Volumes. London: Chapman and Hall. 1863“The Poetical Works. Three Volumes. London: Chapman and Hall. 1865-The Poetical Works. Three Volumes. London: Chapman and Hall. 1868”The Poetical Works. Six Volumes. London: Smith, Elder andC ompany. Reissued in stereotype impressionsw ith varying title pages. 1888-1889- The PoeticalW orks.S ixteen Volumes. London: Smith, Elder and Company. Existsi n numerouss tereotype impres- sions, of which two are primary material: 1888-18 89a-The first impression, in which volum1e-s8 are dated 1888 and volumes 9-16 are dated 1889. 1889-The corrected second impression of volumes 1-10 and a second impressiono f volumes 11- 16 altered by Browning viii only as stated in sectiIo1n1 below; all dated1 889 on the title pages. 5. The corrections in Browning’s hand int he Dykes Campbell copy of 1888-1889a, and the manuscript liosft corrections to that impression in the Brown University Library (see section I11 below). Other materials (including some in the poet’s handwriting) that affected the text are secondary. Examples are: the copy of the first edition of PauZzne which contains annotations by Browning and John Stuart Mill; the copies of the first edition of Paracelsus which containc orrec- tions in Browning’s hand; a very early manuscript of A Blot in the ’Scutcheon which Browning presented to William Macready, but not the one from which the first edition was printed; informal lists of corrections that Browning included in letters to friends, such as the corrections to Men and Women he sent to D. G. Rossetti; Elizabeth Barrett’s suggestions for revisions in A Soul’sT ragedy and certain poems in Dramatic Romances and Lyriacnsd; the editioofn Strafford by Emily Hickey for which Browning made suggestions. The text and variant readinogf st his editiond erive from collation of primary materials as defined above. Secondary materials are occasion- ally discussed in the notesa nd sometimes play a partw hen emendation is required. 111 COPY-TEXT The copy-text for this edition is Browning’fsin al text: the first ten volumes of 1889 and the last six volumes of 1888-1889a, as described above. For this choice we offer the following explanation. Manuscripts used as printer’s copy fotwr enty of Browning’s thirty- four book publications are known to exist; others mayy etb ecome available. These manuscripts, or, ina btsheenirc e, the first editionso f the works, might be considered as the most desirable copy-text. And this would be the case fora n author wheox ercised little controol ver his text after the manuscript orf irst edition stage, owr hose text clearly became corrupted in as uccession of editions. To preserve the intention of such an author, one would have to choose an early text and emend it as evidence and judgment demanded. With Browning, however, the situation is different, and our copy- text choice results from thatd ifference. Throughout his life Browning continually revised his poetry. He did more thacno rrect printer’s errors and clarify previously intended meanings; hteisx ts themselvesr emained fluid, subject to continuous alteration. As the manuscript which he submitted to his publishewr as no doubatl ready a producot f revision, so each subsequent edition under his control reflects the results of an ongoing process of creating, revising, and correcting. If we were to ix

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