3 volumes. [4], [vii]-cxiii, [1], 382; [2], v-vii, [1], 405, [1]; [2], v-xlvi, 368 pp. With an engraved frontispiece to vol. 1, engraved head- and tail-pieces to the dedication and each section, one plate of musical notation in vol. 2, and a modern illustration tipped into vol. 3. (8vo) 18x11.3 cm (7x4¾"), modern full blue levant morocco tooled in gilt, raised spine bands, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Fourth Edition.
Famous gathering of ancient English verse, very popular in its day though maligned by critics such as Johnson, Ritson and Warburton. The DNB notes that it "made an epoch in the history of English literature" and "promoted with lasting effect the revival of interest in our older poetry." Each volume contains a glossary of obsolete Scottish words at the back. ESTC notes various cancels for this fourth edition - in this copy Vol.1, p. 61 is a cancel, line 2 reads: ".. fare .." ; vol. 2, p. 111, is a cancel, line 4 begins "by the addition"; vol. 2, p. 206 is a cancel, line 1 ends "tois vntried"; vol. 3, p. 351 is a cancel, line 6 reads: ".. thene as ..". Bound without the half-titles.