[10] The occurrence of feminine endings makes it very unlikely that this was among the Pageaunts mentioned by E. K. The greater part of the Mutabilitie cantos was certainly written in Ireland, probably in 1597-8.
[11] The scene of the dialogue on the Present State of Ireland is laid in England; so that, unless this is a mere literary device, the tract must have been written, or at least begun, during this visit in 1596.
[12] No such authority, I think, belongs to the ‘Second Folio’, though it sometimes corrects printer’s errors. In the Critical Appendix I have cited some of its characteristic variants in support of this view.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
Of the copies collated for this edition, three are in the Bodleian, viz.:—
(1) Malone 615, Books I-III, 1590.
(2) Malone 616, Books IV-VI, 1596.
(3) 4o Art. Seld. S. 22, Books I-VI, 1596 (collated for Books I-III).
For 1609 I have used (4) a copy belonging to Mr. Charles Cannan.
The following copies, though not collated verbatim, have been examined for variants:—
| (5) | Malone 7, 1609 | } | ||
| (6) | M. 4. 5 Art. | { Books I-III, 1611 | } | |
| { Books IV-VII, 1612 | } | in the Bodleian. | ||
| (7) | Douce S. 817 | { Books I-III, 1609 | } | |
| { Books IV-VII, 1613 | } | |||
| (8) | G. 11535, 6 | { Books I-III, 1590 | } | |
| { Books IV-VI, 1596 | } | |||
| (9) | C. 12. h. 17, 18 | { Books I-III, 1590 | } | |
| { Books IV-VI, 1596 | } | |||
| (10) | 686 g. 21, 22, 1596 | } | ||
| (11) | G. 11537, 1596 | } | in the British Museum. | |
| (12) | C. 57. f. 6, 1609 | } | ||
| (13) | 78 g. 13 | { Books I-III, 1609 | } | |
| { Books IV-VII, 1613 | } | |||
| (14) | 79 h. 23 | { Books I-III, 1611 | } | |
| { Books IV-VII, 1613 | } |
The bibliographical note on Spenser in the Dictionary of National Biography appears to ignore 4o Art. Seld. S. 22.
The 1590, 1596, 1609 editions of F. Q. have been described already. In 1611 Lownes (the publisher of the 1609 F. Q.) set about a complete edition of Spenser’s poems. But having on hand unsold copies of 1609, he incorporated parts of these under the new title-page.[13] This has happened to (6), the first part of which is identical with 1609, except for the title-page and dedication. The genuine 1611 edition of F. Q. I-III is represented by