Mr. Keynes supplies the following description of the volume: A first title, A-A4 To the praise of the Dead (in italics), A5-D2 (pp. 1-44) The First Anniversary (in roman), D3-D7 (pp. 45-54) A funerall Elegie (in italics), D8 blank except for rules in margins; E1 second title, E2-E4 recto The Harbinger (in italics), E4 verso blank, E5-H5 recto (pp. 1-49) The Second Anniversarie (in roman), H5 verso—H6 blank except for rules in margins. A fresh title-page introduces the second poem.
In 1611 the introductory verses entitled To the praise of the Dead, and the Anatomy, and the Anatomy itself, are printed in italic, A Funerall Elegie following in roman type. This latter arrangement was reversed in 1612. In the second part, only the poem entitled The Harbinger to the Progresse is printed throughout in italic. Donne's own poem is in roman type.
The reason of the variety of arrangement is, I suppose, this: The Funerall Elegie was probably, as Chambers suggests, the first part of the poem, composed probably in 1610. When it was published in 1611 with the Anatomie, the latter was regarded as introductory and subordinate to the Elegie, and accordingly was printed in italic. Later, when the idea of the Anniversary poems emerged, and Of The Progresse of the Soule was written as a complement to An Anatomy of the World, these became the prominent parts of the whole work in honour of Elizabeth Drury, and the Funerall Elegie fell into the subordinate position.
The edition of 1612 does not strike one as a very careful piece of printing. It was probably printed while Donne was on the Continent. It supplies only two certain emendations of the later text.
The reprints of this volume made in 1621 and 1625 show increasing carelessness. They were issued after Donne took orders and probably without his sanction. The title-pages of the editions are here reproduced.
AN
ANATOMY
of the World.
WHEREIN,
BY OCCASION OF