The correction, p. 149, of the note referring to p. 184 of "Aristophanes' Apology," was lately made by Mr. Browning in the Handbook, pending the time when he could repeat it in his own work. The cancelled footnote on my 353rd page means that he did remove the contradiction of which I spoke.
An open discussion on "Numpholeptos," which took place some months ago, made me aware that my little abstract was less helpful even than its brevity allowed, because I had emphasized the imagery of the poem where it most obscured—or least distinctly illustrated—its idea; and I re-wrote a few sentences which I now offer in their amended form. A phrase or two in "One Word More" has been altered for the sake of more literal accuracy. No other correction worth specifying has been made in the book.
A. ORR.
January 7th, 1890.
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION.
The changes made in the present edition have been almost entirely bibliographical. Their chief object was that indicated in an earlier preface, of bringing the Handbook into correspondence with the latest issue of Mr. Browning's works. I felt reluctant when making them, to entirely sacrifice the convenience of those students of Browning who from necessity, or, as in my own case, from affection, still cling to the earlier editions; and would gladly have retained the old references while inserting the new. All however that seemed practical in this direction was to combine the index of 1868 with that of 1889 in so far as they run parallel with each other.
A long felt want has been supplied by the addition to the Handbook of a Bibliography of Mr. Browning's works, based on that of Dr. Furnivall, and thoroughly revised by Mr. Dykes Campbell. The bibliographical details scattered throughout the work have also been made more complete.
The time and trouble required for the altered quotation references have been reduced to a minimum by the thoughtful kindness of my friend Miss Fanny Carey of Trent Leigh, Nottingham; who voluntarily, many months ago, prepared for me a list of the new page numbers, leaving them only to be transcribed when the time came. I have also to thank Mr. G. M. Smith for a copy of his general Index to the works.