"An extravagant libel, ridiculously called an imitation of Horace."—P. 11.
And again:
"Of all these libellers the present Imitator is the most impudent and incorrigible."—P. 15.
MR. CROSSLEY says he has a fragment of the "Imitation of the second satire of the first book of Horace," published by Curll in 1716. This, which I never saw, nor before heard of, would solve the difficulty; and I respectfully request MR. CROSSLEY to favour us with a transcript of the title-page, which is the more desirable, because all Pope's biographers, and indeed he himself (to Spence), have attributed his first imitation of Horace to a much later date, certainly subsequent to 1723. The imitation, therefore, of that satire of Horace, printed in 1716 by Curll, is valuable as to Pope's history, and great curiosity and as MR. CROSSLEY states that Lady Mary is not mentioned in that edition, I am curious to know how Pope managed the rhyme now made by her name.
MR. CROSSLEY adds that this imitation was reproduced in "folio, printed by J. Boreman about 1734, with some alterations from the former edition." Would it be trespassing too much on your space and his kindness, to request him to give us a few specimens of the alterations, particularly the "change of initials" which MR. CROSSLEY mentions. MR. CROSSLEY seems to think that this poem was not reprinted after the folio in 1734, till it appeared in a supplement to Cooper's edition in 1756. This is a mistake. It was published by Pope himself, with his other imitations of Horace, in the collection of his works by Dodsley in 1738; and though only entitled "in the manner of Mr. Pope,", excited very natural surprise and disgust. His having deliberately embodied it in the general collection of his works, is Warton's only excuse for having reproduced it.
C.
Prophecies of Nostradamus (Vol. iv., p. 86.).
—In accordance with the wish of your correspondent SPERIEND, I have examined the series of early editors of this celebrated astrologer in the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the following is the result of my inquiries.
The earliest edition of the Prophecies of Nostradamus is not to be found in any library in Paris, but was published in 1555 (so says the latest account of the prophet, by M. Eugène Bareste) but contains little more than three centuries (or cantos, as they might be called) of prophecies; each century containing a hundred quatrains. The next edition, which before the French Revolution belonged to the Benedictines of St. Maur, is entitled:
"Les Prophéties de M. Michel Nostradamus, dont il y en a trois cens qui n'ont encore jamais esté imprimées. Adjoustées de nouveau par ledict Autheur. A Lyon, chez Pierre Rigaud, rue Mercière, au coing de rue Ferrandière. Avec permission."