C. M. St. John.
[480] The first American edition, and the first work by Wordsworth, printed in America. It looks as if the Poet found appreciative readers in America sooner than in England; the first edition of “Lyrical Ballads,” which had fallen dead in his own country in 1798, being published in Philadelphia in 1802. The American edition was delayed in the press, in order to include certain pieces which first appeared in the second (English) edition of 1802. See Humphreys’ Preface.
A copy of “Lyrical Ballads,” 1802, is in the possession of Judge Henry Reed, with exactly the same title-page as the above, except that it reads—
“Printed by James Humphreys for Joseph Groff.”
It is believed that the work was printed at the joint expense of Humphreys and Groff, each bookseller taking a certain number of copies upon which was placed his individual imprint. Both book-sellers advertised the volumes almost simultaneously. I know of another copy of (1802) “Lyrical Ballads,” of which the first volume contains the imprint of Humphreys, and the second volume that of Groff. The two volumes are bound together, and are identical in type, paper, etc.
C. M. St. John.
[481] Amongst the contents there are four long extracts from The Excursion, with titles attributed to W.W. Goody Blake and Harry Gill is amongst the extracts from “Lyrical Ballads,” and there is a long note to the former poem by Joseph Dennie.
C. M. St. John.
[482] The first collected edition of Wordsworth’s Poems printed in America.
C. M. St. John.