memory lady deceased monody second (2 Ergebnisse)

Folio, pp. [iv], 15; complete with the half title; disbound. 'Second edition'. There were two printings of the first edition, of uncertain order, but this seems to be a reimpression of the second of those (Foxon L338), although sheet C corresponds to the other printing. This anomaly is difficult to explain with any certainty. The poem was first advertised in October, 1747; this second edition, although dated 1748, was available for sale before the end of the year. Foxon L339; Sale, Richardson, 357.

Half title. Folio. Disbound. (iv), 15 (1). ESTC T 4628. Foxon L339. There were two issues of the first edition and this second edition, all printed by Samuel Richardson for Andrew Millar. The 'Lady Lately Deceased' was Lyttelton's wife, Lucy Fortescue, who died in childbirth at the age of 29. It has been described as Lyttelton's 'most famous poem'. See also James May's paper on the Three Folio Editions in Swiftly Sterneward, University of Delaware Press, 2011.