AUTOGRAPH DRAFTS OF HIS POEM 'BIDCOMBE HILL', first published in 1808 and in revised editions in 1824 and 1844.

SKURRAY, Francis.

Edité par Horningsham Wiltshire -16 and probably later, 1807

A propos de cet article

Manuscript in ink, 4to (203 x 168mm), written in a single hand, although not with the same ink or (perhaps) at the same period; on pp. [i], 1-3 and then ff. 4-46 and [47]-[82] from the front and [1]-[60] from the back; on paper watermarked 1807 throughout (e.g. on ff. 27-31 and 49-53); some leaves excised, and a few stuck together (to provide continuity), clearly by the original scribe; bound in contemporary red half roan over marbled boards, rubbed but sound. Francis Skurray (1774-1848) was born in Somerset and was educated at Merton College, Oxford, following which he became a fellow of Lincoln College. From 1806 until his death he was perpetual curate of Horningsham, Wilts; he never married, but had an art collection which he bequeathed to his nieces and nephews. The village of Horningsham is on the Longleat estate, and his major poetical production, Bidcombe Hill, is dedicated to the Marchioness of Bath, chatelaine of the great house. Apart from the three editions of his major poem, he published eight volumes of sermons (between 1803 and 1841), and three other volumes of poetry: The shepherd's garland (1832), A metrical version of the book of Psalms (1843), and Sonnets on various subjects and occasions (1845). Bidcombe Hill was first printed in 1808, and the published in a second edition in 1824 (by Cadell) and a third in 1844 (by Pickering). In the first edition it was accompanied by other 'rural and descriptive poems'; in the second by no other poetry, because it was prefaced by a very long Essay on Local Poetry (pp. 7-103); and in the third there were a large number of additional poems, on pp. 147-318, some of which are in this manuscript. In the 1844 edition, Skurray promised that his Essay was 'in preparation for the press, with much additional matter, and in a separate volume', but that does not seem to have appeared. This manuscript may be the prime version of the poem. It is written on paper watermarked '1807' and thus appears likely to be Skurray's first draft. Certainly it is different in many details from the text as published in all of the editions consulted, the first, second and third, and thus presents an opportunity to study the changes that a minor poet made to his major work, over more than thirty years. The fact that it is written on paper watermarked 1807, the year before the first edition, suggests that whilst it undoubtedly contains some verse and prose composed later, it is very likely that some part of the manuscript dates from the genesis of the poem itself. Bidcombe Hill is written here on pp. 1-3 and then on the rectos of ff. 4-46, after which is a group of 'Miscellanies', which are minor poems, titled: Friendship (f. 48) The Rose and the Nightingale (49) The Persian Lover to his capricious mistress (50) The Soldier's adieu on his Embarcation (51) Song of the Maid of Finland (52) Petrarch's soliloquy (53) Evelina imitated from the Irish (54) The maniac (a fragment) [deleted, and stuck down onto the following leaf) (55r) The Remonstrance (56v) The captive Woodlark (57) The Woodlark's Grave (59) The Hermitage of Dronningaard (61) Sonnets (66r-69v) Following this are: Title pages (70-71)to Bidcombe Hill, described as 'second edition', with dedication to the Marchioness of Bath dated 10 September 1808 (72-73); an explanation and a preface to the second edition, dated 1816 (74-76); and the first few pages of the text of the poem (77-80), at the end of which one is directed to 'Go back to page 5'. The versos of each leaf in the first section (ff. 4-31v) contain a much-altered draft of his long preface (in prose), titled Essay on local poetry, first published in 1824; and ff. 33v-36v have a preface to the additional poems which were included in that edition: it begins 'Most of the following trifles were published Anno Domini 1808 …' and so must have been intended for a much later edition yet it does not appear in 1824 (which in fact contained no additional poems) or in 1844 (which has no preface to.

N° de réf. du vendeur 27931

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: AUTOGRAPH DRAFTS OF HIS POEM 'BIDCOMBE HILL', first published in 1808 and in revised editions in 1824 and 1844.
• Éditeur: Horningsham Wiltshire -16 and probably later
• Date de parution: 1807
• Édition: Edition originale
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Poetry