Page:The poetical works of William Cowper (IA poeticalworksof00cowp).pdf/25



works which have formed the materials for this volume are the following, named in the order of their publication:—

1. Olney Hymns: 1779. (See Memoir, p. xxxvii.)

2. Poems by William Cowper: 1782. (See p. 45.)

3. The Task, with three other pieces, by the same: 1785. (See p. 181.)

4. The above volumes were published distinctly, No. 3 offering no indication that the author had appeared in print before. But always afterwards Nos. 2 and 3 were issued together, and numbered "Cowper's Poems, Vols. i. and ii." New editions were published in 1786, 1787, 1788, 1793, 1794, 1798 (two editions in this year, very different in form and appearance), and 1800. The foregoing were all that were printed in the author's lifetime. The various editions contained fresh poems from time to time.

5. Poems translated from the French of Madame de la Mothe Guyon by the late William Cowper, Esq., Author of "The Task," to which are added some Original Poems of Mr. Cowper, not inserted in his Works. Newport-Pagnel, 1801.

6. The Life and Letters of William Cowper, Esq., with Remarks on Epistolary Writers. By William Hayley, Esq.: 4 vols. 1803.