Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 5.djvu/246

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240


NOTES AND QUERIES.


in. 1778, who was succeeded by G. Harris before 1781 ; Nathaniel Gardiner at 138Z. in 1783 and 1797 ; Peter Donaldson in 1800, who was succeeded by George Rawlinson in 1808, who was succeeded by J. Teed in 1811, but the post was vacant during the King's illness, 1812 to 1820. Henry Beard held it 1820 to 1823, when two Yeomen of the Mouth, Thomas Huggins and Fr. Chevasset were appointed, who were succeeded by F. Chevasset and John Miller in 1827 or 1828. In 1830 Alex. Jaquiery and George Sheppard were appointed to the position, and the latter held it alone 1833 to 1837, being the last Yeoman of the Mouth (of. Royal Kalenclars).

W. R. WILLIAMS.


BYRON'S ' DON JUAN,' CANTOS 17 AND 18. (12 S. v. 170). The cantos 17 and 18 men- tioned by your correspondent is undoubtedly one of the ' Sequels ' mentioned by Mr. E. H. Coleridge in the ' Works of Lord Byron,' vol. vi. p. 608 (Murray, 1903).

Mr. Coleridge gives a foot-note on this matter on p. 608, which is as follows :

" May 8, 1823, MS. More than one seventeenth canto or so-called continuation of ' Don Juan ' has been published. Some of these ' Sequels ' pretend to be genuine, while others are undisguisedly imitations or parodies. There was, however, a foundation for the myth. Before Byron left Italy he had begun (May 8, 1823) a seventeenth canto, and when he sailed for Greece he took the new stanzas with him. Trelawnay found fifteen stanzas of the seventeenth canto of ' Don Juan ' in Byron's room at Missolonghi (' Recollections,' &c., 1858, p. 237). The MS., together with other papers, was handed over to J. C. Hobhouse, and is now in the posession of his daughter Lady Dorchester. The copyright was purchased by the late John Murray. The fourteen (nob fifteen) stanzas are now printed and published for the first time."

The other four parts which are mentioned in the paper bindings, and published at Is. each, by J. Hunt of Old Bond Street, are not original first editions of the various cantos of ' Don Juan.' These were pub- lished as follows :

Cantos 1 2. T. Davidson, Whitefriars,

1819. 4to ... ... price 1 11 6

Cantos 1,2. T.Davidson (new edition), 1819,

8vo ... ... ... 9 6

Cantos 3, 4, 5. T. Davidson, 1821, 8vo ..96 Cantos 6, 7, 8. John Hunt, 1823 ... ..96

Cantos 9, 10, 11. John Hunt, 1823 ... ..96

Cantos 12, 13, 14. John Hunt, 1823 96

Cantos 15, 16. John & H. L. Hunt, 1824 ..96

None of these editions were published with Byron's name.

I have in my collection a similar set of Poems in six volumes to those your corre-


spondent mentions, but mine differ some- what in dates to those given. The par- ticulars of my set are as follows :

Vol.1 fin 2 vols) J. F. Dove 1828.*-

Vol.2 (in 2 vols) ... J. F. Dove 1828.*

Vol. 3 (in 4 vols) ... J. Murray 1830.

Vol. 4 (in 4 vols) ... J. Murray 1830.

Vol. 5 (no mention of 4 vols) J. Murray 1831,

Vol. 6 J. Murray 1831.

I have also another edition of Lord Byron's works in my collection which has the same variation, viz., six volumes pub- lished by Murray, 1827. The last two volumes are uniform with the above,, containing ' Don Juan,' published by Davidson, 1828.

It is difficult to say how these variations occur, except that at that time there were a great number of collected works of Lord Byron published within a few years, and it looks as though several of these editions have got mixed up in the collections, and hence have come through in this manner. HERBERT C. ROE.

Sunnyholme, Alexandra Park, Nottingham.

In 1903 was published by a London firm. " Don Juan, XVIIth and XVIIIth Cantos," 74 pp., containing 80 and 79 stanzas respec- tively. The lines quoted at reference do not appear, and the work (for what it was- worth) seemed to be original.

'A Sequel to "Don Juan" (10 ! ii. ,55), had this advertisement prefixed :

"Five cantos of the 'Sequel to Don Juan ' are- now issued to the public : should they be received with favour, eleven more will shortly follow, i\ being the original intention of the writer to extend the work to the same length as the ' Don Juan ' of Lord Byron. In the meantime the author deems- it prudent to withold (sic) his name from the title- page with the promise, however, that he shall' feel bound to reveal himself should the remaining-, eleven cantos of his poem be called for."

Anonymous both as to author and date- (the latter appearing, from internal evi- dence, to be 1840 or a few years later),, the ' Sequel ' has been attributed to G. W. M- Reynolds ; but the above advertisement is quite unlike his style ; and though there- may be points of resemblance between the* ' Sequel ' and passages in Reynolds' s works, assertions in the former's text as to trie- family and seemingly far from flourishing circumstances of the author, and ill-treat- ment of him by a relative, leave me with a


  • It is strange these volumes published by Dove

also contain ' Don Juan ' similar to the other edition mentioned below by Davidson. It is most probable Murray still adhered to his refusal to publish l Don Juan.'