Doctor's works have happened to make their appearance in so disorderly, uncouth, and miserable a condition (to say nothing of a thousand mistakes and blunders committed by several editors, both in England and Ireland) as they do at present.
"I am, Sir, wishing you all success in your publication, your most sincere, and very humble servant,
In this state was the collection, when, in the latter end of 1774, the present Editor, having occasion to peruse with attention the fifteenth and sixteenth volumes, was induced to read, in a regular series, the whole of Dr. Swift's Correspondence. In this pursuit, he could not but be astonished to perceive that many pieces, which the Dean acknowledges as his own, were not to be found in the most expensive editions of his works. In truth, from the volumes having been published at different periods, the smaller editions may be said to have been complete, while those in which exactness might well be looked for have remained defective. To remedy that inconvenience, he published in 1775 the seventeenth volume; consisting of materials, which, if not entirely new to the world, were such in the editions just mentioned. From the preface to this volume a short extract shall be given.
"The several pieces now offered to the publick are of too miscellaneous a nature to need any formal apology. Many of them are admirable; some of them indifferent; and some, perhaps, rather below
