UNIVERSITY GETS RARE COLERIDGE MANUSCRIPTS

An assorted collection of manuscripts and volumes, almost all of which were at some time associated with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, has been received by the Widener Library from Mr. Norton Perkins '98, of Lawrence, Long Island.

According to Mr. G. P. Winship '93, Librarian of the Widener Collection, this gift constitutes one of the most important additions that has been made to the Library in many years. Almost all of the items have annotations written in the hand of the great poet on the margins of the pages.

Professor J. L. Lowes '95, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, will discuss this gift in an article entitled "The Coleridge Manuscripts," which will appear in the Christmas Feature number of the CRIMSON Bookshelf. This will be on sale in Cambridge and Boston on December 13.

Collection Comprises Over 50 Pieces

The entire collection is composed of more-than 50 separate pieces. On last Friday another shipment was received from Mr. Perkins, containing a "History of Comic Literature" in German, which was printed a century and a half ago. These volumes are interesting because they belonged to Robert Southey, whose signature is on the title page of the first volume, and later to Harry Buxton Forman, the editor of Shelley's writings, whose book-plate they contain. Between these two periods, they were in Coleridge's library.

This work was evidently read with great care by Southey and Coleridge, since they both made numerous marginal comments in criticism and elucidation of the author's statements. Those by Coleridge are especially long and throw a good deal of light on his own literary and critical development.

Frequently the notes cover the whole blank margins of a page, sometimes running over onto the next one, with pungent criticism of the author's statements. Others are briefer, as "Whoo!" at one place, and "Abaurd" at another or "What can be allude to here?" At another place he notes "The merciless sport of the Gladiators must have had no little share in rendering the legitimate Tragedy insipid to the Romans. To obviate this the few Roman Tragic writers out-Heroded Herod, or deformed their dialogues into the epigrammatic."

1816 Edition of Christabel Included

Another valuable and rare item is the 1816 edition of Christabel and Kubla Khan, Coleridge's own works, which contains notes by him, correcting or improving the original text. The "Christabel" has many lines crossed out and others written in manuscript on the margin.

Coleridge's own copy of the proof sheets of his "Sibylline Leaves", a collection of poems printed in 1817, contains some amusing and interesting comments. In the third part of the "Ancient Mariner", which is included in this collection, there appears a stanza which has been struck out by the poet. At the bottom of the page there appears the following in long hand:

"This stanza was struck out by the Author and reprinted either by the Oversight or the Self-Opinion of the Printer, to whom the Author was indebted for various intended improvements of his Poems.  "S. T. Coleridge."

Besides these books containing Coleridge's manuscript notes, Mr. Perkins' gift makes the Harvard collection of first editions of his important writings very nearly complete. Among these is a file comprising all the issues of: "The Friend; a Literary, Moral, and Political Weekly Paper, excluding personal and party politics and the events of the day. Conducted by S. T. Coleridge, of Grasmere, Westmorland." These papers, dating from June 1, 1809, to March 16, 1810, are of the utmost rarity, and of the greatest importance to any student of English literature at that period.

Mr. Perkins has added to these printed volumes a number of autographed letters, written by Coleridge, almost every one of which contains passages of biographical or literary value. Most of these have been used by his biographers, but in a surprising number of cases where the letters have been already printed, the printed form is different, in significant ways, from the actual part of the letter in the author's handwriting.

Among the other articles and reviews which are expected for this special number of the Bookshelf is a review of "My Duel with the Vatican" by Alfred Loisy, which will be written by Professor R. B. Perry '99, Professor of Philosophy. Francis E. Bowman '24, Assistant in English, will review "Straws", by James Branch Cabell.

John Dickinson, Lecturer and Tutor in History, Government and Economics, will take up Professor A. N. Holcombe's '06 new work, "Political Parties of Today." Maurice Firuski, Proprietor of the Dunster House Bookshop, will write an article on "The Christmas Books."

The following recent publications will also be reviewed: "Helen and Others", by Marina Wister; "Some Do Not ..., by Ford Madox Ford; "The Best Plays of 1923-24", selected by Burns Mantle; "The Hidden Player", by Alfred Noyes; "In the Land of Youth", by James Stephens; "The Green Hat", by Michael Arlen; and "Sails of Sunsel", by Cecil Roberts, which A. D. Welton '23, Graduate Secretary of the Union, will review.

This will be the third issue of the Bookshelf which is published in supplementary form this year for the first time