PREFACE. BEFORE adverting to the object and arrangement of the present work, it may be proper to mention the principal collections of epigrams, which have been previously published in this country. "A Collection of Epigrams: To which is prefixed a Critical Dissertation on this Species of Poetry," 2nd edition, 1735 (sometimes ascribed, but without sufficient proof, to Oldys), is stated in the preface to be "the first miscellany of epigrams that has appeared in English." This is a mistake. A collection, entitled "Skialetheia," was published in 1598, and another in 1641. In 1654 appeared a collection of some importance, entitled, "Recreation for Ingenious Head-pieces or a Pleasant Grove for their Wits to Walk in." The Collection of 1735; "A Collection of Select Epigrams," by Hackett, 1757; "The Poetical Farrago," 1794; and the selection in "Elegant Extracts," are without any kind of arrangement. Recreation for Ingenious Head-pieces," is divided into epigrams, epitaphs, fancies, and fantastics. "The Festoon: A Collection of Epigrams, Ancient and Modern," by Graves, of which the second and enlarged edition was published in 1767, is divided into panegyrical, satirical, monumental, and other sections. "Select Epigrams," 1797, is chronological, with anonymous epigrams at the end. These collections have a sprinkling of translations from the Greek, but they all accept the Roman type as the favourite. "Select Epigrams," how 66 ever, gives, more than the others, the purer epigrams of modern poets. The Medieval and Early Modern Latin Epigrammatists, with the exception of Buchanan and Owen, are not represented at all in these works. "Recreation for Ingenious Head-pieces" contains, as might be expected from the date of its publication, many specimens of the writings of the Early English Epigrammatists; but Sir John Harington and Ben Jonson are the only writers of the early period of our literature who are noticed in any of the later collections. Yet, defective as are these works, they are of great value, for they have preserved a large number of epigrams, which would otherwise have been lost, and many of which could ill be spared. The last of the old collections is the "Panorama of Wit," 1809, which was succeeded after a long interval by "Epigrams, Ancient and Modern," by the Rev. J. Booth. It may be right to state that not the slightest use has been made of Mr. Booth's book in the preparation of the present selection. Among the collections confined to that form of the epigram, called epitaphs, may be mentioned, "Select Epitaphs," edited by Toldervy, 1755; "Select and Remarkable Epitaphs," with accounts of the deceased, by Hackett, 1757; "A Collection of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions," 1806; and Chronicles of the Tombs," by the late Dr. Pettigrew, 1847. 66 One of the projected publications of Dr. Johnson was a "Collection of Epigrams, with Notes and Observations.” Had he carried out his plan, the work would have been a most valuable addition to our epigrammatic literature. Thoroughly acquainted with the Greek and Roman Anthologies, with the Foreign Medieval Poets, and the English Epigrammatists, guided by a true poetic taste, and gifted with unusual critical acumen, he would have arranged a selection which would have displayed the flowers of epigram-writing of all ages, while his notes and observa |