GEO. H. WHEATLEY. 83 Salisbury Road, Harrow.
SIR,--A Bibliographical Note in your first number makes reference to "a charming little first edition of _Candide_ (1759)", and the writer of the paragraph, commenting on the absence of the author's name and of any particulars concerning the publisher and place of publication, states that "it was often Voltaire's custom not to acknowledge his publications till they were a success."
There lies before me as I write, however, a copy of an edition also published in 1759, but which contains the author's name and particulars as to publication. As it may interest some of your readers, as well as "A. L. H.," I venture to transcribe the title-page, which is as follows:--
_Candidus: or, the Optimist_ By Mr. De Voltaire. Translated into English by W. Rider, M.A., Late Scholar of Jesus College, Oxford. London: Printed for J. Scott, at the Black Swan, in Pater-noster-Row, and J. Gretton, in Old Bond-Street. MDCCLIX. [Price One Shilling and Six-Pence.]--Yours, etc.,
SIR,--Mrs. Meynell has the support of a great master in the niceties of the English language when she takes exception to the particle "less" being tacked on to a verb.
Writing to Bernard Barton (February 7th, 1826) in acknowledgment of his _Devotional Verses_, Charles Lamb says: "One word I must object to in your little book, and it recurs more than once--FADELESS is no genuine compound; loveless is, because love is a noun as well as a verb, but what is a fade?"--Yours, etc.,
(Mrs) G. A. ANDERSON. The Moorlands, Woldingham, Surrey
GEORGIAN POETRY, 1918-1919 Edited by E. M. The Poetry Bookshop 6_s._ net.
The new collection of _Georgian Poetry_ contains specimens of the work of nineteen poets, fourteen of whom have appeared in one or more of the previous volumes of the series, while five are represented for the first time. The fourteen are Mr. Lascelles Abercrombie, Mr. Gordon Bottomley, Mr. W. H. Davies, Mr. Walter de la Mare, Mr. John Drinkwater, Mr. John Freeman, Mr. W. W. Gibson, Mr. Robert Graves, Mr. D. H. Lawrence, Mr. Harold Monro, Mr. Robert Nichols, Mr. Siegfried Sassoon, Mr. J. C. Squire, and Mr. W. J. Turner. The five are Mr. Francis Brett Young, Mr. Thomas Moult, Mr. J. D. C. Pellow, Mr. Edward Shanks, and Mrs. Fredegond Shove. On account of their editorial connection with the LONDON MERCURY, the contributions of Mr. Squire and Mr. Shanks will not receive further mention in this notice.