The Bride's Prelude (1881 slip proofs, British Library copy)

This is a complete set of slip proofs of the first revise printing of the poem. It represents a revise made from the set of slip proofs held in the library of the Delaware Art Museum. Another (complete) set of these first revise proofs is held in the library of the Taylor Collection, Princeton University library. DGR had all these proofs printed off in early May 1881 for eventual publication in the 1881 Poems. A New Edition (see DGR's letters to his publisher Ellis of 4 and 17 May 1881, Fredeman, Correspondence, 81.207, 226). The library of the Delaware Art Museum also has a large collection of the proof signatures for the 1881 volume, where the poem was first published (from pages 188-234).

At least three impressions of the slip proofs were pulled, at DGR's request, before the poem was incorporated into the printing of the 1881 Poems. A New Edition (see DGR's letters to his publisher Ellis of 9 and 15 May 1881, Fredeman, Correspondence, 81.215, 223). DGR seems to have received his first set of proofs for correction around 17 May.