Ballads and Sonnets (1881), proof Signature N (Delaware Museum, final proof, WMR's copy)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Production Description

Document Title: Ballads and Sonnets
Author: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Publisher: F. S. Ellis
Printer: Chiswick Press, C. Whittingham and Co.
City of publication: London
Date of publication: 1881 May 18 - 1881 June
Pre-Publication Information: proof
Pagination: 177-192
Issue: 5
Authorization: DGR
Collation: N 8

Provenance

Current Location: Library, Delaware Art Museum

Physical Description

Point: 10 point; 6 point leading
Font: roman
Lines per Page: 17
Margin top: 2 cm
Margin bottom: 3.8 cm
Margin right: 2 cm
Margin left: 2.5 cm
Dimensions of Document: 19 x 12.8cm (crown octavo)

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

This is WMR's copy (undated) of the final proof of Signature N of the Ballads and Sonnets volume. It carries marginal notes by WMR, one suggestion for a correction, presumably by WMR, and some printer's marks for improving the spacing of the text. Two other complete copies of this final proof are also held in the Delaware Art Museum library, one with a correction by DGR, as well as a partial copy consisting mostly of uncut proof sheets. All these proofs were pulled subsequent to the 6 May revise.

Textual History: Revision

Besides this, WMR's copy of the final proof, the Delaware proofs include the following: copy 1 and copy 2 of the first proof with only eight sonnets printed; copy 1 and copy 2 of the first revise (dated 28 April 1881 and numbered 1a and 1b respectively), both with DGR's corrections throughout; copy 1 and copy 2 of the second revise (dated 3 May 1881 and numbered 1a and 1b respectively), both without revisions; the corrected author's third revise plus two uncorrected copies of the third revise, uncorrected copy 1 and uncorrected copy 2), all dated 4 May 1881 and numbered 3c, 3a, and 3b respectively; three copies of the fourth revise, the uncorrected copy , corrected copy 1), and corrected copy 2, all dated 6 May 1881 and numbered 4a, 4b, and 4c respectively; four copies of the final proof, including this one, DGR's corrected copy , an uncorrected partial copy , and a copy with uncut sheets), all undated and numbered 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d. Delaware also has the proof of the cancel leaf (pages 185-186), marked as such and with with DGR's correction. The British Library proofs have another copy (partial) of revise proofs for this signature (dated 28 April).

Electronic Archive Edition: 1