The poetical works of Dr. John Leyden : with memoir by Thomas Brown, and portrait from the original pencil sketch by Captain Elliot / [John Leyden].

  • Leyden, John, 1775-1811
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The poetical works of Dr. John Leyden : with memoir by Thomas Brown, and portrait from the original pencil sketch by Captain Elliot / [John Leyden]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The most important of these additions are “The Fairy,” “The Dryad’s Warning,” “ Bellicosum Facinus,” “The Green Veil,” “The Descent of Odin,” and the “Parody on the Earl of Buchan’s Address to the Duchess of Gordon.” In our arrangement of the poetry, we have classified it according to the nature of the subject, rather than according to time. Each method has its own advantages. The latter shows the develop- ment of the Poet’s mind, but the former is more logical, and affords greater facilities for reference to any particular piece. Leyden’s vast linguistic knowledge made him an extensive and ready translator. He early began to cultivate this art, and, in the Edinburgh and Scots Magazines, appears in this capacity far more frequently than any of his contemporaries. In giving his transla- tions, our aim has been to make a selection from the various languages of which he has left us specimens, and these, although very extensive, represent a very small part of his acquisitions in this department. The Notes appended to the volume are mainly illustrative of the “Scenes of Infancy.” In trying to elucidate this, the most enduring memorial of his poetic genius, Ave have withheld notes from the majority of his minor pieces. Our reason for this course is, that this poem comprehends such a wide circle of references to Border scenes, events, and characters, as to render the annotation of his less important pieces unnecessary. The notes which appear are chiefly Leyden’s, from the first edition of the “Scenes of Infancy.” Those now added are subscribed Ed. A feAV others Avere supplied by my friend and zealous coadjutor, Mr R. Cochrane, Edinburgh. But the most important part of the undertaking has been the compilation of a NeAV Memoir, and the main difficulty in this work has arisen from the scatteredness rather than the scarceness of the information regarding the great Borderer. Materials have been gleaned from all available sources. The most important Avere the Memoirs, by Scott and Morton ; the Sketches, by Sir John Malcolm, Mr Constable, Mr Erskine, and Lord Minto; and the many incidental notices of him which occur in the biographies and sketches of his illustrious contemporaries, Dr Thomas BroAvn, Dr Chalmers, ~Rev. Alexander Murray, Rev. Sydney Smith, Thomas