The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature. By W. T. Lowndes
Revised by H. G. Bohn. Part viii. (Bohn.)—This part of Mr. Bohn's reissue of Lowndes's useful manual extends from " Reid " to "Simon." Its most important article is, of course, that on Shakespeare, which has, we are told, "been elaborated up to an extreme point," and professes "not only to record every printed edition of his works, whether pub- lished collectively or separately, but also all the volumes written respect- ing him, and all foreign translations." Our opinion of the manner in which Mr. Bohn has performed his task is, fortunately, a favourable one, on the whole. Were it otherwise, we should scarcely dare to express it, for fear of being included in the sentence which he pronounces on certain " requisitionists " who have ventured to make what he considers as unreasonable suggestions, and whom he characterizes as "shallow pretenders, who seek to acquire the reputation of critics by finding fault with what they would be quite incompetent to perform."
Previous page
