“I write to give you notice that I have completed the fourth and ultimate Canto of Childe Harold. It consists of 126 stanzas, and is
consequently the longest of the four. It is yet to be copied and polished; and the notes
are to come, of which it will require more than the third Canto,
as it necessarily treats more of works of art than of nature. It shall be sent towards
autumn;—and now for our barter. What do you bid? eh? you shall have samples, an’
it so please you: but I wish to know what I am to expect (as the saying is) in these
hard times, when
| 136 | NOTICES OF THE | A. D. 1817. |
“When you have got the whole four Cantos, I think you might venture on an edition of the whole poem in quarto, with spare copies of the two last for the purchasers of the old edition of the first two. There is a hint for you, worthy of the Row; and now, perpend—pronounce.
“I have not received a word from you of the fate of ‘Manfred’ or ‘Tasso,’ which seems to me odd, whether they have failed or succeeded.
“As this is a scrawl of business, and I have lately written at length and often on other subjects, I will only add that I am, &c.”
