“. . . . . I should like to edit the works of Sir Philip Sidney, who is, in my judgment, one
of the greatest men of all our countrymen. I would prefix a Life, an Essay on
the Arcadia, his greatest work, and another on his Metres. It would make three
octavo volumes: to the one there should be his portrait prefixed; to the
second, a view of Penshurst, his birthplace, and residence; to the third, the
print of his death, from Mortimer’s well-known etching. Perhaps I overrate the
extent of the work; for, if I recollect right. Burton’s Anatomy, which is such another folio, was republished in two
octavos. His name is so illustrious, that an edition of 500 would certainly
sell; the printer might begin in spring. I could write the Essays here; in the
autumn I shall most likely be in London, and would then complete
| Ætat. 30. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 307 |
“Mr. Longman promised me a visit in September; I have not found him so punctual as he will always find me.
