On a blank leaf bound up with the MS. at the end of the volume, Byron wrote—
"Dear Ds.,—This is all that was contained in the MS., but the outside cover has been torn off by the booby of a binder.
Yours ever,
B."
The volume is bound in smooth green morocco, bordered by a single gilt line. "MS." in gilt lettering is stamped on the side cover.
II.
Collation of First Edition, Quarto, 1812,
with MS. of the First Canto.
The MS. numbers ninety-one stanzas, the First Edition ninety-three stanzas.
Omissions from the MS.
| Stanza vii. | "Of all his train there was a henchman page,"— |
| Stanza viii. | "Him and one yeoman only did he take,"— |
| Stanza xxii. | "Unhappy Vathek! in an evil hour,"— |
| Stanza xxv. | "In golden characters right well designed,"— |
| Stanza xxvii. | "But when Convention sent his handy work,"— |
| Stanza xxviii. | "Thus unto Heaven appealed the people: Heaven,"— |
| Stanza lxxxviii. | "There may you read with spectacles on eyes,"— |
| Stanza lxxxix. | "There may you read—Oh, Phoebus, save Sir John,"— |
| Stanza xc. | "Yet here of Vulpes mention may be made,"— |
Insertions in the First Edition.
| Stanza i. | "Oh, thou! in Hellas deemed of heavenly birth,"— |
| Stanza viii. | "Yet oft-times in his maddest mirthful mood,"— |
| Stanza ix. | "And none did love him!—though to hall and bower,"— |
| Stanza xliii. | "Oh, Albuera! glorious field of grief!"— |
| Stanza lxxxv. | "Adieu, fair Cadiz! yea, a long adieu!"— |
| Stanza lxxxvi. | "Such be the sons of Spain, and strange her Fate,"— |
| Stanza lxxxviii. | "Flows there a tear of Pity for the dead?"— |
| Stanza lxxxix. | "Not yet, alas! the dreadful work is done,"— |
| Stanza xc. | "Not all the blood at Talavera shed,"— |
| Stanza xci. | "And thou, my friend!—since unavailing woe,"— |
| Stanza xcii. | "Oh, known the earliest, and esteemed the most,"— |
The MS. of the Second Canto numbers eighty stanzas; the First Edition numbers eighty-eight stanzas.
Omissions from the MS.
| Stanza viii. | "Frown not upon me, churlish Priest! that I,"— |
| Stanza xiv. | "Come, then, ye classic Thieves of each degree,"— |
| Stanza xv. | "Or will the gentle Dilettanti crew,"— |
| Stanza lxiii. | "Childe Harold with that Chief held colloquy,"— |
Insertions in the First Edition.
| Stanza viii. | "Yet if, as holiest men have deemed, there be,"— |
| Stanza ix. | "There, Thou! whose Love and Life together fled,"— |
| Stanza xv. | "Cold is the heart, fair Greece! that looks on Thee,"— |
| Stanza lii. | "Oh! where, Dodona! is thine agéd Grove?"— |
| Stanza lxiii. | "Mid many things most new to ear and eye,"— |
| Stanza lxxx. | "Where'er we tread 'tis haunted, holy ground,"— |
| Stanza lxxxiii. | "Let such approach this consecrated Land,"— |
| Stanza lxxxiv. | "For thee, who thus in too protracted song,"— |
| Stanza lxxxv. | "Thou too art gone, thou loved and lovely one!"— |
| Stanza lxxxvii. | "Then must I plunge again into the crowd,"— |
| Stanza lxxxviii. | "What is the worst of woes that wait on Age?"— |
| Stanza lxxxvi. | "Oh! ever loving, lovely, and beloved!"— |
| Stanza lxxxvii. | "Then must I plunge again into the crowd,"— |
| Stanza lxxxviii. | "What is the worst of woes that wait on Age?"— |
Additions to the Seventh Edition, 1814.
The Second Canto, in the first six editions, numbers eighty-eight stanzas; in the Seventh Edition the Second Canto numbers ninety-eight stanzas.
Additions.
| The Dedication, To Ianthe. | |
| Stanza xxvii. | "More blest the life of godly Eremite,"— |
| Stanza lxxvii. | "The city won for Allah from the Giaour,"— |
| Stanza lxxviii. | "Yet mark their mirth, ere Lenten days begin,"— |
| Stanza lxxix. | "And whose more rife with merriment than thine,"— |
| Stanza lxxx. | "Loud was the lightsome tumult on the shore,"— |
| Stanza lxxxi. | "Glanced many a light Caique along the foam,"— |
| Stanza lxxxii. |