Several years ago I purchased the second edition of The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W. Mason. London: Printed by H. Hughs; and sold by J. Dodsley and J. Todd, 1775. I bought the volume because James Boswell said he was influenced by Mason's memoir of Gray when planning his own Life of Johnson. I'm a great fan of Boswell, so I bought the book. Also, it is is a typically late eighteenth-century calf-bound quarto. I'm a great fan of bookbindings as well. I have reproduced pages of the "Elegy" from this edition, trying to maintain the original size. To the right is the frontispiece of the second edition.
Gray Sites on the Web
Selected Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray
Gray on the Poetry Archives
Annotated "Elegy" | Resource page
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