EPIGRAMMATISTS: A SELECTION FROM THE EPIGRAMMATIC LITERATURE OF ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL, AND MODERN TIMES. With Notes, Observations, Illustrations, and an BY THE REV. HENRY PHILIP DODD, M.A., OF IEMBROKE Corlegé, oxford, SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. PREFACE. BEFORE adverting to the object and arrangement of the present work, it may be proper to mention the principal collections of epigrams, which have been previously published in this country. "A Collection of Epigrams: To which is prefixed a Critical Dissertation on this Species of Poetry," 2nd edition, 1735 (sometimes ascribed, but without sufficient proof, to Oldys), is stated in the preface to be "the first miscellany of epigrams that has appeared in English." This is a mistake. A collection, entitled "Skialetheia," was published in 1598, and another in 1641. In 1654 appeared a collection of some importance, entitled, Recreation for Ingenious Head-pieces: or a Pleasant Grove for their Wits to Walk in." The Collection of 1735; "A Collection of Select Epigrams," by Hackett, 1757; "The Poetical Farrago," 1794; and the selection in "Elegant Extracts," are without any kind of arrangement. "Recreation for Ingenious Head-pieces," is divided into epigrams, epitaphs, fancies, and fantastics. "The Festoon: A Collection of Epigrams, Ancient and Modern," by Graves, of which the second and enlarged edition was published in 1767, is divided into panegyrical, satirical, monumental, and other sections. "Select Epigrams," 1797, is chronological, with anonymous epigrams at the end. These collections have a sprinkling of translations from the Greek, but they all accept the Roman type as the favourite. 'Select Epigrams," how |