The Correspondence of Jonathan Swift, D.D., In Four Volumes, Vol. I, Letters 1690–1714, nos. 1–300; Vol. II, Letters 1714–1726, nos. 301–700 ed. by David Woolley (review)

46 As he would have it, Swift is conjuring up a (narcissistic) mirror; and this, by a sudden deduction from a long sorites, becomes Mr. Boyle’s license for joining in with the throng of recent marketers of Swift as our ‘‘postmodern’’contemporary, loosely speaking . Modernity and Its Satirist, by contrast, in effect recognizes that Swift’s ‘‘Glass’’ is both a mirror and a window which together offer a singular view of his historical moment. In that regard, at least three of Mr. Boyle’s chapters advance as well as revise the understanding available from, say, Paulson’s and Harth’s groundbreaking studies of the Tale (to pick two critics from the handful whom Mr. Boyle the Nemesist singles out as being somehow ‘‘narcissistic’’). Robert M. Philmus Concordia University, Montreal The Correspondence of Jonathan Swift, D.D., In Four Volumes, Vol. I, Letters 1690– 1714, nos. 1–300; Vol. II, Letters 1714–1726, nos. 301–700, ed. David Woolley.Frankfurt : Peter Lang, 1999, 2001. Pp. 650, 661. $85.95 (each volume). In an essay on Sir Harold Williams published as part of The Scriblerian’s ‘‘reappraisals ’’ series (Vol. 13, 1980, 2–4), I endorsed his editions of the Poems and The Journal to Stella as major contributions to Swift scholarship. However, I expressed reservations about Williams’s edition of Swift’s Correspondence, observing that, were we to include the inaccurate transcription of accidentals, ‘‘thousands of discrepancies between the original manuscripts and Williams’s text exist.’’ These errors can be accounted for in a number of ways; for one, as his own extant correspondence preserved in Cambridge University Library (Add. MS 7788) makes poignantly clear, Williams’s eyesight was quite poor by the time he agreed, in his seventies, to take on the arduous task of preparing his edition for publication. This last consideration is of the first importance for Williams’s edition. Earlyeighteenth -century handwriting is not always easy to decipher under even the most favorable conditions, and scholars will inevitably differ on occasion in their transcription of key words. The difficultiessurroundingsubstantiveissuesarecompoundedwhen it comes to deciding whether a particular noun begins with an initial capital letter, or whether letters used to form an abbreviation are raised above the line. Punctuation is even thornier. In particular, Williams does not seem to have appreciated what Mr.Woolley calls ‘‘Swift’s frequent doubled stops’’—his habit of resting his pen on his paper while he considered what next to write. It is for this reason that, on numerousoccasions, Williams transcribes commas as semi-colons. A short letter illustrates the issues perfectly. British Library Additional MS 4804 is a bound volume of Swift’s correspondence. The first two folios comprise a letter from the Earl of Berkeley to Swift which refers to A Project for The Advancement of Religion and the Reformation of Manners (1709). Williams prints it as follows: I hope you continue in the mind of coming hither tomorrow: for, upon my sincerity, which is more than most people’s, I shall be heartily glad to see you as much as possible before you go for Ireland. Whether you are or are not for Cranford, I earnestly intreat you, if you have not done it already, that you would not fail of having your bookseller enabling the Archbishop of York to give a 47 book to the Queen; for, with Mr. Nelson, I am entirely of opinion, that Her Majestys reading of the book of the Project for the increase of Morality and Piety, may be of very great use to that end. I am, 兩 Entirely yours, 兩 B. And this is Mr. Woolley’s version: I hope You continue in the mind of coming hither to morrow, for upon my sincerity which is more then most peoples I shall bee heartyly glad to see You as much as is possible before You goe for Ireland. Whether You are or are not for Cranford I earnestly intreat You if You have not don it already that you would not fayle of having Your bookseller enabling the Ar[ch]B[isho]p of York to give a booke to the Queen for with Mr Nelson I am intirly of opinion that Her Maj[es...