The Poetical Works of William Motherwell/Preface to Second Edition
Preface to Second Edition.
The first and only British edition of Motherwell's Poems appeared fourteen years ago, and has been long exhausted. Two editions have appeared in the United States of America, and it may seem remarkable that strangers should have been so much more alive to his merits than his countrymen. The publisher of the first British edition having purchased Mr Motherwell's manuscripts, has resolved to issue a new and enlarged edition of the original work, to which is prefixed a Memoir of the Author. The additions consist of twenty pieces, some of which, including the Sonnets, are now printed for the first time. The others appeared in different local publications during the Author's lifetime, though they were not embodied by him in his volume. No alterations upon the original text have been attempted, but a few various readings, derived from the Author's manuscripts, have been placed at the bottom of the page. The Memoir has been compiled from the best sources of information that could be reached, and it is hoped that it will communicate all the knowledge respecting the Poet's history which the reader will be anxious to obtain.
Mr Motherwell left behind him many fragmentary pieces of poetry, in different stages of advancement, some being more and some less finished; and should the present enterprise hold out any encouragement for the adoption of such a course, they may be given to the world at some future time.