The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-17 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser. In five
volumes. Vol. I. Nichol, Edinburgh.

Mr. Nichol's edition of our national poets is now
widely known and highly estimated. The volume
before us commences the series of Spencer's works,
and gives us the two first books of the "Faerie
Queene." The most remarkable feature in this new
edition is a slight alteration in the spelling. It is
justly observed in the preface that it is not easy to
explain why, in the case of Shakespeare, Wyatt,
Surrey, and other poets of the same age. the modern
spelling should have been substituted for the anti-
quated and obsolete, while every edition of Spencer
preserves the ancient peculiarities of 'orthography.
The critic is inclined to attribute the limited num-
ber of Spenser's readers to this fact. " The use of
redundant vowels, as in meete,"beene," auircient,'
' dide,' for meet, been, ancient, did ; the use of i for
j, as ioy," iar,' for joy, jar ; of y for i, as yron;
' soyle,' prayse,' for iron, soil, praise ; of contrac-
tions such as hart," els,' for heart, else, and many
others which occur in the work, have had the effect
of repelling many modern readers, -while it cannot
be contended that the merit of the poem depends
on these peculiarities." While making these ad-
vantageous alterations, the editors expressly dis-
claim any further interference with the text. "No
obsolete words have been displaced by their modern
synonyms;, they are all retained, and are explained
on the margin, so that their meaning can be ascer-
tained without interrupting the reader's progress.
It will be observed, that to suit the measure and the
rhythm the author often arbitrarily changes the spell-
ing. In all such cases no alteration has been made. We
have only sought, in short, to clear away the rust
which obscures the medal, but have regarded as
sacred the medal itself, as it passed from the hands
of the great artist." The great advantage of a
ready comprehension of the author is thus secured
to those who are unacquainted with the obsolete
orthographyw hich has hitherto enveloped the"Fairie.
Queene" in a veil less penetrable than those of its
own allegories. The words which have now fallen
into disuse are explained on the margin, while the
foot-notes supply al the incidental information.
We have no doubt that this edition will induce
many to increase their acquaintance with the
Faerie Qucene, the Red Cross Knight,

" The heavenly Una with her milk-white lamb,"
and their satellites and enemies. We congratulate
the editors on having successfully simplified the
language, without anyntinedessary or presumptuous
interference with the masterpiece of one of our
great English poets.

The Journal of the .Roycd Agricultural Society of
England. No. XLII. John Murray.
This very useful and valuable publication makes
its appearance twice a year. It treats of the prin-
ciples of agricultural science, of the various reforms
and improvements which have taken place during
the interval, and gives a full and particular account
of the reports on exhibitions both of live stock and
agricultural machinery. The contributors are,
many of them, men of experience and standing,
and treat their subjects in a comprehensive and
thoroughly practical manner. Professor Hussey
continues his interesting papers on Vegetable
Botany, by an account of the Structure of Roots.
The exhibitions at Chester are treated of at length,
and there are numerous reports of the results of
experiments with different manures and various
modes of cultivating land. The statistics of Meteor-
ology, Public Health, and the Price of Provisions
are prefixed to the number, as usual.