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William Barnes

Carr stated that he had published six impressions of the poems of William Barnes in his History of the QTP (1987). Only four have been seen; they are all different from each other in terms of their cover and content. The two impressions not seen could be reprints of existing impressions, so may not be distinguishable from each other. If you have a different impression, please let me know.

William Barnes (1801-1886) was a writer and priest of the Church of England who wrote some of his poems in a Dorset dialect.

(Last updated on 6/11/2020)

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Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)

Inside rear cover (click to enlarge)

Content: Born and died. Quotations about Barnes.Poems: Linden Lea; Ah! Don't tell O'Maidens; the oone var my bride; Woak Hill; How happy uncle us'd to be; Wife a-lost; the Turnen stile; the Leane; Blackwmore maidens; Sweet be'mi'ster, that bist a-bound; The Signal, Thomas Hardy's farewell to William Barnes. Quotation from Barnes. Facsimile of his writing on rear cover.

Notes: This copy has a price sticker from W.H. Smith inside the front cover for 10 p. Carr reported in an article in The Bookseller in about 1978 that he had been given only one order by W.H. Smith, this for 4,000 copies of his Dictionary of Cricketers. This sticker suggests otherwise. Decimalisation of the currency occured in February 1971.

This small book is presumed to be the first edition because it was printed by the Dalkeith Press, one of the first printers that Carr used, and because no other titles are listed. The date given is when the ISBN was registered.

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Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)

Inside rear cover (click to enlarge)

Content: Born and died. Quotations about Barnes.Poems: Linden Lea; Ah! Don't tell O'Maidens; the oone var my bride; Woak Hill; How happy uncle us'd to be; Wife a-lost; the Turnen stile; the Leane; Blackwmore maidens; Sweet be'mi'ster, that bist a-bound; The Signal, Thomas Hardy's farewell to William Barnes. Quotation from Barnes. Facsimile of his writing on rear cover. 0

Notes: This is a new impression with the same content but different title font and rear cover, printed by a different printer. This is presumed to be the second impression edition because it was printed by the Harry Richardson, the third printer that Carr used, and because only 10 other titles are listed.

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Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)

Inside rear cover (click to enlarge)

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Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)

Inside rear cover (click to enlarge)

Content: Quotations about Barnes. Poems: Linden Lea; Woak Hill; Wife a-lost; Blackwmore maidens; Sweet be'mi'ster, that bist a-bound; the Tunren stile; the Leane; How happy uncle us'd to be; the Child and the mowers; Thomas Hardy's farewell to William Barnes. Quotation from Barnes.

Notes: This impression was given the number 7 in the series, presumably because it was the seventh title that Carr had published. These numbers were applied retrospectively. Carr applied the same number to an impression of the poems of Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen. There is no acknowledgement to Christopher Fiddes in the book. This edition is presumed to come after the editions above because the cover uses the same photograph of Barnes.

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Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)

Inside rear cover (click to enlarge)

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Rear and front covers (click to enlarge)

Inside rear cover (click to enlarge)

Content: Born and died. Quotation from Gerard Hopkins to Robert Bridges. Poems: Linden Lea; Woak Hill; Wife a-lost; Sweet be'mi'ster, that bist a-bound; Blackwmore maidens; How happy uncle us'd to be; Wife a-lost; the Tunren stile; the Leane; Zummer an' winter; the Girt Woak Tree that's in the dell; Thomas Hardy's farewell to William Barnes. Quotations about Barnes between poems.

Notes: This is a new cover design, using a drawing by Christopher Fiddes. The illustration on the back cover and inside the rear cover is from one of Carr's maps of Dorset.

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