Book excerpt: Excerpt from Collections and Notes, 1867-1876 It may perhaps be recollected that, nine years ago, the present writer published a Bibliographical Account of Early English Literature, being the earliest experiment of the kind made on anything approaching to a large and systematic scale. Few persons, and probably no one of practical experience, were surprised to find that this work was both incomplete and inaccurate; and that it was so was due to causes over which the author had only partial control. Where a book to be described was not accessible to him personally, it became necessary to resort to secondary authorities, all more or less treacherous - (1) transcribers, (2) earlier bibliographical publications, (3) catalogues. Even professional copyists are naturally not infallible, and the mistakes arising from the necessity for employing them were both numerous and grave; but it was not in every case practicable to secure the services of such persons, and the help of amateurs was thankfully accepted. Of my predecessors in the same field of work it becomes me at the same time to speak both respectfully and indulgently, and I shall confine myself to the general remark that Sir Egerton Brydges, Joseph Haslewood, the editor of the Bibliotheca Anglo-Poetica, and other men of that period, as well as some of their followers, do not seem to have regarded it as urgent or imperative to transfer to their own pages the particulars of the books which they describe with that literal exactitude which belongs to my plan. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.