June 24. 1850.
_"Dies Iræ, Dies Illa."_--Will any of your correspondents oblige me by
answering the following Queries. Who was the author of the extremely
beautiful hymn, commencing--
"Dies iræ, dies illa,
Solvet soeclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla."
And in what book was it first printed?
A copy of it is contained in a small tract in our library, entitled _Lyrica
Sacra, excerpta ex Hymnis Ecclesiæ Antiquis. Privatim excusa Romæ_, 1818.
At the end of the preface is subscribed "T. M. Anglus." And on the title
page in MS., "For the Rev. Dr. Milner, Dean of Carlisle, Master of Queen's
College, in the University of Cambridge, from T. J. Mathia--" the rest of
the name has been cut off in binding; it was probably Mathias. As here
given, it has only twenty-seven lines. The original hymn is, I believe,
much longer.