Denton, July 28.
_Pope's Translations or Imitations of Horace_ (Vol. i., p. 230.; Vol.
iv., p. 58.).--Is your correspondent C. correct in attributing _A true
Character of Mr. Pope and his Writings, in a Letter to a Friend_,
printed for Popping, 1716, to Oldmixon? In the Testimonies of Authors,
prefixed to the _Dunciad_, and the Appendix, and throughout the Notes,
Dennis is uniformly quoted and attacked as the author. Oldmixon's feud
with Pope was hardly, I think, so early.
Assuming your correspondent's quotation from the pamphlet to be correct,
the terms made use of will surely refer to Pope's _Imitation of Horace_
(S. ii. L. i.), a fragment of which was published by Curll about this
time (1716). It was afterwards republished in folio about 1734, printed
for J. Boreman, under the title of _Sober Advice from Horace to the
young Gentlemen about Town_, but in an enlarged state, and with some of
the initials altered, and several new adaptations. Mrs. Oldfield and
Lady Mary are not introduced in the first edition. I have both, but at
present can only refer to the second one in folio. From this the
_Imitation_ was transferred to the Supplement to Pope's Works,
published by Cooper: London, 1757, 12mo., and from thence to the
Supplementary Volumes to the later editions. The publication of it
formed an article of impeachment against Dr. Jos. Warton, by the author
of the _Pursuits of Literature_, as all who have read that satire will
well remember.