It is not my purpose to enumerate all the errors that I have come across
in my reading relating to Tennyson and his works. For the sake of brevity,
I merely correct a few of them without giving full particulars in every
case. Tennyson first visited the Pyrenees in 1830--not in 1831; the second
visit was in 1862. He received the degree of D. C. L. in 1855--not in
1859. His son Hallam was born at Twickenham, Aug. 11, 1852; Lionel, at
Freshwater, Mar. 16, 1854.
Tennyson did not write "Break, break, break" at Clevedon or Freshwater.
The intercalary lyrics of "The Princess" were first published in the third
edition--not in the second. The plot of "The Cup" is taken from Plutarch's
treatise _De Mulierum Virtutibus_; this work has been confused by Archer
and Jennings with Boccaccio's _De Claris Mulieribus_.
Many unpardonable mistakes have been made in dating Tennyson's published
writings, also in wording and punctuating their titles. It has been said
that "The Princess" first appeared in print in 1846 and 1849; "In
Memoriam," in 1849 and 1851; "Idyls of the King," in 1855, 1858, and 1861;
"Enoch Arden," in 1865; "The Holy Grail, and Other Poems," in 1867 and
1870; "Harold," in 1877; "Becket," in 1879 and 1885; "Tiresias, and Other
Poems," in 1886; and "Demeter, and Other Poems," in 1890. In Hart's
_Manual of English Literature_, one of Tennyson's poems is named "The
Vision of Art," and a recent German cyclopedia makes him the author of
"Tristam and Iseult." A newspaper account of the sale of Tennysoniana in
London contains the queer bit of misinformation that _Poems by Two
Brothers_ "was published by Louth in 1826." These slips could have been
easily avoided. The mystery hanging about the Laureate's life does not
involve his works.
It is believed that the following list, which has been carefully
verified, is correct both as to the titles and the dates of first
publication of all of Tennyson's books, viz:
Poems by Two Brothers 1826 (dated 1827)
Poems, chiefly Lyrical 1830
Poems 1832 (dated 1833)
Poems, 2 vols. 1842
The Princess 1847
In Memoriam 1850
Maud, and Other Poems 1855
Idyls of the King 1859
Enoch Arden, etc. 1864
The Holy Grail, and Other Poems 1869
Gareth and Lynette, etc. 1872
Queen Mary 1875
Harold 1876
The Lover's Tale 1879
Ballads, and Other Poems 1880
The Cup and The Falcon 1884
Becket 1884
Tiresias, and Other Poems 1885
Locksley Hall Sixty Years After, etc. 1886
Demeter, and Other Poems 1889
The Foresters 1892