but the rest of what seems to be a pleasant catalogue is missing. In a
letter to Coleridge, December 2, 1796, Lamb refers to a poem which has
apparently perished, beginning, "Laugh, all that weep." I have left in
the correspondence the rhyming letters to Ayrton and Dibdin, and an
epigram on "Coelebs in Search of a Wife." I have placed the dedication
to Coleridge at the beginning of this volume, although it belongs
properly only to those poems that are reprinted from the _Works_ of
1818, the prose of which Lamb offered to Martin Burney. But it is too
fine to be put among the Notes, and it may easily, by a pardonable
stretch, be made to refer to the whole body of Lamb's poetical and
dramatic work, although _Album Verses_, 1830, was dedicated separately
to Edward Moxon.

In Mr. Bedford's design for the cover of this edition certain Elian
symbolism will be found. The upper coat of arms is that of Christ's
Hospital, where Lamb was at school; the lower is that of the Inner
Temple, where he was born and spent many years. The figures at the bells
are those which once stood out from the façade of St. Dunstan's Church
in Fleet Street, and are now in Lord Londesborough's garden in Regent's
Park. Lamb shed tears when they were removed. The tricksy sprite and the
candles (brought by Betty) need no explanatory words of mine.

E.V.L.




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