Acquisitions (63): Penguin English Poets

Bronwyn Lloyd: Penguin English Poets (2022)

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Christopher Ricks


John Keats: The Complete Poems (2006)
[Finally Books: Hospice Bookshop, Birkenhead - 6/1/2022]:

John Keats: The Complete Poems (2006)

John Keats. The Complete Poems. Ed. John Barnard. 1973. Third Edition. Penguin Classics. 1988. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2006.

John Keats: The Complete Poems (1973)


Penguin English Poets

I did think twice before adding yet another copy of Keats's Complete Poems to my collection. But the contrast between this third, revised edition, and the second edition I also own, and the first edition I used to own (before discarding it as redundant in one of my periodic book purges) intrigued me greatly.

Bronwyn Lloyd: Penguin English Poets (2022)

The first edition appeared early in the history of the Penguin English Poets: an attempt at a uniform series of major English-language poets published under the general editorship of Professor Christopher Ricks in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The third edition of Barnard's Keats appeared in 1988, after the original white-covered series had been entirely subsumed into the Penguin Classics, with their uniform black bindings. In a sense, then, the fortunes of Keats can be seen as paradigmatic of the progress of the enterprise as a whole.

There was another change around the end of the 1970s, when the white-covered poets suddenly grew in size by a centimetre or so. Any books issued after that (such as the two-volume Robert Browning Poems, John Skelton, Jonathan Swift & Tennyson's Idylls of the King) came out in the new, larger format, and so did all reissues of previously published texts. This may sound like a trivial point, but it does detract slightly from the aesthetics of one's set when they're all lined up for display!

In any case, details like these don't seem (so far) to have been covered by sites such as The Penguin Checklist Project, so I thought I might put on record some information from my own collection, as a supplement to my earlier posts on other significant Penguin poetry projects, such as the Penguin Modern Poets (1962-83), Penguin Modern European Poets (1958-84), and Penguin Poets in Translation (1996-2005):

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1972)

Penguin English Poets
General Editor: Christopher Ricks
[Alphabetical Listings (1971-1983)]:

Books I own are marked in bold:

1. Blake, William. The Complete Poems. Ed. Alicia Ostriker. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
2. Browning, Robert. The Poems. Ed. John Pettigrew & Thomas J. Collins. Penguin English Poets. 2 vols. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981.
3. Browning, Robert. The Ring and The Book. Ed. Richard D. Altick. 1971. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981.
4. Byron, Lord. Don Juan. Ed. T. G. Steffan, E. Steffan, & W. W. Pratt. 1973. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
5. Donne, John. The Complete English Poems. Ed. A. J. Smith. 1971. Rev. ed. 1973. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982.
6. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Ed. J. A. Burrow. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
7. Johnson, Samuel. The Complete English Poems. Ed. J. D. Fleeman. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
8. Jonson, Ben. The Complete Poems. Ed. George Parfitt. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1975.
9. Keats, John. The Complete Poems. Ed. John Barnard. Penguin Classics. 1973. Second Edition. 1977. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982.
10. Marlowe, Christopher. The Complete Poems and Translations. Ed. Stephen Orgel. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
11. Marvell, Andrew. The Complete Poems. Ed. Elizabeth Story Donno. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
12. Skelton, John. The Complete English Poems. Ed. John Scattergood. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.
13. Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene. Ed. Thomas P. Roche, Jr. & C. Patrick O’Donnell, Jr. Penguin English Poets. 1978. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979.
14. Swift, Jonathan. The Complete Poems. Ed. Pat Rogers. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.
15. Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. The Idylls of the King. Ed. J. M. Gray. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.
16. Vaughan, Henry. The Complete Poems. Ed. Alan Rudrum. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976.
17. Whitman, Walt. The Complete Poems. Ed. Francis Murphy. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin Education, 1975.
18. Wordsworth, William. The Poems. Ed. John O. Hayden. Penguin English Poets. 2 vols. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
19. Wordsworth, William. The Prelude: A Parallel Text. Ed. J. C. Maxwell. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
20. Wyatt, Sir Thomas. The Complete Poems. Ed. R. A. Rebholz. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.

Andrew Marvell: The Complete Poems (1972)

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Robert Browning: The Ring and the Book (1971)

Penguin English Poets
General Editor: Christopher Ricks
[Chronological Listings (1971-1983)]:

1. 1971 - Robert Browning. The Ring and The Book. Ed. Richard D. Altick. 1971. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981.
2. 1971 - John Donne. The Complete English Poems. Ed. A. J. Smith. 1971. Rev. ed. 1973. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982.
3. 1971 - Samuel Johnson. The Complete English Poems. Ed. J. D. Fleeman. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
4. 1971 - Christopher Marlowe. The Complete Poems and Translations. Ed. Stephen Orgel. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
5. 1971 - William Wordsworth. The Prelude: A Parallel Text. Ed. J. C. Maxwell. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
6. 1972 - The Gawain Poet. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Ed. J. A. Burrow. Penguin English Poets. General Ed. Christopher Ricks. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
7. 1972 - Andrew Marvell. The Complete Poems. Ed. Elizabeth Story Donno. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
8. 1973 - Lord Byron. Don Juan. Ed. T. G. Steffan, E. Steffan, & W. W. Pratt. 1973. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
9. 1973 - John Keats. The Complete Poems. Ed. John Barnard. Penguin Classics. 1973. Second Edition. 1977. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982.
10. 1975 - Ben Jonson. The Complete Poems. Ed. George Parfitt. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1975.
11. 1975 - Walt Whitman. The Complete Poems. Ed. Francis Murphy. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin Education, 1975.
12. 1976 - Henry Vaughan. The Complete Poems. Ed. Alan Rudrum. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976.
13. 1977 - William Blake. The Complete Poems. Ed. Alicia Ostriker. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
14. 1977 - William Wordsworth. The Poems. Ed. John O. Hayden. Penguin English Poets. 2 vols. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
15. 1978 - Edmund Spenser. The Faerie Queene. Ed. Thomas P. Roche, Jr. & C. Patrick O’Donnell, Jr. Penguin English Poets. 1978. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979.
16. 1978 - Sir Thomas Wyatt. The Complete Poems. Ed. R. A. Rebholz. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.
17. 1981 - Robert Browning. The Poems. Ed. John Pettigrew & Thomas J. Collins. Penguin English Poets. 2 vols. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981.
18. 1983 - John Skelton. The Complete English Poems. Ed. John Scattergood. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.
19. 1983 - Jonathan Swift. The Complete Poems. Ed. Pat Rogers. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.
20. 1983 - Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The Idylls of the King. Ed. J. M. Gray. Penguin English Poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.

Walt Whitman: The Complete Poems (1986)

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Thomas Wyatt: The Complete Poems (1978)

Penguin Classics: Penguin English Poets
General Editor: Christopher Ricks
[Alphabetical Listings (1985- )]:

Christopher Ricks appears to have kept up his connection with the series in its new form, overseeing a number of new editions which have appeared under the black-covered Penguin Classics imprint.

At a certain point in the early 2000s, the emphasis appears to have shifted from collected to selected editions. In some cases the same editor was responsible for both a 'complete' and 'selected' volume of the same author's work. In others a completely new edition was commissioned.

I've included below a number of such books which I either own or have been able to find details about online. I'll attempt to add to this over time, since I suspect that there are a great many which I haven't yet come across.

I should also add, parenthetically, that the rather anomalous inclusion of an American, Walt Whitman, among the 'Penguin English Poets' (though I suppose it would be easy enough to justify, given his immense influence on English-language poetry around the world), can be matched among these later books by an edition of the early work of Robert Frost.

William Barnes: Selected Poems (1994)


William Barnes. Selected Poems. Ed. Andrew Motion (1994)

William Blake: Selected Poems (2006)



William Blake. Selected Poems. Ed. G. E. Bentley (2006)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Complete Poems (1997)



Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Complete Poems. Ed. William Keech (1997)

John Clare: Selected Poems (1990)



John Clare. Selected Poems. Ed. Geoffrey Summerfield (1990)

John Donne: Selected Poems (2006)



John Donne. Selected Poems. Ed. Ilona Bell (2006)

John Donne: Collected Poetry (2013)



John Donne. Collected Poetry. Ed. Ilona Bell (2013)

Robert Frost: Early Poems (1998)



Robert Frost. Early Poems. Ed. Robert Faggen (1998)

Thomas Hardy: Selected Poems (2011)



Thomas Hardy. Selected Poems. Ed. Robert Mezey (2011)

George Herbert: The Complete English Poems (2004)



George Herbert. The Complete English Poems. Ed. John Tobin (2004)

George Herbert: The Complete Poetry (2015)



George Herbert. The Complete Poetry. Ed. John Drury. Trans. Victoria Moul (2015)

John Keats: Selected Poems (2000)



John Keats. Selected Poems. Ed. John Barnard (2000)

John Milton: Paradise Lost (1989)



John Milton. Paradise Lost. Ed. Christopher Ricks (1989)

John Milton: The Complete Poems (1998)



John Milton. The Complete Poems. Ed. John Leonard (1998)

John Milton: Selected Poems (2008)



John Milton. Selected Poems. Ed. John Leonard (2008)

Rochester: The Complete Works (1994)



Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl of. The Complete Works. Ed. Frank H. Ellis (1994)

Rochester: Selected Works (2004)



Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl of. Selected Works. Ed. Frank H. Ellis (2004)

Christina Rossetti: The Complete Poems (2001)



Christina Rosetti. The Complete Poems. Ed. Ed. R. W. Crump & Betty S. Flowers (2001)

Percy Bysshe Shelley: Selected Poems and Prose (2016)



Percy Bysshe Shelley. Selected Poems and Prose. Ed. Jack Donovan & Cian Duffy (2016)

Christopher Smart: Selected Poems (1990)



Christopher Smart. Selected Poems. Ed. K. Williamson & M. Walsh (1990)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Selected Poems (2008)



Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Selected Poems. Ed. Christopher Ricks. 1992. Rev. ed. (2008)

William Wordsworth: The Prelude: The Four Texts (1995)



William Wordsworth. The Prelude: The Four Texts (1798, 1799, 1805, 1850). Ed. Jonathan Wordsworth (1995)

William Wordsworth: Selected Poems (2004)



William Wordsworth. Selected Poems. Ed. Stephen Gill (2004)

Wordsworth & Coleridge: Lyrical Ballads (2006)



William Wordsworth & Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Lyrical Ballads. Ed. Michael Schmidt (2006)

John Keegan, ed.: The Penguin Book of English Verse (2005)

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