Ashley MS A1921, B1921

'Locrine': a verse tragedy by A. C. Swinburne; [1886-1887]. Autograph drafts and fair copies of the play published as Locrine on 16 Nov. 1887. In a letter to his mother dated New Year's Day 1887 (C. Y. Lang, Swinburne Letters, v, 1962, pp. 179-180) Swinburne says '. . . I have begun a new dramatic attempt ― in rhyme ― founded on the legendary history of ancient Britain'. Ashley Library Catalogue, vi, p. 171.

1. Draft synopsis of Act II, Scene I, to the end of the play, written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper; [1886-1887]. No watermark. The synopsis accords with the plot found in the printed play. The rhyme scheme to be used is noted for two of the scenes. Immediately below the synopsis is a list of seven rhyme schemes, with the scenes in which they are to be used indicated in two cases. These seven rhyme schemes are in fact those found in the printed play, and the two which have scenes allotted are used in those scenes. Above the synopsis is the fifteenth line from the end of Act I, Scene II, deleted. The text of the line is identical with that printed on p. 43. The presence of the line suggests that Act I may have been written out before Swinburne planned the synopsis of the remainder of the tragedy. The line is followed by the deleted numeral '(14)'.

In the lower right hand quarter of the same side is a draft, written with a different pen, and with the lines running vertically, of Estrild's speech before stabbing herself in Act V, Scene II, of Sabrina's speech that follows, and of part of Estrild's last speech. The final text found in the draft is identical with that printed on p. 134. There are also two cancelled lines, apparently intended for Locrine's last speech. B1921, f. 103a.

In addition the leaf contains the following extraneous material by Swinburne, the first article on the same side as the preceding, the others on the verso:―

a. Notes on Robert Browning, Parleyings with Certain People, 1887; [1887] In the notes mention is made of 'Dean Church's article' ['Sordello', by R. W. Church, published in Macmillan's Magazine for Feb. 1887]. Accompanying the notes is the following couplet by Swinburne:

Lycophron on Longfellow

That the huckster of pathos, whose gift was insipid ease,

Should be honoured by Browning, must puzzle Euripides.

B1921, f. 103a.

b. 'To Wordsworth', a dedicatory sonnet; [1887?]. Draft, consisting of seven lines and two part lines, entitled 'Dedication / To Wordsworth'. Swinburne appears never to have published such a sonnet, so this attempt must have been abandoned. Possibly he intended to dedicate Locrine to Wordsworth before resolving finally to dedicate it to his sister Alice. B1921, f. 103b.

c. 'An Epitaph of the Past' and 'An Epitaph of the Future', two epitaphs, one for General Gordon, the other a satirical epitaph for W. E. Gladstone; [1887?]. Drafts, apparently written with the same pen as that used for the draft of part of Act V of Locrine on the recto of the leaf, and, like it, written with the lines running vertically. The epitaphs are entitled 'Too late' and 'How soon?' respectively, but the final text found in the drafts is identical with that in the fair copies found in A1918 (which see also). The presence of the drafts on this leaf, and the pen with which they are written, suggest a date of 1887. B1921, f. 103b.

Accompanying the MS. is a scrap of paper bearing T. J. Wise's name and address in Heath Drive, and a note by him 'To be inserted in a cloth copy of Locrine (to be obtained)'. B1921, ff. 101, 102b.

2a. Fair copy of stanzas VII to IX of the Dedication to Alice Swinburne; 1887. The MS. is written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. No watermark. The fair copy is dated at the foot 'July 1887', and the leaf is numbered in Swinburne's hand '3'. The text found in the fair copy is identical with that printed on pp. vii-viii of the first edition. The autograph draft of stanzas IV to VI of the Dedication is Ashley 5079. A1921, f. 118a.

2b. Fair copy, with revisions, of Estrild's song in Act II, Scene I; [1887]. Written on one side only of a fragment of a folio leaf of blue laid paper, 122 x 185mm. No watermark. The final text found in the MS. differs from that printed on pp. 46-47 of the first edition by four words and in having one line less in each stanza. A1921, f. 119a.

In a letter to W. T. Watts[-Dunton] dated 21 July 1887 (C. Y. Lang, op. cit., v, 1962, p. 198) Swinburne says 'You will be surprised to receive two fat envelopes directed in my handwriting at one blow ― but the enclosed explains itself. I hope you will like the six last stanzas as well as you did the first three . . . The last three stanzas have been written since the other envelope was fastened up . . . I reopen this to enclose the one and only bit of "rough copy" belonging to the MS. of Locrine. Two lines cancelled, two lines modified ― bar these, the MS. in the printer's hands is at once the first and the last draught. The dedication has taken a good deal of retouching.'

Included with the foregoing material is a letter from Swinburne to Watts[-Dunton], 26 July 1887, printed in C. Y. Lang, op. cit., v, 1962, pp. 200-201. B1921, ff. 104-107b.