Ashley MS 5083

'Poems and Ballads Third Series'. 'The Armada'; 1888. Fair copy, with revisions, written on one side only of twelve foolscap leaves of blue laid paper. Watermark 'E Towgood / 1886'. The MS. is entitled 'The Armada / 1588: 1888', and signed at the end 'Algernon Charles Swinburne'. The final text found in the fair copy differs from that printed on pp. 24-61 of the first edition by five words. At intervals lines have been numbered by Swinburne as he wrote them out. At l. 292 he made a calculation, adding 54 to 292 to make 346. The poem contains, however, 350 lines, and since the last 54 lines are in triplets, this suggests that ll. 293-296 may have been added at the time of writing out the fair copy. In a letter to Tola Dorian dated 29 July 1888 Swinburne says 'Mon Armada est terminée'. The poem was first published in the Fortnightly Review for August 1888. The MS. is bound up with a copy of the printed text taken from the Fortnightly.

Folio; ff. i+23.

includes:

• ff. 1-12 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Armada', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1888: Autogr. fair copy with revisions. Signed.