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Tennyson’s Poems, A Linked Primary Bibliography

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A list of the major editions of Tennyson's poetry, with links to the first editions where possible, or otherwise the earliest available edition. Google Books has scanned mountains of out-of-copyright nineteenth-century texts, and in the process netted some rare fish. The Google scans are particularly useful for scholars because they include the title pages, which contain the information about publication date and publisher, and because they provide page images of the original book, which makes moot the question of whether the edition was correctly copied. The texts are also searchable.

1827 Poems, by Two Brothers. Alfred and Charles Tennyson, a few by Frederick Tennyson. By the Jacksons of Louth, Lincolnshire, under the London imprint of Simpkin and Marshall, 1827 [not available online].

1830 Poems, Chiefly Lyrical. By Alfred Tennyson. Effingham Wilson, 1830 [not available online].

1832 Poems. By Alfred Tennyson. London: Edward Moxon, 1833. (Published in December, 1832, but the title page was dated 1833). First edition. At the Internet Archive.

1842 Poems. In Two Volumes. By Alfred Tennyson. London: Edward Moxon, 1842. First Volume (selects poems from 1830 and 1832). Second Volume (new poems). First editions.

1847 The Princess: A Medley. By Alfred Tennyson. London: Edward Moxon, 1847. At the Internet Archive. First edition.

1850 In Memoriam. London: Edward Moxon, 1850. Published anonymously. First edition. The second and third editions were published in the same year.

1852 Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. By Alfred Tennyson, Poet Laureate. London: Edward Moxon, 1852. First edition. Contains a passage of five lines omitted in all subsequent issues of the poem.

1853 Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. A New Edition. London: Edward Moxon, 1853. Contains alterations adopted in the final text of the poem.

1855 Maud, and Other Poems. London: Edward Moxon, 1855. First edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1855.

1859 Idylls of the King. London: Edward Moxon and Co., 1859. Contains the four Idylls of Enid, Vivien, Elaine and Guinevere. At the Internet Archive. Also at Google Books. First edition.

1862 Idylls Of The King. A New Edition. London: Edward Moxon and Co., 1862. With a Dedication to the memory of the Prince Consort [not available online].

1864 Enoch Arden, Etc. London: Edward Moxon and Co., 1864. First edition [not available online].

1865 A Selection From The Works Of Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L., Poet Laureate (Moxon's Miniature Poets). London: Edward Moxon and Co., 1865, cloth gilt with red border lines enclosing text, and portrait of the author. First edition. At the Internet Archive.

1869 The Holy Grail and Other Poems (title page dated 1870). First edition [not available online].

1870 The Window; or Songs of the Wrens. Words Written for Music by Alfred Tennyson, Poet Laureate. The Music by Arthur Sullivan. London: Strahan & Co. First edition (title page dated 1871).

1872 Gareth and Lynette. By Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L., Poet Laureate. Strahan & Co., 1872. First edition.

1872 The Works of Alfred Tennyson, Poet Laureate [Imperial Library edition of the Complete Works. In seven volumes.] London: Strahan & Co., 1872-3 This brings together the Idylls of the King in sequence with Epilogue to the Queen, making Idylls of the King now complete except for Balin and Balan, written in 1874 [not available online].

1879 The Lover’s Tale. By Alfred Tennyson. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1879. First edition (the poem was omitted from 1832).

1880 Ballads and Other Poems. By Alfred Tennyson. London: C. Kegan & Co., 1880. First edition.

1885 Tiresias and Other Poems. By Alfred Lord Tennyson, D.C.L., P.L. London: Macmillan and Co., 1885. First edition.

1886 Locksley Hall Sixty Years After. By Alfred Lord Tennyson, P.L., D.C.L. London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1886. First edition.

1889 Demeter and Other Poems. By Alfred Lord Tennyson, D.C.L., P.L. London: Macmillan and & Co., and New York, 1889. First edition.

1892 The Death of OEnone, Akbars’s Dream, and Other Poems. By Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate. New York and London: Macmillan & Co., 1892. Posthumous publication. First edition.

1894 The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate. New York and London: Macmillan, 1894. In one volume. The last Works published under his supervision.

Also of interest

1880 Collected Sonnets, Old and New, by Charles Tennyson Turner. C. Kegan Paul, 1880. Prefatory poem by Alfred Tennyson, Biographical note by Hallam Tennyson, Introduction by James Spedding.

1891 Alfred Lord Tennyson: a memoir by his son Vol. 1. Also Vol. II By Hallam Tennyson (Macmillan, 1897).

1896 The Bibliography of Tennyson: A Bibliographical List of the Published and Privately-printed Writings of Alfred (Lord) Tennyson from 1827 to 1894 Inclusive. By Richard Herne Shepherd. At the Internet Archive.

1905 Bibliography of the writings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. By J.C. Thomson. Published by J. Thomson, 1905.

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