William Cowper image
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Born in November 26, 1731 / Died in April 25, 1800 / United Kingdom / English

Bibliography

Other info : Furtherreading

Books

  • Olney Hymns, in Three Books, by Cowper and John Newton (London: Printed and sold by W. Oliver, sold also by J. Buckland and J. Johnson, 1779; New York, 1787).
  • Anti-Thelyphthora: A Tale, in Verse (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1781).
  • Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1782).
  • The Task: A Poem, in Six Books. By William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.... To Which Are Added, by the Same Author, An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools, and the History of John Gilpin (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1785).
  • Poems by William Cowper, 2 volumes (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1786; enlarged, 1794-1795; enlarged, 1798; enlarged, 1800).
  • The Task: A Poem. In Six Books. To Which Is Added, Tirocinium: Or, A Review of Schools. A New Edition (Philadelphia: Printed for Thomas Dobson, 1787).
  • Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, a New Translation of the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer into Blank Verse (London: Printed for J. Johnson, J. Walter, and J. Debrett, 1791).
  • Poems (Salem, Mass.: Printed by Thomas C. Cushing, for D. West, Marlborough-Street, and E. Larkin Jun., Cornhill, Boston, 1792).
  • Poems: I. On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture. II. The Dog and the Water-Lily (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1798).
  • Adelphi: A Sketch of the Character, and an Account of the Last Illness, of the Late Rev. John Cowper ... Written by His Brother (London: Printed by C. Whittingham, sold by T. Williams, 1802; Andover, Mass.: Printed by Flagg and Gould for the New England Tract Society, 1814).
  • Memoir of the Early Life of William Cowper, Esq. Written by Himself (London: Printed for R. Edwards, 1816; Philadelphia: Published by Edward Earle, printed by T. H. Palmer, 1816); also published as Memoirs of the Most Remarkable and Interesting Parts of the Life of William Cowper, Esq. of the Inner Temple (London: Printed for the editor and sold by E. Cox and Son, 1816).

Editions and Collections

  • The Life, and Posthumous Writings, of William Cowper, Esqr., 4 volumes, edited by William Hayley (Chichester: Printed by J. Seagrave for J. Johnson, London, 1803-1806).
  • Poems, by William Cowper, 3 volumes, edited by John Johnson (volumes 1-2, London: Stereotyped and printed by A. Wilson for J. Johnson and Co., 1815; volume 3, London: Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington and others, 1815; Philadelphia: Published by Benjamin Johnson, 1816).
  • Poems: The Early Productions of William Cowper, edited by James Croft (London: Printed for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1825).
  • The Life and Works of William Cowper, 15 volumes, edited by Robert Southey (London: Baldwin & Cradock, 1835-1837).
  • The Poetical Works of William Cowper, edited by H. S. Milford, fourth edition, with corrections and additions by Norma Russell (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1967).
  • The Poems of William Cowper, volume 1, 1748-1782, edited by John D. Baird and Charles Ryskamp (Oxford & New York: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press, 1980).

Other

  • William Duncombe, ed., The Works of Horace in English Verse, volume 2, includes translations by Cowper of Satire V and Satire IX of Book I (London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley, 1759).
  • Tobias Smollett, Thomas Francklin and others, trans., The Works of M. de Voltaire: Translated from the French. With Notes, Historical and Critical, volume 24, includes translation by Cowper of Books V-VIII of the Henriade (London: Printed for J. Newbury and others, 1762).
  • The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, 2 volumes, translated by Cowper, with preface (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1791; revised edition, with new preface, London: Printed for J. Johnson by Bunney and Gold, 1802).
  • Helperus Ritzema van Lier, The Power of Grace Illustrated, in Six Letters, from a Minister of the Reformed Church to John Newton, translated by Cowper (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1792; Philadelphia: Printed by Neale and Kammerer, Jun., 1796).
  • Frances Maria Cowper (attributed), Original Poems by a Lady, revised by Cowper (London: Printed for J. Deighton, J. Mathews, and R. Faulder, 1792; Philadelphia: Printed by William Young, 1793).
  • Jeanne Marie Guyon (Bouvier de La Motte), Poems Translated from the French of Madame de la Mothe Guion, translated by Cowper (Newport Pagnell: Printed and sold by J. Wakefield, 1801; Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Kimber, Conrad & Co., 1804).
  • Cowper's Milton, 4 volumes, edited by William Hayley (Chichester: Printed by W. Mason for J. Johnson and Co., London, 1810).

Selected Periodical Publications -- Uncollected

  • "New Poems by William Cowper," edited by Charles Ryskamp, Book Collector, 22 (1973): 443-478.

Letters

  • The Letters and Prose Writings of William Cowper, 5 volumes, edited by James King and Charles Ryskamp (Oxford & New York: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press, 1979-1986).



Cowper manuscripts and associated materials are widely distributed in institutions and in private hands. Major holdings have been established at Princeton University Library (the Hannay and Povey Collections); the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California (including Cowper's record book of his poems); the British Library (notably letters and the Ash manuscripts of holograph poems); and the Cowper and Newton Museum, Olney, Bucks. Among other important colelctions and items are those at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; the Fitzwilliams Museum, Cambridge; Coughton Court, Warwickshire (Throckmorton Manuscripts); Hertford Country Record Office (Panshanger Collection of Correspondence); the Bodleian Library, Oxfrod; and those owned by the Marquess of Salisbury at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire (Chase Price's Commonplace Book of Cowper poems) and by the Misses C. and A. Cowper Johnson (archive of letters from 1755 to 1793.)