Introduction
The A2 Proofs were pulled shortly after the printing of
the A Proofs, which were printed around
13 September. The two sets are closely related, carrying the initial
revisions that DGR had made on the first integral set of
proofs—that is, the Penkill
Proofs, which were printed slowly during July and August. All
these as well as the later proofs form part of
the elaborate 1869-1870 Proofs of the
poetry he was considering for publication. Lewis designates the A2
Proofs proof state 4
(see
Lewis,
<hi rend="i">
<xref doc="a.z1024.l49.rad" link="dead" from="186">The Trial Book Fallacy</xref>
</hi>
,
186
).
Of the surviving copies of the A2 proofs one is a perfect
copy, the Fitzwilliam Copy. The
Princeton/Troxell Collection has two partial copies,
DGR's Working Copy, which has
60 pages with numerous hand corrections; and a
Second
Partial Copy, uncorrected, of 33 pages. The latter probably
formed part, originally, of a single proof copy that
also included the A2 proof material now in the British Library,
Ashley 1399. The latter has
45 pages (6 blanks) and carries some corrections and additions.
A mixed set of proofs containing pages from the A Proofs, the A2 Proofs, and the first and second trial books—none of the pages with any manuscript markings—is housed in the Troxell collection as well. These proofs are bound into the second volume of the 1901 edition of DGR's Collected Works.
Bibliographic
Wise,
<hi rend="i">The Ashley Library</hi>
,
IV. 124-125
.
Troxell,
“The Trial Books”
,
192
.
Fraser,
“The Rossetti
Collection of Janet Camp Troxell”
,
160-161
.
Lewis,
<hi rend="i">
<xref doc="a.z1024.l49.rad" link="dead" from="186">The Trial Book Fallacy</xref>
</hi>
,
186
.