Williams's Library, London, the surviving artifact nearest to a holograph of the poet's final version of the whole collection published as The Temple is Tanner ms. Although a collection of early versions of many of the poems included in 'The Church' section of The Temple, with corrections in Herbert's own hand, survives in a manuscript in Dr. Although it does not include extensive critical commentary and explanatory notes, and thus does not fulfill entirely the goals of a modern critical edition, it presents texts that are closer to the author's intention than are those in the editions of Hutchinson, Patrides, Martz, or Tobin, all of which use the 1633 posthumous edition as their copy-texts.Īs most Herbert scholars are aware, the collection of poems we know as The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations was completed shortly before the poet's death on 1 March 1633 and published later that same year (Cambridge: Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel). Indeed, it by rights should take primacy of place among all prior editions of The Temple as the text to quote. Mario Di Cesare's diplomatic edition of the Bodleian manuscript of The Temple will prove a welcome addition to the library of anyone professionally interested in Herbert's poetry. Binghamton, NY: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1995.

Renaissance English Text Society, Seventh Series, volume 17. Edited, with introduction and notes, by Mario A.

George Herbert, The Temple: A Diplomatic Edition of the Bodleian Manuscript (Tanner 307).

The Temple by George Herbert