This edition is
by Mr. Britton, who has prefixed a dedication and an essay on the genius
of Anstey, both of which sparkle with humour and lively anecdote; and an
amusing sketch of Bath as it is. Among the anecdotical notes to the Poem
it is stated that Dodsley acknowledged about ten years after he had
purchased the "Bath Guide," that the profits from its sale were greater
than on any other book he had published. He generously gave up the
copyright to the author in 1777, who had 200_l_. for the copyright after
the second edition. Yet Dodsley, with all his liberality lived to be rich,
though he originally was footman to the Hon. Mrs. Lowther; so true is it
that genius and perseverance will find their way upwards from any station.
There is a pleasant anecdote of the late John Palmer, who, it will be
remembered, was somewhat stiltish. "Palmer, whose father was a
bill-sticker, and who had occasionally practised in the same humble
occupation himself, strutting one evening in the green-room at Drury-Lane
Theatre, in a pair of glittering buckles, a gentleman present remarked
that they greatly resembled diamonds.
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