FOOTNOTES


[1] 'Le Rime di Michelangelo Buonarroti, Pittore, Scultore e
Architetto, cavate dagli Autografi e pubblicate da Cesare Guasti,
Accademico della Crusca. In Firenze, per Felice le Monmer. MDCCCLXIII.'

[2] See, however, page xlvii of Signor Guasti's _Discorso._

[3] I have so fully expressed my admiration for Signor Guasti's edition
in the text that I may allow myself to point out in a note what seems
to me its chief defect, and why I think there is still, perhaps, room
for another and more critical edition. The materials are amply and
conscientiously supplied by Signor Guasti, indeed, I suppose we are
justified in believing that his single volume reproduces all the extant
manuscript authorities, with the exception, perhaps, of the British
Museum Codex. But, while it is so comprehensive, we are still left in
some doubt as to the preference of one reading rather than another in
the large type text presented to us as the final version of each
composition. It is true that when this was possible, Signor Guasti
invariably selected one of the autographs, that is, a copy in the
poet's own handwriting. But when we consider that very frequently
Michael Angelo's own autographs give twice as many various readings as
there are lines in a sonnet, when we reflect that we do not always
possess the copies which he finally addressed to his friends, and when,
moreover, we find that their readings (_e.g._ those of the Riccio MS
and those cited by Varchi) differ considerably from Michael Angelo's
rough copies, we must conclude that even the autographs do not
invariably represent these poems in the final form which he adopted.
There is therefore much room left for critical comparison and