In 1847

John Payne Collier John Payne Collier (11 January 1789, London – 17 September 1883, Maidenhead) was an English Shakespearean critic and forger. Reporter and solicitor His father, John Dyer Collier (1762–1825), was a successful journalist, and his connection ...

(1789–1883) printed ''A Book of Roxburghe Ballads''. It consisted of 1,341

broadside ballad A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the ...

s from the seventeenth century, mostly

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, originally collected by

Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, KG PC FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tor ...

(1661–1724), later collected by

John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe, KG, KT, PC (23 April 1740 – 1804) was a Scottish nobleman and bibliophile. Early life Born in Hanover Square, London, on 23 April 1740, Ker succeeded his father to become the 3rd Duke of Roxburghe in 17 ...

. Collier also interpolated his own forgeries. He used ancient paper and wrote on the pages with a rare ink which has proved to be very enduring. Scholars have discredited these forgeries, apart from one or two which fooled singers of the 1960s. The collection is not as famous as the

Child Ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...

Percy's Reliques The ''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'' (sometimes known as ''Reliques of Ancient Poetry'' or simply Percy's ''Reliques'') is a collection of ballads and popular songs collected by Bishop Thomas Percy and published in 1765. Sources The basis ...

, but important, nevertheless. From 1869 to 1899 a better edition was created, this time by William Chappell. There are copies in the British Library, Manchester University and America. The library of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

has an almost complete collection of

Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 da ...

publications.

External links

The Roxburghe Ballads at Internet Archive
Ballad collections English-language literature Literary forgeries 17th-century broadside ballads {{Music-publication-stub