When completed, this edition will contain about 1300 letters, 1000 of which will be printed from the original MSS. About two-thirds of the letters will contain material that has hitherto been unpublished.
A model of editorial tact, thoroughness, and clarity. Not only does [this edition] greatly enlarge the canon of Cowper's prose, it provides at every point, unobtrusively and economically, exactly what the reader needs: a chronology of Cowper's life at the beginning of each volume, brief introductory characterizations of the volume as a whole and of Cowper's individual correspondents during the relevant period, precise textual information, concise annotation, lists of letters included and of those known to be missing, a fine index...indispensable. --Patricia Meyer Spacks,
Journal ofEnglish and German Philology ...all should be pleased with the authoritative text and the editors' criteria for selection. --
The Eighteenth Century: A Current Bibliography