; 

The Island

. The only works of any importance which have been printed directly from the text of the first edition, without reference to the MSS., are the following, which appeared in 

The Liberal

 (1822-23), viz.: 

Heaven and Earth

, 

The Blues

, and 

Morgante Maggiore

.

 

 A new and, it is believed, an improved punctuation has been adopted. In this respect Byron did not profess to prepare his MSS. for the press, and the punctuation, for which Gifford is mainly responsible, has been reconsidered with reference solely to the meaning and interpretation of the sentences as they occur.

 

 In the 

Hours of Idleness and Other Early Poems

, the typography of the first four editions, as a rule, has been preserved. A uniform typography in accordance with modern use has been adopted for all poems of later date. 

 

Variants, being the readings of one or more MSS. or of successive editions, are [included as alphabetical footnotes to each poem —html Ed.]

Words and lines through which the author has drawn his pen in the MSS. or Revises are marked MS. erased.

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