"Stanzas to Mr Bentley"

• Archive Work ID: poems.stbe
• Uniform Title: "Stanzas to Mr Bentley" [e-text]
• First Line: In silent gaze the tuneful choir among,
• Language: English
• First Published: 1775
• References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 98; Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 152-155
• Summary: Written probably in 1752 in recognition of Richard Bentley's drawings for the 1753 edition, the publication of which Horace Walpole was overseeing. First published in Mason's Memoirs (1775), 227-228.

1 Manuscript:

• • Archive MS ID: mss.0161 (Source: EAD/XML)
  • Title: [?]
  • Date: [17??]
  • Physical Description: [?] pages, 250 mm x 200 mm; transcript in the hand of James Beattie
  • Language: English
  • Location: MS 30/44 ("Copies of the poems of Thomas Gray"), Historic Collections, Special Libraries and Archives, King's College, University of Aberdeen Library, Aberdeen, UK <https://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/>
  • References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), 92; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Ellner, June, "Re: MS 30/44, James Beattie papers". E-mail to the editor, 20 December 2006
  • Contents: Transcript in the hand of James Beattie, annotated in his hand "These verses were written in compliment to Mr Bentley for the designs which he drew to several of Mr Gray's poems, and which were engraved by Grignion, and published by Dodsley. Those persons who have only seen the graved prints will be inclined to think the panegyrick outreé. The Drawings themselves in the possession of Mr Walpole have undoubtedly much more merit. The original M.S. is unfortunately torn at the bottom which occasions a chasm in the last stanzas."