New Manuscript Evidence about the Origin of Past and Present

Abstract

Analyzes a fragment of Carlyle’s manuscript in the National Library of Scotland containing an interesting preliminary version of a passage in Book Four, chapter three of Past and Present on the “mournfully” destructive power of the military. Claims revisions within this fragment, and ones made to the same passage at later stages for the British Library draft, the Yale printer’s copy, and the 1843 first edition, shed light on Carlyle’s largely accretive method of revision. Concludes the internal date “41” on the National Library of Scotland leaf suggests Carlyle may have labored on Past and Present for a significantly longer time than previously understood.