The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads 5 Volume Set in 10 Pieces Series

Harvard's first professor of English, the American scholar Francis James Child (1825?96) had previously prepared a collection of English and Scottish ballads, published in 1857?9, before he embarked on producing this definitive critical edition. Organised into five volumes and published in ten parts between 1882 and 1898, the work includes the text and variants of 305 ballads, with Child's detailed commentary and comparison with ballads and stories from other languages. Although he did not live to fully clarify his methods of selection and classification, modern scholars still refer to the 'Child Ballads' as an essential resource in the study of folk songs and stories in the English language. Volume 5, Part 2 (1898) contains additions and corrections, a helpful glossary of archaic terms, a long list of sources, musical scores for 46 of the ballads, indexes, and a bibliography.

Additions and corrections; Glossary; Sources of the texts; Index of published airs; Ballad airs from manuscript; Index of ballad titles; Titles of collections of ballads; Index of matters and literature; Bibliography; Corrections to be made in the print.