ng a clumsy
combination of that prefixed to the original edition with that which
Kearsley had added to the third.

The fifth edition (which is, with the exception of trifling differences
on the title-page, identical with the third, fourth, and sixth) is
also that which has been followed in the present reprint down to the
conclusion of chapter twenty, where it ends with the words "the great
quadrangle." The supplement treating of Munchausen's extraordinary
flight on the back of an eagle over France to Gibraltar, South and North
America, the Polar Regions, and back to England is derived from the
seventh edition of 1793, which has a new sub-title:--"Gulliver reviv'd,
or the Vice of Lying properly exposed." The preface to this enlarged
edition also informs the reader that the last four editions had met with
extraordinary success, and that the supplementary chapters, all, that
is, with the exception of chapters ii., iii., iv., v., and vi., which
are ascribed to Baron Munchausen himself, were the production of another
pen, written, however, in the Baron's manner. To the same ingenious
person the public was indebted for the engravings with which the book
was embellished. The seventh was the last edition by which the classic
text of Munchausen was seriously modified. Even before this important
consummation had been arrived at, a sequel, which was within a fraction
as long as the original work (it occupies pp. 163-299 of this volume),
had appeared under the title, "A Sequel to the Adventures of Baron
Munchausen. . . . Humbly dedicated to Mr. Bruce the Abyssinian
traveller, as the Baron conceives that it may be some service to him,
previous to his making another journey into Abyssinia. But if this
advice does not delight Mr. Bruce, the Baron is willing to fight him on
any terms he pleases." This work was issued separately. London, 1792,
8vo.

Such is the history of the book during the first eight or constructive
years of its existence, beyond which it is necessary to trace it, until
at least we have touched upon the long-vexed question of its authorship.

Munchausen's travels have in fact been ascribed to as many different
hands as those of Odysseus. But (as in most other respects) it differs
from the more ancient fabulous narrative in that its authorship has
been the subject of but little controversy. Many people have entertained
erroneous notions as to its authorship, which they have circulated with
complete assurance; but t