Letter from Sir David Dalrymple to James Boswell, July 28th 1763:
I wish you would inquire for me whether there is in the library of the University of Leyden any manuscript notes or corrections relating to the fragments of the Greek lyrics. Your father told me several years ago that he had a remembrance of some such things, but he could not give me any particulars. I think he also mentioned a manuscript of Anacreon. I want to know its age and the first line of each poem in it. The librarian, if he is not a notorious blockhead, will be able to inform you of all those particulars. It has been long my intention to procure an edition of the fragments of those lyrics, not of every single word or of imperfect sentences, but an edition containing such pieces as may convey an idea of the style and manner of each author and of the measure in which he wrote. This, though a simple plan, has never yet been executed.
