Yesterday I picked up a copy of Palgrave's, Golden Treasury, first published in 1861. Thomas Palgrave originally conceived of the volume as a 'little collection' differing from others in its attempt to include 'all the best lyrical pieces and songs...by writers not living, and none besides the best.' No tall order that.

Palgrave appears to have been remarkably successful in his selection, for the Golden Treasury has never been out of print, as best I can tell, and has gone through a series of new editions, where editors after Palgrave have continued to add poets of their own era.

The tiny volume I bought yesterday, however, is a facsimile of the original 1861 edition, brought out to celebrate Macmillan's 180th anniversary as a publisher. It's a wonder that it has survived the times, particularly the ascent of modernism, which might have consigned Palgrave and his little work to the dustbin of irrelevance.

But quality will always out, never mind the naysayers.