Scrupulously edited, the texts reprinted here are from the Westmoreland manuscript collated against the most important families of John Donne manuscripts and compared with all seven seventeenth-century printed editions of the poems as well as all major twentieth-century editions. The criticism section represents the best analysis and interpretation of Donne's writing. A chronology of Donne's life and work, a bibliography and an index of titles and first lines are also included.