Bishop Worth, ca. 1730s.

11 Latin poems, 13 English poems.

Betty Careless and Dryden-themed poems.

Anonymous, ca. 1700.

Tie binding.

66 items.

Largely political satire.

Anna Sharpe, ca. 1751–1790.

38 items, some possibly in the hand of later owner Anna Maria Sharpe.

Primarily lighthearted poems.

Anne Heigham, 1781–ca. 1785. 

38 items.

Includes multiple female authors, son's tribute to mother at the end of the book, and epilogues presumably spoken at local productions.

Polite poetry.

Philip Yorke 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, ca. 1756. Principal figure in Yorke-Grey coterie.

12 items—11 original or local poems, 1 Latin paste-in.

Sonnets.

Anonymous, 1737.

7 items.

Melancholy poems on such subjects as love, solitude, and loneliness.

Thomas Binns, 1789–1799.

"Collection of Poems" numbered Vols. II and III, and "Miscellaneous Manuscripts" numbered Vols. 3 and 4.

117 + 74 + 112 + 116 = 419 items, numerous very long poems.

Quaker writings; political themes (anti-war, anti-slavery, pro-revolutionary); sentimental poetry and poetry about nature.

Anonymous, 1796.

7 items, including "To the Reader" poem.

Mix of religious and moral themes, political satire.

Soame Jenyns, 1730.

19 items.

Perhaps a retained copy of poems written for Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, his daughter Margaret Cavendish Harley, and her circle of friends (presentation copy is British Library Add. MS 70494).

Flattery, panegyric.

Anonymous, ca. 1780.

15 items.

Approximately half Latin poetry + four Shenstone poems and one tribute to Shenstone.

Shenstonian pastoral; university poetry.

Anonymous, though several items related to Pettiwards, ca. 1767–1783.

107 items (30 prose).

Pet poems; very miscellaneous prose items including a description of masquerade ball in Lincolnshire attended by Peart-Bate coterie members.

Mrs. Ogle, ca. 1747.

32 items.

Sequence of names and hands suggests it was originally a book of 24 poems compiled by Mrs. Ogle as a gift; then the recipient, possibly Mary Dyott, added 8 items, and a later hand contributed a few additions.

Lighthearted poems about love; some satire of manners, marriage.

Anonymous, ca. 1746.

37 items, 23 poems.

Largely the work of Hannah Wakeford ("Amynta"). Begins with seven letters from Amynta to Aurelia followed by religious hymns and poems, enigmas, and poems on friendship and solitude.

Reflects the work of the Towgood-Steele-Wakeford family. 

Anonymous, ca. 1737–1755. 

17 items.

Political satire; one serious epitaph on Bolingbroke; anti-Hanover and anti-Walpole.

Mary Hilhouse, 1768–1769.

All in a single hand except the first item, which is the first three books of Pope's Essay on Man.

65 items.

Generally serious, moral poems; some essays or essay extracts taken from The Spectator.

Anonymous; perhaps Thomas Siw---, ca. 1750–1781.

Two sections: a poetry compilation and a commonplace miscellany (ca. 1813–1835)—this entry pertains only to the first section.

96 items.

Interest in women’s self-assertion, poems by Cambridge men, and Latin and Greek. Sources often identified as manuscripts or magazines.

Anonymous, ca. 1710s. 

3 items.

The first poem is a mock-heroic that praises the women of Stepney and Mile End, and the second and third respond to the first.

Stepney and Mile End coterie.

Anonymous, ca. 1770s.

19 items.

Unbound booklet with some copy errors suggesting this may have been a first copying of materials for a later collection.

Thematic focus on contentment, lack of ambition, choice of retirement and friendship over wealth and power.

Anne Watkins, ca. 1731.

32 items (23 are excerpts from Paradise Lost and 4 are Stephen Duck poems).

New Year's theme of reflection and self-improvement.

Anonymous, ca. 1744.

20 items.

Hymns, verse prayers, and prose meditations.

Anonymous graduate of King's School, Canterbury and student at Cambridge University, ca. 1760s.

7 items.

Most items related to King's School and Cambridge, seemingly all original.

Anonymous, ca. 1712.

15 items.

Comic and satirical poems, often political; items directly related to political issues of late reign of Queen Anne.

Original productions of the Oxford-Winchester school circle.

Anonymous, late 1720s.

22 items.

Satirical (including an excerpt from Gulliver's Travels) and many poems on domestic animals. Includes references to Irish affairs. 

Anonymous, ca. 1775–1794.

45 items.

General tone is sentimental and polite, includes pseudonymous attributions and apparently fictional epistolary exchanges.

Anonymous, 1728.

79 items.

Primarily witty poetry, both high and low; some serious political and moral poems.

Anonymous, ca. 1798.

Miniature book with elaborate illustrations, perhaps for children.

17 items.

Includes a song in Cumberland dialect and material from Poor Robin's Almanac.

Anonymous, 1771–1787.

Title page has pasted-in printed device of dove, book, and "IHS".

75 items.

Most items taken from Watts' Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707).

Anonymous, ca. 1760.

Unbound.

103 items.

Broad range of subjects organized thematically (e.g. divine poems, hymns, drinking themes, court characters, etc.) 

Anonymous, ca. early eighteenth-century.

31 items.

A series of poetic religious reflections, likely all original.

Anonymous, ca. 1705.

195 items.

Songs, political satire, poems on death, and bawdy poetry.

Stephen Barrett, 1770-1794.

Gift from Cuthbert Wilson with a presentation poem.

45 items.

Original poems in Latin and English, mostly by Barrett, including school exercises; translations by Barrett of early modern and eighteenth-century English poems into Latin.

Richard Chaloner Cobbe, ca. 1753.

Thick boards seemingly worn by use. 

67 items.

Seems reflective of an Oxford circle of male poets.

Latin poetry, bawdy satire, and poems about women.

Anne Woolfe, ca. 1715.

43 items.

Theme of tension between earthly and heavenly love, and time and eternity, but more witty than sentimental. 

Anonymous, ca. 1730.

Additions and annotations possibly by a second hand in 1730s.

39 items.

Centred on Swift and Pope, with a few items about them by others, and a few additional satires.

Anne Blandford, 1791 and later.

114 poems, mostly occasional.

Mostly verses by Hannah More and her circle. 

Anne Milbanke, ca. 1795.

33 items.

Mostly original poetry with multiple pseudonyms, some seemingly later published in Gentleman's Magazine. Interest in historical and contemporary tragic figures e.g. Marie Antoinette.

Anonymous, 1751.

58 poems.

Collection of poems by various authors, mainly religious.

Gabriel Lepipre, ca. 1744–45. 

252 poems.

Mostly sociable verse, especially arising out of interactions with women, and public affairs. 

Gabriel Lepipre, 1753. The second in a series of three volumes. 

Gabriel Lepipre, 1753. The third in a series of three volumes. 

Charles Earle, ca. 1750–1770. 

96 items.

Original epitaphs, occasional poetry, prayers, and letters.

Anonymous, late eighteenth-century.

29 poems on the First Line Index.

Collection of poems by various authors, riddles, parodies, etc.

Anne Dickinson, 1787.

Only considered as a miscellaneous verse manuscript up to p. 146 (/338) because the later section is in different hands, and is dated after 1820. 

95 poems.

Many poems about couples where one of the two dies; very much a women’s manuscript, with themes of love, conduct, friendship, pets etc.

John Freeman Milward Dovaston, 1773 and later.

Separate title page at the end for Odes by Thomas Gray.

75 poems, many original. 

A mix of English and Latin poems and mottos with a particular interest in classical figures and religious belief.

Arabella Browne, 1728.

28 poems.

Primarily epitaphs and songs, many satirising women and marriage.

Hubbard, ca. 1710.

25 poems. 

Includes anonymous poetry on English reformers, pastorals, and other poems by known and attributed authors.

Stephen Simpson, 1773. 

Courtship gift to Sarah Leaper, Simpson's future wife.

29 poems.

Themes of love and friendship. 

Anonymous Jacobite, ca. 1714–1745.

4 volumes, 291 items.

Manuscript collection of Jacobite political satires and poems on public affairs.

John Sandys, 1753-1759.

Manuscript exercise book containing 26 items, related to the compiler's social circle at Eton college. Includes elegies, occasional poems, and translations.

S. Rawlings, 1788–1789.

This manuscript contains poems in two hands, the first (Rawlings) from 1788–1789, the second in the 1830s. This entry concerns only the 1788–89 section given this project's date restrictions. 

49 poems.

Primarily religious and didactic verse.

Possibly Miss Martyns, ca. 1730–1750. 

130 poems.

Secular and religious verses from contemporary authors.

Anonymous, ca. 1780–1790. 

Around 100 pages. 

Mainly occasional, comic, and sentimental poems by late eighteenth-century authors. Also includes a number of items related to Samuel Johnson and his circle.

Anonymous, 1783–1792. 

Lyrical, narrative and occasional verse.

Anne Taylor, around or after the 1790s. 

23 poems.

Verse extracts and original poems, many about death. One Jacobite poem, a couple poems about children, and some social satire. 

Anonymous member of the Porter family, late eighteenth-century.

4 volumes, 2039 poems. 

Contemporary poetry, many items commonly included in manuscript verse miscellanies. 

Anonymous, maybe Diana Burroughs, ca. 1774–1787.

85 poems.

A mix of original and well-known poetry with a high proportion of original occasional verse.

Norfolk circle of EM and Diana Burroughs.

Anonymous schoolmistress (possibly named Eliza), 1788.

61 items.

Frequent references to the material having been written for schoolchildren or for occasions such as weddings and departures of friends.

Anonymous, early nineteenth-century.

19 poems.

Primarily sentimental poems, many written by Edward Venn and C.A. Venn on such subjects as passions, nature, friendship, and solitude.

Thomas Crofton Croker, ca. 1814–1818.

40 poems.

Sentimental and light poems, almost all addressed to female acquaintances. 

E.H., early nineteenth century.

23 poems.

Primarily sentimental subjects such as death, religion, and family, with a few more satirical entries.

Anonymous, ca. 1816.

Over 200 poems.

Serious, sentimental, and occasional poems, many addressed to individual women.

Anonymous, with illustration by Mary Rogers, 1808.

37 poems. 

Two of the three sections are poems by "Bree," "Nadine," and "Rio" composed for "Employment" during winter 1808. 

Pastoral poems; conduct, morality poems; poems about domestic life and nature.

Anonymous, 1805 or later. 

71 items.

Primarily sentimental entries, poems on such subjects as sorrow, love, and exile, and copies of letters and verses relating to Major John André and Anna Seward.

Anonymous, ca. 1810–1820.

50 poems. 

Many poems with naval themes, accompanied by illustrations and watercolours of ships and harbours; also includes comic epitaphs, and songs with manuscript music voice settings.

Charles Parr Burney, ca. 1803. 

354 pages.

Primarily elegies, love poems, and occasional verse, with some patriotic and religious verse, and short comic verses. 

A large section copied from a Crewe Hall album composed during the 1780s, reflecting the work of the Crewe coterie. 

John Waite, ca. 1800.

In a single hand up to f. 139 when two other hands take over for the last twenty folios. This entry considers only the first hand's section of the manuscript. 

139 folios.

Lyrics, fables, and occasional verse. Multiple poems about violets. 

Miss Hooper, ca. 1810–1820. 

Approximately 80 poems.

Poems, epigrams, and a number of occasional verses attributed to members of Charles James Fox's social circle, several of which are concerning his death. 

Mary Allcard, ca. 1805–ca. 1810. 

2 volumes, 12 poems.

Probably kept during Allcard's education at Ackworth School, a Quaker establishment. Most of the poetry is on moral or religious themes. Also includes several prose entries concerning Quakers in Pennsylvania. 

Anonymous, with poems by Maria Banks Riddell and poems about Mary Tighe, 1814–1816.

46 poems, all original to the manuscript.

Primarily narrative poems on mythical creatures or historical subjects, and poems about nature; also includes many fables, love poems, and poetic renditions of the Psalms. 

Anne Butler, begun in 1806.

186 pages.

Elegies, epitaphs, and poems on death, friendship, moderation, hope and female virtue.

Hester Bradley, 1807–1810, with two poems added in 1831. 

49 poems.

Occasional poems and poems about friends and family, all with a Quaker bent. 

Mary Harris Cornwallis, ca. 1790–1820.

Approximately 108 poems.

Many occasional poems by the compiler and her family; this manuscript is also packed with print insertions, many of which are (prose) news items about the deaths of royals.

Benjamin Finn, ca. 1790. 

26 poems.

Occasional poetry, many copied from newspapers and dated. Mainly satirical, lighthearted verse, often political; several epigrams and poems about death and/or illness.

James Forbes, 1766–1800. 

This entry concerns only the first volume, as the second is entirely prose. 

151 poems.

Poems on various subjects, including many on death and women, but also conduct, retirement, nature, and slavery. 

George Montagu, ca. 1769–1790. 

77 poems.

Verses attributed to George and Frederick Montagu, and copies of poems by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and others.

* As of yet, this manuscript has not been examined due to 2021-2022 pandemic access restrictions. This description is a temporary placeholder based on catalogue entries and Union First Line Index records.

P. Simpson, 1790–1793.

90 poems.

Mostly eighteenth-century poetry, namely conduct poems, pastoral poems, poems about the poor, epitaphs, and epigrams.

Joseph Taylor, 1799.

About 389 pieces of verse and prose. 

Satirical as well as sentimental and elegiac perspectives on the subjects of love, women, religion, and death. Also contains numerous humorous epigrams and epitaphs.

Anonymous, 1781–1794.

66 pages.

A collection of relatively common contemporary English poems, with an interest in natural landscapes, the ephemerality of life, Romantic themes of exile, hermits, etc. A few items related to music.

Frances Glanville Boscawen and Julia Evelyn, begun in 1746.

120 poems.

Popular and original poetry on various themes. Large section of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

Member of Pigott family, ca. 1750.

117 poems in two consecutive hands.

Jacobite poetry.

Anonymous, 1811–1818.

Over 100 poems.

Largely poems on nationalistic subjects, others focused on serious and sentimental subjects like nature, death, friendship, and religion.