Bodleian MS Eng. poet. e. 28 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	A Collection of Poems by various Hands, but chiefly by Mr Peart, and Miss Sally Bate and Copy’d out in this Book by Miss Eleanor Peart in 1768
Archive	Bodleian Library
Call Number	Bodleian MS Eng. poet. e. 28
Complete	Yes
Description	Eleanor Peart, 1768. Organized chronologically and thematically. 182 poems. A high proportion of original poetry; strong emphasis on the pastoral including the use of pastoral pseudonyms. Peart-Bate coterie.
Format	Quarto
Book Size	20.8cm x 15.8cm
Filled Page Count	370 pages
Item Count	183
Poem Count	182
Periods	1761-1790
First Line Index	Yes
Digitized	No
Region	Lincoln's Inn, London, Midd... Lincolnshire London, Middlesex Middlesex Stamford, Lincolnshire
Additional Genres	Prose epitaphs
Print Sources	Morning Chronicle
Major Themes	Conduct, morality Courtship, marriage Death, afterlife Family Friendship Women Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Animals, pets Celebrities Illness Passions, Sentiments Solitude, loneliness, retir... Theatre, drama Visual arts Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	firstlines.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Bodleian MS Eng. poet. e. 28.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/142. Accessed 16 Dec. 2025.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:44 PM
Updated	2023-07-20 2:09:59 PM

Contributor	Role
Sally Bate	Major author
Robert Burns	Major author
Eleanor Peart	Primary compiler Major author
Joshua Peart (Jr.)	Major author

First Line	Context	Print Source
A Northern pair, we wave the name	ff. 46–49. Local title: The Power of Innocence. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: Attributed date: 1762.	Gentleman's Magazine
Captive brother, break thy chain	ff. 59–60. Local title: The Squirrel's of Hagley Park to Miss Warbutons Squirrel [followed by The Answer]. Attributed author: Lord Littleton. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: Dated at the end: May the 17th 1763.	London Magazine
In what soft Language shall my Thoughts get free	f. 39r. Local title: On the Death of a Husband. Attributed author: Mrs Rowe. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Gentleman's Magazine
Unskill'd in Numbers & poetic flight	pp. 249–250. Local title: Verses Address'd to Miss Sally, and Arabella Bate on presenting the Latter with an Elegant Book to write her Sisters Poems in. Attributed author: E. Peart. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: Attributed date: 1768.
Why droops the head, why languishes the eye	pp. 266–277. Local title: A Sermon in Verse. Attributed author: Marked initially as Author Unknown, then in another hand as by the Revd Peter Pennell of Eltham Clerk. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
With sense enough for half your sex beside	p. 82. Local title: To Miss S: Bate on her last ten. Stanzas in Answer to the Song of Flattering Words &c Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: Only the first two lines, which are quoted in the above titled poem. The rest of this poem continues "Would every Maid like Virtuous Sally prove..." Other variants: n/a Other: n/a

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Occasional; many of the early items presented without attribution, whether by the main individuals or by others; in general attributions are provided once the Bate sequence begins; poems from that point on seem to be by the compiler or her friends in most cases.
Binding	Pp. 65 and 66 cut out. Calf with gilt decoration around the edges.
Catchwords	No, but instruction to “turn over” at the bottom of some pages.
Hands	Single hand, though in one instance it appears much smaller.
Indications of use	Bookmark in pp. 295-6. Items likely added later to fit the school exercises, Burns, Cowper etc. into the available blank pages of the book.
Item formatting	"Finis” and reverse triangle of horizontal lines at ends of many poems (where there is adequate space at end of poem, perhaps – new poems always begun at the top of the page up to post-1768 items). When Joshua Peart materials begin p. 315, material is more crowded and there are fewer/ smaller markers, poems inserted immediately after one another.
Organization	Organization is chronological and thematic.
Original poetry	Yes; high proportion by Joshua Peart, Sally Bate, Eleanor Peart, etc.
Page layout	Paginated (up to p. 312).