Folger MS M.b.13 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Folger Shakespeare Library
Call Number	Folger MS M.b.13
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous, ca. 1773-1806. Crowded, no margins, looks more like a commonplace book than a usual poetry miscellany. 361 poems. Enormous amount of material compiled over many years roughly chronologically.
Format	Folio
Book Size	33cm x 20cm
Filled Page Count	230 pgs.
Item Count
Poem Count	361
Periods	1761-1790 1791-1820
First Line Index	No
Digitized	No
Region	[Unknown]
Additional Genres	Prose inscriptions
Print Sources	Morning Herald Morning Post and Daily Adve... Times
Major Themes	Courtship, marriage Death, afterlife Family Humour, wordplay Shakespeare Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Animals, pets Bodily functions Conduct, morality Illness Imitation, parody Latin poetry Love Music, song, opera Nature Satire - political Women Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	hamnet.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Folger MS M.b.13.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/254. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:45 PM
Updated	2023-07-25 11:07:56 AM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous]	Primary compiler Major author

First Line	Context	Print Source
Say, Mighty Love, and teach my Song	pp. 62–64. Local title: Few happy matches. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Soon as the morn salutes your eyes	p. 108 Local title: Rules for daily practice. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Sweet instrument of him for whom I mourn	pp. 70–71. Local title: On Young Linley's Violin. Attributed author: Mrs. Sheridan. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Where the loveliest expression to features is join'd	pp. 27–28. Local title: The Honourable Mr C. Fox on Mrs Crewe. Attributed author: Honourable Mr C Fox. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: First line: Where the softest expression to feature is joined... Other: n/a	Unknown
Whoe'er like me, with trembling anguish brings	p. 17. Local title: Epitaph upon a Lady who died of a consumption at Bristol Hotwells. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Occasional or rare.
Binding	Pre-bound paperbook. Spine is labelled “Commonplace Book," suggesting that the manuscript was purchased for this purpose; cut alphabetical tabs. Very plain binding; marbled paper boards, subsequently rebacked.
Hands	Single, quite scrawling and messy. Another hand wrote out an extempore poem about the previous evening's conversation and a long poem on inoculation (possibly entries added later to the bottom of not completely filled pages).
Indications of use	Riddles, especially, have notes like “Vid R,” indicating that the answer is in the index under that letter, suggesting the book was to be used by others who would want to guess the answers before being able to see them. Evidence the compilation extended over many years. Small sheet pasted-in in another hand about a large oak cut down in Monmouthshire in 1810, with a letter to the writer's father by a neighbouring gentleman confirming the information.
Item formatting	Rough dotted lines between entries.
Organization	Earliest pages of the book in general used for longer poems. Contents generally (though not strictly) chronological.
Original poetry	Very likely, since much of the material is unattributed.
Ownership mark	Letter dated Pishobury Sept. 20th '41 pasted opposite p. 1 addressed to Miss Harriet Alston, signed from her brother, initials something like HJA.
Page layout	Earliest pages of book more spacious; otherwise crowded, no margins, looks more like a commonplace book than a usual poetry miscellany.
Table of Contents	Yes, but incomplete. Alphabetical tabs at beginning, seemingly used mostly for genre headings such as “Charade,” “Riddles,” though also used for more varied entries, such as under “O” for odes as well as other sorts of titles — seems to be an attempt to organize poetry compilation in a commonplace book format, adapting a blank book for that purpose by cutting alphabetical tabs.