Folger MS M.b.23 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Folger Shakespeare Library
Call Number	Folger MS M.b.23
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous, ca. 1805–1817. 340 poems. Themes of love, support for the oppressed (slaves, Irish peasants, workhorses, foundlings, animals in general, etc.), consumption. Maybe part of local network as some pieces attributed to single initials.
Format	Folio
Book Size	31cm x 20cm
Filled Page Count	363 pages
Item Count	360
Poem Count	340
Periods	1791-1820
First Line Index	No
Digitized	No
Region	[Unknown]
Additional Genres	Prose
Print Sources
Major Themes	Animals, pets Love Passions, Sentiments Public affairs Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Courtship, marriage Death, afterlife Family Humour, wordplay Illness Imitation, parody Nature Shakespeare Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	hamnet.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Folger MS M.b.23.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/256. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:45 PM
Updated	2023-07-25 11:08:52 AM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous]	Primary compiler Possibly also a Major author.
William Cowper	Major author
[G.W.] Fitzwilliam	Major author
Thomas Moore	Major author
P.P.	Major author

First Line	Context
Wou'd you think it, my Duck! (for the fault I must own)	Folio: n/a Local title: Miss Hamilton/ afterwards Mrs. M./ expressed her partiality for Moore in the following Song, addressed to a daughter of the famous Stephen Duck, in which she quibbles on his name with great ingenuity & delicacy— Attributed author: Miss Hamilton afterwards Mrs. M. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: Identifies the poem as addressed to the daughter of Stephen Duck.

First Line

Context

Wou'd you think it, my Duck! (for the fault I must own)

Folio: n/a

Local title: Miss Hamilton/ afterwards Mrs. M./ expressed her partiality for Moore in the following Song, addressed to a daughter of the famous Stephen Duck, in which she quibbles on his name with great ingenuity & delicacy—

Attributed author: Miss Hamilton afterwards Mrs. M.

Adaptation: n/a

Other variants: n/a

Other: Identifies the poem as addressed to the daughter of Stephen Duck.

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Regular; simply the name at the end of the piece. Anecdotes often unattributed.
Binding	Pre-bound paperbook. Stubs of excised leaves. Red cloth. Subsequently rebound with modern binding.
Hands	Single hand; seeming shift to various hands for final 21 leaves.
Indications of use	Insert of note signed MC and dated Feb. 1829, addressed to Miss S—. Stubs of excised leaves at the front, another at leaves 113–114.
Organization	Items often occur in clusters by one author, suggesting sources that are organized in this way (i.e. single-author books or collections with clusters by author).
Original poetry	Likely, given the number of unattributed and unknown items.
Ownership mark	Insert of a note signed "MC" and dated Feb. 1829, addressed to "Miss S" re: a poem not included, but copying prose lines written by the intermediary between a poem and a young lady.