Houghton MS Eng 569.63 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Epigrams
Archive	Houghton Library
Call Number	Houghton MS Eng 569.63
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous Norfolk Clergyman, ca. 1814–1822. Only included up to p. 82 (/119) because the rest of the book is game charts and other miscellaneous contents. 53 poems. Primarily local interest, political, and religious poetry.
Format	Quarto
Book Size	20.6cm x 16.5cm
Filled Page Count	82 pages
Item Count	61
Poem Count	53
Periods	1791-1820
First Line Index	Yes
Digitized	Yes
Region	Norfolk
Additional Genres	Prose, Prose - religious, Prose letters, Prose sermon
Print Sources	Critical Review New Foundling Hospital for Wit
Major Themes	Death, afterlife Devotional writing, religio... Public affairs Satire - political Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Education Literature Local interest Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	firstlines.folger.edu iiif.lib.harvard.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Houghton MS Eng 569.63.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/274. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:45 PM
Updated	2023-07-25 11:18:58 AM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous Norfolk Gentleman]	Primary compiler Possibly also a major author.

First Line	Context
Who many a sturdy Oak has laid along	p. 9 Local title: Epitaph in Ockham Church Yard Surrey on Jno Sprong Carpenter. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a

First Line

Context

Who many a sturdy Oak has laid along

p. 9

Local title: Epitaph in Ockham Church Yard Surrey on Jno Sprong Carpenter.

Attributed author: n/a

Adaptation: n/a

Other variants: n/a

Other: n/a

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Occasional; if included, most often as part of the title or by initials at the end of the poem.
Binding	Bound in quarter leather with marbled paper boards.
Decorations - hand-drawn	[After the poetry section] p. 89 there's a detailed fifteen figure drawing of a scientific experiment, described in prose on pp. 111–115. [Again, after the poetry section] p. 85 decorative swirl on otherwise blank page.
Hands	Single, with very occasional insertions by another hand, likely added later to fill blanks.
Indications of use	The compiler was seemingly using the back section of the manuscript upside-down for hunting records while compiling the poetry section from the front. Second hand added to blank pages at a later date. Some cross-outs, eg. p. 66. Pencil sketches of 3D cylinders and rectangles on inside-front and -back cover, seemingly not by the compiler, who used ink. Some pencil scribblings in the manuscript as well, eg. p. 62. Some pencil corrections, eg. p. 70.
Item formatting	Lines between items.
Original poetry	Likely; probably “On Mr Shelly’s Poem ‘Prometheus unbound,’” because of the attribution, “John Ball Febry 4th 1822,” and first line: "Shelly styles his new Poem ‘Prometheus unbound’..." which is amateur-ish and not in the First Line Index. If not by the compiler maybe by a friend.
Ownership mark	Inside-back cover signature of “Edward John Howman Novr 1st 1814,” plus a bunch of trial signatures (lots of the initials DGS).
Page layout	Pages sometimes completely full with text, but increasingly (as the poetry section goes on) liberal with blank space, occasionally leaving half a blank page after the end of an item.