Leeds Brotherton Lt 15 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Brotherton Library
Call Number	Leeds Brotherton Lt 15
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous, 1723, with a few later additions in 1740s. 153 poems. Mostly seventeenth-century poetry, typically very short poems with thematic titles. Lots of verses on classical Greek figures.
Format
Book Size
Filled Page Count	220 pages
Item Count	201
Poem Count	153
Periods	1701-1730
First Line Index	Yes
Digitized	Yes
Region	[Unknown]
Additional Genres	Prose, Prose advice, Questions and answers, Theatre
Print Sources
Major Themes	Classical themes Conduct, morality Death, afterlife Devotional writing, religio... Passions, Sentiments Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Alcohol, other beverages, t... Latin poetry Literature Solitude, loneliness, retir... Theatre, drama Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	firstlines.folger.edu www.literarymanuscriptsleeds.amdigital.co.uk.proxy.lib.sfu.ca
Bibliography
Citation	“Leeds Brotherton Lt 15.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/293. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:45 PM
Updated	2023-07-25 11:34:58 AM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous]	Primary compiler
Thomas D'Urfey	Major author
William Drummond	Major author
Matthew Prior	Major author
William Shakespeare	Major author
Edmund Spenser	Major author

First Line	Context
It must be done, my Soul; but 'tis a strange	pp. 155–166 Local title: The separation Attributed author: John Norris Adaptation: n/a Other variants: Last lines: "With what a dreadful curiosity/ Doth she launch out into the sea of vast eternity." Other: n/a
My Time, O ye Muses, was happily spent	pp. 104–107 Local title: The melancholy shepherd. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Sweet are the charms of her I love	p. iii Local title: n/a Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Take Wing, my Soul, and upwards bend thy Flight	p. 172-173 Local title: The elevation Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Rare.
Binding	Pre-bound paperbook. No blanks, this book is filled to the brim, but the writing never approaches the gutters. Rough calf, front cover detached.
Catchwords	Yes, regular.
Decorations - printed	Woodcut portrait of Christopher Helvicus on the back pastedown.
Hands	Single.
Indications of use	p. 211: “I ended this book Novr. 13^th. 1723,” but small dated notes from the 1740s (eg. p. 118) and added items suggest the compiler returned to the book after 1723. pp. 190–198 is an excerpt from a play, except p. 196, which is a complete poem (A Country Life). This could suggest that some items were added before others, meaning that the manuscript might not have been compiled from front to back. Frequent latin notes at the tops of pages and throughout the manuscript often with dates in 1740s, suggesting these poems were re-read frequently, though no sign of alteration at these later dates. If the Latin notes could be deciphered/ translated, this would indicate more specifically how the compiler used the book after its compilation.
Item formatting	Frequently numbered stanzas. Titles often written in what appears to be lighter coloured red ink. Frequent faint, double-lines between items (again, likely red ink, though I can’t be sure). Also frequently ends items with “.~/” which makes differentiating between items easier than it might appear on first-glance at the manuscript.
Organization	Some titles resemble commonplace headings – e.g. Discord, Danger, Death. pp. 66–73 written sideways. p. 211: “I ended this book Novr. 13th. 1723.”
Page layout	Paginated (by the compiler; the first 7 and last 3 filled pages are unpaginated).