Folger MS M.a.162 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Folger Shakespeare Library
Call Number	Folger MS M.a.162
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous, ca. 1799-1803. Ambigraph volume with poetry beginning at one end and prose anecdotes, mainly biographical, at the other. This listing pertains only to the poetry end of the manuscript. 288 poems. Miscellaneous and short poems, mostly extracts, epitaphs, and epigrams.
Format	Octavo
Book Size	17cm x 11 cm
Filled Page Count	230 pgs.
Item Count	288
Poem Count	288
Periods	1791-1820
First Line Index	No
Digitized	No
Region	[Unknown]
Additional Genres
Print Sources
Major Themes	Courtship, marriage Death, afterlife Humour, wordplay Shakespeare Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Alcohol, other beverages, t... Celebrities Latin poetry Love Passions, Sentiments Theatre, drama Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	hamnet.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Folger MS M.a.162.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/3. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Created	2019-08-22 8:58:09 PM
Updated	2023-07-25 10:58:26 AM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous]	Primary compiler
William Shakespeare	Major author

First Line	Context
The Curfew tolls the Knell of parting Day	Page: n/a Local title: "Mr. Gay's Stanza." Attributed author: Mr. Gay. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: Just one quatrain ("Full many a gem..."). Other: Perhaps written from memory.

First Line

Context

Page: n/a

Local title: "Mr. Gay's Stanza."

Attributed author: Mr. Gay.

Adaptation: n/a

Other variants: Just one quatrain ("Full many a gem...").

Other: Perhaps written from memory.

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Occasional or rare.
Binding	Multiple pages cut out (after binding) between pp. 4 and 5. Contemporary full red morocco, gilt. Very decorative gold tooling on the spine and along the inside cover's edges.
Decorations - printed	On various pages, glued-in line of printer’s ornaments as divider between items.
Hands	Single.
Indications of use	Some pages trimmed along margins, seemingly to remove material.
Item formatting	Some entries are dated.
Organization	Book is an ambigraph – prose at one end; poetry from the other, reversed from top to bottom also. Poetry written in vertically rather than horizontally.
Original poetry	Maybe early "Nancy" poems with the special borders.
Ownership mark	Armorial bookplate of William Horace Wright.
Printed items	Pasted-in materials on each end that provide ironic commentary on the contents as a hodge-podge of stolen materials.