Leeds Brotherton Lt 123 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Brotherton Library
Call Number	Leeds Brotherton Lt 123
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous, ca. 1700. This entry concerns the first 150 pages only (before the first change in hand). 100 items. Thematic groupings involving passage of time, ephemerality of life, solitude, religion, kings, etc.
Format	Octavo
Book Size
Filled Page Count	244 filled pages
Item Count	100
Poem Count	100
Periods	1701-1730
First Line Index	No
Digitized	Yes
Region	[Unknown]
Additional Genres
Print Sources
Major Themes	Classical themes Death, afterlife Devotional writing, religio... Historical subjects Imitation, parody Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Conduct, morality Latin poetry Literature Nature Public affairs Solitude, loneliness, retir... Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	www.literarymanuscriptsleeds.amdigital.co.uk.proxy.lib.sfu.ca
Bibliography
Citation	“Leeds Brotherton Lt 123.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/311. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:45 PM
Updated	2023-07-25 11:33:59 AM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous]	Primary compiler Major author

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Rare, though the first few items (all longer poems, up to p. 55) are attributed.
Binding	Pre-bound paperbook. Blank from pp. 186–217. Subsequently rebound. Late eighteenth- early nineteenth-century half calf, with marbled paper boards, spine gilt in compartments.
Catchwords	Yes.
Hands	Single, as far as this database entry is concerned. As a whole though, at least three, the first being the primary. Primary hand pp. 1–150. Second hand pp. 151–185. pp. 218–220 seemingly the first hand, pp. 221–229 is the second hand, and pp. 230–[274] is either a messier version of the second hand and a third hand, or a third and fourth hand. The hands that aren’t the primary hand are all similarly messy, and not consecutive or alternating in any clear, distinguishable way. p. 251 is seemingly a single entry in another hand, which makes it at least the third hand to appear in the manuscript, regardless of how many other hands contribute to that final section.
Indications of use	The primary hand, even when not using section titles, often seems to compile in groups based on theme/ subject matter, eg. pp. 61–77 are all poems thematically about night and day. Frequent crosses next to item titles. Presumably a lot of original material, but signs of editing are extremely rare and minor ie. this is a fair copy book.
Item formatting	Clear lines between items.
Organization	Section titles: pp. 1–31 "Imitations and Translations out of Horace"; pp. 32–end of first hand (150) "Some few Epigrams out of Martial. and other Books. Translated and immitated[sic]".
Original poetry	Presumably. Rare use of attributions, but a lot of items turned up no First Line Index hits, some with very saucy titles (see p. 116). Unless this compiler was consistently drawing on extremely obscure sources, this manuscript contains a significant amount of original poetry. A lot of items (more than fifteen) are titled “— described,” eg. p. 104 Cock fighting described, p.116 Chaos described, etc.
Page layout	Paginated. Bordered pages, with pagination and catchwords outside the borderlines. Neatly numbered stanzas.
Title page	Not for the manuscript, but for the "Epigrams..." section on p. 32. Blank page between “Epigrams” section and the next section, perhaps left for the later addition of a section title page.