Folger MS M.a.53–58 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Folger Shakespeare Library
Call Number	Folger MS M.a.53–58
Complete	Yes
Description	Verses collected by John Dixon ca. 1780–1817, then copied posthumously by his daughter, Judith Dixon Beecroft. Six volumes. Popular eighteenth-century poetry.
Format	Octavo
Book Size	6 vols.; 23cm x 14cm
Filled Page Count
Item Count
Poem Count
Periods	1761-1790 1791-1820
First Line Index	No
Digitized	No
Region	Norfolk Norwich, Norfolk
Additional Genres
Print Sources	Monthly Magazine Universal Magazine
Major Themes	Celebrities Conduct, morality Courtship, marriage Death, afterlife Nature Passions, Sentiments Theatre, drama Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Alcohol, other beverages, t... Animals, pets Classical themes Devotional writing, religio... Education Family Friendship Humour, wordplay Illness Imitation, parody Literature Love Music, song, opera Public affairs Satire - political Satire - social Shakespeare Solitude, loneliness, retir... Visual arts Women Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	hamnet.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Folger MS M.a.53–58.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/342. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.
Created	2019-11-04 2:14:11 PM
Updated	2024-10-11 12:00:19 PM

Contributor	Role
Anna Letitia Barbauld	Major author
Judith Dixon Beecroft	Primary compiler Copied her father's collection of poetry and prose into six volumes after his death.
Robert Burns	Major author
William Cowper	Major author
John Dixon	Primary compiler Collected poems and other items that his daughter copied into six volumes after his death ca. 1817,
Richard Graves	Major author
William Hayley	Major author
William Mason	Major author
Anna Seward	Major author
Charlotte Turner Smith	Major author
Robert Southey	Major author
Helen Maria Williams	Major author
John Wolcot	Major author

First Line	Context
A Knife, dear Girl, cuts Love, they say	p. 286. Local title: n/a Attributed author: Mr. Bishop. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Brimful of anger, not of love	pp. 301–302. Local title: From the Same to the Same with a Pair of Gloves before Marriage. Attributed author: Mr Bishop ["the Same" are here "Bishop, Mr" and his wife]. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: First line: Fir'd by resentment not by love... Other: n/a
Oft I've implor'd the gods in vain	vol. 1, p. 185f Local title: Mrs. Greville's A Prayer to Indifference Attributed author: Mrs. Greville Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: cross-references at the bottom of the page to Lyttleton's reply (p. 408) and Lady Carlisle's Answer (vol. 3, p. 450).
Say, Mighty Love, and teach my Song	vol. 1, page: n/a Local title: Few Happy Matches. Attributed author: Dr. Watts. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
The Counsels of a Friend, Belinda, hear	pp. 113–119 Local title: Advice to a Lady. 1731 Attributed author: Lord Lyttleton Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Thee, Mary, with this Ring I wed	pp. 299–301. Local title: A Gentleman on his late Anniversary of his wedding day presented his Wife with a Ring & the following Lines. Attributed author: Mr Bishop. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
What Fears, what Terrors does thy Gift create!	p. 302. Local title: At the Request of a Gentleman to whom a Lady had given a Sprig of Myrtle. Attributed author: Dr. Johnson. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: First line: "What hopes, what terrors does thy gift create..." Other: n/a
Without preamble, to my friend	vol. 3, pp. 450–453 Local title: Lady Carlisle's Answer to Mrs. Greville's Prayer to Indifference Attributed author: Lady Carlisle Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: cross-references "Prayer to Indifference" (vol. 1 p. 185).

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Frequent, some seemingly inserted later.
Binding	Post-bound. Pages trimmed very evenly. Marbled paper boards and calf backstrips. Red labels, "Poems," ca. 1795-1817, replaced by Folger in 1952 with green cloth backstrips.
Decorations - hand-drawn	In vol. 1 (M.a.53) there is a silhouette of Dixon by his granddaughter, Laura Beercroft.
Hands	Single.
Indications of use	Opening silhouette by granddaughter, note by daughter, and poem by friend memorialising the compiler serves as a “wreath” in his remembrance set before the collection of poetry he compiled.
Organization	M.a. 53 contains introductory remarks by Dixon's daughter, Judith Dixon Beecroft, and a laudatory poem by John Taylor.
Ownership mark	Each volume contains the bookplate of John Arundell Hudson.
Page layout	Paginated. Impressions of six points on every recto page and outer margin rulings, possibly from a device for guiding lines. These guidemarks disappear after vol. 3.
Table of Contents	Yes, at the start of each volume. Labeled "Contents" but actually alphabetical indexes.
Title page	Each volume has a title page like "1^st: Poems Vol: 1" (or variation – e.g. Vol^me. 3^rd.) except for Vol. 2, which has no title page.