Beinecke Osborn c156 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Amusements 1768-69
Archive	Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Call Number	Beinecke Osborn c156
Complete	Yes
Description	Mary Hilhouse, 1768–1769. All in a single hand except the first item, which is the first three books of Pope's Essay on Man. 65 items. Generally serious, moral poems; some essays or essay extracts taken from The Spectator.
Format	Octavo
Book Size	19cm x 13cm
Filled Page Count	236 pages
Item Count	65
Poem Count	47
Periods	1761-1790
First Line Index	Yes
Digitized	No
Region	[Unknown]
Additional Genres	Prose - miscellaneous, Prose essays, Prose memorial
Print Sources	Spectator
Major Themes	Conduct, morality Death, afterlife Passions, Sentiments Solitude, loneliness, retir... Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Animals, pets Friendship Illness Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	firstlines.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Beinecke Osborn c156.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/40. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:44 PM
Updated	2023-07-19 4:23:39 PM

Contributor	Role
Mary Hilhouse	Primary compiler Second hand, compiled pp. 53–235 (pp. 1-52 are the first three books of Pope's Essay on Man). Possibly also a Major author.
Alexander Pope	Major author
M.S.	Major author

First Line	Context
Blush not, ye Fair, to own me, but be wise	p. 60 Local title: Lady's [skull] Attributed author: n/a Other variants: Paired with "Lord's [skull]" (p. 59). Other: "Inscription in an alcove in the garden of Mr. Tyer's at Denbigh, Surrey."
Dear Chloe, while the busy croud	p. 67. Local title: The Fire side. Attributed author: Dr. Cotten. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
It must be done, my Soul; but 'tis a strange	p. 57 Local title: On Death Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: Only three stanzas Other: n/a
Take, holy earth, all that my soul holds dear	pp. 206–207. Local title: Sacred to the Memory of Mary the Daughter of William Sherman Esqr of Kingston upon Hull, & Wife of the Reverent William Mason, who died March the 27th, 1767: aged 28 Years. Attributed author: Wm Mason. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Why start? the Case is yours, or will be soon	p. 59 Local title: Lord's [skull] Attributed author: n/a Other variants: Paired with "Lady's [skull]" (p. 60). Other: "Inscription for a skull in an alcove in the garden of Mr. Tyer's at Denbigh in Surrey."

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Occasional. Some items associated with William, George, Eliza Huddesford of Oxford.
Binding	Pre-bound paperbook. Writing goes to the edge of the page. Covers missing; only worn spine left; loose pages.
Hands	Two. First hand (anonymous) compiled up to p. 52; second hand (Mary Hilhouse) pp. 53–235.
Indications of use	Final page (235) crossed out. Some items marked "MS," sometimes in combination with an author name, possibly signifying a manuscript source.
Item formatting	Beginning p. 77, the second hand (Mary Hilhouse) uses a series of horizontal lines to make an upside-down triangle pattern at the end of each item; the previous items copied by Hillhouse ended with a long dash after the final word, or a line of points beneath the final line.
Original poetry	Probably; many items in the First Line Index for this book are unattributed, but some of these can be traced. Items like memorials to Eliza, however, might be original.
Ownership mark	"Mary Hilhouse this Book given her in the year 1769."
Page layout	Fairly generous use of white space. Paginated (probably in the second hand, Hillhouse).
Table of Contents	No, but there might originally have been one at the end.
Title page	Yes, in first hand.