Beinecke Osborn c162 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Call Number	Beinecke Osborn c162
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous, ca. 1710s. 3 items. The first poem is a mock-heroic that praises the women of Stepney and Mile End, and the second and third respond to the first. Stepney and Mile End coterie.
Format	Quarto
Book Size	19cm x 15cm
Filled Page Count	18 pages
Item Count	3
Poem Count	3
Periods	1701-1730
First Line Index	Yes
Digitized	No
Region	London, Middlesex Middlesex Mile End, London, Middlesex Stepney, London, Middlesex
Additional Genres
Print Sources
Major Themes	Imitation, parody Local interest Women Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	firstlines.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Beinecke Osborn c162.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/43. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:44 PM
Updated	2023-07-19 4:24:59 PM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous]	Primary compiler Possibly also a Major author.
Mr. B—y	Major author Author of the first poem.

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Occasional; first poem is by "Mr. B--y," and the third is addressed to him as the author of first poem.
Binding	Post-bound (stitched). One gathering, stitched together likely after initial transcription. Visible red thread at the end of the first poem, in the centre of the gathering.
Decorations - hand-drawn	First and third items presented very ornately.
Hands	Single.
Indications of use	Annotations of poems in the margins and at bottoms; dialogue between the poems; use of “disguised” names — all suggest the manuscript was meant to be circulated, explicated, enjoyed within the group and perhaps beyond.
Item formatting	One blank leaf between each of the first three items. Double red rules between stanzas.
Original poetry	Yes, all seem local and original — perhaps written between members of a local social network.
Page layout	Double red-ruled margins.