Beinecke Osborn c258 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	A Collection of Poems
Archive	Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Call Number	Beinecke Osborn c258
Complete	Yes
Description	Anne Woolfe, ca. 1715. 43 items. Theme of tension between earthly and heavenly love, and time and eternity, but more witty than sentimental.
Format	Quarto
Book Size	19cm x 16cm
Filled Page Count	51 pages
Item Count	43
Poem Count	43
Periods	1701-1730
First Line Index	Yes
Digitized	Yes
Region	[Unknown]
Additional Genres
Print Sources
Major Themes	Conduct, morality Devotional writing, religio... Love Passions, Sentiments Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Solitude, loneliness, retir... Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	firstlines.folger.edu collections.library.yale.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Beinecke Osborn c258.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/61. Accessed 12 Dec. 2025.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:44 PM
Updated	2023-07-19 4:37:09 PM

Contributor	Role
Mary Chudleigh	Major author
Abraham Cowley	Major author
Anne Kingsmill Finch	Major author Includes only one poem by Finch (where all the other poets have multiple), but given the small number of poets represented in the album, even one poem by Finch is substantial.
John Norris	Major author
J.W.	Major author
Anne Woolfe	Primary compiler

First Line	Context
How gaily is at first begun	pp. 48–49 Local title: The Progress of Life Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
It must be done, my Soul; but 'tis a strange	Page: n/a Local title: The meditation Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Take Wing, my Soul, and upwards bend thy Flight	p. 25-26 Local title: The Elevation Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Wife and Servant are the same	p. 21 Local title: To the Ladies Attributed author: Lady C-- Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Regular, by initials.
Binding	Pre-Bound. One gathering of paper. One loose page which seems to have been cut on one edge; watermark is different, though roughly the same size. Simple brown paper cover. Title written on the front cover: "A Collection of Poems."
Hands	Single.
Indications of use	The pen trials on the front cover. Marks beside a few of the JW poems – maybe for recopying or to indicate source. Final poem written onto final page and inside back cover – same hand, but may have been added later.
Item formatting	Free-drawn horizontal lines separating titles and poems. All titles have a standard pattern: "[Title] by [initial(s)]" – e.g. Seraphick Love by N.; The Wish by AC; On Death by TW – the final poem is an exception because it has no attribution.
Organization	Intermingling selections from a small group of poets rather than blocks by one poet or another.
Ownership mark	Anne Woolfe's autograph on front cover. Cover has "Lawrence" written on it as well. Loose page (with different watermark) has initials "AW" at the bottom.
Page layout	Poems generally entered continuously, but when very close to the bottom of the page, may use multiple horizontal lines to fill it in. Unpaginated.