Beinecke Osborn c391 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Call Number	Beinecke Osborn c391
Complete	Yes
Description	Anne Dickinson, 1787. Only considered as a miscellaneous verse manuscript up to p. 146 (/338) because the later section is in different hands, and is dated after 1820. 95 poems. Many poems about couples where one of the two dies; very much a women’s manuscript, with themes of love, conduct, friendship, pets etc.
Format	Quarto
Book Size	20.5 x 15.7cm
Filled Page Count	131
Item Count	98
Poem Count	95
Periods	1761-1790
First Line Index	Yes
Digitized	No
Region
Additional Genres	List of jury members, Prose, Recipe
Print Sources	The European Magazine
Major Themes	Conduct, morality Death, afterlife Family Friendship Love Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Animals, pets Celebrities Courtship, marriage Devotional writing, religio... Domestic life French poetry Illness Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links	firstlines.folger.edu
Bibliography
Citation	“Beinecke Osborn c391.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/70. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:44 PM
Updated	2024-03-15 5:51:06 PM

Contributor	Role
Anne Dickinson	Primary compiler
Frederick Dickinson	Major author
J.B. Dickinson	Major author
Martha Roberts	Major author
Anna Seward	Major author

First Line	Context	Print Source
As those we love decay, we die in part	pg. 64 Local title: n/a Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Cries Celia to a reverend Dean	p. 86 Local title: n/a Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: "Says Celia, to a reverend Dean" rather than "Cries." Other: n/a	Unknown
Dear Cloe, while the busy croud	p. 17. Local title: The fireside. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Dear Peggy, since the single state	p. 49. Local title: Advice to a young lady lately married. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Father of All! in every Age	Page: n/a Local title: The universal prayer. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
I am monarch of all I survey	pp. 79–81 Local title: Verses Written by Alexander Selkirk in the Year 1707 when on the Island of Juan Fernandes. Attributed author: Alexander Selkirk. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Lock'd in the arms of balmy sleep	p. 27. Local title: Verses written by a gentleman on being awakened in the night by a violent storm of thunder and lightening. Attributed author: a gentleman. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: Missing the last 8 lines of the poem; last line is "Shrinks in new terrors dead." Other: n/a	Unknown
The Counsels of a Friend, Belinda, hear	Page: n/a Local title: Advice to a Lady. Attributed: The honourable N—. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
The Curfew tolls the Knell of parting Day	Page: n/a Local title: An elegy. Attributed author: Thomas Gray. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
The rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a shower	p. 73 Local title: n/a Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
Thee, Mary, with this Ring I wed	Page: n/a Local title: Verses sent by a gentleman to his lady, with a ring, by the author of those with a knife. Attributed author: a gentleman. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown
To thee dear wife,—and all must grant	p. 76. Local title: Verses sent by a gentleman to his wife, with a looking glass. Attributed author: a gentleman. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: First line: To you dear girl, and all must grant... Other: n/a	Unknown
Where the loveliest expression to features is join'd	p. 11. Local title: Verses written upon Mrs. Crewe. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a	Unknown

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Frequent.
Binding	Pre-bound paperbook. Significant lack of order across volume, items stuffed in, repetitions. The gutter never swallows the text. Green binding.
Decorations - hand-drawn	Inside-front-cover beautiful coloured illustration of a house.
Hands	Single in this first section. The manuscript as a whole (including the prose letter inserts) consists of many hands.
Indications of use	J.A. Giles’ note on the inside-front-cover: "Whenever literature or poetry was named, she produced this book." Some poems finished on the sides of pages eg. pp. 2, 17, 28 implying that this first section of the book was compiled sporadically, and a little out of order. Insert at the bottom of p. 12 (an epigram) seemingly in the same hand but added later to the remaining space on the page in a different colour ink. Annotations. pp. 76–97 were used by a child for handwriting practice.
Item formatting	Lines under some titles. Lines between items when they don’t end at the end of a page.
Organization	Sequence of three poems about dead pets pp. 115–118.
Original poetry	Yes; poems by Martha Roberts (who is seemingly a cousin), by their uncle, J.B. Dickinson, and others.
Ownership mark	Ownership mark on inside front cover reads “Anne Dickinson’s Book, April 11th: 1787.” The book was also used to store letters by Maria Stow from the 1740s, and later, letters to Anna Dickinson in the 1850s. William Dickinson seems to have intended to take over the book in 1828 (PDF p. 170), but died, according to a cataloguer’s note. Someone else (unidentified) (likely a relative of A.D. and W.D.) seemingly took it over for him (PDF pp. 175–203, 204–207). There is one contribution by Anne Dickinson to this section, mourning William.
Page layout	The first verse miscellany section is paginated 1–81, which is not the complete section.
Title page	Not for the book as a whole or the first section, but there are title pages later on: [PDF p. 170] "William Dickinson's Poetical Common-Place Book. written by him about the year 1828" and [PDF p. 175] "Poetical Common Place Book." Both of these are in different hands, neither of which is that of the compiler of the first verse section.