Philip Yorke 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, ca. 1756. Principal figure in Yorke-Grey coterie.

12 items—11 original or local poems, 1 Latin paste-in.

Sonnets.

Anonymous, 1737.

7 items.

Melancholy poems on such subjects as love, solitude, and loneliness.

Mrs. Ogle, ca. 1747.

32 items.

Sequence of names and hands suggests it was originally a book of 24 poems compiled by Mrs. Ogle as a gift, then the recipient added 8 items, and a later hand contributed a few additions.

Lighthearted poems about love; some satire of manners, marriage.

Anonymous, ca. 1746.

37 items, 23 poems.

Largely the work of Hannah Wakeford ("Amynta"). Begins with seven letters from Amynta to Aurelia followed by religious hymns and poems, enigmas, and poems on friendship and solitude.

Reflects the work of the Towgood-Steele-Wakeford family. 

Anonymous, ca. 1737–1755. 

17 items.

Political satire; one serious epitaph on Bolingbroke; anti-Hanover and anti-Walpole.

Anonymous; perhaps Thomas Siw---, ca. 1750–1781.

Two sections: a poetry compilation and a commonplace miscellany (ca. 1813–1835)—this entry pertains only to the first section.

96 items.

Interest in women’s self-assertion, poems by Cambridge men, and Latin and Greek. Sources often identified as manuscripts or magazines.

Anne Watkins, ca. 1731.

32 items (23 are excerpts from Paradise Lost and 4 are Stephen Duck poems).

New Year's theme of reflection and self-improvement.

Anonymous, ca. 1744.

20 items.

Hymns, verse prayers, and prose meditations.

Richard Chaloner Cobbe, ca. 1753.

Thick boards seemingly worn by use. 

67 items.

Seems reflective of an Oxford circle of male poets.

Latin poetry, bawdy satire, and poems about women.

Anonymous, 1751.

58 poems.

Collection of poems by various authors, mainly religious.

Gabriel Lepipre, ca. 1744–45. 

252 poems.

Mostly sociable verse, especially arising out of interactions with women, and public affairs. 

Gabriel Lepipre, 1753. The third in a series of three volumes. 

Charles Earle, ca. 1750–1770. 

96 items.

Original epitaphs, occasional poetry, prayers, and letters.

Anonymous Jacobite, ca. 1714–1745.

4 volumes, 291 items.

Manuscript collection of Jacobite political satires and poems on public affairs.

John Sandys, 1753-1759.

Manuscript exercise book containing 26 items, related to the compiler's social circle at Eton college. Includes elegies, occasional poems, and translations.

Possibly Miss Martyns, ca. 1730–1750. 

>60 poems.

Secular and religious verses from contemporary authors.

* As of yet, this manuscript has not been examined due to 2021-2022 pandemic access restrictions. This description is a temporary placeholder based on catalogue entries and Union First Line Index records.

Frances Glanville Boscawen and Julia Evelyn, begun in 1746.

120 poems.

Popular and original poetry on various themes. Large section of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

Member of Pigott family, ca. 1750.

117 poems in two consecutive hands.

Jacobite poetry.

Thomas Phillibrown, 1740–1757.

Divided into sections according to odd and even numbered pages.

152 poems.

Very London oriented (Public affairs, local interest, celebrities). 

Reflects a mid-century coterie centering around John Hawkins and Moses Browne.

Mr. Davis, ca. 1750–1765.

146 items.

Pastorals, love poems, and poems on aging with one about inability to perform sexually.

Kidlington circle with key to coterie pseudonyms on final page.

Anonymous, ca. 1755–1765; owned by Mrs. Sophia Wallis early nineteenth-century.

Very plain and incomplete.

8 poems.

Gabriel Lepipre, ca. 1750. 

246 poems. 

Good example of miscellany as autobiography; also includes lots of epitaphs.

Anonymous female member of John Graham Clarke household, ca. 1752–1766.

66 items.

Interest in women's conduct and morality.

Mary Tadwell, 1744–1761. Taken over by John Watson Tadwell in a clear effort to continue/complete Mary Tadwell's work.

Three volumes composed roughly chronologically.

167 poems.

Contents heavy on riddles, acrostics, songs; frequent country-city theme, but with no sense of a specific country locality.

Ashley Cowper, ca. 1757–1780.

Indications of retrospective copying into this collection, and perhaps even later annotation.

19 poems.

All occasional original poetry, often involving women or public affairs.

At least partially compiled by Frances, Viscountess Montague, begun ca. 1745.

93 poems.

Mildly moral and cynical about public affairs, social behaviours.

Elizabeth Sarah Wilmot, 1744–1784.

52 poems.

Original compositions of Elizabeth Sarah Wilmot and her mother, Sarah Wilmot. Many poems about female friends and family.

Ann Bromfield, ca. 1740–1748.

42 poems.

Sentimental poetry, epistolary fiction.

Anonymous, ca. 1748–1750. 

Two consecutive hands within a short compilation period.

67 poems.

Many popular poets, themes of women and local interest.

E.L.T. Bale, ca. 1730–1740 (possibly begun as early as 1710s though). 

This entry concerns the poetry end of the manuscript only.

48 poems.

Poems from popular periodicals, a few Latin poems, and a series of Horatian odes versified in English.

Elizabeth Munbee, 1745.

16 poems.

Miscellaneous collection of poems by popular poets like Samuel Wesley, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Nicholas Rowe.

Anonymous, 1735–1812.

Written tête-bêche.

137 poems.

Primarily devotional poetry and Methodist hymns.

Catherine Springett (with contributions by her daughter and granddaughter, Mary Boys and Mary Sankey), ca. 1742–1749.

149 poems.

Quite a few enigmas, riddles, but mostly poems, almost all contemporary. Seemingly indicative of a coterie with original poetry by "T.T." and other friends.

Francis Hawes, 1720–1760.

An ambigraph volume with poetry on both ends. This entry is concerned with the two ends of the volume only, not the middle (recipe) section which is in another hand.

165 poems.

Political satire poems in the style of early eighteenth-century; satire of court manners and prominent women. Many poems that mention Bath.

Sarah Wills, 1736–1737.

Alternates between poetry and receipts, bills, and letters, but gives the sense of an integral whole.

64 items, 19 poems.

Apparently a young woman's schoolbook which includes instruction in a variety of topics including handwriting, poetry, morals and commerce. 

William Mitchell Sale, ca. 1756.

106 poems.

Early eighteenth-century satire, later comic poetry, love poetry, several lengthy Pope poems.

H. Watkins, ca. 1730s–1775.

245 items.

Broad range of subject matter, but generally serious poetry.

Anonymous, ca. 1741.

147 poems.

Many epitaphs, epigrams, and satires.

Daniel Wray circle.

Anonymous, ca. 1750. 

36 items.

Chiefly epigrams and satirical verse.

Anonymous, ca. 1735.

15 poems.

Lots of ballads. 

Benjamin Church, 1750–1752.

16 poems.

Mainly satirical poems by group of Harvard students. 

Anonymous, 1731.

35 poems.

Sentimental poetry, many epistles and plenty about love.

Sambrooke Freeman, 1737.

Resembles a scrapbook; includes hand-coloured print illustrations.

95 poems.

Copies of verses, riddles, short stories, and newspaper clippings.

Rev. Thomas Austen, 1760.

Three volumes, only the first two of which are manuscript verse miscellanies, and therefore included in this entry.

768 poems. 

A real variety of contents. The first volume revolves around poems about various natural elements and experiences of country life. The second volume

Melesinda Munbee (seemingly transcribed by Elizabeth Munbee), 1749–1750.

A manuscript verse miscellany assembled in childhood, based on a father's library. 

Two volumes, 44 poems.

Many items by Swift; other bawdy contents.

Robert Beere, ca. 1740s.

Very good example to look at organizing systems because he uses thematic, length, alphabetical, etc. to varying degrees throughout the book.

 338 items.

Many items are short aphorisms or epigrams; much in nature of advice literature; various pieces on the nature of man (the human state).

Anonymous, 1724–1729, with additional items copied in the 1690s and early 1730s. 

A book bound subsequent to copying.

115 poems.

Contains a Historical Dialogue in Scripture, as well as addresses, ballads, epigrams, epitaphs, extracts, poems and verses. Interest in literary celebrities like Pope and Swift.

Rose Tavern circle. 

Anonymous compilation of poems by Peter Pinnell, ca. 1749–1790.

59 items.

Example of a one-author collection followed by a short section of poems by different authors.

Anonymous, ca. 1745–1780.

An example of a collection that includes print paste-ins, perhaps added at a a later date onto the blank pages.

90 items, 48 poems.

Post-1745 Jacobite-related material.

Mary Capell, ca. 1740–1751.

Verso pages are filled with explanatory notes identifying people and places from the poems.

87 items.

Political satire, love poems; poems about poetry (writing, collection, gifts of poetry), the arts, and prologues and epilogues.

The final section of poems seems to be associated with the Yorke-Grey coterie. 

George Scott, 1728–1779.

Consecutive hands (George Scott is the second hand) seemingly linked by a Miss Verney who becomes Mrs. Bowes, then a Miss Bowes in part two.

99 items.

The first section contains quite a few poems by women; the second half sees a shift to copying newspaper items, many of which are attributed. 

Benjamin Coles, ca. 1729–1741.

A more mixed book compared to Lt 53 which is by the same compiler, and entirely devoted to poetry.

108 items, 66 poems.

Many songs, religious poems.

Anonymous, ca. 1713–1740.

91 items.

Mostly anti-Whig, anti-Hanoverian political satire; Jacobite-related material. 

Anonymous, ca. 1743–1767.

280 items.

Subject matter mainly religious, contemplations of death; some are not squarely religious, praising virtue, friendship, science, etc.; some Jacobite-related material.

Benjamin Coles, 1740–1741.

This manuscript is entirely devoted to poetry, whereas Lt 24, by the same compiler, is a more mixed book. This book was intended as a gift to his brother.

40 items. 

Largely religious and/or Latin poetry.

Anonymous, ca. 1750–1770.

This entry pertains only to ff. 1–64v (the first two compilers of three). 

68 items.

Many poems about love, courtship, marriage, women.

George Weller, ca. 1750.

41 items.

Many pieces referencing or composed at Tonbridge School; some Jacobite-related material.

Anonymous, ca. 1750. 

15 poems. 

Themes of love and desire, sociability, and contemporary politics; items in French and Italian. 

Anonymous author, ca. 1758-1776. 

122 items, 77 poems.

Gentle satires of love, manners, morals, and thoughtlessness about life's brevity; also humorous and sentimental poems.

Anonymous, ca. 1740.

488 items.

Religious poetry including some poems on religious turncoats.

Anonymous, ca. 1750-1760. Last item dated 1757.

8 poems, seemingly all original to the compiler's circle; several are unfinished.

Humourous parodies on politics, local social events, journeys.