Anna Sharpe, ca. 1751–1790.

38 items, some possibly in the hand of later owner Anna Maria Sharpe.

Primarily lighthearted poems.

Anne Heigham, 1781–ca. 1785. 

38 items.

Includes multiple female authors, son's tribute to mother at the end of the book, and epilogues presumably spoken at local productions.

Polite poetry.

Thomas Binns, 1789–1799.

"Collection of Poems" numbered Vols. II and III, and "Miscellaneous Manuscripts" numbered Vols. 3 and 4.

117 + 74 + 112 + 116 = 419 items, numerous very long poems.

Quaker writings; political themes (anti-war, anti-slavery, pro-revolutionary); sentimental poetry and poetry about nature.

Anonymous, though several items related to Pettiwards, ca. 1767–1783.

107 items (30 prose).

Pet poems; very miscellaneous prose items including a description of masquerade ball in Lincolnshire attended by Peart-Bate coterie members.

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. 

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.

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.

Anonymous, ca. 1775–1794.

45 items.

General tone is sentimental and polite, includes pseudonymous attributions and apparently fictional epistolary exchanges.

Anonymous, ca. 1705.

195 items.

Songs, political satire, poems on death, and bawdy poetry.

Anonymous, ca. 1730.

Additions and annotations possibly by a second hand in 1730s.

39 items.

Centred on Swift and Pope, with a few items about them by others, and a few additional satires.

Anne Milbanke, ca. 1795.

33 items.

Mostly original poetry with multiple pseudonyms, some seemingly later published in Gentleman's Magazine. Interest in historical and contemporary tragic figures e.g. Marie Antoinette.

Gabriel Lepipre, ca. 1744–45. 

252 poems.

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

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

Anonymous, late eighteenth-century.

29 poems on the First Line Index.

Collection of poems by various authors, riddles, parodies, etc.

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.

John Freeman Milward Dovaston, 1773 and later.

Separate title page at the end for Odes by Thomas Gray.

75 poems, many original. 

A mix of English and Latin poems and mottos with a particular interest in classical figures and religious belief.

Hubbard, ca. 1710.

25 poems. 

Includes anonymous poetry on English reformers, pastorals, and other poems by known and attributed authors.

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. 

130 poems.

Secular and religious verses from contemporary authors.

Anonymous, 1783–1792. 

Lyrical, narrative and occasional verse.

Anne Taylor, around or after the 1790s. 

23 poems.

Verse extracts and original poems, many about death. One Jacobite poem, a couple poems about children, and some social satire. 

Anonymous member of the Porter family, late eighteenth-century.

4 volumes, 2039 poems. 

Contemporary poetry, many items commonly included in manuscript verse miscellanies. 

Anonymous, maybe Diana Burroughs, ca. 1774–1787.

85 poems.

A mix of original and well-known poetry with a high proportion of original occasional verse.

Norfolk circle of EM and Diana Burroughs.

Anonymous schoolmistress (possibly named Eliza), 1788.

61 items.

Frequent references to the material having been written for schoolchildren or for occasions such as weddings and departures of friends.

Thomas Crofton Croker, ca. 1814–1818.

40 poems.

Sentimental and light poems, almost all addressed to female acquaintances. 

E.H., early nineteenth century.

23 poems.

Primarily sentimental subjects such as death, religion, and family, with a few more satirical entries.

Anonymous, ca. 1816.

Over 200 poems.

Serious, sentimental, and occasional poems, many addressed to individual women.

Anonymous, ca. 1810–1820.

50 poems. 

Many poems with naval themes, accompanied by illustrations and watercolours of ships and harbours; also includes comic epitaphs, and songs with manuscript music voice settings.

Charles Parr Burney, ca. 1803. 

354 pages.

Primarily elegies, love poems, and occasional verse, with some patriotic and religious verse, and short comic verses. 

A large section copied from a Crewe Hall album composed during the 1780s, reflecting the work of the Crewe coterie. 

John Waite, ca. 1800.

In a single hand up to f. 139 when two other hands take over for the last twenty folios. This entry considers only the first hand's section of the manuscript. 

139 folios.

Lyrics, fables, and occasional verse. Multiple poems about violets. 

Miss Hooper, ca. 1810–1820. 

Approximately 80 poems.

Poems, epigrams, and a number of occasional verses attributed to members of Charles James Fox's social circle, several of which are concerning his death. 

Anonymous, with poems by Maria Banks Riddell and poems about Mary Tighe, 1814–1816.

46 poems, all original to the manuscript.

Primarily narrative poems on mythical creatures or historical subjects, and poems about nature; also includes many fables, love poems, and poetic renditions of the Psalms. 

Anne Butler, begun in 1806.

186 pages.

Elegies, epitaphs, and poems on death, friendship, moderation, hope and female virtue.

Hester Bradley, 1807–1810, with two poems added in 1831. 

49 poems.

Occasional poems and poems about friends and family, all with a Quaker bent. 

Mary Harris Cornwallis, ca. 1790–1820.

Approximately 108 poems.

Many occasional poems by the compiler and her family; this manuscript is also packed with print insertions, many of which are (prose) news items about the deaths of royals.

Benjamin Finn, ca. 1790. 

26 poems.

Occasional poetry, many copied from newspapers and dated. Mainly satirical, lighthearted verse, often political; several epigrams and poems about death and/or illness.

James Forbes, 1766–1800. 

This entry concerns only the first volume, as the second is entirely prose. 

151 poems.

Poems on various subjects, including many on death and women, but also conduct, retirement, nature, and slavery. 

George Montagu, ca. 1769–1790. 

77 poems.

Verses attributed to George and Frederick Montagu, and copies of poems by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and others.

* 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.

P. Simpson, 1790–1793.

90 poems.

Mostly eighteenth-century poetry, namely conduct poems, pastoral poems, poems about the poor, epitaphs, and epigrams.

Joseph Taylor, 1799.

About 389 pieces of verse and prose. 

Satirical as well as sentimental and elegiac perspectives on the subjects of love, women, religion, and death. Also contains numerous humorous epigrams and epitaphs.

Anonymous, 1781–1794.

66 pages.

A collection of relatively common contemporary English poems, with an interest in natural landscapes, the ephemerality of life, Romantic themes of exile, hermits, etc. A few items related to music.

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.

Anonymous, 1811–1818.

Over 100 poems.

Largely poems on nationalistic subjects, others focused on serious and sentimental subjects like nature, death, friendship, and religion. 

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.

Anonymous Oxonian, 1790s.

Some items possibly marked for copying.

214 poems.

Lots of Latin poetry, and English poetry with Greek titles.

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.

Eleanor Peart, 1768.

Organized chronologically and thematically.

182 poems. 

A high proportion of original poetry; strong emphasis on the pastoral including the use of pastoral pseudonyms.

Peart-Bate coterie.

Anonymous, ca. 1783. 

102 poems.

Moralizing book with some lighter poems; many items sourced from "L—'s Miscellany," and many items from the 1760s. 

Gabriel Lepipre, ca. 1750. 

246 poems. 

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

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.

Eliza Chapman, 1788-89.

87 poems.

Contributions by Scriblerus, Eliza Chapman's suitor. 

Augusta Byron Leigh, 1805–1813.

101 poems.

Lots of poems on celebrities, poems by Byron. 

Tickell family, 1787–ca. 1828.

35 poems.

Poems about love, friendship, and artistic pursuits, as well as commemorative poems about deaths in the family.

Anonymous, ca. 1709–1712.

57 items.

Very author oriented, with source attributions.

Anonymous (with many references to the Cotton family of Eardley), ca. 1788.

Only the first section of the manuscript (by the first hand) is examined in this entry.

17 poems.

Themes of friendship. 

Anonymous, 1735–1812.

Written tête-bêche.

137 poems.

Primarily devotional poetry and Methodist hymns.

Thomas Trigg, 1785.

Attributes print sources of most poems.

54 poems.

Quite a few extracts of blank verse from Shakespeare plays, Latin poetry. The compiler seems to rely on a lot of anthologies of extracts .

Rae family, ca. 1800.

151 pages.

Collection of epitaphs from gravestones and published sources.

Catherine Tuthill Massy, ca. 1795.

46 poems.

A young Irish lady's book, themes of anti-slavery, interest in captives in India, sufferings of Ireland.

William Mitchell Sale, ca. 1756.

106 poems.

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

Charles Plumptre ca. 1730.

79 poems.

Includes school exercises; some poems possibly from friendship circle that includes John Hoadly and Isaac Hawkins Brown; could be connected with Newcombe’s school in Hackney; satires on women; poems by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

H. Watkins, ca. 1730s–1775.

245 items.

Broad range of subject matter, but generally serious poetry.

Azarias Williams, 1785–1790. 

The compiler blurs his own voice with that of his sources by signing his name to much of what he copies.

78 poems.

Choices seem significant autobiographically—themes of emigration, social behaviour, British patriotism, New York, death, children, sentimental courtship, male unfaithfulness/libertinism, religious/devotional expressions, and topographical poetry.

Horatia Nelson (16 years old), 1817.

100 poems.

Quite a banal book but a good indication of what poetry was popular, including some poems on the Napoleonic wars, and Irish/Scottish materials.

Associated with Penelope Judith Maitland, daughter of Col. Maitland

30 poems.

Attention to aesthetic features; themes of friendship, sentimental love, poverty, despair and hope.

John Brewster, ca. 1770–ca. 1810.

130 poems.

Frequent epitaphs, poems on death. 

Anonymous, ca. 1799-1803.

Ambigraph volume with poetry beginning at one end and prose anecdotes, mainly biographical, at the other. This listing pertains only to the poetry end of the manuscript. 

288 poems.

Miscellaneous and short poems, mostly extracts, epitaphs, and epigrams.

Anonymous, 1786–1798.

120 poems.

A very feminocentric collection with many female-authored works.

Manuscript appears connected to the Cavendish-Ponsonby-Crewe network; the Tighe family; the Ladies of Llangollen

Anonymous, seemingly ca. 1755. 

Second volume seems to be organized thematically, with blank leaves left to be filled in later on the same theme (a good example of an organizational system in progress). 

82 items.

Initially focused on high-profile writers of the turn of the century, though the second volume contains mid-century work. 

Anonymous, 1724–1728.

109 poems.

Almost entirely early eighteenth-century poetry. Many contemporary satirical pieces, and items from Mist's Weekly Journal.

Elizabeth Gilchrist, ca. 1800–1815.

One main hand plus one organising hand, maybe that of a daughter.

89 items, 74 poems.

Mixed book with themes of women, death, friendship, love, etc.

Anonymous, 1818–1823.

Solutions given for riddles and anagrams, suggesting the book's use for social reading and games.

355 items, 200 poems.

Swings from sentimental/tragic to lightly comic, but no really cynical poetry – mostly sentimental or clichéd humour.

A.T.W, 1793–ca. 1800.

A lot of retrospective editing including comments and cross-outs. 

153 poems.

Many poems by or about important figures of literature and the stage; also epitaphs, inscriptions and letters; many poems by women.

Anonymous, ca. 1741.

147 poems.

Many epitaphs, epigrams, and satires.

Daniel Wray circle.

Mr. Stocker of Portsmouth, ca. 1753–1780.

Lots of orginial material.

260 poems.

Much local content; clearly a supporter of the Opposition in the 1730s and 40s.

Anonymous (probably from Scotland), 1737–ca. 1740.

415 poems

Many religious/devotional poems.

Anonymous, ca. 1750. 

36 items.

Chiefly epigrams and satirical verse.

Verses collected by John Dixon ca. 1780–1817, then copied posthumously by his daughter, Judith Dixon Beecroft.

Six volumes.

Popular eighteenth-century poetry.

Anonymous, ca. 1773-1806.

Crowded, no margins, looks more like a commonplace book than a usual poetry miscellany.

361 poems.

Enormous amount of material compiled over many years roughly chronologically.

Louisa Grey, ca. 1780s.

Some items specified as not for circulation. 

150 poems.

Many poems about women, love; some epitaphs.

Samuel Church, 1786.

2 volumes, 33 poems.

Rather crude homemade bindings showing stab-stitching and stitching along spine.

Mainly poems about death and/or religion. Vol. 2 expands to include more social topics. 

Anonymous, 1731.

35 poems.

Sentimental poetry, many epistles and plenty about love.

Rebecca Story Porter, 1796–ca. 1803.

17 poems.

Seemingly a schoolgirl's book, including a list of students at Mr. Woodbridge Academy, with the addition of a personal poem about her brother's death at the end. 

Anonymous Norfolk Clergyman, ca. 1814–1822.

Only included up to p. 82 (/119) because the rest of the book is game charts and other miscellaneous contents. 

53 poems.

Primarily local interest, political, and religious poetry. 

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

Rev. Thomas Austen, 1770–1783.

212 poems.

Religious poems and hymns.

Anonymous, 1780.

55 poems.

Mainly devotional or conduct related poems, some describing Bristol and Quaker life. 

Eliza Woolley, 1806.

7 poems.

Mostly love poetry.

Thomas Ingoldsby (also known as Richard Harris Barham), 1808.

Poems, paraphrases, epigrams, and conundrums in English, French, Greek, and Latin.

Charlotte Burney Francis Broome, 1771–ca. 1806.

82 poems.

Mostly original poetry by members of the Burney family with themes of family, courtship/marriage, and death.

Hester Thrale Piozzi, ca. 1810.

50 poems.

Entirely or almost entirely original poetry, many occasional. 

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).

Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Campbell Bury, ca. 1815.

Many materials acquired through manuscript transmission; full of evaluative commentary. 

90 poems.

Very Scottish in contents, reflecting Lady Charlotte's life in Edinburgh before 1810.

Lady Charlotte Campbell Bury's circle.

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, ca. 1775–1810.

130 items.

Pieces from Garrick's memoir and other prose with a record of Wyvill-G—ll coterie's poetic exchanges in the middle.

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.

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. 

Anonymous, ca. 1700.

This entry concerns the first 150 pages only (before the first change in hand).

100 items.

Thematic groupings involving passage of time, ephemerality of life, solitude, religion, kings, etc.

Anonymous, 1723, with a few later additions in 1740s.

153 poems. 

Mostly seventeenth-century poetry, typically very short poems with thematic titles. Lots of verses on classical Greek figures.

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.

Anonymous, ca. 1770–1790.

Very good example of attributions of magazine sources.

117 items.

The first half is a very eclectic mix with many epitaphs, Latin doggerel, riddles, prose pieces, etc. interspersed with the poems. The second compiler seems primarily interested in jokes, parodies, quirky items. An apparent interest in Oxford-related items.

Joshua Peart, 1726.

256 poems.

A large eclectic book with a special concentration of pastoral poems and songs, political satire and other poems about politicians, and humorous poems; also contains multiple poems about alcohol and tobacco.

Sarah Gregory, ca. 1771-1774.

74 items. 

Themes of works include death and afterlife, the ephemerality of life, and friendship. 

Revd. William Heath Marsh, ca. 1810.

~100 + ~85 = ~185 poems.

Volume 1 consists primarily of copied poetry, especially pastoral and morality poems or poems with classical themes; volume 2 contains much more original poetry, poems related to public affairs, and references to a Norfolk social network centred around Marsh and Thomas and Mary Blofeld.

Anonymous, 1730.

19 poems.

Primarily religious and sentimental poems with six pastorals by Ambrose Philips.

Anonymous, ca. 1769–1790.

152 poems.

Bound-with The New Bath Guide (1766).

Celebrity-centred manuscript verse miscellany, with a particular focus on Samuel Johnson, Hester Thrale Piozzi, David Garrick, Peter Pindar, and Horace Walpole.

Elizabeth Church, 1766–ca. 1791.

68 poems.

Copied by multiple hands but primarily by Elizabeth Church.

Popular manuscript verse miscellany poems and epitaphs.