Bishop Worth, ca. 1730s.

11 Latin poems, 13 English poems.

Betty Careless and Dryden-themed poems.

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, 1796.

7 items, including "To the Reader" poem.

Mix of religious and moral themes, political satire.

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. 

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.

Anonymous, 1771–1787.

Title page has pasted-in printed device of dove, book, and "IHS".

75 items.

Most items taken from Watts' Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707).

Anonymous, ca. 1760.

Unbound.

103 items.

Broad range of subjects organized thematically (e.g. divine poems, hymns, drinking themes, court characters, etc.) 

Anonymous, ca. early eighteenth-century.

31 items.

A series of poetic religious reflections, likely all original.

Anne Woolfe, ca. 1715.

43 items.

Theme of tension between earthly and heavenly love, and time and eternity, but more witty than sentimental. 

Anonymous, 1751.

58 poems.

Collection of poems by various authors, mainly religious.

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.

S. Rawlings, 1788–1789.

This manuscript contains poems in two hands, the first (Rawlings) from 1788–1789, the second in the 1830s. This entry concerns only the 1788–89 section given this project's date restrictions. 

49 poems.

Primarily religious and didactic verse.

Possibly Miss Martyns, ca. 1730–1750. 

130 poems.

Secular and religious verses from contemporary authors.

Anonymous, 1783–1792. 

Lyrical, narrative and occasional verse.

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

4 volumes, 2039 poems. 

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

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.

E.H., early nineteenth century.

23 poems.

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

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. 

Mary Allcard, ca. 1805–ca. 1810. 

2 volumes, 12 poems.

Probably kept during Allcard's education at Ackworth School, a Quaker establishment. Most of the poetry is on moral or religious themes. Also includes several prose entries concerning Quakers in Pennsylvania. 

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.

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.

Anonymous, 1811–1818.

Over 100 poems.

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

Anonymous, ca. 1783. 

102 poems.

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

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

66 items.

Interest in women's conduct and morality.

Anonymous, ca. 1709–1712.

57 items.

Very author oriented, with source attributions.

Anonymous, ca. 1748–1750. 

Two consecutive hands within a short compilation period.

67 poems.

Many popular poets, themes of women and local interest.

Anonymous, 1735–1812.

Written tête-bêche.

137 poems.

Primarily devotional poetry and Methodist hymns.

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.

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. 

J. Wright, ca. 1700–ca. 1715.

Apparently owned and used by William Bromley immediately after the composition of the book by J. Wright.

100 items, 65 poems.

Very mixed book, containing extracts, poems, epitaphs, anagrams, antiquarian notes, satiric poetry etc.; Lots of recorded info re: languages, mathematics, etc.; Jacobite-related material.

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.

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

415 poems

Many religious/devotional poems.

Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, ca. 1685–1701 or 1702.

109 poems.

Poems and plays.

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. 

Samuel Church, 1786.

66 poems.

Religious poetry, many items about sin; seemingly all original compositions.

Intended as a gift for a recipient he calls "Reveren'd Religioso."

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. 

B. Cumberlege, 1703.

Contains title pages for many individual poems.

34 poems on the Table of Contents, but some grouped together under headings, so really closer to 50 items.

Occasional and religious poems, many about friendship, and a high proportion by the compiler. Position appears to be Jacobite and Roman Catholic.

Region of creation possibly London, based on later Cumberlege family records. 

J. Rolfe, 1700.

67 poems.

Primarily religious material.

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. 

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.

Anna Eliza Grenville, Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos, 1811–1832.

A mix of copied poetry and clippings.

33 poems.

Mostly poems about political events and nature.

Eliza Marriott, ca. 1763–1803.

29 items.

Generally serious poems with an interest in local Yorkshire elites.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 1740.

488 items.

Religious poetry including some poems on religious turncoats.