Call Number:

Ms. Codex 1872

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Commonplace book, 1771-1791, Ms. Codex 1872, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1771-1791 (inclusive)

Creator:

Swift, Jonathan, Rowe, Elizabeth Singer, and Pope, Alexander

Form:

Correspondence, Commonplace books, Codices (bound manuscripts), Manuscripts, English -- 18th century, Poems, Elegies, and Poetry

Abstract:

Unbound volume containg eighteenth-century poetical works and correspondence collected by an unknown compiler spanning the years from 1771-1791.

Unbound volume consisting of sixteen gatherings containing eighteeth-century poetical works and correspondence. The items were collected by an unknown compiler spanning the years from 1771 to 1791. The compiler probably lived in Boxford, in either Berkshire or Suffolk, England. Written at the end of some copied works is Boxford followed by the date. The pages of the volume are numbered 5 to 324 with pages lacking at beginning and end. Pages 5 to 193 consist of elegies, poems, and songs. Many women poets are present in the volume including Elizabeth Singer Rowe, Hannah More, and Ann Murry. Other writers in the book include Jonathan Swift, John Langhorne, and Samuel Wesley. Pages 195 to 324 comprise copied letters numbered one to eighty-two. A majority of the correspondence is between Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. Additionally, there are letters with Pope and others including Francis Atterbury, Martha Blount, and John Gay. Some letters with Swift and others include Dr. John Arbuthnot, Lord Henry Bolingbroke, and the Dutchess of Queensbury, Catherine Hyde. The volume is in at least three hands. A few unnumbered pages are laid in and some pages pasted in the volume. Pages one to four and some pages following 324 are lacking.