First published in Thomas Farnaby, Florilegium epigrammatum Graecorum (London, 1629). Poems by Sir Henry Wotton, Sir Walter Raleigh and others, ed. John Hannah (London, 1845), pp. 76-80. Spedding, VII, 271-2. H.J.C. Grierson, Bacon's Poem, The World: Its Date and Relation to certain other Poems, Modern Language Review, 6 (1911), 145-56.
Copy, headed An Ode agst Mans life
, inscribed at the top Stubbs Poems
, and followed (ff. 14r-17r) by A Parode in praise of humane life
(beginning The worlds a Globe of State, our Life a Reigne
), a Latin version (beginning Mundus Bulla lovis, nec vita humana porequat
), and a Greek version.
A duodecimo verse miscellany, in English and Latin, in several hands, ii + 53 leaves (plus numerous blanks), in contemporary calf.
J. Salkeld, sale catalogue No. 222 (17 June 1885), item 273.
Copy headed On mans Mortalite by [Doctor Donn deleted] Sr Fran: Bacon
.
A large folio composite verse miscellany, chiefly folio, partly quarto, 243 pages, in contemporary calf.
Including 18 poems by Carew and two of doubtful authorship, compiled by Nicholas Burghe (d.1670), Royalist Captain during the Civil War and one of the poor Knights of Windsor in 1661 (references to I Nicholas Burgh
occurring on ff. 165r, with the date 3d of June 1638
, and 166r, and his name partly in cipher on other pages); predominantly in his hand, with some later additions in other hands.
Afterwards owned by Elias Ashmole (1617-92), astrologer and antiquary.
Cited in IELM, II.i (1987), as the Burghe MS
:
Copy, in the hand of John Aubrey.
Edited from this MS in Aubrey's Brief Lives, ed. Andrew Clark (Oxford, 1898), I, 72-3.
A folio composite autograph manuscript of the first part of Brief Lives by John Aubrey (1626-97), 121 largely folio leaves, in vellum within modern boards.
Copy in Fulman's hand, untitled, subscribed F. B.
, followed (f. 41r) by an untitled Latin version (beginning Mundus bulla levis, nec vita humana peræquat
), subscribed G.S. Equit et Baronetti f. A. M.
, and (f. 42r) by an untitled adaptation beginning The Worlds a Globe of State
, all in Fulman's hand.
This MS collated in Grierson, p. 148.
A large folio composite volume of tracts and miscellaneous papers, in various hands and paper sizes, 229 leaves, in reversed calf.
Second volume of the miscellaneous collections of Richard Davis of Sandford.
Owned by William Fulman (1632-88), Oxford antiquary.
Copy, accompanied by a version in Greek.
A quarto miscellany of sermons and verse, in Greek, Latin and English, written from both ends, 84 leaves.
Inscribed inside the front cover, apparently by the principal scribe, George Taylar his booke witnesse by him that writ it October ye :21: Ano domini 1646
.
Among collections of Francis Cherry (1665-1713), of Shollesbrooke, Berkshire, nonjuror.
Copy, headed Doctor Kinge before his death
.
A folio verse miscellany, ii + 65 leaves, in contemporary vellum.
Entitled Miscentur seria iocis. 1647. Elegies, Exequies, Epitaphs, Epigrams, Songs Satires and other Poems, a formal compilation entirely in the hand of the Yorkshire antiquary John Hopkinson (1610-80).
From the library of Cecil Brent, FSA. Sold by P.J. & A.E. Dobell, January 1938.
Copy, untitled.
A folio verse miscellany, comprising nearly 250 poems, in five hands, vii + 135 leaves (with a modern index), in contemporary calf gilt (rebacked), with remains of clasps.
Including 16 poems (plus second copies of two) by Carew, 19 poems by or attributed to Herrick (and second copies of six of them), 23 poems (plus second copies of two and four of doubtful authorship) by Randolph, 18 poems (plus two of doubtful authorship) by Strode, and eleven poems by Waller.
Inscribed on a flyleaf Peeter Daniell
and his initials stamped on both covers. Later scribbling including the names Thomas Gardinor
, James Leigh
and Pettrus Romell
. Owned in 1780 by one A. B.
when it was given to Thomas Percy (1768-1808), later Bishop of Dromore. Sotheby's, 29 April 1884 (Percy sale), lot 1. Acquired from Quaritch, 1957.
Cited in IELM, II.i-ii (1987-93), as the Daniell MS
:
Copy.
A duodecimo notebook of verse and prose, comprising 131 interleaves in a printed exemplum of John Sansbury's Ilium in Italiam (Oxford, 1608), in contemporary calf (rebacked), blind-stamped S. S.
on the upper cover.
Owned in 1619, and probably compiled, by Simon Sloper (b.1596/7), of Magdalen Hall, Oxford.
Bought from Parker, of Oxford, 2 April 1889, by Percy Manning and bequeathed by him in 1917.
Copy, headed On the world. Sr Francis Bacon
.
An octavo verse miscellany, compiled by the writer Robert Codrington (1602-65) of Magdalen College, Oxford, 360 pages (including stubs of extracted leaves on pp. 297-328 and blanks, plus index), in contemporary calf.
Including 16 poems by Carew and 13 poems (plus one of doubtful authorship) by Strode. Written in three hands: i.e. A (Codrington's hand, including his own poems) on pp. 1-283, 349-55; B on pp. 284-9; and C on pp. 289-348, 356-60; dated (pp. 1-22) Anno Dom: 1638
and The 30th of May. 1638
.
Acquired from Blackwell's, 1962.
Cited in IELM, II.i-ii (1987-93), as the Codrington MS
:
Copy, headed The Bubble by RW
.
This MS collated in Hannah.
A quarto verse miscellany, in English and Latin, including 37 poems by Donne, in several hands, written from both ends, 279 leaves (including numerous blanks, mostly in ff. 42r-140r), with stubs of extracted leaves, in contemporary calf.
Compiled in part by the Oxford printer Christopher Wase (1627-90), fellow of King's College, Cambridge.
Later owned by John Somers (1651-1716), Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor, and his brother-in-law Sir Joseph Jekyll (1662-1738), lawyer and politician.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980), as the Wase MS
:
Copy, untitled, subscribed Bac: Vtrulamius
.
A quarto miscellany of verse and prose, in English and Latin, in several hands, written from both ends, 84 leaves, in contemporary calf.
Probably compiled principally by an Oxford University man.
Names inscribed on rear flyleaf and paste-down Elizabeth hosman
and William Blois
.
Copy, headed The Lo Keepers verses on the life of man
.
A folio verse miscellany, including eleven poems by Carew, in a single professional secretary hand (adopting a different style on ff. 176r-8r), ii + 231 leaves (including numerous blanks), the date 1633 occurring on f. 55r.
The name Edward Michell inscribed later inside the rear cover. Afterwards owned by Richard Rawlinson (1690-1755).
Cited in IELM, II.i (1987), as the Michell MS
:
Copy, untitled.
An octavo verse miscellany, 49 leaves; in contemporary calf gilt.
Including 14 poems by Carew; the main text (ff. 1r-27r) in a non-professional mixed hand of the 1630s (but for later scribbling); the remaining leaves filled by later hands; notes on family history from 1647 to 1664 on ff. 28r-9r.
Inscribed on f. 29v John Peverell Booke 1674
and his name also on ff. 1r and 49r. Fol. 48v containing a receipt dated 30 June 1653 by me Francis Blackitt of bro. William of Hoodcroft, Co. Durham
. Other names inside the front cover including John Peves
and Railphe Hogwood
and, inside the back cover, James Portington
, William Steadman 1675
, Thomas Meeres
, William Diton
and Ramond Swift
.
Cited in IELM, II.i (1987), as the Peverell MS
:
Copy.
A folio verse miscellany, entitled The Muse's Magazine, or Poeticall Miscelanies, in two parts
, in a single hand, 189 leaves.
Including 27 poems by Cowley; eleven poems by Katherine Philips, evidently derived from printed sources; 10 poems by Rochester, as well as apocryphal items; twelve poems by Sedley, plus one of doubtful authorship; and 15 poems by Waller, evidently derived from printed sources.
A note on a flyleaf relating to the bookseller John Dunton (1659-1733): John Dunton His Book, for which Mr. Corbet at ye Addisons Head, accepted One Half Guinea in full Payment for it, as Witness my Hand, Hannah Rakley
. A note on f. 1: Since I had transcrib'd this whole Book, I met with some state Poems of these later times, mostly since K. George's Accession to the Crown [1714] which I have here inserted, as a supplement to these state Poems which make a part of this Collection by themselves
. Date at the end of the volume: 1718
, and some notes on a flyleaf dated 1724
.
The Mr. Corbet
from whom Dunton purchased this MS was evidently the bookseller Thomas Corbett (fl. 1705-43), who ran his business at the Addison's Head, next to the Rose Tavern, without Temple Bar, from 1719 until his death in 1743. Neither Dunton nor Corbett are known to have used this MS for publication purposes.
Cited in IELM, II.ii (1993), as the Dunton MS
:
For John Dunton's career, see Stephen Parks, John Dunton and the English Book Trade: A Study of His Career with a Checklist of His Publications (New York & London, 1970).
Copy of an eight-line version, in an italic hand, headed The Brevitye of Mans lyfe
, beginning As a Tale tould wch sometymes men attend
, and subscribed Fran: Viscount St Albons
.
A folio volume chiefly of heraldic arms, 97 leaves, in modern half brown morocco gilt.
Partly in the hand of John Woodnoth (d.1634), antiquary, of Shavington Hall, Cheshire, with additions in a late-17th-century hand.
Later owned by Sir Simeon Stuart, third Baronet, MP (c.1724-c.1779/82), of Hartley Mauduit, Hampshire, Chamberlain of the Exchequer (constituting Volume VIII of the Stuart Collection). Purchased in 1778.
Copy headed Humani casus
.
An octavo verse miscellany, entitled Juvenilia Ludicra, in a single small mixed hand, 103 leaves, all now window mounted in a quarto volume, in 19th-century half morocco.
Probably compiled by a Cambridge University man.
Inscribed in engrossed lettering (f. 1r) E Libris Richard Sutclif
. Later owned by Benjamin Heywood Bright (1830-84), merchant and author. Sotheby's, 18 June 1844 (Bright sale), lot 194.
Copy, headed Of the world By sr H: wotton
, transcribed from a printed source.
An oblong octavo miscellany of largely devotional verse and some prose, including (ff. 7v-22r) twelve poems by Crashaw, probably transcribed from Carmen Deo Nostro (Paris, 1652), in a single italic hand, written across the width of the pages with the spine upwards, with (ff. 181r-8r) a table of contents, 188 leaves, in calf gilt.
Entitled Collections out of seuerall Authors by Marmaduke Raudon Eboracensis 1662: i.e. compiled by Marmaduke Rawdon (1610-69), traveller and antiquary, of Guiseley, Yorkshire, who later lived with his cousin, also named Marmaduke Rawdon, at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, the MS including elegies on yet another (Sir) Marmaduke Rawdon (1582-1646), Governor of Basing House.
Later owned by Thomas Rodd (1796-1849). Rodd's sale catalogue, February 1850, item 764.
Cited in IELM, II.i, as the Rawdon MS:
For other Rawdon miscellanies, see
Copy headed Vppon ye miserie of Man Ld verulam viscoun St Albans
, but subscribed Henry Harrington
; transcribed from
This MS the Pickering MS collated in Hannah.
A quarto verse miscellany, largely in a single predominantly secretary hand, with some later additions and annotations, 188 leaves, in quarter-morocco.
Transcribed from
Later owned by William Pickering (1796-1854), publisher. Sotheby's, 13 May 1856 (Pickering sale), lot 258.
Cited in IELM, II.i (1987), as the Pickering MS
:
Copy headed Vppon the miserie of Man
, subscribed Ld Bacon
, this ascription deleted and by Henry Harrington
substituted in another hand.
A quarto verse miscellany, almost entirely in a single neat secretary hand, the first page formally inscribed To the righte honoble: the Lorde Thomas Darcy Viscount Colchester
(c.1565-1640, Viscount Colchester from 1621 to 1626), 191 leaves, in modern half-morocco.
Including 27 poems (and second copies of two poems) by Thomas Carew and three of doubtful authorship.
This MS largely transcribed in
Scribbled inscriptions including (f. 1r) Mr John Bowyer
; (f. 2r) Jeronomus ffox
; and (f. 3r) William Ralph Baesh
.
Cited in IELM, II.i (1987), as the Colchester MS
:
Copy, headed of the world
.
A quarto volume of Divine and Morall Observations
, in verse and prose, in a neat roman hand varying in style, with later additions at the end, 61 leaves (plus blanks), in modern half black leather.
Inscribed by the compiler, on an elaborate title-page (f. 1r), Abygall Guilford her Booke 1672
.
Inscribed (top of f. 1r) This Book was I conclude my Grandmother Hoopers before her Marriage
. Acquired from the Rev. H. Hooper, 9 December 1874.
Copy, untitled and unascribed.
A duodecimo miscellany of verse and prose, chiefly in one mixed hand, 77 leaves, in modern half-morocco.
Compiled by Sir Thomas Dawes (knighted 1639).
Purchased on 4 July 1873 from William Carew Hazlitt (1834-1913), bibliographer and writer.
Copy, headed De ambiguitate [brevitate deleted] vitæ
.
A quarto miscellany of verse and some prose, predominantly in a single secretary hand, written from both ends, 179 leaves, in 19th-century half blue morocco gilt.
Inscribed (f. 179r) This is Sr. Thomas Meres [or ? Maiors] Book
: i.e. probably Sir Thomas Meres (1634-1715), of Kirton, Lincolnshire. Later bookplate of the Rev. John Curtis. Purchased from Mrs Ann Austin Curtis 12 October 1889.
This is a poem is by Francis Quarles, not Bacon's poem.
Copy, untitled, subscribed F: B.
A quarto verse miscellany, in two styles of italic, the last poem (f. 93v) added in a later hand, 93 leaves (plus ten blanks), in modern quarter-morocco gilt.
Including 14 poems by Donne, six poems (plus one of doubtful authorship) by Carew, ten poems by Habington and 13 poems (plus one of doubtful authorship) by Randolph. Owned and possibly compiled by Arthur Capell (1631-83), second Earl of Essex, whose name is inscribed in red ink (1*), in a similar roman hand to that on ff. 1r-19r. He married (1653) Elizabeth Percy (1636-1718), daughter of Algernon, tenth Earl of Northumberland; she was therefore the great niece of Habington's mother-in-law, Eleanor Percy, sister of the ninth Earl of Northumberland.
Later among the collections of Robert Harley (1661-1724), first Earl of Oxford, and his son, Edward (1689-1741), second Earl of Oxford.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980) and II, i-ii (1987-93), as the Capell MS
:
Copy headed On the misery of man
.
A quarto verse miscellany, largely in a single professional hand, with later additions on ff. 58v-62v in three or four other hands, 65 leaves, in modern half crushed morocco gilt.
Compiled by one Thomas Crosse, whose name appears (f. 1*) in An Acrosticke upon my name
, as well as subscribed (Tho: Cro:)
to a poem on ff. 23v-4r.
Copy, headed in the margin Of Mortalitie
.
A quarto verse miscellany, in one or more secretary hands, with (ff. 244r-54r) a first-line index, 254 leaves, in modern half-morocco, poems on ff. 34v and 242v dated 1637.
Including 91 poems and some prose works by John Donne and fourteen poems by Thomas Carew.
Among the collections of Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (1776-1839), first Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham, largely derived from the collection of the antiquary Thomas Astle (1735-1803), which in turn chiefly derived from Astle's father-in-law, the Essex historian Philip Morant (1700-70) (see
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980) and II.i (1987), as Stowe MS II
: Stowe MS
:
Copy of an untitled version, in a neat rounded hand, beginning The longest life of man / Is but a spann
, on both sides of a single folio leaf.
An unbound folder of verse MSS, in various hands and paper sizes, 138 leaves.
Volume CCXXXVI of the Trumbull Papers, of the Trumbull family, including chiefly William Trumbull (1576/80?-1635), diplomat and government official. Later belonging to the Marquess of Downshire, of Easthampstead Park. Formerly Berkshire Record Office Trumbull Add 17 and 18.
Sotheby's sale catalogue, The Trumbull Papers (14 December 1989), part of lot 39.
Copy.
A folio volume; ff. 5r-80v constituting a collection of 97 poems by Donne, in a neat mixed hand; the text possibly derived from the same source as Leconfield MS (
The volume later used extensively as a notebook by Dr William Balam (1651-1726), of Ely, Cambridgeshire, filling up ff. 87v-134 (and compare Balam's annotated MSS
Inscribed on the cover in a 17th-century hand [Thes?] for [Mr Coote?] Att his legeinge in bow street next to bull Couent garden. Donated to the library in 1916 by Geoffrey Keynes.
Cited in IELM as Cambridge Balam MS
:
Copy of the last couplet (beginning What then remaines but that wee still should try
), subscribed Lo: verulam
, deleted.
A single ruled and trimmed octavo leaf of verse, the second (properly first) page containing a copy of William Basse's poem On Mr William Shakespeare.
This leaf is folio 7 extracted from the verse miscellany now
Copy, headed Quarles vpon the life of man
.
A miscellany compiled by Benjamin Brown (1664-1748), of Troutbeck, High Constable of Kendal Ward.
A quarto verse miscellany, in a neat secretary hand, fourteen pages.
Among the papers of the Gell family, of Hopton Hall, Derbyshire, including those of the Parliamentary commander and MP Sir John Gell, first Baronet (1593-1671). Formerly D258/31/16.
Copy, on one side of a single quarto leaf.
A bundle of unbound papers, chiefly verse, of Sir William Dugdale (1605-86), antiquary and herald.
Copy, headed On the frailty of this Life
.
A series of quarto leaves of devotional poems, apparently copied by William Dugdale Jr, bound with a printed Book of Common Prayer (1679).
Copy, headed in the margin Sr fr. Baco
, with a heading at the top of the page Sr fr. Bacons verses vpo mans brittle & fickle estate
.
A quarto verse miscellany, almost entirely in a single cursive secretary hand, with a later title-page supplied in 1832, x + 116 leaves (plus blanks), in 19th-century black leather elaborately gilt.
Inscribed (f. 1r), possibly by the compiler, Richardus Jackson 1623
and Richard Jackson his booke
, who is described in a later pencil note as perhaps the brachygrapher. On ff. 113v-16r, in a later hand, is a Catalogue of ye Books lately belonging to ye. Rev. Mr Jackson Rectr of Tatham
.
Also inscribed (f. 1r) John Pecke
. Sold by Thomas Thorpe, bookseller, in 1831-2. Among collections of James Orchard Halliwell (from 1872 Halliwell-Phillipps) (1820-89), literary scholar and book collector. Bought by him in 1871 from Sotheran's, London.
A 247-page transcript of this volume made c.1830 is in the Folger Shakespeare Library, MS M.b.26.
Copy, in a neat predominantly secretary hand, untitled.
A folio composite miscellany of verse, prose, and dramatic works, in several hands, an independant unit on ff. 88r-111r, in a single hand, containing, inter alia, twenty poems by Donne, 117 leaves (plus seventeen blanks), in contemporary vellum, with remains of ties.
Inscribed (f. 134v) Anthony Methuen
. Later owned by members of the Wyndham family, including probably the Henry Penruddocke Wyndham (1736-1819), topographer. Sotheby's, 11 April 1872, lot 1331, to David Laing.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980), as the Laing MS
:
Copy, headed Sr ffrancis Bacon
.
A quarto composite volume of verse, prose and dramatic MSS, in several hands, the second item (II) constituting an independent quire of six leaves containing copies of, or extracts from, 14 poems by Donne, in a single minute hand, c.160 leaves, in half-calf marbled boards.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980) as the Emmanuel College MS
:
Copy, headed The World
, subscribed Ignoto
.
MS poems, in several hands, on 28 octavo pages, at the end of a composite volume of three printed works, two dated 1659, the third Sir William Davenant's Two Excellent Plays (London, 1665), in contemporary calf.
Inscribed (on the front free endpaper) E libris Johanis Harding ex Aede Xti Oxon 1672
.
Copy, headed Humane life Charactered
, imperfect, lacking the ending.
An octavo verse miscellany, largely in a predominantly secretary hand, another hand on ff. 85r-7v, 95v-6r, xiii pages + 104 leaves (including blanks, but lacking ff. 7-9, 54-5, 95), with a table of contents (pp. 1-6), in modern calf, gilt-edged.
Compiled by University or Inns of Court men.
The extracted fols 7, 8 and 54 are now
Inscribed (f. [104v] Thomas White His Book May ye 20 Anno Domine 1691
. Later owned by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps and in his library at Warwick Castle. Formerly Folger MS 1.21.
Copy, headed Humaine life characted
.
A quarto verse miscellany (originally in two separate volumes), including eleven poems by Donne, chiefly in two hands, probably associated with the University of Oxford, 98 leaves, one of the original vellum covers now incorporated in modern red morocco.
Inscribed (f. 1r) Stephen Wellden and Abraham Bassano
and (f. 98r) Elizabeth Weldon
. Later owned by William John Thoms (1803-85), writer, antiquary and librarian. Sotheby's, 11 February 1887 (Thoms sale), lot 1092. Also owned by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1820-89). Formerly Folger MS 452.4.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980), as the Welden MS
:
Copy, headed Upon the Miserie of Man
.
A quarto verse miscellany, in English and Latin, 210 pages, comprising 38 unnumbered pages and 172 numbered pages (plus four blank leaves), perhaps largely in a single predominantly secretary hand, with additions in four other hands on the unnumbered pages and pp. 167-71, including the scribbled title Divers Sonnets & Poems compiled by certaine gentil Clarks and Ryme-Wrightes, probably associated with Oxford University and the Inns of Court, in contemporary vellum.
Including 14 poems by Strode (and a second copy of one poem).
Inscribed (front pastedown) Wakelin EeK Hering / Blows of Whitsor
, and (rear pastedown) R. J. Cotton
. Formerly Folger MS 2073.4.
Cited in IELM, II.ii (1993) as the Cotton MS:
Copy, headed Humane life Charactered by Francis Viscount St Albanes
, subscribed Lord: virulam
.
A quarto verse miscellany, with later accounts on the last page dated June 1658, 1* + 238 pages (including stubs of extracted pages 191-6, plus numerous blanks), in old calf (rebacked).
Including 11 poems by Carew and 14 poems by Randolph.
Inscribed Jane Wheeler
and Tho: Oliver Busfield
. Francis Quarles's poem (pp. 209-11) To ye two partners of my heart Mr John Wheeler, and Mr Symon Tue. Item 96 in an unidentified sale catalogue. Formerly Folger MS 2071.6.
A Jo. Wheeler
signed the Christ Church, Oxford, disbursement books for 1641-3 (xii, b.85 and 86).
Cited in IELM, II.i-ii (1987-93), as the Wheeler MS
:
Copy, headed Of mans misery Sr fr: Bacon:
.
A quarto verse miscellany, largely in a single mixed hand, with additions in other hands, associated with Oxford University, possibly Christ Church, 315 pages (plus blanks), in modern black morocco gilt.
Including 11 poems by Donne, and 15 poems (plus one of uncertain authorship) by Corbett.
Later owned by Edward Jeremiah Curteis, M.P., of Windmill Hill, Sussex. Puttick & Simpson's, 30 June 1884 (Curteis sale), lot 175, to Pearson of Pall Mall for James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1820-89). Formerly Folger MS 452.5.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980), and II.i (1987), as the Curteis MS
:
Copy, untitled, subscribed ignoto
.
A quarto miscellany, in several hands, written over a period, 80 leaves (plus 67 blanks and stubs of numerous extracted leaves), in contemporary vellum gilt.
Compiled by or for Sir Henry Cholmley, brother of Sir Hugh Cholmley (1600-57), the ascription by my brother Sr Hugh Cholmley
(1600-57) inserted on f. 19r in a cursive hand responsible for entries on ff. 3r-12v, 15v-29r, 41r-v, 75v-7r, the contents including twelve poems by Thomas Carew and poems by members of the circle of Lucius Cary (1610?-43), second Viscount Falkland, of Great Tew, Oxfordshire, by the St Leger family of Ulcombe, Kent, and by Sir William Twysden of Kent.
Later bookplate of Henry B. Humphrey.
Recorded in IELM, II.i (1987), as the Cholmley MS
:
Copy, headed Humane Life charactered by Fra. Bacon, Viscount St. Albans
.
A quarto verse miscellany, in two neat hands, 14 leaves (plus blanks), in modern quarter-calf cloth.
A (misapplied) title-page (f. 1r) possibly in another hand: Copy of Verses upon ye Government under the Protectour Cromwel -- By Edmund Waller 1650.
Inscribed (f. [ir]) C F
[?].
Copy of the first stanza, untitled.
An octavo miscellany, in varying largely italic scripts possibly in one hand, 55 unfoliated leaves, in a vellum wrapper (a recycled legal document).
Among papers of the Wittewronge family, originally from Ghent, of Rothamstead House, Hertfordshire, and elsewhere, and related families.
Copy, untitled, introduced by reflections on the miseries of life ending ...in the most retired quiet plentyfull Condition, Something falls out still veryfiing that of of [sic] our Sauiour, Sufficient to ye day is ye Sorrow therof. briefly thus, as on expresses it
.
A small quarto book of Dayly Obseruations both Diuine & Morall / The First part by Thomas Grocer Florilegius. 1657
, on 215 pages (paginated irregularly, plus five preliminary leaves).
A commonplace book of quotations from largely devotional or philosophical texts under subject headings, neatly written in a single hand, with a title-page and table of contents.
Inscriptions in the MS including Crescentius Matherus 1680
, Crescentii Matheri Liber 1682
, Nathanaelis Matheri Liber 1683
, By Mr Oakes
, Elijah Warings Book 1734
, Jne Daniell 1832
, and Thos Alexander -- 1847
.
Copy, headed Humane life Charactered by Francis Viscount S't Albans
.
A quarto verse miscellany, written in alternating secretary and italic scripts, probably in a single hand; foliated in ink 1-32 and paginated in pencil 33-96, 32 leaves (lacking final leaf).
Including nine poems by Randolph, plus two of doubtful authorship.
Later in the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bt (1792-1872), manuscript and book collector: Phillipps MS 10110. Bookplate of Robert Hoe (1839-1909), New York businessman and book collector.
Cited in IELM, II.ii (1993), as the Huntington MS
:
Copy, in a predominantly italic hand, untitled.
An octavo miscellany of verse and some prose, in several italic and mixed hands, written probably over a period from both ends, 72 leaves, in contemporary vellum.
Copy, headed A description of mans life
.
A folio verse miscellany, comprising 162 poems in English, in a single hand, 273 pages, in brown morocco gilt.
Formerly (before 1686) in the Palatine Library at Heidelberg. Possibly acquired by Charles Louis (1617-80), Elector Palatine, while at the English court of his uncle, Charles I, from 1635 to 1649.
This volume discovered, and announced in the TLS, 23 July 2010, pp. 14-15, by June Schlueter and Paul Schlueter.
Copy, headed The World. a fit recitation for Evening
.
An octavo verse miscellany, chiefly translations of classical texts, predominantly in one clear hand up to p. 151, with additions in other hands over a period, written from both ends, 273 pages (plus a number of blanks), in half-calf marbled boards.
Copy, headed Vita Misera. Ill. D. Fr. Baconus
.
A quarto verse miscellany, in Latin and English, written from both ends, 181 pages.
Compiled by, and principally in the hand of, William Burton (1609-57), antiquary.
Copy, the text followed (f. 9r) by Farnaby's Greek version.
A miscellany, compiled by Charles Allis.
Copy, in a musical setting by Morelli.
A folio volume of music by Cesare Morelli.
Copy in a musical setting.
A folio songbook compiled by Cesare Morelli for the use of Samuel Pepys, 113 leaves, in contemporary calf.
Copy, headed Sr ffrancis Bacon on the misery of man
.
A folio composite volume of verse, prose and dramatic works, in various hands, written over a period from both ends, 543 pages (including blanks), in contemporary panelled calf with remains of metal clasps.
Compiled by members of the Salusbury family of Llewenni, Denbighshire, including works by Sir Thomas Salusbury, second Baronet (1612-43), poet and politician.
Later owned by J. Baskerville-Glegg, of Withington Hall, Chelford. Sotheby's, 14-16 March 1921, lot 421.
Copy, in an italic hand, headed Lord Verulam of the World
.
A folio verse miscellany, in possibly several hands, one italic hand predominating, largely in double columns and written from both ends, on sixteen leaves of vellum, in modern stiff paper wrappers.
Compiled by members of the family of Peter Chamberlen, M.D. (1601-83), Royal Physician, possibly by his son Paul (1635-1717).
Sold c.1851-2 by Thomas Thorpe Jr to Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bt (1792-1872), book and manuscript collector: Phillipps MS 12399. Sotheby's, 1895 (Phillipps sale), lot 906, to Ridler. Bookplate of Professor Frederic Ives Carpenter.
Calligraphic copy, headed The Worlde
, on one side of a folio leaf.
A folio miscellany of chiefly religious verse, in a calligraphic hand adopting various secretary and italic scripts and decorative motifs, in black and red ink, on fifteen leaves (plus three blanks), in modern quarter-morocco.
In a hand associated with one Henry Feilde.
Copy, headed Sr Fr: Bacon. / On ye Vanity of ye Life of Man
.
A small quarto verse anthology, in a single minute hand (but for p. 206), arranged under genre headings (Epitaphs
, Satyricall
, Love Sonnets
, etc.), probably associated with Oxford University, possibly Christ Church, 382 pages (including numerous blanks), in contemporary calf gilt.
Including 13 poems by Donne and 14 (plus one of uncertain authorship) by Corbett; the scribe is that mainly responsible also for the Thomas Smyth MS
(
Later owned and used extensively as a notebook by Dr William Balam (1651-1726), of Ely, Cambridgeshire, who also annotated
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980) and II.i (1987), as the Welbeck MS
:
Copy, headed in a different ink Of the World
, on a single quarto leaf.
A composite verse miscellany.
Copy, headed The World
, subscribed Fran: Ld Bacon
.
A quarto verse miscellany, in probably a single mixed hand varying over a period, entitled in another hand Recueil Choisi De Pieces fugitives En Vers Anglois, 214 pages, in modern calf.
Afterwards owned by Charles de Beaumont, the Chevalière d'Éon (1728-1810). Later owned by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872): Phillipps MS 9500. In the Shakespearian Library of Marsden J. Perry (1850-1935), industrialist, banker, and art and book collector, of Providence, Rhode Island. American Art Association, New York, 11-12 March 1936.
Copy, headed The Lord Verulams' verses
and here beginning at line 8 (The rural parts are turned into a den
).
An octavo verse miscellany, in a single small mixed hand throughout; 425 pages (plus an eight-page index), in contemporary calf.
Including 45 poems (and a second copy of one) by Carew, 11 poems (plus one of doubtful authorship) by Corbett, and 25 poems (plus two of doubtful authorship) by Strode.
The initials T. C.
stamped on the front cover. Sold by Thomas Thorpe (1836). Afterwards in the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bt (1792-1872), manuscript and book collector: Phillipps MS 9536, and by Marsden J. Perry (1850-1935), of Providence, Rhode Island, industrialist, banker, and art and books collector. A.S.W. Rosenbach's sale catalogue English Poetry to 1700 (1941), item 189.
Cited in IELM, II.i-ii (1987-93), as the Rosenbach MS II
:
Copy of a fourteen-line parodied version beginning What is ye Life of man a uerry bubble
.
An octavo verse miscellany, in several hands, 89 leaves, in old calf gilt.
Partly compiled (pp. 75-99) by one Robert Berkeley, who has inscribed the first page Rob Berkeley his booke Ano. 1640
.
Formerly owned by Henry Huth (1815-78). Formerly Rosenbach 195.
Copy, headed Mans life
.
A quarto verse miscellany, including fifteen poems by Donne, with a title-page Miscellanies Or A Collection of Diuers Witty and pleasant Epigrams, Adages, poems Epitaphes &c for the recreation of ye ouertravelled sences: 1630 Robert Bishop
, in a single mixed hand, probably associated with the University of Oxford, 306 pages, in old calf.
Owned and probably compiled by Robert Bishop. Later owned by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), manuscript and book collector: Phillipps MS 9549. A.S.W. Rosenbach's sale catalogue, English Poetry to 1700 (1941), item 187.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980) as the Bishop MS
:
Copy.
A quarto verse miscellany, including ten poems by Henry King, perhaps almost entirely written over a period in a single secretary hand with slightly varying styles, 54 leaves, in limp vellum.
The name of the possible compiler John Pike
inscribed on f. 1r: i.e. possibly a member of the Pike family of Cambridge (one John Pike (d.1677) matriculating at Peterhouse in 1662).
Cited in IELM, II.i (1987) as the Pike MS
:
Copy, with corrections.
A folio verse miscellany comprising 56 poems, including 29 by Donne, in several hands (two predominating), 34 leaves, mounted on guards, in modern cloth.
Much of the volume (including 24 poems by Donne on ff. 15r-31v) evidently transcribed from the Dalhousie MS I (
Inscribed (f. 1r) with the date 28 September 1622 and, in possibly a child's hand (f. 1v), Andrew Ramsey
. Formerly among the muniments of the Earl of Dalhousie (descendant of the Maule and Ramsay families), of Brechin Castle, on deposit in the Scottish Record Office (GD45/26/95/2). Sotheby's, 20 July 1981, lot 491, and 12 December1982, lot 49.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980), as the Dalhousie MS II
:
Facsimiles of f. 10v in Sotheby's sale catalogue, and of ff. 20v and 26r in DLB, vol. 121, Seventeenth-Century British Nondramatic Poets, First Series, ed. M. Thomas Hester (Detroit, 1992), pp. 320-1. Complete microfilms of the MS are in the National Archives of Scotland and in the Brirish Library, RP 2441.
Copy, headed Of Mans mortality
, subscribed ffranc: St Albans
.
A quarto miscellany of epitaphs and poems, in several hands, the main collection of verse (ff. 46-147) in a single hand and including 54 poems by Donne (all subscribed J. D.
) and fourteen poems by or attributed to Herrick, 158 pages (plus index).
Once owned by the Sir Henry Spelman (1563/4-1641), historian and antiquary, and later by Dawson Turner (1775-1858), banker, botanist, and antiquary. Puttick & Simpson's, 6 June 1859 (Turner sale), lot 164. Afterwards owned by Sir George Grey (1812-98), Governor of Australia, New Zealand and Cape Colony. Formerly MS Grey 2 a 11.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980) and II.i (1987), as the Grey MS
:
Copy of a four-stanza version, untitled.
Subscribed Made by Sr Francis Bacon kt. baron Verulam Viscount St Albons & late Lord Chancelor of England
, among other verses subscribed Finis Q p me Tho: Everardu
, on both sides of a single mutilated folio leaf.
Also bearing at an upper corner the name Sarah Amler
. Sotheby's, 21 July 1992, lot 9, to Quaritch.
Copy, headed How vaine a thing is Man
, subscribed Visc: st Alb:
.
This MS collated in Grierson, p. 148.
A folio verse miscellany, including 15 poems by Donne, f. 162r-v in a rounded italic hand, ff. 164r-74v in a slightly erratic italic hand, ff. 175r-279v in a neat formal italic hand (also responsible for the index on ff. 2r-11v), this miscellany constituting ff. 162r-279v of a single folio volume containing also Part I (
Formerly MS G. 2.21.
Cited in IELM, I.i (1980), as the Dublin MS (II):
Copy, headed On the Worlds Vanity
and subscribed Sir Fran: Bacon
.
A duodecimo verse miscellany, compiled principally in the secretary hand of a University of Oxford man, with additions in one or more other hands, 150 pages, imperfect, disbound.
Copy, untitled.
A small quarto verse miscellany, predominantly in one secretary hand, erratically paginated up to 333, 250 leaves, in 18th-century boards.
Inscribed (on p. [330]) Robert Lord his book Anno Domini
; (on [p. 335]) william Jacob his booke Amen
; and, among scribbling on the last leaf, Hugh Gibgans of the same
and John Winter of Buckland Dursbane [or husbande?]
. Owned in 1788 by Alexander R. Popham. Bloomsbury Book Auction, 23 November 2000, lot 8.
A microfilm is in the British Library, RP 7698.
The first thirteen lines, quoted in Reresby's essay Of vertue
, with introductory preamble I cannot giue thee a more worthie Moderne Instance; to make thee detest this base worlds vanities then my Lord Verrulams meditation of mortality, who truely saith:
.
A quarto volume of poems and essays, in a single hand, written from both ends, xi + 26 pages and iii + 37 pages (plus numerous blanks), in contemporary calf.
Written and composed by Sir John Reresby, first Baronet (1611-46), royalist, of Thribergh Hall, West Yorkshire.
Bookplate of Sir Thomas Brooke, Bt, FSA (1830-1908), Yorkshire antiquary and book collector, of Armitage Bridge.
Copy of a 20-line version, here beginning Some sicke Care overwhelms the husband's joyes
, imperfect, lacking the beginning.
Edited from this MS in Alice Law, A New Caroline Commonplace Book, Fortnightly Review, NS 66 (September 1899), 395-416 (p. 397). Discussed in Grierson.
An octavo commonplace book, 116 pages, containing names of members of the Choate family.
Owned in 1667 by Elizabeth Stalham. Owned before 1936 by Miss Alice Law. Sotheby's, 21 December 1936, lot 200, to Myers. Myers' sale catalogue No. 348 (1947), item 109.