AMDigital Reference:Lt q 32 There is little evidence that this very large manuscript was produced for circulation, although some of the poems seem to have been composed for various of her children who are directly addressed, and 'The Garden' is apparently written at Anne's request. Most of it is in a scribal hand, although corrections appear throughout in a hand that may well be her own, identical to the hand that has inscribed accounts at the back of the MS : two poems at the end of the volume are also composed in that hand (see Physical Description). The poems cover political, philosophical and religious subjects. Their addressees include Charles I, Henrietta Maria, and the poet Davenant, although she says she has never met the latter: several of her poems are about or addressed to her daughters. She represents herself as 'shut up in a Countrey Grange' and composing poetry in order to occupy herself harmlessly. However, she was clearly familiar with the contemporary literary scene, as her poems contain echoes of Marvell and Denham, and she has certainly read James Howell. Her poems also show familiarity with the latest theories in astronomy and alchemy. Taking into account the dates of works alluded to, and watermarks, as well as dates in the manuscript, the poems seem to have been transcribed in the mid to late 1650s. The romance seems to have been transcribed between March 1661, when the manuscript was still being used the right way up (see the accounts on fol.166v) and December 1661, when another note is made on fol.165v which seems to indicate that the romance has been copied in in reverse. After her death a local antiquary seems to have taken an interest in the volume, adding a family tree and copying up some of the romance, which had been left in rough. The manuscript is divided into three sections: "Poems Breathed forth By The Nobel Hadassas' (fols.1-89v), 'Emblemes' (fols 90r-131v) and a reversed section which contains an unfinished romance, 'The Unfortunate Florinda' (foliated, in reverse, 1-36v).
Original Version:
Reproduction of: Poems, emblems and an unfinished romance, 1655-1678.
Location of Originals:
Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
Copyright Note:
Material sourced from the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
