Table of contents at end of manuscript.

On title page: Miscellaneous Manuscripts. Vol: 3. Thomas Binns Liverpool 1797.

Binding: half calf over marbled boards. In gilt on spine: Miscellaneous Manuscripts, 3.

In English.

Manuscript, in a single hand, of a collection of over a hundred primarily sentimental or melancholy poems. Many of the poems are by Charlotte Smith, such as The female exile; The forest boy; and Apostrophe to an old tree. Other meditatve entries include The pains of memory and The cell of contemplation. The collection also contains a number of poems on nature and landscapes, including The bird's egg by Dr. Thompson; Sonnet, written on rising ground near Lichfield by Anna Seward; and Sonnet to the north wind by Sarah Herd. Other poets represented in the collection include William Cowper, William Smyth, Richard Polwhele, and William Roscoe.

Interspersed with these poems are seven prose pieces. They consist of Thomas Beddoes' Extract of a letter on early instruction parituclarly that of the poor; A brief account of the death of the late Lord Lyttleton; Benjamin Franklin's letter to Benjamin Webb; Extract of a letter from John Fry jun to -- relative to an extraordinary character at Redstone in North America, concerning a clairvoyant boy; William Roscoe's On the comparative excellence of the sciences and arts; Character of the late John Marriott from the Gentleman's Magazine; and Anna Seward's Extract of a letter to Boswell on the subject of Dr Johnson.

English poetry > 18th century.

Nature > Poetry.