Watermark on back flyleaf: Al Masso.

Binding: patterned morocco; gilt decoration.

In English and French.

Manuscript, in a single hand, of a collection of about 40 English poems and songs, on such sentimental subjects as love, flowers, and parting, and divided into three sections. The volume begins with a preface in verse, followed by six poems on love and the Treaty of Paris Peace of 1814, each accompanied by a French translation. These entries are followed by poems with titles such as The desponding parting; The lament of Orpheus on his second loss of Eurydice; The full-blown rose; and The old maid's caution. An Advertisement begins the second section, explaining that the songs to follow, primarily by Thomas Moore and Robert Burns, have been adapted by Christie for his daughter by removing "certain blemishes" or altering them to be more suitable for the purely English singer. The original songs are each accompanied by Christie's altered version. This section also contains The maiden's prayer, from the opera The random shot; and a series of "Anacreontics" which contain at least partially phonetic spellings of English words. Following these entries is the final section, titled An attempt to translate into blank verse the second book of Virgil's Aeneid by Mr. Justice Christie.

Dos-a-dos, the volume contains another title page which attributes the work to "Mr. Justice Christie of Mauritius," and, crossed out, "Member of the Faculty of Advocates and of the Honble Society of Lincoln's Inn." The title page is followed by copies of the verse preface and the first six poems, with their translations, which appear at the beginning of the manuscript.

English poetry > 19th century.

Poetry > Translations into French.