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A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a
miscellany A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different forms. In contrast to anthologies, whose aim ...
can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different
forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...
. In contrast to
anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...
, whose aim is to give a ''selective'' and ''
canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...
'' view of literature, miscellanies were produced for the entertainment of a contemporary audience and so instead emphasise ''collectiveness'' and ''popularity''. Laura Mandell and Rita Raley state: Manuscript miscellanies are important in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, and are the sources for most surviving shorter medieval vernacular poetry. Medieval miscellanies often include completely different types of text, mixing poetry with legal documents, recipes, music, medical and devotional literature and other types of text, and in medieval contexts a mixture of types of text is often taken as a necessary condition for describing a manuscript as a miscellany. They may have been written as a collection, or represent manuscripts of different origins that were later bound together for convenience. In the early modern period miscellanies remained significant in a more restricted literary context, both in manuscript and printed forms, mainly as a vehicle for collections of shorter pieces of poetry, but also other works. Their numbers increased until their peak of importance in the
18th century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...
, when over 1000 English poetry miscellanies were published, before the rise of anthologies in the early 19th century. The printed miscellany gradually morphed into the format of the regularly published magazine, and many early magazines used the word in their titles.


Manuscript and printed miscellanies before the 18th century

The broadest distinction is between manuscript and printed miscellanies. Manuscript miscellanies were carefully compiled by hand, but also circulated, consumed, and sometimes added to in this organic state – they were a prominent feature of 16th and early 17th century literary culture. Printed miscellanies, which evolved in the late 17th and 18th centuries, were compiled by editors and published by booksellers to make a profit. While manuscript miscellanies were produced by a small coterie of writers, and so were constructed around their own personal tastes, printed miscellanies were increasingly aimed towards a popular audience, and bear the marks of commercially driven, money making, opportunistic endeavours. Multi-authored collections are known to exist in many forms – such as newspapers, magazines, or journals – and the act of
commonplacing Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such books are simi ...
, of transcribing useful extracts and quotations from multiple sources is also well recorded. However, the formal production of ''literary'' miscellanies came into its established form in the 16th and 17th centuries, and reached a highpoint in the 18th century. Although literary miscellanies would often contain critical essays and extracts of prose or drama, their main focus was popular
verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...
, often including songs. At this time poetry was still a dominant literary form, for both low and high literature, and its variety and accessibility further suited it to miscellaneous publication.


Medieval miscellanies

Most medieval miscellanies include some religious texts, and many consist of nothing else. A few examples are given here to illustrate the range of material typically found. The Theological miscellany (British Library, MS Additional 43460) was made in late 8th century Italy with 202 folios of
patristic Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...
writings in Latin. The 9th-century Irish
Book of Armagh The ''Book of Armagh'' or Codex Ardmachanus (ar or 61) ( ga, Leabhar Ard Mhacha), also known as the ''Canon of Patrick'' and the ''Liber Ar(d)machanus'', is a 9th-century Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the L ...
is also mostly in Latin but includes some of the earliest surviving
Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
writing, as well as several texts on
Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...
, significant sections of the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
, and a 4th-century saint's ''Life''. The
Nowell Codex The Nowell Codex is the second of two manuscripts comprising the bound volume Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, one of the four major Anglo-Saxon poetic manuscripts. It is most famous as the manuscript containing the unique copy of the epic poem ''Beow ...
(BL Cotton Vitellius A. xv, ignoring a later volume bound in with it) is an
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
manuscript of about 1000 to 1010. It is famous for the only text of ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
'' but also includes a life of
Saint Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is veneration, venerated by several Christianity, Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Deciu ...
, ''
Wonders of the East ''The Wonders of the East'' (or ''The Marvels of the East'') is an Old English prose text, probably written around AD 1000. It is accompanied by many illustrations and appears also in two other manuscripts, in both Latin and Old English. It descri ...
'' (a description of various far-off lands and their fantastic inhabitants), a translation of a ''
Letter of Alexander to Aristotle The ''Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem'' ("Letter of Alexander to Aristotle") is a purported letter from Alexander the Great to the philosopher Aristotle concerning his adventures in India. Although accepted for centuries as genuine, it is tod ...
'', and the poem '' Judith'' based on the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
''
Book of Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to the apocrypha. It tells ...
''. It is one of the four Old English Poetic Codices from which the bulk of surviving
Old English poetry Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work ''Cædmon ...
comes, all of which can be classed as miscellanies. The ''
Lacnunga The ''Lacnunga'' ('Remedies') is a collection of miscellaneous Anglo-Saxon medical texts and prayers, written mainly in Old English and Latin. The title ''Lacnunga'', an Old English word meaning 'remedies', is not in the manuscript: it was given t ...
'' is a 10th or 11th century miscellany in Old English, Latin and Old Irish, with health-related texts taking a wide range of approaches, from
herbal medicine Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...
and other medical procedures, to prayers and charms. The lavishly illuminated late 13th century North French Hebrew Miscellany contains mostly biblical and liturgical texts, but also legal material, over 200 poems, and calendars. The large 9th-century Chinese text ''
Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang The ''Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang'' () is a book written by Duan Chengshi in the 9th century. It focuses on miscellany of Chinese and foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, short anecdotes, and tales of the wondrous an ...
'', contains various Chinese and foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, short anecdotes, and tales of the wondrous and mundane, as well as notes on such topics as medicinal herbs and tattoos. The '' Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608'', an oversized illustrated manuscript of 594 pages, depicts a wide range of subjects including herbal cures, biblical stories, a list of the mayors of London, proverbs, calendars, and embroidery patterns.


Verse miscellanies

Verse miscellanies are collections of poems or poetic extracts that vary in authorship, genre, and subject matter. The earlier tradition of manuscript verse continued to be produced in the 16th century and onwards, and many of these early examples are preserved in national, state, and university libraries, as well as in private collections. The
Devonshire Manuscript The Devonshire manuscript (British Library, Add. MS 17492) is a verse miscellany from the 1530s and early 1540s, compiled by three women who attended the court of Anne Boleyn: Mary Shelton, Mary Fitzroy (née Howard), and Lady Margaret Douglas. A ...
is a verse miscellany that was produced in the 1530s and early 1540s, and contains a range of works, from original pieces and fragments to translations and medieval verse. Compiled by three eminent women, it is one of the first examples of men and women collaborating on a literary work. Also prominent is the Arundel Harington manuscript, containing the writings of
Sir Thomas Wyatt Sir Thomas Wyatt (150311 October 1542) was a 16th-century English politician, ambassador, and lyric poet credited with introducing the sonnet to English literature. He was born at Allington Castle near Maidstone in Kent, though the family was ...
, Queen Elizabeth, and
Sir Philip Sidney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
. Into the 17th century, the two Dalhousie Manuscripts are also of literary significance, as they contain the largest sustained contemporary collection of
John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...
’s verse. Although fewer
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
verse miscellanies have been preserved, the Auchinleck Manuscript survives as a good example: it was produced in London in the 1330s and offers a rare snapshot of pre- Chaucerian
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
poetry. However, most surviving manuscript verse miscellanies are from the 17th century: Printed verse miscellanies arose in the latter half of the 16th century, during the reign of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
(1558–1603). One of the most influential
English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...
verse miscellanies was
Richard Tottel Richard Tottel (died 1594) was an English publisher and influential member of the legal community. He ran his business from a shop located at Temple Bar on Fleet Street in London. The majority of his printing was centered on legal documents, but ...
’s ''Songes and Sonettes'', now better known as ''
Tottel's Miscellany ''Songes and Sonettes'', usually called ''Tottel's Miscellany'', was the first printed anthology of English poetry. First published by Richard Tottel in 1557 in London, it ran to many editions in the sixteenth century. Richard Tottel Richard To ...
''. First printed in 1557, it ran into nine further editions before 1587; it was not then printed again until the 18th century. Although few new miscellanies emerged during the insurrectionary years of
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
and
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
(1603–1649), there was a resurgence of interest during the
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
period and 18th century, and the vast majority of printed verse miscellanies originate from this latter period. The poetry in these miscellanies varied widely in
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
, form, and subject, and would frequently include: love
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...
,
pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
s,
ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...
s,
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s, songs,
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
s, satires,
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
s,
fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...
s,
panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...
s,
parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
,
epistle An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...
s,
elegies An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
,
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
s, and
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
s, as well as translations into English and
prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
s and
epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...
s from plays. The practice of attributing poems in miscellanies was equally varied: sometimes editors would carefully identify authors, but most often the miscellaneous form would allow them to disregard conventions of authorship. Often authors were indicated by a set of initials, a partial name, or by reference to a previous poem "by the same hand"; equally often there were
anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...
or pseudonymous attributions, as well as misattributions to other authors – or even made-up or deceased persons. Within a miscellany, editors and booksellers would often exercise considerable freedom in reproducing, altering, and extracting texts. Due to early
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
laws, lesser-known authors would regularly play no part in the printing process, receive no remuneration or
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
, and their works could be freely redistributed (and sometimes even
pirated Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
) once in the public domain.


Development in the 18th century

Throughout the 18th century, the miscellany was the customary mode through which popular verse and
occasional poetry Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage. Term As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work' ...
would be printed, circulated, and consumed. Michael F. Suarez, one of the leading authorities on miscellanies, states: Including songbooks, the ''New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'' lists almost 5000 verse miscellanies which were printed between 1701 and 1800. Due to the sheer number and variety of miscellanies printed in the 18th century, there are few generalizations that can be made about them. From the polite (
Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) or Allan Ramsay the Younger (1713–1784), Scottish portrait painter *Allan Ramsay (diplomat) (1937–2022), British diplom ...
’s ''The Tea-Table Miscellany'', 1724–27)Google Books
''The Tea-Table Miscellany''
to the partly obscene (''The Merry Thought: or, The Glass-Window and Bog-house Miscellany'', 1731–33)Gutenburg
''The Merry Thought: or, The Glass-Window and Bog-house Miscellany''
the central purpose behind nearly all printed verse miscellanies was the reader’s entertainment. However, they were also marketed with practical purposes in mind: as educative moral guides (''Miscellanies, Moral and Instructive, in Prose and Verse'', 1787),Google Books
''Miscellanies, Moral and Instructive, in Prose and Verse''
as repositories of useful information (''A Miscellany of Ingenious Thoughts and Reflections in Verse and Prose'', 1721–30), as elocutionary aids (
William Enfield William Enfield (29 March 1741 – 3 November 1797) was a British Unitarian minister who published a bestselling book on elocution entitled ''The Speaker'' (1774). Life Enfield was born in Sudbury, Suffolk to William and Ann Enfield. In 1758, h ...
’s ''The Speaker'', 1774–1820),Google Books
''The Speaker''
and as guides for poetical composition (Edward Bysshe's ''The Art of English Poetry'', 1702–62).Digital Miscellanies Index
''The Art of English Poetry''


Range of titles and audiences

In a competitive market the title of miscellanies was increasingly important. Without a specific selling-point, more generic complications would use catch-all titles as a tactic to familiarise themselves with a wide range of audiences and to appeal to a breadth of tastes. Titles could evoke the ornamental (''The Bouquet: or Blossoms of Fancy'', 1796), the medicinal (''The Merry Companion: or, A Cure for the Spleen'', 1730), the festive or feast (''A Banquet of the Muses: or The Miscellany of Miscellanies'', 1746), the curious (''A Museum for Young Gentlemen and Ladies'', 1751–82),Digital Miscellanies Index
''A Museum for Young Gentlemen and Ladies''
and the curatorial (''The Foundling Hospital for Wit'', 1743–64).Digital Miscellanies Index
''The Foundling Hospital for Wit''


Variety and popularity

Despite these categorizations, miscellanies attempted to appeal to a wide audience by containing a variety of material for different tastes. Although an editor might orient the miscellany towards an intended audience, by nature of the variety of verse a much wider readership would have been possible. One-off, occasional miscellanies might prove popular and warrant further volumes or editions, such as political pamphlets (''Poems on Affairs of State'', 1689–1705),Google Books
''Poems on Affairs of State''
resort-based works (''Tunbrigalia: or the Tunbridge Miscellany'', 1712–40), local productions ('' The Yorkshire Garland'', 1788),Google Books
''The Yorkshire Garland''
and courtly, coterie or collegiate collections (
Thomas Warton Thomas Warton (9 January 172821 May 1790) was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1785, following the death of William Whitehead. He is sometimes called ''Thomas Warton the younger'' to disti ...
’s ''The
Oxford Sausage Oxford sausages are a distinctive variety of pork and veal sausage commonly associated with, and thought to have been developed in, the English city of Oxford. Traditionally, Oxford sausages are noted for the addition of veal, in contrast to man ...
: or select poetical pieces written by the most celebrated wits of the University of Oxford'', 1764–80).Google Books
''The Oxford Sausage''


Print trade and piracy

Often the commercial success of a miscellany would stimulate the publication of similarly titled, parasitic, and even entirely
pirated Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
works. Dublin booksellers, outside the jurisdiction of the
Statute of Anne The Statute of Anne, also known as the Copyright Act 1710 (cited either as 8 Ann. c. 21 or as 8 Ann. c. 19), was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1710, which was the first statute to provide for copyright regulated by the g ...
(1710) which had established copyright in England, could legally reproduce any popular miscellany that they thought would make a profit.
Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. He ...
’s hugely popular ''Collection of Poems by Several Hands'' (1748)Google Books
''Collection of Poems by Several Hands''
was copied entirely by Dublin booksellers in 1751, though it also underwent other, more minor piracies in the English literary market – such as unauthorized continuations, supplements, or companion texts attempting to exploit the reputation of the original.


The decline of verse miscellanies


Changing tastes and technology

Although poetry maintained cultural pre-eminence for most of the 18th century, it was at the same time retreating before the advance of prose, and particularly the rise of the novel, as the new dominant form of literary expression in the West. The decline of poetry as the most widely printed format is also partly
technological Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
. Lee Erickson argues: Miscellanies however remained popular throughout the 19th century, especially what came to be known as the “weekly news miscellany, which typically appeared at the weekend and featured not only a summary of the week’s intelligence but also a variety of instructive and entertaining matter”, in other words what we call today a magazine, but poetry was no longer privileged among these publications. Verse miscellanies slowly died out in the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, as literary miscellanies made possible the
serial publication In publishing and library and information science, the term serial is applied to materials "in any medium issued under the same title in a succession of discrete parts, usually numbered (or dated) and appearing at regular or irregular intervals wi ...
of novels, such as
William Harrison Ainsworth William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 18053 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in ...
’s ''
Jack Sheppard Jack Sheppard (4 March 1702 – 16 November 1724), or "Honest Jack", was a notorious English thief and prison escapee of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in ...
'' (1839–40) or
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
’ ''
A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the ...
'' (1859) which was published in 31 weekly instalments in his literary periodical '' All the Year Round''. There were few, if any, miscellanies devoted to poetry. Instead, verse would be the minority of content, to provide variety from the extensive prose:


Succession of the anthology

In the wake of collections such as Robert Anderson’s ''Works of the British Poets'' (thirteen vols., 1792–95) and
Alexander Chalmers Alexander Chalmers (29 March 1759 – 29 December 1834) was a Scottish writer. He was born in Aberdeen. Trained as a doctor, he gave up medicine for journalism, and was for some time editor of the ''Morning Herald''. Besides editions of the wo ...
’ ''Works of the English Poets'' (twenty-one vols., 1810), anthologies were increasingly adopted for the publication of assorted poems. Barbara M. Benedict argues: Printing technologies and the rise of the novel played an important role in reshaping the nature of miscellanies, as did changing ideas about the native literary canon. Attempts to construct a credible canon of English verse had been ongoing since the early 18th century, and with its success the place of poetry was determined by the advent of authoritative anthologies which claimed to represent the very best of the English poetic tradition.


Significance and recognition

In contrast to
anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...
, whose aim is to give a canonical history of literature, miscellanies tend to reflect the dynamic literary culture of the time in which they were produced. As Michael F. Suarez states: There are modifications to this definition, such as the argument that miscellanies could contain elements that might be considered anthological (the inclusion of classical literary pieces for example) or could be republished years later when their original contents had matured in literary value. Suarez also notes that eighteenth-century miscellanies often contained "extracts from a variety of single-author publications" and, furthermore, that "many miscellanies appropriated select pieces from earlier poetry collections, thus forming what were essentially anthologies of miscellanies."


The literary marketplace

It is generally accepted that miscellanies offer insight into the popular taste of the moment, of what people read and how they read it; yet they also provide information about the
aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...
,
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
and economic concerns underlying the production and consumption of literature. Miscellanies were assembled, marketed and sold with a contemporary reading audience in mind, and reveal a dynamic between the taste which they played a part in shaping, and the preoccupations of the editors who complied and the
publishers Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
who sold them. Indeed, the range of price and format reveals the extent to which poetry was packaged and sold for different readerships. As Jennifer Batt argues: Miscellanies frequently placed emphasis on variety, novelty and fashionability, providing their readers with a range of different pieces by various writers, but also keeping them abreast of the newest developments in the literary market. They are a prime demonstration of early marketing and advertising techniques in literature.


Contemporary importance and influence

Miscellanies were an influential literary form at the time. From the beginning of the 18th century, verse miscellanies were gathering together a selection of poetic works by different authors, past and present, and so played a part in the development of the concept of the English canon. These literary miscellanies might be sold as unique collections, arising from the combinations of writers in a small literary circle; or their function could attempt to be more national and historical, by representing the finest works of British poets to date. The multiple editions of the
Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the peri ...
-
Tonson Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the Elder (1655–1736), was an eighteenth-century English bookseller and publisher. Tonson published editions of John Dryden and John Milton, and is best known for having obtained a copyright ...
''Miscellany Poems'' (1684–1708)Digital Miscellanies Index
''Miscellany Poems''
and the
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...
-
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
''Miscellanies'' (1727–32),Google Books
''Miscellanies''
as well as ''The Muses Library'' (1737)Google Books
'The Muses Library''
and ''The British Muse'' (1738),Google Books
''The British Muse''
were from early on attempting to construct a notion of a national literary heritage. The revival of interest in English balladry is also largely due to miscellanies, most famously Thomas Percy’s ''
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry The ''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'' (sometimes known as ''Reliques of Ancient Poetry'' or simply Percy's ''Reliques'') is a collection of ballads and popular songs collected by Bishop Thomas Percy and published in 1765. Sources The basis ...
'' (1765).Google Books
''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry''
Miscellanies also played a part in the development of other literary forms, particularly the novel. Since so many collections included prose extracts alongside poetry, often from eighteenth-century novels such as Laurence Sterne's ''
Tristram Shandy Tristram may refer to: Literature * the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne * the title character of ''Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne *"Tristra ...
'' (1759), it is arguable they aided the popularisation of novels.
Leah Price Leah Price (born October 6, 1970) is an American literary critic who specializes in the British novel and in the history of the book. She is Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor in the Department of English at Rutgers University and founding di ...
’s ''The Anthology and the Rise of the Novel'' (2000), in particular, discusses the relationship between miscellanies and prose fiction in the latter half of the 18th century.


Submerged voices and marginal writing

Because of the variety and novelty they emphasise, as well as the
anonymity Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Some writers have argued that namelessness, though technically correct, does not capture what is more centrally at stake in contexts of anonymity. The important idea he ...
of authorship they could offer, miscellanies often enabled the inclusion and so expression of more submerged voices, such as those of women, and more marginal forms of writing, such as the comic, the curious, and the crude. As Dustin Griffin has noted: Many miscellanies contained exclusively the writing of women, most famously ''Poems by Eminent Ladies'' (1755)Google Books
''Poems by Eminent Ladies''
– a collection of verse by 18 women poets including
Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...
,
Elizabeth Carter Elizabeth Carter (pen name Eliza; 16 December 1717 – 19 February 1806) was an English poet, Classicism, classicist, writer, translation, translator, linguistics, linguist, and polymath. As one of the Blue Stockings Society (England), Bluestock ...
,
Mary Leapor Mary Leapor (1722–1746) was an English poet, born in Marston St. Lawrence, Northamptonshire, the only child of Anne Sharman (died 1741) and Philip Leapor (1693–1771), a gardener. She, out of the many labouring-class writers of the period, w ...
, Anne Finch,
Katherine Philips Katherine or Catherine Philips (1 January 1631/2 – 22 June 1664), also known as "The Matchless Orinda", was an Anglo-Welsh royalist poet, translator, and woman of letters. She achieved renown as a translator of Pierre Corneille's '' Pompée'' ...
,
Margaret Cavendish Margaret Lucas Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623 – 15 December 1673) was an English philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction writer and playwright. Her husband, William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was Cavalier, R ...
,
Mary Monck Mary Monck (; 1677?1715) was a celebrated beauty and poet. Digital version at Library Ireland. Life She was the second daughter of Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth, and Letitia Coote, third daughter of Richard, Lord Coloony, and sister ...
,
Lady Mary Chudleigh Mary, Lady Chudleigh (; August 1656–1710) was an English poet who belonged to an intellectual circle that included Mary Astell, Elizabeth Thomas, Judith Drake, Elizabeth Elstob, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and John Norris. In her later yea ...
, and Mary Barber – and recently critics have brought to light the ways in which such women made a key contribution to the miscellany culture of the 18th century. The ''Perdita Project'' provides the fullest evidence of women’s role in manuscript miscellanies in the period 1500–1700. Miscellanies also presented themselves as performing an important cultural or curatorial role, by preserving unbound sheets, fragments and
ephemera Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...
which otherwise would have been lost – and thus offering a unique insight into the vibrant literary life of the 18th century. A prime example of such curiosity-shop publications is ''The fugitive miscellany: a collection of fugitive pieces in prose and verse'' (1774),Internet Archive
''The fugitive miscellany. Being a collection of such fugitive pieces, in prose and verse, as are not in any other collection. With many pieces never before published.'' 2 vols. (London, 1774). ESTC T118867
which includes nonsense rhymes, epitaphs, inscriptions, poems made out of newspaper cuttings, as well as wills written in verse. Late twentieth-century criticism has drawn attention to the cultural and literary importance of these non-canonical, lesser-known and ephemeral kinds of popular verse – such as the recent discovery of a poem spuriously attributed to John Milton, " An Extempore upon a Faggot". As the most prolific source of anonymous or pseudonymous publication, miscellanies provide insight into the unconventional history of English literature.
Roger Lonsdale Roger Harrison Lonsdale, FBA (6 August 1934 – 28 February 2022) was a British literary scholar and academic born in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was a Fellow and Tutor at Balliol College Oxford from 1963 to 2000, and Professor of Engli ...
notes in his influential anthology, ''The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth-Century Verse'' (1984): "One of the most interesting poets
rom this period Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...
is the ubiquitous ‘Anonymous’, whose voice almost never registers in conventional literary history". Crucially, he suggests that we would know more about "the landscape of eighteenth-century poetry" if more attention was paid to "the innumerable miscellanies by several hands".


Literary criticism and research projects

It is now widely accepted by literary critics that paying attention to forms of access to literature, and to the
reception history Reception theory is a version of reader response literary theory that emphasizes each particular reader's reception or interpretation in making meaning from a literary text. Reception theory is generally referred to as audience reception in the a ...
of individual works and authors, is an important part of the history of literary culture. In this context, the miscellany has grown rapidly in interest in eighteenth-century studies. As Jennifer Batt states: In light of such developments there have arisen projects attempting to make the vast number and array of verse miscellanies more accessible to modern researchers and readers, most prominently through the process of online
digitization DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a Digital data, digital (i ...
. In 201
''Verse Miscellanies Online''
was launched, which offers a searchable critical edition of seven printed verse miscellanies published in the 16th and early 17th centuries. While some projects focus on creating online editions of the most significant verse miscellanies, others have attempted to arrange a corpus of miscellanies produced in set periods, such a
''Scriptorium: Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Online''
(2006-2009), a digital archive of manuscript miscellanies and commonplace books from c. 1450-1720. The largest undertaking by far has bee
''The Digital Miscellanies Index''
an ongoing project funded by the
Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...
. The ''Index'' seeks to create a freely available online database of the 1000-plus verse miscellanies published in the 18th century, based on a comprehensive bibliography compiled by Michael F. Suarez, and supplied by the world’s single largest collection of miscellanies held in The
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
’s Harding Collection.The
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

'Ragtime to riches, a musical legacy at the Bodleian Library'
10 January 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
Begun in 2010, this project was successfully completed in September 2013. The database is currently available in
beta version


See also

*
18th century in literature Literature of the 18th century refers to world literature produced during the years 1700–1799. European literature in the 18th century European literature of the 18th century refers to literature (poetry, drama, satire, and novels) produced in ...
*
Commonplace books Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such books are simi ...
*
Digital humanities Digital humanities (DH) is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or Information technology, digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanitie ...
*
Florilegium In medieval Latin, a ' (plural ') was a compilation of excerpts or sententia from other writings and is an offshoot of the commonplacing tradition. The word is from the Latin ''flos'' (flower) and '' legere'' (to gather): literally a gathering of ...
*
History of the book The history of books became an acknowledged academic discipline in the 1980s. Contributors to the discipline include specialists from the fields of textual scholarship, codicology, bibliography, philology, palaeography, art history, social hi ...
* Manuscripts *
Muraqqa A Muraqqa ( tr, Murakka, ar, مورّقة, fa, مُرَقّع) is an album in book form containing Islamic miniature paintings and specimens of Islamic calligraphy, normally from several different sources, and perhaps other matter. The album ...
*
Street literature Street literature is any of several different types of publication sold on the streets, at fairs and other public gatherings, by travelling hawkers, pedlars or chapmen, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Robert Collison's account of t ...
* ''Miscellanea'' (Guénon-book) *
Book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...
*
Volume (bibliography) A volume is a physical book. It may be printed or handwritten. The term is commonly used to identify a single book that is part of a larger collection. Volumes are typically identified sequentially with Roman or Arabic numerals, e.g. "volume ...
*
Collection (publishing) In the field of book publishing, a collection or, more precisely, editorial collection (french: collection éditoriale; es, colección editorial; it, collana editoriale; pt, coleção de livros, translation=collection of books), is a set of boo ...


References


Online miscellanies


External links

{{Wiktionary


Online guides and databases

* Kevin Curran
‘Virtual Scholarship: Navigating Early Modern Studies on the World Wide Web.’
''Early Modern Literary Studies'' 12.1 (May 2006) 1.1–23. * Laura Mandell and Rita Raley
''Anthologies and Miscellanies''
(1997; last revised 2002). * Adam Smyth

''Early Modern Literary Studies'' 8.1 (May 2002) 5.1–9
An index to 4600 poems in 41 miscellanies.
* James Woolle
''Finding English Verse, 1650–1800: First-Line Indexes and Searchable Electronic Texts''


Academic projects


''The Digital Miscellanies Index''
Developmen
blog
Additiona
media

''Scriptorium: Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Online''

''Verse Miscellanies Online''


Other notable collections


English Poetical Miscellanies Collection
– Kenneth Spencer Research Library, The University of Kansas. Approximately 500 poetical miscellanies dating from the first quarter of the 17th century to the 19th century.


Additional resources

* Ferry, Anne, ''Tradition and the Individual Poem: An Inquiry Into Anthologies'' (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001). * Hamrick, Stephen ‘Tottel's Miscellany and the English Reformation’ ''Criticism 44'' (2002), 329–61. * Hughey, Ruth, ''The Arundel Harington manuscript of English poetry,'' 2 vols. (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1960). * O'Callaghan, Michelle

in ''Early Modern Culture'' 8 (2010). * Pomeroy, Elizabeth, ‘The Elizabethan Miscellanies: Their Developments and Conventions’, ''English Studies'' 36 (1973), 1–145. * Southall, Raymond, ‘The Devonshire Manuscript Collection of Early Tudor Poetry, 1532–1541’, ''Review of English Studies'' n.s. 15 (1964), 142–150. * Sullivan, Ernest W. Jr (ed.), ''First and Second Dalhousie Manuscripts: poems and prose by John Donne and others'' (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1988). Literature Books by type Publishing Types of illuminated manuscript