- Call number
- Pforz BND-MSS (Leisure hours amusement of a young lady)
- Physical description
- 1 volume ([18] 138 [139-292] p.), 24.3 cm; 1 volume ([18] 138 [139-292] p.), 24.3 cm
- Preferred Citation
- The leisure hours amusement of a young lady, presented by her, as a token of grateful remembrance to her friend, Mr. E. S. U. : [commonplace book], Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, The New York Public Library
- Repository
- Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
- Access to materials
- Restricted access. Request an in-person research appointment.
Though neither the young lady nor E.S.U. could be identified, there are some clues as to their identities. One poem in the first part is addressed "To B. P. by her friend Miss Taylor of Godington Hall." B. P. is certainly the dedicatee of the second part, though it does not seem entirely clear that she is also the compiler of the first part. Miss Taylor could not be identified, but Godington Hall is an Elizabethan mansion near Bicester in Oxfordshire. E.S.U. notes that one of the poems he copies, written at Newport in South Wales, is "an effusion of Mr. Marshall Scott, my colleague in editorial labors, and like myself, an occasional contributer to the 'poets-corner' of our provincial press." One note by E.S.U. refers to a visit to Penzance; another is dated from Falmouth. Manuscript commonplace book compiled in two distinct halves, the first by an anonymous young lady. Her contribution consists of 138 numbered pages, containing 94 poems and extracts in ink. Many pieces are uncredited and apparently copied from literary journals; noted dates range between 1822 and 1825. Among the few credited pieces are poems by Robert Southey, Bernard Barton, and Samuel Johnson. The second half carries a special title-page ("Part the Second, dedicated with affectionate esteem to B. P."), and contains many signed notes by its compiler, "E.S.U.," the dedicatee of the first half. E.S.U. copies 107 poems and extracts, some apparently being creations of his own, in ink, throughout 148 unnumbered pages. Credited writers include Lord Byron, Chandos Leigh, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; two poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley ("To a Skylark" and "Love's Philosophy") are included, but uncredited. Noted dates range between 1840 and 1843.
Using the collection
Location
Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His CircleStephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 319