[Commonplace book]

Manuscript on paper, in several different hands, of a collection of about 69 poems and prose entries, primarily on philosophical, religious, and metaphysical subjects. Prose pieces in the volume include a copy of Ethica Compendium, by Johann Stier; and The Life of Richard Marsh D. D. Archdeacon of York Vicar of Halifax, and Chaplain to King Charles 2nd From a Manuscript Written By His Descendant. Verses include numerous poems by John Donne; Song To A Coy Lady by Alexander Brome; and other poems by Cowley, Thomas Otway, and Richard Fanshaw. Pasted in on p. 263 is a contemporary MS copy of a poem, "Rise oh my sone wth thy desires to heaven," which the writer attributes to Sir Henry Wotton. The manuscript also includes a list of Middle English words titled "A few words from Urry's Chaucer that seem to have furnished several English families with surnames."