Comprises (fols. 1-77) the main album which includes:
- (fol. 20) pressed leaves ‘From the Cloisters at Newstead Abbey’
- (fol. 31) pressed leaves ‘Gathered from the Oak planted by Lord Byron in the garden at Newstead Abbey … upon which he wrote a Poem’
- (fol. 41) pressed leaves ‘From an old Oak at the Park Gate Newstead Abbey … given to F.B. Parkyns by George Gordon Lord Byron’
and (fols. 78-154) four fascicules, numbered 1-4, containing loose papers (undated manuscripts unless stated otherwise), roughly sorted by category:
- (fols. 78-82) poems (not holograph), including Byron, Lines upon a Skull; Lord Chesterfield (attrib.), ‘The Noblest Object in the Works of Art …’ (copied 1800), and anon.
- (fols. 83-91) prose excerpts, including a fragment about Lord Byron; excerpts from novels by Sydney Owenson, Lady Morgan; and anon.
- (fols. 92-4) miscellaneous short letters, including ‘Mrs Warren Present’s [sic] Her Respectfull [sic] Compliments to Mrs Byron …’
- (fols. 95-103) recipes for colours, dyeing, lemonade, etc.
- (fols. 104-8) small manuscript snippets (commonplace excerpts)
- (fols. 109-14) drawings: faces, persons, views, including (fol. 112) ‘Catherines Cott at Llewellyn’
- (fols. 115-23) prints: portraits, human figures, views, including ‘Newstead … the Seat of Lord Byron’
- (fol. 124) a printed bifolium of tables, headed ‘FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS’ and ‘TABLES IN ARITHMETIC’, Nottingham [n.d.]
- (fols. 125-54) news-cuttings, comprising: (fols. 125-33) a group, found pinned together, mostly on Napoleon’s marriage to the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, March 1810; (fols. 134-6) a smaller pinned group, also on the marriage; (fols. 137-45) small loose cuttings on the marriage; (fols. 146-8) miscellaneous poems, one by S. T. Coleridge ( The Sigh); and (fols. 149-54) miscellaneous
and (fols. 155-162) eight folders, numbered 5-12, containing loose matter mounted in Melinex envelopes:
- (fols. 155-159) leaves and petals
- (fol. 160) three pins, originally holding together the two parts of fol. 154 (now rejoined)
- (fol. 161) five small feathers, and their paper wrapper
- (fol. 162) fragment of the front tie, of green velvet
Dates
- 19th century
Extent
162 Leaves
Language of Materials
- English
Conditions Governing Access
This material is fragile. To ensure its availability to future readers, access to this material is restricted. Readers are asked to work from reproductions and published descriptions as far as possible. To apply to see the original, please send a message to specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk, outlining the subject of your research, the importance of this material to that research, and the resources you have already consulted. Please also tell us about the timeframe for your project, if any, and when you hope to visit.
Preferred Citation
Oxford, Bodleian Libraries MS. Eng. c. 7967, fols. 1-2
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Shelfmark:
MS. Eng. c. 7967
Collection ID (for staff)
CMD ID 6549
Abstract
Album connected with the Byron family, 19th century.
Biographical / Historical
A commonplace book kept by Frances Parkyns and members of her family from around 1800. The Parkyns may have been related to the Byrons by marriage and it was with the family that Byron stayed in Nottingham between November 1798 and July 1799 while he was being tutored and having his foot treated. Frances Parkyns is almost certainly the ‘Miss Frances’ Byron refers to in ‘the first letter I ever wrote’ on 8 November 1798.The album includes copies of Byron poems, with variants; poems by Frances Parkyns, and notes, cuttings, and other material relating to Byron’s mother. It is one of the earliest examples of captured Byron ‘trophies’, most notably a collection of pressed leaves from the cloisters and garden at Newstead Abbey.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from John Hart in 2010
- Title
- Album connected with the Byron family
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Original catalogue by Judith Priestman. EAD version by Rachael Gardner
- Date
- 2016
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository
Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk