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Bound collection of Poor Robin and Dade almanacks annotated by Frances Wolfreston

 Single Item
MS. Don. e. 246
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19 issues of Poor Robin. An Almanack after a New Fashion (London, Printed for the Company of Stationers) covering the years 1666-79, 1690 and 1702-5 and one issue of Dade. Prognostication (London, Printed by T.J. for the Company of Stationers), 1693. The first dozen almanacks of Poor Robin (pseudonym of William Winstanley) come from the library of Frances Wolfreston and are annotated by her. The annotations include a list of plays she had lent to Robert Comarford, which extents the group of titles examined by Paul Morgan in The Library (1989). Other notes record (mainly family) births, baptisms, marriages and deaths. Wolfreston’s last entries are made in January 1677. Thereafter annotations continue in other hands, including that of her son Stanford. The volume has a book label of Robert Logan from Highgate and a biro inscription of [E?] Vimont from Croydon.

Includes:

  1. (fols. 3-25) 1666, incomplete
  2. (fols. 26-50) 1667
  3. (fols. 51-74) 1668
  4. (fols. 75-98) 1669
  5. (fols. 99-122) 1670, including (fol. 122v) a list of plays Wolfreston lent to Robert Comarford
  6. (fols. 123-45) 1671, including (fol. 145v) a note about Wolfreston's siblings
  7. (fols. 146-69) 1672, including (fol. 162v) notes about Wolfreston's children
  8. (fols. 170-93) 1673
  9. (fols. 194-216) 1674
  10. (fols. 217-40) 1675
  11. (fols. 241-64) 1676
  12. (fols. 265-88) 1677, including (fol. 268v) Wolfreston’s last entries in the month of her death.
  13. (fols. 289-312) 1678
  14. (fols. 313-34) 1679, incomplete
  15. (fols. 335-58) 1702
  16. (fols. 359-82) 1703
  17. (fols. 383-406) 1704
  18. (fols. 407-30) 1705
  19. (fols. 431-54) 1690
  20. (fols. 455-66) Dade, 1693

Dates

  • Creation: 1666-1679, 1690, 1693, 1702-1705

Extent

1 volume

Language of Materials

  • English

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MS. Don. e. 246].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Shelfmark:

MS. Don. e. 246

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 6595

Abstract

Bound collection of Poor Robin and Dade almanacks annotated by Frances Wolfreston.

Biographical / Historical

Frances Wolfreston (1607-1677) was one of the very few known female book collectors. For further details see the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Christopher Edwards, 18 Mar. 2010 and given by the Friends of the Bodleian.

Bibliography

  • Paul Morgan, ‘Frances Wolfreston and “Hor Bouks”: a seventeenth-century woman book-collector’ in The Library (1989), pp. 197-219.
  • Paul Morgan, ‘Frances Wolfreston’ in The Library (1990), p. 56.
Title
Bound collection of Poor Robin and Dade almanacks annotated by Frances Wolfreston
Status
Published
Date
EAD version 2018
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