Miscellany of Henry Oxinden, ca. 1642-1670 V.b.110: Difference between revisions

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Folger MSS V.b.110 is an early modern miscellany written by the letter-writer and poet, Henry Oxinden (1609-1670). An eldest son, Oxinden was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in the late 1620’s and was briefly a resident at Gray’s Inn, London. However, he would spend the bulk of his life in rural Kent, far from the centers of English intellectual life, living as a country squire. V.b. 110 dates from his years in Kent, with entries spanning from the early 1640’s to the eve of his death. Apparently written for private use (“let nobody see this booke” is written on the top of its first page), V.b.110 records in great detail the reading habits, interests, and thoughts of an intellectually curious member of the rural gentry during some of the most tumultuous decades of English history. Oxinden’s miscellany has achieved a small measure of notoriety for the contents of a single important page which lists 123 printed early modern plays, many in their first edition.<ref>On which, see Giles Dawson, “An Early List of Elizabthan Plays,” Library s4-xv, no. 4 (March 1935): 445-456.</ref> It is presumably this page that explains its acquisition by the Folger Shakespeare Library. However, theater occupies a relatively small place in the miscellany. Instead, Oxinden’s considerable interest in literature is reflected overwhelmingly in poetry on a variety of subjects sacred and profane, some of it quite bawdy. Poetry is, of course, a common element in renaissance miscellanies in general, but its pronounced presence in V.b.110 likely reflects Oxinden’s personal literary ambitions, as the miscellany dates from the same years that Oxinden published all four of his own volumes of poetry. We have relied heavily in this edition on the Union First Line Index to help identify as many of the poems in the miscellany as possible.<ref>The first line index can be accessed at http://firstlines.folger.edu/</ref>
Folger MSS V.b.110 is an early modern miscellany written by the letter-writer and poet, Henry Oxinden (1609-1670). An eldest son, Oxinden was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in the late 1620’s and was briefly a resident at Gray’s Inn, London. However, he would spend the bulk of his life in rural Kent, far from the centers of English intellectual life, living as a country squire. V.b. 110 dates from his years in Kent, with entries spanning from the early 1640’s to the eve of his death. Apparently written for private use (“let nobody see this booke” is written on the top of its first page), V.b.110 records in great detail the reading habits, interests, and thoughts of an intellectually curious member of the rural gentry during some of the most tumultuous decades of English history. Oxinden’s miscellany has achieved a small measure of notoriety for the contents of a single important page which lists 123 printed early modern plays, many in their first edition.<ref>On which, see Giles Dawson, “An Early List of Elizabthan Plays,” Library s4-xv, no. 4 (March 1935): 445-456.</ref> It is presumably this page that explains its acquisition by the Folger Shakespeare Library. However, theater occupies a relatively small place in the miscellany. Instead, Oxinden’s considerable interest in literature is reflected overwhelmingly in poetry on a variety of subjects sacred and profane, some of it quite bawdy. Poetry is, of course, a common element in renaissance miscellanies in general, but its pronounced presence in V.b.110 likely reflects Oxinden’s personal literary ambitions, as the miscellany dates from the same years that Oxinden published all four of his own volumes of poetry. We have relied heavily in this edition on the Union First Line Index to help identify as many of the poems in the miscellany as possible.<ref>The first line index can be accessed at http://firstlines.folger.edu/</ref>


What follows are excerpts from Oxinden’s miscellany, which together provide a representative sample of the diversity and coherence of his text.  It is our hope that these extracts call attention to V.b.110’s potential as a scholarly source, particularly if used in conversation with Oxinden’s other surviving works: his voluminous correspondence (of which two volumes have been published) and his library of approximately 200 books (some of which are annotated) at the Canterbury Cathedral Library.<ref>Two volumes of Oxinden’s correspondence were published in the 1930’s, both edited by Dorothy Gardiner.  See Dorothy Gardiner, ed., ''The Oxinden Letters, 1607–1642'' (London: Constable, 1933) and ''The Oxinden and Peyton Letters, 1642–1670'' (London: Sheldon, 1937). For information on Oxinden’s library, see Sarah Gray and Chris Baggs, “The English Parish Library: A Celebration of Diversity,” ''Libraries & Culture'' 35, no. 3 (Summer 2000): 414–33, and Sheila Hingley, “Elham parish library,” in Peter Isaac and Barry McKay, eds., ''The Reach of Print'' (Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 1998), 175–90.
What follows are excerpts from Oxinden’s miscellany, which together provide a representative sample of the diversity and coherence of his text.  It is our hope that these extracts call attention to V.b.110’s potential as a scholarly source, particularly if used in conversation with Oxinden’s other surviving works: his voluminous correspondence (of which two volumes have been published) and his library of approximately 200 books (some of which are annotated) at the Canterbury Cathedral Library.<ref>Two volumes of Oxinden’s correspondence were published in the 1930’s, both edited by Dorothy Gardiner.  See Dorothy Gardiner, ed., ''The Oxinden Letters, 1607–1642'' (London: Constable, 1933) and ''The Oxinden and Peyton Letters, 1642–1670'' (London: Sheldon, 1937). For information on Oxinden’s library, see Sarah Gray and Chris Baggs, “The English Parish Library: A Celebration of Diversity,” ''Libraries & Culture'' 35, no. 3 (Summer 2000): 414–33, and Sheila Hingley, “Elham parish library,” in Peter Isaac and Barry McKay, eds., ''The Reach of Print'' (Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 1998), 175–90.</ref>


<references></references>
===Notes===
<references>

Revision as of 14:39, 27 January 2015

A Semi-Diplomatic Transcription of Selections from the Miscellany of Henry Oxinden

Portrait of Henry Oxinden
Frontispiece to Religionis Funus, & Hypocritcæ Finis (London, 1647)[1]

Acknowledgements

Editors in Chief

Talya Housman and Dylan Ruediger

Edited by

Julie Bowman, Meaghan J. Brown, Paul Dingman, Megan Heffernan, Talya Housman, Katherine Lazo, Kristin B. Leaman, Victor Lenthe, Joseph D. Mansky, Catherine Medici-Thiemann, Sarah Powell, Raashi Rastogi, Dylan Ruediger, Margaret Simon, Nancy L. Simpson-Younger, Misha Teramura and Jonathan Woods[2]

Cite as

A semi-diplomatic transcription of selections from the Miscellany of Henry Oxinden at the Folger Shakespeare Library, edited by Julie Bowman, Meaghan J. Brown, Paul Dingman, Megan Heffernan, Talya Housman, Katherine Lazo, Kristin B. Leaman, Victor Lenthe, Joseph D. Mansky, Catherine Medici-Thiemann, Sarah Powell, Raashi Rastogi, Dylan Ruediger, Margaret Simon, Nancy L. Simpson-Younger, Misha Teramura and Jonathan Woods.

Last Updated

December 10, 2014

Introduction

Folger MSS V.b.110 is an early modern miscellany written by the letter-writer and poet, Henry Oxinden (1609-1670). An eldest son, Oxinden was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in the late 1620’s and was briefly a resident at Gray’s Inn, London. However, he would spend the bulk of his life in rural Kent, far from the centers of English intellectual life, living as a country squire. V.b. 110 dates from his years in Kent, with entries spanning from the early 1640’s to the eve of his death. Apparently written for private use (“let nobody see this booke” is written on the top of its first page), V.b.110 records in great detail the reading habits, interests, and thoughts of an intellectually curious member of the rural gentry during some of the most tumultuous decades of English history. Oxinden’s miscellany has achieved a small measure of notoriety for the contents of a single important page which lists 123 printed early modern plays, many in their first edition.[3] It is presumably this page that explains its acquisition by the Folger Shakespeare Library. However, theater occupies a relatively small place in the miscellany. Instead, Oxinden’s considerable interest in literature is reflected overwhelmingly in poetry on a variety of subjects sacred and profane, some of it quite bawdy. Poetry is, of course, a common element in renaissance miscellanies in general, but its pronounced presence in V.b.110 likely reflects Oxinden’s personal literary ambitions, as the miscellany dates from the same years that Oxinden published all four of his own volumes of poetry. We have relied heavily in this edition on the Union First Line Index to help identify as many of the poems in the miscellany as possible.[4]

What follows are excerpts from Oxinden’s miscellany, which together provide a representative sample of the diversity and coherence of his text. It is our hope that these extracts call attention to V.b.110’s potential as a scholarly source, particularly if used in conversation with Oxinden’s other surviving works: his voluminous correspondence (of which two volumes have been published) and his library of approximately 200 books (some of which are annotated) at the Canterbury Cathedral Library.[5]

Notes

<references>

  1. Image source, Folger Shakespeare Library, O841 copy 1. Photo by Heather Wolfe.
  2. Participants in Heather Wolfe’s 2014 Mellon Summer Institute in English Paleography, Folger Shakespeare Library. Heather Wolfe has made minor corrections and additions.
  3. On which, see Giles Dawson, “An Early List of Elizabthan Plays,” Library s4-xv, no. 4 (March 1935): 445-456.
  4. The first line index can be accessed at http://firstlines.folger.edu/
  5. Two volumes of Oxinden’s correspondence were published in the 1930’s, both edited by Dorothy Gardiner. See Dorothy Gardiner, ed., The Oxinden Letters, 1607–1642 (London: Constable, 1933) and The Oxinden and Peyton Letters, 1642–1670 (London: Sheldon, 1937). For information on Oxinden’s library, see Sarah Gray and Chris Baggs, “The English Parish Library: A Celebration of Diversity,” Libraries & Culture 35, no. 3 (Summer 2000): 414–33, and Sheila Hingley, “Elham parish library,” in Peter Isaac and Barry McKay, eds., The Reach of Print (Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 1998), 175–90.