Summary: Written in 1748-49 and probably abandoned by March 1749. Gray sent ll. 1-57 of the fragment in a letter, dated 19 August 1748, to Thomas Wharton. First published, entitled "Essay I", in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), 193-200.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 9, 79; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 27; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 144
Contents: Autograph, headed "Essay 1st", with numbered lines (5, 10, etc.), followed by a quotation in Greek from Theocritus in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 619-620.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 7, 79; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 146, vol. i, 308-312 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, of ll. 1-57, here untitled, followed by MS 0011, in a letter to Thomas Wharton, 19 August [1748]. Beneath the poem is written "I desire your Judgement upon so far, before I proceed any farther", and "Pray shew it to no one (as it is a Fragment) except it be St:r who has seen most of it already, I think".
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 10, 80; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 205, vol. i, 433-434 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph proposal of a revision of ll. 17-18, here beginning, "With fury pale, & pale with woe," in a letter to Thomas Wharton, 21 August 1755.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 12, 80; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 205A, vol. i, 434-437 (subscription required); Starr, "Gray's Craftsmanship" (1946), particularly pp. 424-429
Contents: Autograph draft, of ll. 57-144, here untitled, following a letter to Thomas Wharton, 21 August 1755, but according to Correspondence of Thomas Gray (1971), vol. i, 434 very probably written at the beginning of June 1757.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 13, 80; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 238, vol. ii, 501-503 (subscription required); Starr, "Gray's Craftsmanship" (1946), particularly pp. 424-429
Contents: Autograph fair copy, of ll. 111-144, untitled but headed "Antist: 3a." and beginning "Haughty Knights, & Barons bold", in a letter to William Mason, [24 or 31] May 1757.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 14, 80; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 29; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 208
Contents: Autograph argument of the ode, here untitled, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 932v. First printed in Mason'sPoems (1775), 91.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 15, 80; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 788(?), 20, Sotheby's sale (28 August 1851), lot 53(?), 45, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 241, 73; W[right]., Catalogue (1851), [lot 53?,] 13
Contents: Autograph notes to the poem, revised, in Gray's copy of Odes by Mr. Gray (1757). The notes were first published in the poem's version in Poems (1768).
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 16, 80
Contents: Autograph notes to the poem, untitled but numbered 6. and identified on f. 3r as "6. The Bard, a Pindaric Ode", beginning "Prefix the original advertisement, The following Ode is founded &c:", in MS instructions to Dodsley for the 1768London edition, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 17, 80; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph notes to the poem, headed "Prefix the origl. advertisement, The following Ode is founded, &c:", in MS instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 18, 80; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 413; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 606, 10
Contents: Autograph transcript of a translation into French prose, headed "Gazetta Litteraire de l'Europe. 1764. Tom: 3. p: 259". The translation is unlikely to be Gray's.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 27, 81; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Autograph fair copy, untitled but headed "From Aneurin, Monarch of the Bards, extracted from the Gododin", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1070.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at London in 1761, the paraphrase of the original Icelandic is based largely on a Latin translation from Bartholinus. First published in Poems (1768).
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 28, 81; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Nelson (ed.), Union First Line Index. Mar. 2010. Folger Shakespeare Library. 19 March 2010. <http://firstlines.folger.edu/detail.php?id=140501>
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Ode (from the Norse-tongue) in Bartholinus, de causis contemnendae mortis. Hafniae. 1689. 4to", followed by the first line of the original poem "Upreis Odinn allda gautr &c:", including explanatory notes, used as printer's copy for Poems (1768), in MS instructions to Dodsley, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768.
Alternate Form:
Facsimile, showing the beginning (37 lines) of the autograph, on page six of the MS Instructions, the upper three-fourths of which are reproduced, in Smith (ed.), Index (1989), no. 5, following p. xvii, where it is described
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 29, 81; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph, untitled but numbered 8. and identified from the table of contents as "8. The Descent of Odin (from the Norse-tounge)", and headed "From Bartholinus, De causis contemnendae mortis. Hafniae. 1689. 4to. Upreis Odinn Allda gautr &c:", beginning "Up rose the King...", and including a note, in MS Instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 30, 81; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 147
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here beginning "Up rose the King...", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1069-1070. The Latin text of Vegtams Kvitha from Bartholinus is on p. 1043.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Several facsimiles, including P. J. Croft, Autograph Poetry in the English Language, 2 vols, (Oxford, 1969), Sherburn (ed.), Elegy (1951), and Elegy (1976), where the MS and its provenance are discussed
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 32, 82; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), additional lines in the "Eton MS", 40-41nn; Fukuhara/Bergen, Elegy (1933); Northup, Bibliography (1917), item 1995; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 602, 9, Sotheby's sale (28 August 1851), lot 53, 40-41, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 226, 69; W[right]., Catalogue (1851), [lot 53,] 8-9
Contents: Autograph draft, here entitled "Stanza's wrote in a Country Church-Yard", and reading "Curfeu". This MS, sometimes called the "Eton MS" or "Fraser MS", contains five additional stanzas (four after l. 72, and the "Redbreast stanza" after l. 116), which were omitted in the first edition of 1751, in 1753, and in 1768.
Alternate Form:
Facsimiles include McDermott, Penn and Gray (1930), 14-16 and Fukuhara, Bibliographical Study (1933), plate II
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 33, 82; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 156, vol. i, 334-340 (subscription required); Elegy (1976); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Northup, Bibliography (1917), item 1996; Catalogue of a Sotheby's sale (27 February 1950), lot 239, facsimile in catalogue
Contents: Autograph fair copy, following a letter to Thomas Wharton, 18 December [1750].
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one. Full facsimile published in A facsimile of the original autograph manuscript of Gray's Elegy. Photographed by Messrs. Cundall, Downes & Co. London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co. 1862, other facsimiles include Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. I, following p. [64], Poole (ed.), Poetical Works (1917), 90-91, and Folger Shakespeare Library, ART Vol. a9, follows p. 50.
Contents: Autograph, revised, here entitled "Elegy, written in a Country-Church Yard. 1750" and reading "Curfeu", with numbered lines (10, 20, etc.), an additional quatrain, the "Redbreast stanza", annotated "Insert" after l. 116 and "Omitted in 1753", and an extensive prose note, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 617-618.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 35, 82
Contents: Autograph notes to the poem, untitled but numbered 10. and identified on f. 3r as "10. Elegy, written in a country-churchyard" in MS instructions to Dodsley for the 1768London edition, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768. The notes were first published in the poem's version in Poems (1768).
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 36, 82; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph notes to the poem, in MS instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Summary: Written in mid-June 1758 at the request of Thomas Wharton to commemorate his eldest son Robin who died in April 1758. First published in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. I, 126, from the transcript made by Alexander Dyce.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 37, 82; Jones, Thomas Gray, Scholar (1937), "Register of Gray Autograph Manuscripts", VI. 20(a) "epitaph on a child", 181; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 624(?), 11, Sotheby's sale (12 August 1847), lot 89, 27, Sotheby's sale (28 August 1851), lot 53(?), 41, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 228(?), 69; W[right]., Catalogue (1851), [lot 53?,] 9; Nelson, Christine, "extra-illustrated copy of Gray's Odes". E-mail to the editor, 14 November 2006
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled but endorsed 'Epitaph on a Child' in an unidentified hand, bound into Gray's copy of Odes (1757).
Summary: Written not long before 31 January 1758 presumably at the request of John Clerke to commemorate his wife Jane who died 27 April 1757 aged 31. Inscribed on a mural tablet in St George's parish church, Beckenham, Kent, 1758. First published, as "An Epitaph copied from a Tomb-stone in a Country Church Yard", in The Gentleman's Magazine, October 1759.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 41, 83; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 266, vol. ii, 559-561 (subscription required)
Contents: Autograph of an 18-line version, here untitled and beginning "Lo! where this little Marble weeps" in a letter to Edward Bedingfield, 31 January 1758.
Summary: Written between 27 March and 23 May 1767 for Mason's wife Mary who died on 27 March 1767 aged 28. Inscribed on a monument in Bristol Cathedral, [1767]. First published in The New Foundling Hospital for Wit (London, new edn. 1784), vi. 45. Transcripts of Mason's own epitaph on his wife beginning "Take, holy Earth, all that my soul holds dear", are at PwV 304 and 1010(ii), Portland Collection, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 43, 83; Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 256
Contents: Autograph of Gray's four lines, preceding a transcript in Gray's hand of the 12 lines composed by Mason, the whole entitled "Epitaph", endorsed in the hand of Richard Hurd "Mr. Mason's Ep. on his wife in Mr. Gray's hand-writing", in the papers of Richard Hurd.
Summary: Written between May and August 1761 at the request of one of the executors of Sir William Williams, a politician and soldier Gray briefly met early in October 1760, who died 27 April 1761 on an expedition against Belle Ile. First published, as "Epitaph II. On Sir William Williams", in Mason'sPoems (1775), 62.
Summary: Written at London not later than the beginning of May 1761, based largely on a Latin translation of the original poem preserved in the late 13th-century Njáls Saga, ch. 157. This untitled Old Norse poem is a prophetic account of the Battle of Clontarf, fought on Good Friday 1014. First published in Poems (1768).
Alternate Form:
Facsimile and description in Verlyn Klinkenborg et al., British Literary Manuscripts, Series I. From 800 to 1800 (New York, 1981), no. 99
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 49, 83-84; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 604, 9
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, here untitled but referred to in the preface as a "magic song", beginning "Now the storm begins to lour", with the preface and a prose epilogue beginning "Having finish'd their incantation they tore the web they had woven into twelve pieces...", endorsed in another hand on verso. Bound into a copy of Poems (1768), following p. 71.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 50, 84; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Nelson (ed.), Union First Line Index. Mar. 2010. Folger Shakespeare Library. 19 March 2010. <http://firstlines.folger.edu/detail.php?id=136436>
Contents: Autograph fair copy, numbered 7. and here entitled "Ode (from the Norse-tongue) in the Orcades of Thormodus Torfaeus. Hafniae. 1697. Fol: & also in Bartholinus", followed by the first line of the original poem "Vitt er orpit fyrir valfalli &c:", including "Advertisement", "Preface", and explanatory notes, used for printer's copy for Poems (1768), in MS instructions to Dodsley, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768.
Alternate Form:
Facsimile, showing the last seven lines and the note, on page six of the MS Instructions, the upper three-fourths of which are reproduced, in Smith (ed.), Index (1989), no. 5, following p. xvii, where it is described
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 51, 84; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph fair copy, untitled but numbered 7. and identified from the table of contents as "7. The Fatal Sisters (from the Norse-tongue)", and headed "From the Orcades of Thormodus Torfaeus. Hafniae. 1697. Fol: Vitt er orpit Fyrir valfalli &c:", preceded by a "Prefix", followed by a note on the Valkyriur, and, elsewhere in the MS (p. 9) an advertisement and two notes, in MS Instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 52, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 147
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, under the heading "Carmina", here entitled "The Song of the Valkyries" and headed "(see above P: Art: Gothi)", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1067-1068.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 53, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 147
Contents: Autograph draft of the "Preface", here untitled but under the heading "Gothi", beginning "About the year 1029 Sigurd, Earl of the Orkney-Islands...", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1041.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 54, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 28n; Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 216
Contents: Autograph draft of the note on the Valkyries under the heading "Gothi" in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1044.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Probably written in April of 1742 and sent in a letter to Richard West, [23 April 1742]. First published, except ll. 1-30, in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 87-89, published in full in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. i, 153.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 63, 85; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 105, vol. i, 196-199 (subscription required); Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 613, 10, Sotheby's sale (12 August 1847), lot 87(?), 26, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 245, 74
Contents: Autograph fair copy, headed "Lib: 2: Eleg: 1: To Mecaenas", sent in a letter to Richard West, [23 April 1742].
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 64, 85; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 24
Contents: Autograph fair copy, under the heading "Carmina", here entitled "From Propertius. Lib: 2: Eleg: 1. To Mecaenas", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 254-255.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at London in December 1738. First published, except ll. 1-4 and 57-58, as "Propertius. Lib.3.Eleg.4" in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 85-86, ll. 1-4 first published in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. i, 151.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 66, 85; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 137
Contents: Autograph fair copy, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 96-97.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at Cambridgenot later than 8 January 1768, when Gray sent it in a letter to William Mason. First published, untitled and beginning "Weddell attends your call...", in Mitford (ed.), Correspondence of Gray and Mason (1853), 412.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 81, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 32; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 26, vol. i, 46-49 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, in a letter to Horace Walpole, [August 1736].
"[Lines Spoken by the Ghost of John Dennis at the Devil Tavern]"
Summary: Written at Cambridge by [8 December 1734] and sent in a letter of that date to Horace Walpole. First published, untitled, in Toynbee (ed.), Correspondence (1915), vol. i, 13-15, referred to as "A Journey in Hades" in Northup, Bibliography (1917), item 1221a.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 80, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 32; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 4, vol. i, 9-11 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph, here untitled, in a letter to Horace Walpole, [8 December 1734].
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 82, 87; Whibley, "Notes on Two Manuscripts" (1937), 55-57; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 605, 10, Sotheby's sale (28 August 1851), lot 53, 41, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 227, 69; W[right]., Catalogue (1851), [lot 53,] 9
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 83, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 28; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 144
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here beginning "In Britain's Isle (no matter where)", with marginal side notes, dated "Aug: 1750" and annotated "Printed in 1753 with Mr Bentley's Designs, & repeated in a 2d Edition", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 651-652.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Photocopy in RP2338, Manuscripts Collection, The British Library, London, UK
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 85, 87; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 603(?), 9; Nelson (ed.), Union First Line Index. Mar. 2010. Folger Shakespeare Library. 19 March 2010. <http://firstlines.folger.edu/detail.php?id=36724>
Contents: Autograph fair copy (unsigned), here entitled "Ode, for musick", lot 125 in an unidentified sale.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 86, 87; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 603, 9; Catalogue of a Sotheby's sale (30 June 1984), lot 483, facsimile in catalogue; Rich, Margaret Sherry, "Please forward". E-mail to Mark Farrell, forwarded to the editor, 26 June 2006; Farrell, Mark, "Re: [Fwd: Please forward]". E-mail to the editor, 28 June 2006
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Ode". A hand-written, nineteenth-century saleroom ticket, which refers to the manuscript as "Lot 603", is stuck onto the last page with sealing wax.
Summary: Written at Stoke Pogesc. August 1742 during one of Gray's most productive periods. First published, anonymously, as a folio pamphlet by Dodsley, 30 May 1747.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 89, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 24-25; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, here entitled "Ode. on a distant Prospect of Windsor, & the adjacent Country" and dated "at Stoke Aug: 1742", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol I, 278-279 and continued on p. 284.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 90, 88; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph of the motto and notes to the poem, untitled but numbered 3. and identified on f. 3r as "3. Ode, on a distant prospect of Eton-College", in MS instructions to Dodsley for the 1768London edition, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768. The notes were first published in the poem's version in Poems (1768).
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 91, 88; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph of the motto and notes to the poem in MS instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
"Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes"
Summary: Written at Cambridgebetween 22 February and 1 March 1747 and sent in a letter of that date to Horace Walpole. Mason is the only source for this letter, the poem sent in it has not survived. First published in Dodsley'sCollection of Poems by Several Hands, 3 vols, vol. II. (London, 1748), 267-269, reprinted in 6 vols, vol. II. (London, 1758 and later edns.), 328-330.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 92, 88; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 26; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 142
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "On the Death of Selima, a Favourite Cat, who fell into a China-Tub with Gold-fishes in it, & was drown'd", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 381.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 93, 88; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 135, vol. i, 272-279 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "On a favourite Cat, call'd Selima, that fell into a China Tub with Gold-Fishes in it & was drown'd.", in a letter to Thomas Wharton, [17 March 1747].
Alternate Form:
Facsimile and description in Verlyn Klinkenborg et al., British Literary Manuscripts, Series I. From 800 to 1800 (New York, 1981), no. 98. Reserve photocopy (microfilm copy) in RP149, Manuscripts Collection, The British Library, London, UK
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 94, 88; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Catalogue of a Sotheby's sale (18 July 1967), lot 537; Catalogue of a Christie's sale (A. A. Houghton sale, 14 June 1979), lot 234, with facsimile, plate 29
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "On the Death of a favourite Cat drown'd in a China-Tub of Gold-Fishes", annotated on verso in the hand of Carolina Pery "known to be Mr Gray's handwriting about the Year 1757".
Summary: Written at Stoke Pogesearly in June 1742 and sent in a letter, [c. 3 June 1742], to Richard West who was then dead. The letter was returned unopened and does not survive. First published, anonymously, in Dodsley'sCollection of Poems by Several Hands, 3 vols, vol. II. (London, 1748), 265-267, reprinted in 6 vols, vol. II. (London, 1758 and later edns.), 325-327.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 97, 88, written on a leaf of random notes, item GrT 206, 100; Jones, Thomas Gray, Scholar (1937), "Register of Gray Autograph Manuscripts", VI. 5, 178
Contents: Autograph fragment, revised, of ll. 3-4, here untitled and beginning "Disclosed the breathing flowers", on a leaf of random notes.
Physical Description: [2?] pages; autograph draft written in ink and red pencil, partial [ll. 11-36, 43-50]
Language: English
Location: GEN MSS 310, Box 8, Folder 340, Chauncey Brewster Tinker Manuscripts Collection, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University Library,
New Haven, CT (Beinecke)/Farmington, CT (Lewis Walpole), USA <http://www.library.yale.edu/>
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 98, 88-89, on same leaf as item GrT 215, 101
Contents: Autograph draft fragment, ll. 11-20 (in ink, second half of each line only), 21-36 (in red pencil, second half of each line only), 43-50 (in red pencil, first half of each line only), annotated "This was the original manuscript copy of Gray's Ode found amongst his papers by W. Mason who gave it to me E. Harcourt".
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 99, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 24
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Noon-Tide, An Ode", and beginning "Lo, where the rosie-bosom'd Hours", annotated "at Stoke, the beginning of June, 1742. sent to Fav: not knowing he was then Dead", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 275 and continued on p. 278.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 100, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 125, vol. i, 249-252 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, in a letter to Horace Walpole, 20 October [1746].
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 101, 89; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph notes to the poem, untitled but numbered 1. and identified on f. 3r as "1. Ode. (Lo, where the rosy-bosom'd &c:)" in MS instructions to Dodsley for the 1768London edition, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768. The notes were first published in the poem's version in Poems (1768).
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 102, 89; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph notes to the poem in MS instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 103, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, here entitled "Ode. To Adversity" and annotated "at Stoke, Aug. 1742", including two mottoes in Greek from Aeschylus, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 284-285.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 104, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 161, vol. i, 346-350 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Hymn to Adversity" (crossed out), in a letter to Horace Walpole, 8 September [1751].
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 105, 89; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph motto for the poem, untitled but numbered 4. and identified on f. 3r as "4. Ode, to Adversity", in MS instructions to Dodsley for the 1768London edition, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768. The motto first appeared in the poem's version in Poems (1768).
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 106, 89; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph motto for the poem in MS instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Summary: Composed shortly after visiting the church at Appleby, c. 3 September 1767, while on a short tour of the Lake District with Thomas Wharton. First published, untitled, in Gosse, Gray (1882), 176.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 112, 90; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, on a slip of paper annotated in the hand of Thomas Wharton "Extempore Epitaph on Ann Countess of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery, made by Mr. Gray on reading the Epitaph on her mothers tomb in the Church at Appleby composed by the Countess, in the same manner."
Summary: Begun not earlier than September 1751 and completed by December 1754 when Gray sent the poem in a letter to Thomas Wharton, dated 26 December 1754. First published, as "Ode." in Odes by Mr. Gray (1757), 5.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 114, 90; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 28; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 145
Contents: Autograph, revised, here entitled "Ode, in the Greek manner", the first line altered from "Awake my Lyre, my Glory, wake" to the first line as published, including an alternative version of five of the last six lines, and annotated "Finish'd in 1754. printed together with the Bard, an Ode. Aug: 8. 1757", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 727-728.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 115, 90; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 194, vol. i, 412-418 (subscription required); Starr, "Gray's Craftsmanship" (1946), particularly pp. 422-424
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Ode, in the Greek Manner" and including the headings "Strophe", "Antistrophe", and "Epode", sent in and preceding a letter to Thomas Wharton, 26 December 1754.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 117, 90; Jones, Thomas Gray, Scholar (1937), "Register of Gray Autograph Manuscripts", VI. 20(b) "Ode to Poesy", 181; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 788(?), 20, Sotheby's sale (28 August 1851), lot 53(?), 45, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 241, 73; W[right]., Catalogue (1851), [lot 53?,] 13
Contents: Autograph, revised, notes to the poem, in Gray's copy of Odes by Mr. Gray (1757). The notes were first published in the poem's version in Poems (1768).
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 118, 90; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph of the motto, advertisement, and notes to the poem, untitled but numbered 5. and identified on f. 3r as "5. The progress of Poesy, a Pindaric Ode", in MS instructions to Dodsley for the 1768London edition, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 119, 91; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph of the motto, advertisement, and notes to the poem, in MS instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
"Satire on the Heads of Houses; or, Never a Barrel the Better Herring"
Summary: According to Starr/Hendrickson, possibly written in the late 1740s or early 1750s when Gray's criticism of the University authorities was particularly severe. First published in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. I, 134-135, where the poem is dated "about 1765".
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 120, 91; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 615(?), 10, Sotheby's sale (28 August 1851), lot 53(?), 42, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 229(?), 70; W[right]., Catalogue (1851), [lot 53?,] 10
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 127, 91, with GrT 216, 101, on the verso; Jones, Thomas Gray, Scholar (1937), "Register of Gray Autograph Manuscripts", VI. 20(a) "Verses on Miss Speed", 181; Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 624(?), 11, Sotheby's sale (12 August 1847), lot 90, 27, Sotheby's sale (28 August 1851), lot 53(?), 41, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 228, 69; W[right]., Catalogue (1851), [lot 53?,] 9; Nelson, Christine, "extra-illustrated copy of Gray's Odes". E-mail to the editor, 14 November 2006
Contents: Autograph, revised, here untitled, bound into Gray's copy of Odes (1757).
Summary: Composed at Stoke Poges shortly after the death of Richard West, Gray's closest friend, on 1 June 1742. First published, entitled "Sonnet On the Death of Mr. Richard West", in Mason'sPoems (1775), 60.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one, facsimile in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. iv, frontispiece
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 133, 92; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Sonnet" and annotated "at Stoke, Aug: 1742", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol I, 284. It is listed as "West (Richard) Sonnet, on him" in Gray's index to vol II.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
"[Translation from Statius, Thebaid VI 646-88, 704-24]"
Summary: Written before the end of May 1736 when Gray was learning Italian, and sent in two letters, dated [8 May 1736] (ll. 646-88) and [before 24 May 1736] (ll. 704-24), to Richard West. Gray's translation of ll. 689-703 has not survived. Translation of ll. 646-88 (59 lines) first published, untitled, in Mitford (ed.), Correspondence of Gray and Mason (1853), letter I, 2-4, and of ll. 704-24 (27 lines) first published in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), section I, 9-10.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 145, 93; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 22, vol. i, 38-41 (subscription required); Munby (ed.), Sale Catalogues (1971), Evans sale (27-29 November 1845), lot 614(?), 10, Sotheby's sale (4 August 1854), lot 244, 74
Contents: Autograph fair copy of a translation of Thebaid, VI, 646-88, headed "E lib: 6to Thebaidos", in a letter to Richard West, 8 May [1736].
Summary: Written probably as a school exercise at Eton between 1725 and 1734, possibly Gray's earliest composition in English. First published in Toynbee (ed.), Correspondence (1915), vol. ii, 299-300 with a facsimile.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two. Facsimile in Toynbee (ed.), Correspondence (1915), vol. ii, following p. 298
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 141, 93; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 57n
Contents: Autograph draft of ll. 1-13, here untitled, together with MS 0170.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 142, 93; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33
Contents: Autograph (ll. 1-13 fair copy, ll. 14-16 revised), here untitled, including a transcript of the Latin original between ll. 13 and 14, annotated in the hand of Horace Walpole "This written when he was very young", together with MS 0169.
"[Translation] From Tasso [Gerusalemme Liberata] Canto 14, Stanza 32-9."
Summary: Written in 1737 when Gray was translating other Italian verse by Dante and Petrarch and sent in a letter to Richard West, [22 May 1737]. First published in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 90-92.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 143, 93; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 137
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, translation from Gerusalemme Liberata, headed "From Tasso. Canto, 14, Stanza, 32" in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 95-96.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written probably in 1760 or 1761 when Gray was living in London. Based on a Latin translation by Evan Evans of the original Welsh "Arwyain Owain Gwynnedd" by Gwalchmai ap Meilyr. First published in Poems (1768).
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 162, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Autograph fair copy, with four lines at the end intended to follow l. 26, here entitled "The Triumphs of Owen, a Fragment from the Welch", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1068.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 163, 95; Nelson (ed.), Union First Line Index. Mar. 2010. Folger Shakespeare Library. 19 March 2010. <http://firstlines.folger.edu/detail.php?id=137227>
Contents: Autograph fair copy, untitled but numbered 9. and identified on f. 3r as "9. The Triumphs of Owen, a fragment", headed "Prefix...Owen succeeded his Father Griffin in the principality of North-Wales, A:D: 1120. this battle was fought near forty years afterwards. (from Mr Evans's Specimens of the Welch poetry. Lond: 1764. 4to)", including an explanatory note of "The Dragon-Son", used as printer's copy for Poems (1768), in MS instructions to Dodsley, sent in a letter, [1?] February 1768.
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 164, 95; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
Contents: Autograph, untitled but numbered 9. and identified from the table of contents as "9. The Triumphs of Owen (from the Welch)", and headed "Note) Owen succeeded his Father Griffin in the principality of North Wales, A:D: 1120. this battle was fought near 40 years afterwards, (from Mr Evans's Specimens of the Welch poetry. Lond: 1764.4to)" together with a note on the Dragon-Son, in MS Instructions to Beattie for the 1768Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
"William Shakespeare to Mrs Anne, Regular Servant to the Revd Mr Precentor of York"
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 167, 96, in a notebook, item GrT 295, 109; Toynbee, "Newly Discovered Draft" (1930), MS transcribed and discussed
Contents: Autograph draft, here untitled and the whole erased, owned (1988) by Lt.-Col. John Murray.