Commonplace Book

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 12 MS Add.9221
  • Dates of Creation
      1600-1639 (Circa)
  • Language of Material
      English , Greek, Ancient (to 1453) , Latin , French , Spanish; Castilian , English , Italian .
  • Physical Description
      1 volume(s) 1 volume

Scope and Content

Commonplace book in several hands, probably of Cambridge origin. The title on the spine is 'Epitaphia Carmina Epigram[m]ata & quaed[am] alia'. The volume contains extracts from Greek, Roman, French, Italian, Spanish, and English authors, epitaphs and commemorative verses, some humorous. The sections are arranged under the following headings: Carmina Sententiae Proverbia; Facetiae; De rapina et homicidio; De legibus regnor[um] administratione; Amorosi; Monuments Funeralls Buriall; De anima et corpore; De Papistis et contra Papistas; De otioso; Emblemata et Symbola; Epigrammata; Historia; Anagrammata (including a verse against the Duke of Buckingham, 1628); Riddles; Epitaphia; Avaritia; and Observationes Scripturae. There are epitaphs for Sir John Spencer, Sir Philip Sidney, 1st Earl of Dorset, Charles Chester, Mrs. Sucklinge, Sir John Borough (d.1595), Anne Kirton (d.1603), Lady Lake, Duke of Buckingham, Sir Stephen Some, 2nd Earl of Essex, Gustavus, King of Sweden (d.1632), Archbishop B[ancroft], Edmund Spenser, Mr. Prick a fellow of Christ's, Sir William Courten, John Hall 'the University Capper', Sir John Vele, Simon Sumter, Sir Henry Wotton, and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Access Information

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Acquisition Information

Purchased 1994

Other Finding Aids

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.