Huntington MS HM 2177, ff. 45v (rev.) – 46v (rev.)

FROM PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE YOUNGER ROMANTICS, VOL. IV, EDITED BY MARY A. QUINN

Three of PBS's pocketbook-size draft notebook form the nucleus of The Henry E. Huntington Library's collection of Shelley manuscripts. These manuscript notebooks, formerly known as the Bixby Notebooks, are shelfmarked HM 2111, HM 2176, and HM 2177. Huntington Shelley Notebook HM 2177 contains drafts of several poems, two prefaces, many poetic fragments, and prose notes written by PBS for the most part between spring 1819 and spring 1820. With its diverse contents, this manuscript presents a detailed picture of PBS as working writer and student of literature during his annus mirabilis.

For the time being, we present here only ff. 45v (rev.) – 46v (rev.), which contain a draft of “My lost William” (“To William Shelley”).