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Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers

@maryhamiltonpapers

AHRC-funded project ‘Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers’, based at ‪ @thejohnrylands.bsky.social‬ https://www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/ @manchester.ac.uk ‪ @uomhums.bsky.social‬

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Posts 27.05.2025
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Latest posts by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers

Another go:
...
Dissolve 2 Oz of Salt of tarter
or peirl ash well in the beer though one[?]
of peirl ash is said to be Enough make this Dough
as soft or softer than Cake is made
and should be uset[??] Emediately after
being mixt

21.01.2026 17:11 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

of peirl ash [pearl ash] is said to be Enough make this Dough
as fast or faster than Cake is made
[?] should be set[??] Emediately [immediately] after
being mixt [mixed]

Sorry: not doing well with 1st and 4th words in penult line.
David D

20.01.2026 18:12 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I'll have a quick go:
To one Gallon of molasses one quart of
Beer one Pound of Butter 4 Oz of ginger
See that the butter and ginger be well Rubed[?]
in the flour. Dissolve 2 Oz of Salt of tarter (ed: now baking powder)
or peirl [pearl] ash well in the beer (?) through one[?] [i.e. 1 oz.?]

20.01.2026 18:11 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Abstract This article explores adverbs in The Mary Hamilton Papers, examining the factors which may influence correspondents' decisions as to whether or not to use the -ly suffix (e.g. exceedingly/exceeding). While the use of -ly forms is generally well established in the dataset, tendencies differ depending on the specific adverb. This study investigates some factors determining the choice of forms — e.g. the nature of the word that the adverb modifies — arguing that linguistic factors are more influential than extra-linguistic factors in the data examined. Mary Hamilton's own writings exhibit a slightly delayed adoption of -ly compared to the overall trend in the entire dataset, suggesting possible linguistic conservatism that warrants further research.

Abstract This article explores adverbs in The Mary Hamilton Papers, examining the factors which may influence correspondents' decisions as to whether or not to use the -ly suffix (e.g. exceedingly/exceeding). While the use of -ly forms is generally well established in the dataset, tendencies differ depending on the specific adverb. This study investigates some factors determining the choice of forms — e.g. the nature of the word that the adverb modifies — arguing that linguistic factors are more influential than extra-linguistic factors in the data examined. Mary Hamilton's own writings exhibit a slightly delayed adoption of -ly compared to the overall trend in the entire dataset, suggesting possible linguistic conservatism that warrants further research.

Closing up this v interdisciplinary special issue is Yoko Iyeiri, with an analysis of how Hamilton's enormous archive shows linguistic change, specifically in relation to the development of the adverb. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 13:48 👍 2 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Abstract This article explores how social relationships are developed and conveyed through correspondence, with a particular focus on self-corrections in the surviving letters from Mary Hamilton (1756–1816) to Frances Burney (1752–1840). The findings show that the more closely connected the writer feels with the recipient, the more self-corrections are deemed socially acceptable. Engaging in interdisciplinary dialogue with Coulombeau's (this issue) assessment of Hamilton and Burney's complex and evolving relationship, this essay underlines the importance of self-corrections for the study of handwritten documents as well as social relationships and networks in the past.

Abstract This article explores how social relationships are developed and conveyed through correspondence, with a particular focus on self-corrections in the surviving letters from Mary Hamilton (1756–1816) to Frances Burney (1752–1840). The findings show that the more closely connected the writer feels with the recipient, the more self-corrections are deemed socially acceptable. Engaging in interdisciplinary dialogue with Coulombeau's (this issue) assessment of Hamilton and Burney's complex and evolving relationship, this essay underlines the importance of self-corrections for the study of handwritten documents as well as social relationships and networks in the past.

Now Anne-Christine Gardner w/ 'Self-Corrections as Indexes of Social Relationships: Observations From Mary Hamilton's Correspondence With Frances Burney (1783–1789)'. Anne & I take complementary approaches to the same material: IMHO it's a fun conversation! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 13:44 👍 2 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
Abstract This article considers Mary Hamilton's agency and influence in promoting poetry within and beyond Bluestocking circles during the 1780s. Drawing on evidence from Hamilton's diaries, correspondence, and manuscript books, it reconstructs Hamilton's relationships with Hannah More, Ann Yearsley, and Anne Hunter, demonstrating how these poets benefited in terms of prestige from their well-connected friend's proactive stance. Hamilton's varied activities enhanced the visibility of female poets in society, helped to establish a positive perception of their works, and made a significant contribution to the cumulative influence of the Bluestockings on late eighteenth-century literary culture.

Abstract This article considers Mary Hamilton's agency and influence in promoting poetry within and beyond Bluestocking circles during the 1780s. Drawing on evidence from Hamilton's diaries, correspondence, and manuscript books, it reconstructs Hamilton's relationships with Hannah More, Ann Yearsley, and Anne Hunter, demonstrating how these poets benefited in terms of prestige from their well-connected friend's proactive stance. Hamilton's varied activities enhanced the visibility of female poets in society, helped to establish a positive perception of their works, and made a significant contribution to the cumulative influence of the Bluestockings on late eighteenth-century literary culture.

Then, we have @voloshkova.bsky.social with 'Mary Hamilton, Manuscript Poetry, and the Bluestocking Network: Promoting Hannah More, Ann Yearsley, and Anne Hunter', investigating Hamilton as promoter of poetry. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 13:41 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Abstract This article investigates the literary culture revolving around Queen Charlotte (1744–1818) between 1761 and 1818. The Queen's library, sold after her death in 1818, contained more than 4500 volumes, and the sales catalogue (1819) offers a fascinating glimpse into her collecting habits and reading interests. This article uses the catalogue, as well as manuscript letters recently digitized by the Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers project and The Georgian Papers Programme, to show how she connected with other readers both in and out of Court via a shared love of reading.

Abstract This article investigates the literary culture revolving around Queen Charlotte (1744–1818) between 1761 and 1818. The Queen's library, sold after her death in 1818, contained more than 4500 volumes, and the sales catalogue (1819) offers a fascinating glimpse into her collecting habits and reading interests. This article uses the catalogue, as well as manuscript letters recently digitized by the Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers project and The Georgian Papers Programme, to show how she connected with other readers both in and out of Court via a shared love of reading.

Next, it's Mascha Hansen with 'The Literary Court: Reading Queen Charlotte'. This article investigates the literary cultures revolving around Queen Charlotte, in some of which Mary Hamilton took part. It's our last gold OPEN ACCESS contribution! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 13:39 👍 4 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0

(Sadly 'A generous Rival' is not published in gold OA format, BUT after an embargo period a pre-print will be available on my institutional respository. And if you want to read it before then but don't have access to JECS, just message me - we can sort something out.)

21.11.2025 13:23 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Abstract This article combines close reading of manuscript correspondence with digital analysis of reading practices to trace literary and sociable interactions between the Bluestocking writers Frances Burney and Mary Hamilton between 1782 and 1796. I argue that Burney's well-established dislike of Hamilton was motivated by the (accurate) perception that Hamilton was a shallow and disingenuous reader of her novels, more interested in capitalizing on Burney's celebrity than appreciating her work. Hamilton and Burney's differing characters as readers and writers sat uneasily together, compromising their friendship's potential — a conclusion that can only be reached by combining traditional archival research with digital scholarship.

Abstract This article combines close reading of manuscript correspondence with digital analysis of reading practices to trace literary and sociable interactions between the Bluestocking writers Frances Burney and Mary Hamilton between 1782 and 1796. I argue that Burney's well-established dislike of Hamilton was motivated by the (accurate) perception that Hamilton was a shallow and disingenuous reader of her novels, more interested in capitalizing on Burney's celebrity than appreciating her work. Hamilton and Burney's differing characters as readers and writers sat uneasily together, compromising their friendship's potential — a conclusion that can only be reached by combining traditional archival research with digital scholarship.

Then, er, it's me again! In 'A ‘generous Rival’? Mary Hamilton and Frances Burney', I use archival & digital approaches to solve the mystery of why Hamilton loved Burney but Burney loathed Hamilton. The answer is one to which many novelists may relate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 13:22 👍 3 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
Abstract This article examines how space, sociability, and letter-writing are conceptualised as self-care strategies by female correspondents in the Hamilton archive. Building on a recent proliferation of interest in histories of mental health and emotions, it explores familiar correspondence written to Mary Hamilton between 1776 and 1809 by Louisa Murray (Lady Stormont), Jane Hamilton Holman, and Lady Mary Webb, which addresses low spirits, nervousness, melancholy, depression, and agitation of mind. It finds that three distinct yet interrelated strategies of care — change of scene, intimate sociability, and therapeutic epistolary practice — gave these correspondents important ways to manage and maintain mental health.

Abstract This article examines how space, sociability, and letter-writing are conceptualised as self-care strategies by female correspondents in the Hamilton archive. Building on a recent proliferation of interest in histories of mental health and emotions, it explores familiar correspondence written to Mary Hamilton between 1776 and 1809 by Louisa Murray (Lady Stormont), Jane Hamilton Holman, and Lady Mary Webb, which addresses low spirits, nervousness, melancholy, depression, and agitation of mind. It finds that three distinct yet interrelated strategies of care — change of scene, intimate sociability, and therapeutic epistolary practice — gave these correspondents important ways to manage and maintain mental health.

In '‘I was so ill, and so low…’: Women, Mental Health, & Strategies of Care in The Mary Hamilton Papers', @annafranjam.bsky.social
explores how space, sociability & letter-writing were understood as strategies of self care by female correspondents in the Hamilton archive. Another OPEN ACCESS baby!

21.11.2025 13:16 👍 5 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0
Post image

Next up is 'Franks & Friendship: Eighteenth-Century Postal Practices in The Mary Hamilton Papers' by Christine Wallis, who uses evidence from TMHP to explore how postage and franking aided correspondents' politeness and identity work. It is also OPEN ACCESS! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 13:12 👍 6 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0

(Sadly 'The Tip of the Iceberg' is not published in gold OA format, BUT after an embargo period a pre-print will be available on my institutional respository. And if you want to read it before then but don't have access to JECS, just message me - we can sort something out.)

21.11.2025 13:07 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Abstract This article evaluates the benefits and drawbacks of using quantitative digital analysis to reconstruct eighteenth-century reading practices using manuscript life writing. Our corpus is over a thousand pages of Mary Hamilton's letters and diary entries covering one year of her life. We report significant findings concerning the space, time, nature, and mode of Hamilton's reading, and the media, genre, authorship, and provenance of her material. Her reading diet is more dominated by female-authored manuscript prose, inflected by personal acquaintance, and reliant on a private loan economy than we anticipated — conclusions that we would not have reached using qualitative analysis alone.

Abstract This article evaluates the benefits and drawbacks of using quantitative digital analysis to reconstruct eighteenth-century reading practices using manuscript life writing. Our corpus is over a thousand pages of Mary Hamilton's letters and diary entries covering one year of her life. We report significant findings concerning the space, time, nature, and mode of Hamilton's reading, and the media, genre, authorship, and provenance of her material. Her reading diet is more dominated by female-authored manuscript prose, inflected by personal acquaintance, and reliant on a private loan economy than we anticipated — conclusions that we would not have reached using qualitative analysis alone.

Next is 'The Tip of the Iceberg: Reading Practices in Mary Hamilton's Archive, 1783–1784', by @crulph.bsky.social & I. A data-driven dive into what, how, where, when & with whom Mary Hamilton read, & reflection on DH methodologies applied to ms life writing. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 13:05 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Mary Hamilton's relationships and networking practices are central to this special issue. In this article, we present an innovative method for reconstructing social networks around Hamilton during five key periods of her life, connecting not just correspondents but also persons frequently mentioned in The Mary Hamilton Papers. We explain our methodology and present visualizations of the networks. By tabulating Hamilton's strongest relationships in each phase of her life, we can trace a selection of relationships over time. We reflect on the benefits and limitations of our approach, inviting expert judgement on its results and its potential for wider use.

Mary Hamilton's relationships and networking practices are central to this special issue. In this article, we present an innovative method for reconstructing social networks around Hamilton during five key periods of her life, connecting not just correspondents but also persons frequently mentioned in The Mary Hamilton Papers. We explain our methodology and present visualizations of the networks. By tabulating Hamilton's strongest relationships in each phase of her life, we can trace a selection of relationships over time. We reflect on the benefits and limitations of our approach, inviting expert judgement on its results and its potential for wider use.

ALSO OPEN ACCESS is our 1st article, 'Reconstructing Mary Hamilton's Social Networks', by David Denison & Tino Oudesluijs, who present an innovative method for reconstructing social networks from ms letters-connecting not just correspondents but mentionees too
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 12:27 👍 4 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
This article offers an overview of the research project Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers (2019–2023) — the impetus for this special issue — and positions it within the field of eighteenth-century studies. After outlining the project's genesis, we describe one of its core outputs, the digital edition of Mary Hamilton's archive, providing key technical information which is referenced in the articles that follow. We then summarize the contents of the special issue, reflect on answers to the project's original research questions that the authors provide, and highlight key synergies and themes.

This article offers an overview of the research project Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers (2019–2023) — the impetus for this special issue — and positions it within the field of eighteenth-century studies. After outlining the project's genesis, we describe one of its core outputs, the digital edition of Mary Hamilton's archive, providing key technical information which is referenced in the articles that follow. We then summarize the contents of the special issue, reflect on answers to the project's original research questions that the authors provide, and highlight key synergies and themes.

Also OPEN ACCESS is the Introduction, co-authored by @nuriyabo.bsky.social, David Denison, and myself. Here we situate @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social in context of other 18thc digital initiatives, & highlight key findings of the contributions to the vol. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 12:21 👍 4 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
This foreword provides core biographical information about Mary Hamilton and tells the story of the archive she left behind. It presents a brief overview of the scholarship addressing Mary Hamilton before the research project Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers (2019–2023), and shows how the resulting digital edition has stimulated a new interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary wave of research that is able to exploit the archive holistically. The academic contributions to the project are contextualized by acknowledging the immensely important labour of curators, archivists, photographers, and digital specialists, among others.

This foreword provides core biographical information about Mary Hamilton and tells the story of the archive she left behind. It presents a brief overview of the scholarship addressing Mary Hamilton before the research project Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers (2019–2023), and shows how the resulting digital edition has stimulated a new interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary wave of research that is able to exploit the archive holistically. The academic contributions to the project are contextualized by acknowledging the immensely important labour of curators, archivists, photographers, and digital specialists, among others.

The OPEN ACCESS Foreword, by Hannah Barker & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, is a great place to start. It introduces Hamilton, her archive, & previous relevant scholarship. It also acknowledges the crucial contributions of many other folk, esp @thejohnrylands.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

21.11.2025 12:17 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0

Queen Charlotte! William Hamilton! Francis Napier! George III! Charlotte Gunning! Richard Glover! Mary Delany! Frances Boscawen! William Weller Pepys! The Duchess of Portland! The whole gang and more. If you're interested in any of these figures, there'll be something for you in the collection.

21.11.2025 12:11 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
Post image

Observe, if you will, the cover illustration(repro'd at closer scale below). A network diagram featuring many (though far from all) of Mary Hamilton's close contacts. Elizabeth Carter! Frances Burney! Hannah More! Elizabeth Montagu! Joshua Reynolds! Eva Maria Garrick! Horace Walpole! George IV!

21.11.2025 12:09 👍 7 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
Cover of JECS special issue 48.4 (December 2025), with ToC and network diagram. DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17540208/2025/48/4

Cover of JECS special issue 48.4 (December 2025), with ToC and network diagram. DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17540208/2025/48/4

Right then. Buckle up, knuckleheads, as they say. This is a special issue of JECS that I co-edited with my esteemed colleagues David Denison (Manchester) and Nuria Yáñez-Bouza (Vigo). It is a "major research output", as they say, from our AHRC-funded research project @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social

21.11.2025 12:04 👍 7 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0
Cover of JECS special issue 48.4 (December 2025), with ToC and network diagram. DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17540208/2025/48/4

Cover of JECS special issue 48.4 (December 2025), with ToC and network diagram. DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17540208/2025/48/4

At last our special issue, JECS 48.4, is out, all 200+ pages of it! We're very proud of it. Thanks are due to many colleagues, but especially Nuria Yáñez-Bouza for proof-correcting heroics, and the general editor, Emrys Jones, for brilliant support throughout. #18thC #langsky

21.11.2025 06:57 👍 24 🔁 13 💬 0 📌 3
Letter in DDX 274/7 p.163. Provisional entry at https://www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/personography/#MmeBu

Letter in DDX 274/7 p.163. Provisional entry at https://www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/personography/#MmeBu

Mystery female: 'Mme Busche' is mentioned 8 times 1781-86 in the Mary Hamilton Papers. Possibly connected with Court, she apparently leaves England in 1781. We have a provisional identification (see new Personography entry below). Can anyone help with (dis)confirmation or further info? #18thC

01.11.2025 08:21 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
From HAM/2/11 p.10 (https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-00002-00011/10). Zooming image © John Rylands Research Institute and Library, all rights reserved.

From HAM/2/11 p.10 (https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-00002-00011/10). Zooming image © John Rylands Research Institute and Library, all rights reserved.

I read 'Swordy' (in diary revision). Mary Hamilton encounters him twice in the street in 1784. Could it be a nickname for the royal fencing-master, one of the Angelo family, perhaps? See HAM/2/7 p.9 (www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-00002-00007/9), HAM/2/11 p.10. #18thC #langsky

20.10.2025 12:33 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Abbreviated Table of Contents for special issue of JECS

Abbreviated Table of Contents for special issue of JECS

Two imminent developments from the Mary Hamilton Papers team: a special issue in JECS, and a major refresh of the edition (transcriptions, mark-up, personography), both probably live online in November. Watch this space! #18thC #langsky

20.10.2025 08:57 👍 8 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

52°C in London in 1784? No way. This is on a BBC website: First on our list of the hottest places on Earth is Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where a temperature of 52°C (125.6°F) was recorded on 22 June 2010.

02.10.2025 21:56 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
'Monday 24th May 1784', to illustrate Mary Hamilton's '8'

'Monday 24th May 1784', to illustrate Mary Hamilton's '8'

Nope. It's a very clear '5', and anyway, Hamilton's '8' is characteristically slanted, halfway towards the modern infinity symbol ∞. See attached image.

02.10.2025 21:51 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
HAM/2/10 p.75 (https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-00002-00010/75)

HAM/2/10 p.75 (https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-00002-00010/75)

Can anyone clarify this diary entry by Mary Hamilton in a period of sweltering late May weather? Even if her barometer had a thermometer built in, 52°F (11°C) is cool, whereas Mrs Delany reports that day that ‘the Weather is so _hot_ that I can not send my usual messenger to you’. #18thC #langsky

02.10.2025 16:00 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 3 📌 0

Should have thanked Natalia @philistella.bluesky.social (from David Denison, very much a BlueSky newbie!)

17.09.2025 16:20 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
DDX 274/7 p.119, in The Mary Hamilton Papers. This manuscript book is held at Lancashire Archives, Preston.

DDX 274/7 p.119, in The Mary Hamilton Papers. This manuscript book is held at Lancashire Archives, Preston.

Thank you, Natasha Simonova! Not sure they can count as bouts-rimés if the targets aren't rhyme words, which many are not: see pp.116-120 in this ms book (www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/EX-LANC...). And does Mary Hamilton call them 'conglomerations' (p.121), I wonder?

17.09.2025 15:34 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Main them of Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1921605

Main them of Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1921605

Is there a name for an 18C parlour game in which a participant is given 4 or 5 words and challenged to include them all in an impromptu pair of rhyming couplets? #18thC #langsky

17.09.2025 11:12 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
Text of HAM/1/15/2/31 p.16, reporting a lightning strike in Eastbourne.

Text of HAM/1/15/2/31 p.16, reporting a lightning strike in Eastbourne.

Hamilton reports a horrific lightning strike close to some of the royal children, which (we learn elsewhere) killed a coachman and a footman. So that chestnut of absurd phrasebooks (tracked in Wikipedia) actually happened, if not on a coach journey:
'My postillion has been struck by lightning'!

12.09.2025 16:03 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0