Heavily annotated copy of 'Miscellanies, upon the following subjects. I. Day-Fatality. II. Local-Fatality. III. Ostenta. IV. Omens. V. Dreams. VI. Apparitions. Vii. Voices. Viii. Impulses. IX. Knockings. X. Blows Invisible. XI. Prophesies. XII. Marvels. XIII. Magick. XIV. Transportation in the Air. XV. Visions in a Beril, or Glass. XVI. Converse with Angels and Spirits, XVII Corps-Candles in Wales. XVIII. Oracles. XIX. Exstasie. XX. Glances of Love and Envy. XXI. Second-Sighted-Persons. XXII. The discovery of two murders by an apparition. Collected by John Aubrey, Esq; F.R.S. The second edition, with large additions. To which is prefixed, some account of his life.'

London: for A. Bettesworth, and J. Battley, J. Pemberton, and E. Curll in the Strand. [1721]. Octavo. Collated and complete with the engraved plate and first and final blank leaves. With two engraved portraits of Pope tipped in at the front; a manuscript page with a clipped signature of Pope affixed is tipped in. Annotations to 63 pages which range from a few words to profuse marginalia. Binding: 19th century diced Russia gilt, a.e.g. Front cover detached; lower portion of backstrip missing; some spots and marks; collector's notes in ink to two preliminary leaves; extensive marginal ink annotations throughout, some trimmed by the binder. According to a manuscript note to the front free endpaper of this copy of Aubrey's Miscellanies, it "book belonged to Alexander Pope: of with whose hand writing this Book Abounds". Indeed, the ink annotations continued to be attributed to Pope until relatively recently. A letter with Pope's signature pasted on ("yr Friend & Sert A. Pope Aug. 16. 1732") was probably added for comparison; but Pope's hand changed markedly over his lifetime, and even manuscripts known to be his hand often do not resemble each other. The front and rear boards bear the arms of the MP and bibliophile Sir Mark Masterman-Sykes (1771-1823). When his collection was auctioned in 1824 this book (lot 98), described as having "manuscript Notes by Pope, and his Autograph", was acquired by Richard Heber (1773-1833), then reappeared in the sale of Heber's library, again with the annotations ascribed to Pope 2. However, an early 20th- century bookseller's catalogue entry (clipped and loosely inserted) is more equivocal: "THE FAMOUS SYKES COPY, long supposed to be Alexander Pope's, with a profusion of manuscript annotations said to be in his hand". When the book was sold at Sotheby's (1970), they gave no attribution, but mentioned "extensive annotations [] in a contemporary hand" and the "inserted leaf". In 1976, the book was sold at Swann Galleries with the Sykes provenance noted, but with no reference to annotations, and went into a private collection before reappearing on the market recently. Any comparison of our annotations with those known to be in Pope's hand is contentious because his hand differs depending upon time and context. What seems certain is that the annotator was a contemporary of Pope's, if not the man himself. Our annotator, following Aubrey's lead, takes a mostly detached approach to the subject matter, frequently citing other books and authors to furnish additional information ("Mr Wood" i.e. Anthony à Wood (1632-1695); "Increase Mathers"; "Mr Baxter's Certainty of the World of Spirits"; "Camden in his Hist. of Qu. Eliz. Sub. An. 1570"; "Bovets Pandæmonium"). They even-handedly acknowledge different sides of the debate on witchcraft, mentioning the sceptical "Scots Discovery of Witchcraft" four times, while the rational "Websters Display of Witchcraft" and its spiritually motivated response "Glanvil's Sadd. Triumph" merit five mentions each. Our book's journey and strong provenance convey an absorbing mixture of hopes, desires and disappointments of dealers, auctions, and collectors. As to the content of the annotations themselves, whether or not the 'great author' created them, they provide an engrossing window into the world of Pope's contemporary readers. The sheer quantity of discursive threads and additions makes it a hugely appealing showcase for the high levels of engagement and the emerging concerns with objective verification (albeit of the occult and superstition in this case) that characterised the period. …