Lot.
Hewson, Mary (Polly) Stevenson. Unbound collection of manuscript poems. [Philadelphia], ca. 1787-1795. 140 4to pp., loose in contemp. vellum casing.
Fair copies, most likely in Mary Stevenson Hewson's hand, of poems of largely contemporary or near contemporary poets, including several by Mary Stevenson Hewson herself, Francis Hopkinson, Thomas Gray, Peter Pindor, translations from Voltaire and other French writers. Collection includes two poems by Benjamin Franklin and an unattributed poem "Eligiac Ode, On The Death of Dr. Franklin". The two poems by Benjamin Franklin: "On Paper" (published in digital form only by The Franklin Papers); "Elegy on The Death of a Young Lady's Squirrel who Getting Out of His Cage Was Killed by a Dog" (published in The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 19, pp. 301-302). Laid in with this collection is a contemp. ms. table of contents (calling for 141 pp.) and presumably earlier signed ms. poems by Mary Hewson on a sheet of Europen paper distinct from the American paper on which the rest of this material was written. A free endpaper of the casing is dated 1787 and signed by Mary Hewson.
Hewson, Mary (Polly) Stevenson (1739-1795) was the well-educated daughter of Franklin's London landlady, and his lasting friend and correspondent.