This book is a critical study of the ancestors of contemporary poetry anthologiesampampnbspthe poetic miscellanies of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Itampampnbspargues that miscellanies are a distinctive kind of literary collection and that theirampampnbsppopularity in the period 16801800 had a farreaching impact on authorsampampnbsppublishers and readers of poetry.This study expands the definition of miscellanies to include singleauthorampampnbspcollections called miscellanies as well as the multipleauthor collections thatampampnbsphave traditionally been the focus of scholarly attention. It shows how multipleauthorampampnbspmiscellanies fostered different kinds of literary community and exploresampampnbspthe neglected role of singleauthor miscellanies in the selffashioning ofampampnbspeighteenthcentury writers. Later chapters examine miscellanies relationshipsampampnbspwith periodicals their contribution to the formation of the literary canon andampampnbsptheir reception and transformation in the hands of readers. The book draws onampampnbspnewly available digital data as well as evidence from hundreds of printedampampnbspmiscellanies to shed new light on how poetry was written published and read inampampnbspthe long eighteenth century.