The book of love: 400-year-old tome of John Donne’s poems is unveiled

Handwritten volume that gives new clues to the poet’s work will be displayed online after being acquired by the British Library

John Donne is hailed as one of the greatest writers in the English canon, the author of exquisite love poetry and magnificent prose that has entered everyday language. To his 17th-century contemporaries, he was “the best in this kinde, that ever this Kingdome hath yet seene”.

Now a bound volume of more than 400 gilt-edged pages filled with 131 of his poems has been saved for the nation after being acquired by the British Library. Dr Alexander Lock, curator of modern archives and manuscripts, told the Observer: “It’s a manuscript of considerable literary importance, a new substantial work of Donne’s poetry that has not yet been studied.”

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