The Story of MS A: Album and Artefact.

This article focuses on MS A, an album and artefact central to the friendship and literary exchange between poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and Robert Bridges, who became the custodian of Hopkins’ mature poems. It traces their correspondence from undergraduate days through Hopkins’ Jesuit noviceship and Bridges’ medical career, highlighting their mutual influence on poetic form, especially sprung rhythm. MS A contains Hopkins’ holograph manuscripts and Bridges’ transcriptions, serving both as a record of Hopkins’ poetic development and as a testament to their intellectual companionship. The article provides a detailed inventory of MS A’s contents, illustrating its significance for scholars studying the relationship between the two poets and the evolution of Hopkins’ work.