During the Commonwealth period, manuscript circulation networks continued to disseminate texts although at a lesser level than in the 1620s. Some were formed prior to the war at the Universities or Inns of Court, others were based on family or geography, and some had international reach. Samuel Hartlib’s extensive correspondence network circulated information between England and the Continent, while informal networks of friends and family likewise sustained communications. Catholic families had well-developed networks for circulating manuscripts, books, and people. Others such as Katherine Philips in Wales developed networks of literary friends. Thomas Stanley supported numerous friends and family, including Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick, as they engaged on translation projects and collected their poems for publication.
