Folger Shakespeare Library
CELM

William Wycherley

1641–1716

Introduction

Autograph Literary Manuscripts

Like most Restoration dramatists, William Wycherley has left no original manuscripts of any of his compositions. One notable — and little-known — literary autograph by him does survive, however, in the form of an annotated presentation exemplum of his somewhat bawdy poem Hero and Leander in Burlesque, written when he was a law student in the Middle Temple. For some reason, as is noted in his Posthumous Works (Volume II, 1729), the first edition of 1669 was printed from a very faulty Copy, even with Blanks and Omissions of half Couplets in many Places, and Interpolations of strange Lines in others, without the Name of Author, Bookseller, or Printer (Summers, IV, 253). In the exemplum of the edition of 1669 now in the Dyce Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, originally inscribed by Wycherley for presentation to his Middle Temple contemporary, the young politician Anthony Henley (1650-1711), Wycherley himself has filled in most (if not quite all) of the printer's lacunae (leaving untouched those on pages 14 and 64), supplying on eleven pages a total of thirteen (generally ribald) lines, as well as a number of other verbal alterations in his own hand (see *WyW 6). This annotated volume was unknown to Summers and thus no complete text of this early poem has yet been published. Its only commentator hitherto has been McCarthy, whose interpretation of the evidence (that, for instance, the autograph additions indicate that the [printer's] copy was purposely faulty, not simply unfinished and that the printer silenced some of the more blatant lines at his own discretion) is probably not the last word on the subject.

Lost Papers

It seems characteristic that this volume should survive because it was a presentation item. What was described in 1700 as the large Manuscript of his owne Collections which he designed for the press was eventually used (and therefore in all likelihood subsequently destroyed) by his printer in 1704. Alexander Pope may have retained some of the poetical manuscripts that Wycherley pressed upon him to improve between 1706 and 1710 (specifically asking him not to deface the copy but to confine his marks to the margins), but these too, as well as Pope's own revised transcripts, have disappeared. The manuscripts Wycherley left on his deathbed to his second wife, Elizabeth Jackson, evidently lie at least in part (allegedly one Moiety of them) behind the first volume of The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley Esq., edited by Lewis Theobald (London, 1728), if not also the second volume which Pope stepped in to edit (1729). These manuscripts appear to have been deceitfully acquired by Elizabeth Jackson's former lover and subsequent husband Captain Thomas Shrimpton (see Howard P. Vincent, William Wycherley's Posthumous works, N&Q, 185 (3 July 1943), 12-13, and McCarthy, chapter 6). It adds but little to our knowledge of those lost papers to read the publisher's notice that the manuscripts were so much interlined, and in general…very difficult to be read by any Stranger that they were placed under the care of some Gentleman who was well acquainted with his Hand Writing: namely, Lewis Theobald (1688-1744). (This description of Wycherley's manuscripts is not, incidentally, supported by the extant examples of his hand, which are invariably very clear and legible, although none of them constitutes working drafts.)

Manuscript Circulation

There is no evidence of any contemporary circulation in manuscript of any of Wycherley's plays. One exemplum of his The Plain Dealer (London, 1700), now in the Folger (Wing W 3756), contains a contemporary manuscript cast list: see Edward Langhans, New Restoration Manuscript Casts, Theatre Notebook, 27 (1972-3), 149-57.

Although some circulation of verse may have taken place within a very exclusive coterie of court wits, no more than a very few contemporary copies of poems by Wycherley can now be recorded. One of them, a text of An Epistle to Mr. Dryden (WyW 5), is of some interest in that it can now be identified as being in the hand of Pope, as well as belonging to the diplomat Sir William Trumbull, who was something of a friend and patron to Wycherley, as well as to Dryden and Pope.

Letters

The texts (or partial texts) of some 36 letters by Wycherley are known today, of which no more than five survive in the originals. The most substantial number is the twenty-five to Wycherley's young protégé, Alexander Pope, a series not least interesting by virtue of the characteristic changes made to the text by Pope himself (as also to his own replies) when he came to publish some of them in his correspondence several years after Wycherley's death. The extent of the changes (which, as most of Wycherley's editors and biographers have noted, do not throw an especially favourable light on Pope) might not have been known but for the survival among the Portland Papers at Longleat of a contemporary transcript of twelve of the letters made prior to Pope's editing, as also the apparently chance survival of just one of Wycherley's autograph letters to Pope (*WyW 25).

Those letters by Wycherley that survive either in the originals or in manuscript copies — or at least are recorded in modern times as surviving even if their present whereabouts is unknown — are given separate entries in CELM (WyW 9-28). That leaves seventeen letters, the texts of which (or versions thereof) survive only in early printed sources. For convenient reference, these may be listed as follows:

  • To John Dennis, from Cleve, near Shrewsbury, 4 February 1693/4. Edited in John Dennis, Letters upon Several Occasions (London, 1696), pp. 13-16. Reprinted in Summers, II, 199-200.
  • To John Dennis, from London, 1 December 1694. Edited in John Dennis, Letters upon Several Occasions (London, 1696), pp. 24-7. Reprinted in Summers, II, 200-2.
  • To John Dennis, from London, 11 April 1695. Edited in John Dennis, Letters upon Several Occasions (London, 1696), pp. 31-3. Reprinted in Summers, II, 202-3.To John Dennis, from Cleve, near Shrewsbury, 31 August 1695. Edited in John Dennis, Letters upon Several Occasions (London, 1696), pp. 36-8. Reprinted in Summers, II, 203-4.
  • To Alexander Pope, 25 January 1704/5. Edited in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 221, and in Sherburn, I, 3.
  • To Alexander Pope, 29 March 1705. Edited in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 222-3, and in Sherburn, I, 5-6.
  • To Alexander Pope, 7 April 1705. Edited in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 223, and in Sherburn, I, 6-7.
  • To Alexander Pope, 5 November 1705. Edited in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 225-6, and in Sherburn, I, 12-13.
  • To Alexander Pope, 5 February 1705/6. Edited in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 226-7, and in Sherburn, I, 13.
  • To Alexander Pope, 22 November 1707. Edited in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 231-2, and in Sherburn, I, 32-3.
  • To Alexander Pope, 28 February 1707/8. Edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 233-4, and in Sherburn, I, 40-1.
  • To Alexander Pope, 13 May 1708. Edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 234-5, and in Sherburn, I, 49-50.
  • To Alexander Pope, 18 May 1708. A brief extract edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 235, and in Sherburn, I, 50-1.
  • To Alexander Pope, 28 July 1708. A brief extract edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 235, and in Sherburn, I, 50-1.
  • To Alexander Pope, 26 May 1709. Edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 237, and in Sherburn, I, 62-3.
  • To Alexander Pope, 11 August 1709. Edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 237-8, and in Sherburn, I, 69-70.
  • To Alexander Pope, 11 April 1710. Edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers, II, 239-40, and in Sherburn, I, 82-3.

Documents

One or two other documents are preserved bearing Wycherley's signature (WyW 30-31), including his last will and testament, signed by him only hours before his death (*WyW 32).

Presentation Exempla of Miscellany Poems (London, 1704)

Yet other examples of Wycherley's handwriting lie in the numerous exempla of his printed Miscellany Poems (London, 1704) that bear the author's presentation inscriptions. This publication, generally described nowadays as a pretentious folio, was the most ambitious literary project of Wycherley's later years and caused him considerable and protracted difficulties, including a lawsuit in 1700 with the original intended publisher, Samuel Briscoe. (For related documentation on this, see Howard P. Vincent, William Wycherley's Miscellany Poems, Philological Quarterly, 16 (1937), 145-8.) Originally advertised for subscription at the end of November 1696, the large volume was finally published by Charles Brome, John Taylor and Benjamin Tooke in 1704, when, however, it did little to restore either Wycherley's fortunes or his reputation, being by then somewhat outdated in the relatively genteel, post-Collier climate of the early eighteenth century. Nevertheless, Wycherley proudly inscribed and presented exempla of the volume to many of his influential friends and potential patrons. Besides the volumes that he presumably presented to such notable associates as Pope, Lord Halifax and John Caryll, but which are not known today, those inscribed presentation volumes that have been recorded in more recent times are given entries in CELM (WyW 34-49). No doubt other exemples will come to light in due course.

Only one presentation exemplum of any other book by Wycherley is known: a London 1713 reprint of his Works inscribed by Wycherley to Sir George Browne (*WyW 50).

Miscellaneous

Other documentation of biographical relevance to Wycherley, to his father Daniel Wycherley, and to his family (in the National Archives, Kew, Wem Parish records, Shropshire Archives, and elsewhere) is cited notably in McCarthy (1979), in McCarthy's article in N&Q, 216 (July 1971), pp. 34-6, and in the earlier biographies by Connely (1930) and Charles Perromat (William Wycherley: Sa vie — son oeuvre (Paris, 1921)). See also, in addition to other articles cited above, W.G. Hargest, Wycherley and the Countess of Drogheda, TLS (21 November 1929), p. 960; Eleanore Boswell, Wycherley and the Countess of Drogheda, TLS (28 November 1929), pp. 1001-2; and Graham C.G. Thomas, William Wycherley in Spain: Some New Evidence, N&Q, 243 (March 1998), 53-4.

Six folio pages of genealogical notes on the Wycherley family of Shropshire (including a reference to the young dramatist as aet: 21. ann:), dated 22 August 1663 and apparently in the hand of Gregory King, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant, were offered in Pickering's sale catalogue Literary & Historical Manuscripts List 59 (1985), item 91.

Various anecdotes of Wycherley, largely acquired from conversation with Alexander Pope, were recorded by Joseph Spence (1699-1768). Most of Spence's manuscript collections, both autograph and scribal, were sold at Sotheby's on 16 February 1938 (sale of the Clumber Library of the seventh Duke of Newcastle), lots 1308-23, and are now in the Osborn Collection at Yale. These manuscripts, with a few other sources, are the primary texts edited by James M. Osborn as Joseph Spence's Observations, Anecdotes, and Characters of Books and Men collected from Conversation, 2 vols (Oxford, 1966). The observations relating to Wycherley edited in Osborn, I, 32-41 (Nos 74-97) and 321-2 (No. 791) are found at Yale (Osb MSS 4, series IV, Box 4, folder 158); Osborn MS fc 113, c 413; Osborn Shelves Spence Box 11, passim, and in the Huntington Library (HM 1271). Two further Spence manuscripts (originally comprising one collection) which came to light too late for more than a passing reference in Osborn's edition were sold at Sotheby's on 2 May 1966, lots 230 and 231 (The Property of the late John Hayward, Esq., C.B.E.). One (now in the Osborn Spence papers, Box 7) is Alexander Pope's autograph biographical account of Wycherley written for Spence on two octavo pages and partly used in Spence's subsequent anecdotes (a photocopy is in the British Library, RP 16). The other (now at Harvard, fMS Eng 1246) is Spence's unfinished autograph Collections relating to the Lives of The Poets, a compendium which also includes material on Wycherley. The former manuscript, Pope's autograph Acc[oun]t of Wycherley, as well as Spence's draft entry based on this in the Harvard manuscript (f. 42r), are edited and discussed in Margaret M. Smith, Alexander Pope's Notes on William Wycherley, Yale University Library Gazette, 66 (1991), 26-32.

Further notes on Wycherley are found in several sources. Some in correspondence in 1683 between Anthony Wood (1632-95) and Ralph Sheldon are in the Bodleian (MSS Tanner 41, f. 190r; Wood F. 45, f. 301r; Wood F. 44, ff. 199r-200r) [cited in McCarthy, p. 108], as are some observations on Wycherley by Dr Cox Macro (1683-1767) written in an exemplum of Wood's Athenae Oxonienses (London, 1721), II, 975 (MS Top. Oxon. b. 6, 7) [cited in McCarthy, p. 238]. Other comments by William Oldys (1696-1761) are written in his exemplum of Gerard Langbaine, An Account of the English Dramatick Poets (Oxford, 1691), now in the British Library (C.28.g.1, pp. 514-15). Yet others by the Rev. Joseph Hunter (1783-1861) appear in his Chorus Vatum Anglicanorum (Volume V), also in the British Library (Add. MS 24491, ff. 224r-5r). Comments on Wycherley in the autograph manuscript of Remarks & Observations on the most celebrated Authors & Artists by the Rev. Philip Bliss (1787-1857), antiquary and book collector, were sold at Sotheby's, 15 December 1982, lot 117, to Quaritch, and are now in the Bodleian (MS Don. e. 132).

Abbreviations

Connely
Willard Connely, Brawny Wycherley: First Master in English Modern Comedy (New York & London, 1930).
McCarthy
B. Eugene McCarthy, William Wycherley: A Biography (Athens, Ohio, 1979).
Sherburn
The Correspondence of Alexander Pope, ed. George Sherburn, 5 vols (Oxford, 1956).
Summers
The Complete Works of William Wycherley, ed. Montague Summers, 4 vols (London, 1924).

Verse

The Answer [to Mr. Shadwell] ('That I have only answer'd Mum')

First published in Poems on Affairs of State...Part III (London, 1698). Summers, II, 245-7. For Shadwell's accompanying Letter…to Mr. Wicherley, see SdT 2-6.

WyW 1

Copy.

A folio miscellany of poems on affairs of state, largely in a single professional hand (up to f. 372r), with later additions on ff. 372r-203r(c.1738-45), 203 leaves, in contemporary speckled calf (rebacked).

c.1700 [-1745]

Once owned by C. Stuteville (inscribed f. 2r) and later, c.1880, by the Grimston family and by the Byrom family, of Kilnwick Hall, East Yorkshire. Bought from E.L.G. Byrom in 1921.

Bodleian Library, Eng. poet. MSS, a through d (MS Eng. poet. c. 18 ff. 11r-12v)
WyW 2

A large folio miscellany of poems on affairs of state, probably in several hands, one professional hand predominating, with (ff. 1r-2r) a Table of contents, 200 leaves, in contemporary blind-stamped calf.

c.1695

Bookplate of William, Earl of Craven (1608-97), soldier and Privy Counsellor, of Hampstead Marshall, Berkshire.

University of Nottingham (Pw V 46 ff. 6r-7v)
WyW 3

Copy.

A formal folio miscellany of poems on affairs of state, including eleven by Rochester and Sodom, as well as apocryphal items, probably in a single professional hand, 444 leaves (including a six-leaf index).

c.1690s

Cited in IELM, II.ii as the Vienna MS: RoJ Δ 12. Discussed in Rudolf Brotanek, Beschreibung der Handschrift 14090 (Supplement 1776) der Nationalbibliothek in Wien, in Festschrift der Nationalbibliothek in Wien (Vienna, 1926), 145-62. Recorded and selectively collated in Vieth and in Walker.

WyW 4

Copy.

A folio miscellany of poems on affairs of state, in a single professional hand, in two volumes: Vol. I, including twelve poems by Rochester and Sodom, as well as apocryphal items, pp. 1-461 (plus index); Vol. II, pp. 462-842 (with irregularities of pagination).

This MS is closely related to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Cod. 14090.

c.1690s-1700

Later owned by Alexander Dyce (1798-1869), literary scholar and editor, who records that £50 was given by Perry, for these 2 volumes.

Cited in IELM, II.ii (1993), as the Dyce MS: RoJ Δ 15.

Victoria and Albert Museum (Dyce MS 43 (Pressmark Dyce 25.F.37-38) pp. 20-3)
An Epistle to Mr. Dryden ('As when great Kings with petty Princes joyn')

First published in Poems on Several Occasions. By His Grace the Duke of Buckingham (London, 1717). Posthumous Works (London, 1728), pp. 18-29. Summers, IV, 63-9.

WyW 5 Early 18th century

Copy in the neat hand of Alexander Pope, headed An Epistle to Mr. Dryden; Occasion'd by his desiring me to join with him in writing a Comedy By Mr. Wycherley, on two pairs of conjugate folio leaves.

The hand identified by Hilton Kelliher.

An unbound folder of verse MSS, in various hands and paper sizes, 138 leaves.

Volume CCXXXVI of the Trumbull Papers, of the Trumbull family, including chiefly William Trumbull (1576/80?-1635), diplomat and government official. Later belonging to the Marquess of Downshire, of Easthampstead Park. Formerly Berkshire Record Office Trumbull Add 17 and 18.

Sotheby's sale catalogue, The Trumbull Papers (14 December 1989), part of lot 39.

Hero and Leander in Burlesque ('The Towns of Sestus and Abidus stood')

First published (with lacunae) in London, 1699. Posthumous Works, Vol. II (London, 1729). Summers, IV, 73-102. The complete text unpublished.

*WyW 6
Autograph

An exemplum of the first printed edition with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription on a flyleaf, For Anthony Henley Esqr from his most oblig'd and most humble servant W. Wycherley (subsequently heavily deleted).

Most of the spaces left by the printer in the text of the poem filled in Wycherley's own hand: namely, his autograph insertions on pp. 26 (2 lines), 27 (2 lines), 28 (1 line), 29 (½ line), 30 (1 line and a one-word change), 32 (1½ lines), 34 (one word), 37 (five-word alteration), 39 (two words), 41 (4 lines and a three-word alteration), 46 (1 line), and 74 (one letter added to a word).

[1669]

Later owned by one F. J., whose notes on endpapers are dated 2 March 1789 and 9 March 1791. Later owned by Alexander Dyce (1798-1869), literary scholar and editor. Formerly pressmark D.17.P.55.

This volume briefly discussed, and some of the MS readings quoted (not always accurately), in McCarthy, pp. 37-9, 45 (where also the later notes are misattributed to Alexander Dyce).

Victoria and Albert Museum (Dyce 10,790 (Pressmark Dyce S 8vo 10790))
Wycherleys extempore Poem on ye Peace ('As springing show'rs make fading flowers to smile')

Unpublished?

WyW 7

Copy of a ten-line poem ascribed to Witcherley on a small slip of paper.

Miscellaneous literary papers, unbound, assembled by Adam Ottley (1685-1752), Registrar of the diocese of St David's, Wales.

Among papers formerly at Pitchford Hall, Shropshire.

National Library of Wales (Pitchford Hall (Ottley) English Literary MSS (uncatalogued), A A10)

Dramatic Works

The Plain-Dealer

First published in London, 1677.

Letters

Letter(s)
WyW 9 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 22 March 1705/6.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 14-15, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 205-6. An adapted extract from the letter edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers II, 227.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII f. 171r-v)
WyW 10 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 11 November 1707.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 29-30, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 206-7. An adapted version edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers II, 229-30.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII f. 172r-v)
WyW 11 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 6 December 1707.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 34,6, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 207-8.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII f. 173r-v)
WyW 12 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, from Shrewsbury, 19 January 1707/8.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 38-40, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 208-10.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII f. 174r-5r)
WyW 13 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 13 November 1708.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 52-4, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 210-11.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII f. 176r-v)
WyW 14 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 19 February 1708/9.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 54-6, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 211-13. An adapted and abridged version (redated Feb. 19, 1706/7) edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers II, 228-9.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII ff. 177r-8r)
WyW 15 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 17 May 1709.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 58-9, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 213-14. An abridged version edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers II, 235.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII ff. 179r-80r)
WyW 16 Early 18th century

Copy of Wycherley's letter to Alexander Pope, 23 May 1709.

Edited from this copy in Sherburn, I, 61-2, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 214-15.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII ff. 180v-1r)
WyW 17 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 14 June 1709.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 64-6, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889, misdated June 4) in Summers, II, 215-17.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII ff. 182r-3r)
WyW 18 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, from London, 14 February 1709[/10].

Edited in Sherburn, I, 78-9, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 217-18.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII f. 184r-v)
WyW 19 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 1 April 1710.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 79-80, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 218-19. A slightly abridged version edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers II, 238-9.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII ff. 185r-6r)
WyW 20 Early 18th century

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, 27 April 1710.

Edited in Sherburn, I, 84-5, and (from W.J. Courthope's printed transcript of 1889) in Summers, II, 219-20. A slightly abridged version edited by Pope in The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, Vol. II (London, 1729), and in Letters of Mr. Pope (London, 1735). Reprinted in Summers II, 240.

MS volume of correspondence.

The Marquess of Bath, Longleat House (Portland Papers, Vol. XIII f. 187r-v)
WyW 21 c.1704

Copy, in John Caryll's hand, of a letter by Wycherley to him, from London, 17 May 1704.

Edited in Summers, II, 242, and in Connely, p. 280.

A folio volume comprising copies by John Caryll, of Ladyholt, Sussex, of letters sent to him by various correspondents, c.120 leaves.

c.1710-35

Donated by Sir Charles W. Dilke, MP.

*WyW 22 1704
Autograph

Autograph letter signed by Wycherley, to Lord Halifax, 12 May 1704.

Edited in Summers, II, 242, and in Connely, pp. 267-8. Facsimile examples in Garnett & Gosse (1903), III, 163, and in T.J. Brown, English Literary Autographs XLI, BC, 11 (Spring 1962), 62-3.

A folio composite volume of letters, in various hands and paper sizes, 107 leaves, in modern black morocco gilt.

Bequeathed in 1829 by N. Hart, Esq.

WyW 23 c.1677

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, from London, 20 August 1677.

Edited in Robert J. Allen, Two Wycherley Letters, TLS (18 April 1935), p. 257. Reedited in McCarthy, pp. 86-8.

Papers of John Boyle, fifth Earl of Cork and Orrery.

Harvard, other MSS (MS Eng 218.2 (v.3) pp. 37-40)
WyW 24 c.1685

Copy of a letter by Wycherley, to John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, from Fleet Prison, 24 October 1685.

Edited in Robert J. Allen, Two Wycherley Letters, TLS (18 April 1935), p. 257. Reedited in McCarthy, pp. 145-6.

Papers of John Boyle, fifth Earl of Cork and Orrery.

Harvard, other MSS (MS Eng 218.2 (v.3) pp. 41-2)
*WyW 25
Autograph

Autograph letter signed by Wycherley, to Alexander Pope, from London, 23 May 1709.

1709

Facsimile in IELM, II.ii (1993), Facsimile XXIII, after p. xxi.

Harvard, other MSS (fMS Eng 870 (24))
*WyW 26
Autograph

Autograph letter signed by Wycherley, to Colonel James Grahme, 27 December 1688.

1688

Edited, with a reduced facsimile, in Connely, pp. 214-15. Reprinted in McCarthy, p. 176.

Levens Hall, Cumbria (Levens Hall MSS, Grahme Correspondence, Bundle W, No. 4, [unnumbered letter])
WyW 27

Autograph letter signed by Wycherley, to Colonel James Grahme, [1689].

1689

Edited, with a reduced facsimile, in Connely, pp. 216-17. Reprinted in McCarthy, pp. 176-7.

Levens Hall, Cumbria (Levens Hall MSS, Grahme Correspondence, Bundle W, No. 4, [unnumbered letter])
*WyW 28
Autograph

Letter by Wycherley, apparently autograph, to George Legge, Baron Dartmouth, from Fleet Prison, 9 July 1685.

c.1685

Formerly among the papers of the Earl of Dartmouth, largely dispersed.

Edited in HMC, 11th Report, Appendix, Part V (1887), p. 446. Reprinted in B. Eugene McCarthy, Biographical Data on William Wycherley and his Father, N&Q, 216 (January 1971), 34-6, and in McCarthy (1979), p. 144.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley letter])

Documents

Document(s)
WyW 29

Wycherley's bill of complaint against the bookseller Samuel Briscoe, concerning the delay in the publication of his Miscellany Poems, entirely in the hand of a professional scribe, 23 January 1699/1700.

1700

For this case, see Howard P. Vincent, William Wycherley's Miscellany Poems, PQ, 16 (1937), 145-8.

*WyW 30
Autograph

Wycherley's deposition, the text in the hand of a scribe and signed by Wycherley, on behalf of George Rodney Bridges and his wife Anna Maria, Countess of Shrewsbury, in a Chancery suit between Bridges and Elizabeth Browne, 12 May 1693.

1693

Recorded in Eleanore Boswell, Footnotes to Seventeenth-Century Biographies, MLR, 26 (1931), 341-5.

National Archives, Kew (C 24/1159, Part 1/5)
*WyW 31
Autograph

An indenture between the playwright's father, Daniel Wycherley, and Thomas Lyster, also signed by William Wycherley, 30 September 1696.

1696

Maggs's sale catalogue No. 570 (Spring 1932), item 488. Sotheby's, 18 June 1934, lot 519, and 21 July 1936, lot 337.

Yale (Gen MSS Misc Group 2315, item F-1)
Will
*WyW 32
Autograph

Wycherley's last Will and Testament, the text in the hand of a scrivener and signed in a shaky hand by Wycherley the day before his death, 31 December 1715, proved 13 January 1715/16.

1715
National Archives, Kew (PROB 10/1530)
WyW 33

A registered copy of Wycherley's last will and testament, 31 December 1715, proved 13 January 1715/16.

1716
National Archives, Kew (PROB 11/550/16)
WyW 33.5

Copy of Wycherley's last will and testament, 31 December 1715, proved 13 January 1715/16.

1716

Presentation Exempla of Printed Works by Wycherley

Miscellany Poems (London, 1704)
*WyW 34
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph inscription For his worthy Friend Mr Portlock….

1704

Sotheby's, 23 March 1907, lot 243, to Quaritch.

*WyW 35
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph inscription For Sr Brocas Gardiner….

1704

American Art Association, New York, 4 December 1935, lot 449, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 23 April 1946 (Hogan sale), lot 174.

Princeton (RHT 17th-795)
WyW 36

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription to the Earl of Radnor (nephew of Wycherley's first wife, the Countess of Drogheda).

c.1704

Later in the library of Sir Andrew Fontaine (1676-1753), of Narford Hall, Norfolk, antiquary and art collector.

University of Texas at Austin (Pforzheimer 1101)
*WyW 37
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For My Lord High Treasuror, of England… [i.e. the Earl of Danby].

Sotheby's, 4 June 1930 (Duke of Leeds sale), lot 707, to Rosenbach, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue.

1704
Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 38
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For his much esteem'd & honourd Friend, Sr George Browne….

1704

American Art Association, New York, 5 January 1938 (Joseph B. Shea sale, Part II), lot 458.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 39
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For his worthy hond Friend, Anthony Englefeild, Esqr…, also with his deleted inscription For Dr. Charlton.

1704

Charles W. Traylen, sale catalogue No. 77 (1972), item 92. Christie's, 20 November 1980, lot 282, to Maggs. Maggs's sale catalogue No. 1234 (1997), item 169, with a facsimile of the inscribed page.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 40
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For ye Ladys, att Mrs Fox'is….

1704

W.H. Robinson's sale catalogue No. 73 (1941), item 633, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 41
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For The worthy Dr [Grinling] Gibbons….

1704

Also inscribed Ex Dono Eli: Gibbons [i.e by Gibbons's daughter Elizabeth]. Sotheby-Parke Bernet, New York, 15 November 1977 (David Borowitz sale), lot 279. Blackwell's sale catalogue A1 (1979), item 115, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. Christie's, New York, 10 December 1999, lot 257, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 42
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For Sr John Guise…, and with an autograph inscription dedicated to Sr John Guise on p. 389 above the poem In Praise of Laziness; a MS correction also in the second line of this poem.

1704

Sotheby's, 30 June 1933 (Earl of Roseberry sale, 5th day), lot 1306, to Scheuer, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. Christie's, New York, 16 November 1984, lot 404, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 43
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For Anthony Henley Esqr….

1704

Howard S. Mott, Sheffield, Mass., sale catalogue No. 209 (July 1983), item 510.

This is presumably the presentation exemplum to Henley which F. J., in his notes dated 9 March 1791 in the Dyce exemplum of Hero and Leander (see WyW 6), records having purchased of Mr Payne, Bookseller, at The Mews-gate from the library of the late Earl of Northington.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 44
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For ye best friend in ye world, of hir Sex [Miss Luttrell]….

1704

Sotheby's, 19 June 1934, lot 398, to Maggs, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. W.H. Robinson's sale catalogue No. 84 (1940s), item 335, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, 27 November 1950, lot 773.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 45
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For Thomas Lyster Esqr….

1704

Sotheby's, 5 March 1934, lot 177, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. W.H. Robinson's sale catalogue (1934), item 29, with a facsimile of the inscription.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 46
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For his Grace ye Duke of Ormond.

1704

Sotheby's, 6 February 1900, lot 793, to Sabin.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 47
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph presentation inscription For ye fayrest Lady in Kent, Mrs Jane Twisden….

1704

Puttick & Simpson's, 10 July 1861 (Dering sale), lot 679. Anderson Auction Company, New York, 1 May 1911 (Robert Hoe sale, Part II), lot 3526, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. Sotheby's, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 27 November 1950, lot 773. 18 June 1962, lot 743, to Holloway.

This volume evidently once in the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bt (1792-1872), manuscript and book collector, and recorded in a 19th-century MS (Phillipps MS 8101) Catalogue of Books and Pamphlets being part of the Library of Sir Roger Twysden Bart of Roydon Hall in the 17th Century, a catalogue now at the University of Salford.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 48
Autograph

A printed exemplum with an unspecified fine inscription in the author's autograph.

1704

A.S.W. Rosenbach's sale catalogue [No. 22] (1911), item 132.

Untraced, miscellaneous ([Wycherley volume])
*WyW 49
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph inscription For ye fayrest Lady in Kent, Mrs Jane Twisden….

c.1704

Puttick & Simpson's, 10 July 1861, lot 679; Sotheby's, 18 June 1962, lot 743, to Holloway. Anderson Auction Company, New York, 1 May 1911 (Robert Hoe sale, Part II), lot 3526, with a facsimile of the inscription in the sale catalogue. This volume is also recorded in Phillipps MS 8101, a 19th-century MS Catalogue of Books and Pamphlets being part of the Library of Sir Roger Twysden Bart of Roydon Hall in the 17th Century, a catalogue preserved at the University of Salford.

Untraced, Phillipps MS ([unnumbered])
Works (London, 1713)
*WyW 50
Autograph

A printed exemplum with Wycherley's autograph inscription For his much esteem'd and honourd Friend, Sr George Browne, from his humble Servant, W: Wycherley.

1713

Bookplate of John Sheepshanks, 1852. American Art Association, New York, 1 January 1938 (Joseph B. Shea sale, Pt II), lot 458.

Princeton (RHT 17th-634)

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