The British Library: other MSS

  • Arundel MS 152

    A folio volume of documents relating principally to John Fisher (c.1469-1535), Bishop of Rochester, Catholic saint, 313 leaves, imperfect.

    Mid-16th century.
    • MrT 17 ff. 293r-v, 300r

      Copy.

      Cited in Yale, Vol. 6, Part II.

      A Latin meditation on the meaning of perjury, written while in the Tower (April 1534-July 1535), and relating to A Dialogue concerning Heresies, Book III, Chapter 7. Yale, Vol. 6, Part II, pp. 764-7, ed. R.S. Sylvester, with an English translation.

      Sir Thomas More, Assertio quod omne perjurium sit mortale peccatum
    • MrT 16 f. 313r

      Copy.

      A Latin meditation on the meaning of perjury, written while in the Tower (April 1534-July 1535), and relating to A Dialogue concerning Heresies, Book III, Chapter 7. Yale, Vol. 6, Part II, pp. 764-7, ed. R.S. Sylvester, with an English translation.

      Sir Thomas More, Assertio quod omne perjurium sit mortale peccatum
    • CvG 23 passim

      Various extracts, incorporated in materials for a life of Fisher.

      Sylvester, No. 14a.

      First published in George Cavendish, The Life of Cardinal Wolsey and Metrical Visions, ed. Samuel W. Singer, 2 vols (Chiswick, 1825). The Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey by George Cavendish, ed. Richard S. Sylvester, EETS, orig. ser. 243 (London, New York and Toronto, 1959).

      George Cavendish, The Life of Cardinal Wolsey
  • Arundel MS 285

    A Scottish miscellany of devotional verse and prose.

    c.1530s.
    • DuW 159 ff. 1r-4v

      Copy.

      Edied from this MS in Bennett, pp. 1-6. Partly edited from this MS in Mackenzie.

      Mackenzie, No. 83, pp. 163-7. Murdoch, II, 43-8. Ritchie, II, 42-7. Bawcutt, I, 267-73.

      William Dunbar, The Tabill of Confession ('To The, O mercifull Salviour, Jesus')
    • DuW 75 ff. 161r-2v

      Copy.

      Edited from this MS in Mackenzie; in Bennett; and in Bawcutt.

      Mackenzie, No. 84, pp. 167-9. Bennett, pp. 257-9. Bawcutt, I, 136-8.

      William Dunbar, The Maner of Passing to Confessioun ('O synfull man, thir ar the fourty dayis')
    • DuW 130 ff. 168r-v, 171r, 169r, 170r

      Copy.

      Edited from this MS in Bennett, pp. 266-9. Collated in Bawcutt.

      Mackenzie, No. 80, pp. 155-9. Craigie, I, 229-34. Bawcitt, pp. 34-8, as Ane Ballat of the passioun.

      William Dunbar, Of the Passioun of Christ ('Amang thir freiris, within ane cloister')
  • Arundel MS 300

    Autograph devotional formulary of Psalms and Latin prayers, neatly written by Howard on 90 octavo leaves of vellum, untitled.

    c.1589.

    Inscribed later in the 17th century A formularie of Psalmes & Prayers made by Henry Earle of Northampton and writ wth his own hand. The first leaf is stamped Soc. Reg. Lond ex dono Henr. Howard Norfolciensis.

  • Ashley MS B. 3165

    Composite volume of papers of Thomas J. Wise (1859-1937).

    c.1700.
    • DrJ 133 ff. 183-4

      Copy on the first three pages of two conjugate quarto leaves.

      First published in The Pilgrim (London, 1700). Kinsley, IV, 1758-9. Hammond & Hopkins, V, 593-7.

      John Dryden, Prologue [to The Pilgrim] ('How wretched is the Fate of those who write!')
    • DrJ 38 f. 184r-v

      Copy on the last two pages of two conjugate folio leaves.

      First published in The Pilgrim (London, 1700). Kinsley, IV, 1759-61. Hammond & Hopkins, V, 597-9.

      John Dryden, Epilogue [to The Pilgrim] ('Perhaps the Parson stretch'd a point too far')
  • Burney MS 126

    A predominantly autograph notebook by Thomas Traherne, in Latin prose throughout, inscribed by him (f. 1v) Ex libris Tho Traherne, 59 quarto leaves (plus a few blanks).

    Containing (f. 3r) a title-page (Platonis Philosophi Speculationes practicæ. A Marsilio Ficino breviter digestæ) and table of contents (f. 4r), notes from Marsilio Ficino's life of Plato (ff. 5r-9v), epitomes of Plato and Pseudo-Plato (ff. 10r-45r), an anonymous life of Socrates (ff. 46r-57v), Ficino's Argumentum to his translation of Hermes Trismegistus (f. 58r-v) and notes on eleven chapters of an anonymous Stoicismus Christianus (f. 59r); with notes from Theophilus Gale's Court of the Gentiles, Part II (1670) added (ff. 57v, 59v) in the miniscule hand of an amanuensis (same as that in TrT Δ 1 and TrT Δ 5).

    Late 17th century.

    The name Elinor scribbled several times on f. 1v. Later owned by Dr Charles Burney (1757-1817), schoolmaster and book collector.

    Recorded in Bell, p. xxx (who, however, thought the MS belonged not to the poet but to his nephew Thomas Traherne). Discussed in Carol Marks Sicherman, Traherne's Ficino Notebook, PBSA, 63 (1969), 73-81 (where the MS is questionably dated c.late 1660s). The extract from Gale's work (Book IV, chapter 1) also occurs, under the heading Aristotle's Philosophy, in TrT Δ 5. The MS cited in IELM, II.ii (1993) as TrT Δ 6.

    • *TrT 233.5
      Autograph
      No description or publication history available.

      Unpublished.

      Thomas Traherne, The Ficino Notebook
  • Burney MS 362

    A quarto composite volume of MSS collected by the classical scholar Meric Casaubon (1599-1671), 140 leaves, in modern binding.

    • HkR 38 ff. 96r-114v

      Copy, in Casaubon's hand, inscribed Given mee by Mr. Jervis, 26 Feb. 1640 sn.

      This MS collated in Folger edition, Volume V.

      First published, with Travers's Supplication, in Oxford, 1612. Keble, III, 570-96. Folger edition, Volume V, pp. 225-57.

      Richard Hooker, Hooker's Answer to Walter Travers's Supplication to the Council
  • Burney MS 363

    A folio composite volume of letters sent to Isaac Casaubon (1559-1614), French classical scholar, in various hands, 288 leaves, in modern half-morocco.

    • *AndL 66 ff. 26r-7v
      Autograph

      Autograph letter in Latin, signed (Eliensis), to Isaac Casaubon, [1612].

      Edited in LACT, Minor Works (1854), pp. xlii-xliv.

      Lancelot Andrewes, Letter(s)
    • *AndL 68 ff. 28r-9v
      Autograph

      Autograph letter in Latin, signed (Eliensis), to Isaac Casaubon, 8 September 1612.

      Edited in LACT, Minor Works (1854), pp. xliv-xlv.

      Lancelot Andrewes, Letter(s)
  • Burney MS 368

    A folio composite volume of state and miscellaneous papers and Latin verse, including papers of Meric Casaubon (1599-1671), 142 leaves, in modern half-morocco.

    • DnJ 1627.3 f. 23r

      Autograph copy by Raphael Thorius, on one side of a single quarto leaf, once folded as a letter or packet.

      This MS cited in Beal & Kelliher.

      First published in P.G. Stanwood, A Donne Discovery, TLS (19 October 1967), p. 984. Reprinted in John Donne, Ignatius his Conclave, ed. T. S. Healy, S.J. (Oxford, 1969), pp. 174-5, and in Shawcross, pp. 505-6. Variorum, 8 (1995), p. 253, as Dubium.

      This Latin poem is not by Donne but by the physician and poet Raphael Thorius (d.1625): see Peter Beal and Hilton Kelliher, John Donne, TLS (12 February 1982), p. 162.

      John Donne, Ignatij Loyolae Apotheosis ('Qui sacer ante fuit, sanctus nunc incipit esse')
    • CoR 769 f. 141r-v

      Copy, closely written in a small predominantly italic hand, untitled, on a single folio leaf, once folded as a letter or packet.

      Sermon, beginning My worthy freinds & brethren of the Clergy, I did not send for you before, though I had a commission..., first published in James Peller Malcolm, Londinium Redivivum, 4 vols (London, 1802-7), II (1803), 77-80. Edited (with omissions) in Gilchrist, pp. xli-xlviii.

      Richard Corbett, A speech made by Doctor Corbet Bpp of Norwich to the Clergie of his Diocesse about theire Benevolence for the repayre of St Paules Church London [29 April] Anno domini 1634
  • Burney MS 390

    A quarto verse miscellany probably associated with Oxford.

    Late 17th century.
    • CoA 164 ff. 2r-6r

      Copy, here ascribed to Cowley.

      This MS collated in Waller, II, 490, and in Sparrow.

      First published, anonymously, [Oxford], 1643. Ascribed to Cowley in Wit and Loyalty Reviv'd (London, 1682). Waller, II, 149-57. Sparrow, pp. 17-28. J.H.A. Sparrow, The Text of Cowley's Satire The Puritan and the Papist, Anglia, 58 (1934), 78-102.

      Abraham Cowley, A Satyre. The Puritan and the Papist ('So two rude waves, by stormes together throwne')
    • RoJ 308 ff. 6r-7r

      Copy of lines 1-173, headed a Satyr against Man, & Reason.

      This MS recorded in Vieth; collated in Walker.

      First published (lines 1-173) as a broadside, A Satyr against Mankind [London, 1679]. Complete, with supplementary lines 174-221 (beginning All this with indignation have I hurled) in Poems on Several Occasions (Antwerp, 1680). Vieth, pp. 94-101. Walker, pp. 91-7, as Satyr. Love, pp. 57-63.

      The text also briefly discussed in Kristoffer F. Paulson, A Question of Copy-Text: Rochester's A Satyr against Reason and Mankind, N&Q, 217 (May 1972), 177-8. Some texts followed by one or other of three different Answer poems (two sometimes ascribed to Edward Pococke or Mr Griffith and Thomas Lessey: see Vieth, Attribution, pp. 178-9).

      John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester, A Satyr against Reason and Mankind ('Were I (who to my cost already am)')
    • MaA 284 f. 7r

      Copy, headed On Clarendons Grand Children.

      This MS recorded in Margoliouth.

      First published with Directions to a Painter…Of Sir Iohn Denham ([London], 1667). Margoliouth, I, 147. Rejected from the canon by Lord and also by Chernaik, p. 211.

      Andrew Marvell, Upon his Grand-Children ('Kendal is dead, and Cambridge riding post')
    • DrJ 195 ff. 9r-10r

      Copy.

      First published in London, 1661. Kinsley, I, 24-8. California, I, 32-6. Hammond & Hopkins, I, 55-61.

      John Dryden, To His Sacred Majesty, A Panegyrick On His Coronation ('In that wild Deluge where the World was drownd')
    • DrJ 200 ff. 11v-12v

      Copy.

      First published in London, 1681. Kinsley, I, 28-32. California, I, 38-42. Hammond & Hopkins, I, 63-9.

      John Dryden, To My Lord Chancellor Presented on New-years-day ('While flattering crouds officiously appear')
    • DrJ 217 ff. 12v-13r

      Copy, headed Jo Dryden: To the Lady Castlemain for procuring a Play of his to be Printed.

      This MS collated in Hammond.

      First published in A New Collection of Poems and Songs…Collected by John Bulteel (London, 1674). Examen Poeticum (London, 1693). Kinsley, I, 154-6. California, I, 45-6. Hammond & Hopkins, I, 81-3. Also in Paul Hammond, Dryden's Revision of To the Lady Castlemain, PBSA, 78 (1984), 81-90.

      John Dryden, To the Lady Castlemain, Upon Her incouraging his first Play ('As Sea-men shipwrackt on some happy shore')
    • MaA 163.8 f. 14r

      Copy.

      A lampoon sometimes called The Gamball or a dreame of ye Grand Caball. First published in A Second Collection of the Newest and Most Ingenious Poems, Satyrs, Songs, &c. (London, 1689). Edited in POAS, I (1963), pp. 191-203, as possibly by John Ayloffe. Ascribed to Marvell in two MS copies (MaA 163.4 and MaA 163.92).

      Andrew Marvell, The Dream of the Cabal: A Prophetical Satire Anno 1672 ('As t'other night in bed I thinking lay')
    • DrJ 43.762 ff. 17v-19v

      Copy.

      A satire written in 1675 by John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, but it was widely believed by contemporaries (including later Alexander Pope, who had access to Mulgrave's papers) that Dryden had a hand in it, a belief which led to the notorious assault on him in Rose Alley on 18 December 1679, at the reputed instigation of the Earl of Rochester and/or the Duchess of Portsmouth.

      First published in London, 1689. POAS, I (1963), pp. 396-413.

      The authorship discussed in Macdonald, pp. 217-19, and see John Burrows, Mulgrave, Dryden, and An Essay upon Satire, in Superior in His Profession: Essays in Memory of Harold Love, ed. Meredith Sherlock, Brian McMullin and Wallace Kirsop, Script & Print, 33 (2009), pp. 76-91, where is it concluded, from stylistic analysis, that Mulgrave had by far the major hand. Recorded in Hammond & Hopkins, V, 684, in an Index of Poems Excluded from this Edition.

      John Dryden, An Essay upon Satire ('How dull and how insensible a beast')
    • MaA 29 ff. 19v-22r

      Copy, headed Anniuersary on the Government of the Ld Protecter An: D: 1655 and here ascribed to Mr Waller.

      This MS recorded in Margoliouth.

      First published in London, 1655. Miscellaneous Poems (London, 1681), but cancelled from all known exempla except one in the British Library. Margoliouth, I, 108-19. Lord, pp. 93-104. Smith, pp. 287-98.

      Andrew Marvell, The First Anniversary of the Government under O.C. ('Like the vain Curlings of the Watry maze')
    • WaE 385 ff. 22r-3v

      Copy.

      This MS recorded in Deas, p. 317.

      First published London, 1655. The Second Part of Mr. Waller's Poems (London, 1690). in The Maid's Tragedy Altered (London, 1690). Thorn-Drury, II, 10-17.

      Edmund Waller, A Panegyric to my Lord Protector, of the present Greatness, and joint Interest of His Highness, and this Nation ('While with a strong and yet a gentle hand')
    • KiH 155 ff. 30v-1r

      Copy, headed A Definition of Man.

      This MS recorded in Crum.

      First published in Richard Chamberlain, The Harmony of the Muses (London, 1654) [apparently unique exemplum in the Huntington, edited in facsimile by Ernest W. Sullivan (Aldershot, 1990), pp. 12-15]. Poems (1657). Crum, pp. 174-7.

      Henry King, An Elegy Occasioned by Sicknesse ('Well did the Prophet ask, Lord what is Man?')
  • Burney MS 392

    Poems of Felicity volume.

    8°, 71 leaves (ff. 5-71 originally paginated 1-133); volume of poems by Thomas Traherne in fair copy, entirely in the hand of Philip Traherne and with his sometimes extensive corrections, emendations and annotations (the latter probably relating to the ordering of the poems), apparently prepared for intended publication; the title-page reading Poems of Felicity. Vol. I. Containing Divine Reflections On the Native Objects of An Infant=Ey. By Tho: Traheron, B.D. Author of the Roman Forgeries, & Christian Ethiks. Printed for Ph. Traheron B.D And are to be sold by &c; containing a prefatory poem and 61 other poems by Thomas Traherne and two prefatory poems by Philip Traherne. In entries below the original page numbers are cited and the unnecessary modern foliation ignored.

    [after 1674].

    Later owned by the Rev. Dr Charles Burney (1726-1814).

    Cited in IELM as TrT Δ 7. Edited from this MS in Traherne's Poems of Felicity, ed. H.I. Bell (Oxford, 1910), with a facsimile of p. 59 (f. 34) as frontispiece. Discussed in Margoliouth (I, xiv-xvi), collated and 38 of the poems edited from this MS (II, 86-152), as also in Ridler (pp. 77-139). Also discussed in Gladys I. Wade, The Manuscripts of the Poems of Thomas Traherne, MLR, 26 (1931), 401-7, and in Cedric Brown and Tomohiko Koshi, Editing the Remains of Thomas Traherne, RES, NS 57 (November 2006), 766-82. Twenty-three of the poems appear also in TrT Δ 1. A microfilm of this MS is in the Bodleian (MS Film 462), as are some facsimile pages of it (MS Facs. d.119, f. 141).

    • TrT 205 pp. 1-2

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning These little Limbs.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 5, 7.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 1-3. Bell, pp. 1-2. Margoliouth, II, 4, 6. Ridler, pp. 5-6.

      Thomas Traherne, The Salutation ('These little Limmes')
    • TrT 100 pp. 3-4

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), sig. B3-B4r. Margoliouth, II, 2-3. Ridler, pp. 3-4.

      Thomas Traherne, The Author to the Critical Peruser ('The naked Truth in many faces shewn')
    • TrT 229 pp. 3-5

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 7, 9, 11.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 4-7. Bell, pp. 3-5. Margoliouth, II, 6, 8, 10. Ridler, pp. 6-8.

      Thomas Traherne, Wonder ('How like an Angel came I down!')
    • TrT 135 pp. 5-7

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 13, 15.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 8-10. Margoliouth, II, 12, 14. Ridler, pp. 8-10.

      Thomas Traherne, Eden ('A learned and a Happy Ignorance')
    • TrT 167 pp. 7-10

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 15, 17, 19.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 11-13. Bell, pp. 7-10. Margoliouth, II, 14, 16, 18. Ridler, pp. 10-11.

      Thomas Traherne, Innocence ('But that which most I Wonder at, which most')
    • TrT 163 pp. 10-12

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 10-12. Margoliouth, II, 86-7. Ridler, pp. 77-8.

      Thomas Traherne, An Infant-Ey ('A simple Light from all Contagion free')
    • TrT 199 pp. 12-13

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 12-13. Margoliouth, II, 87-8. Ridler, p. 79.

      Thomas Traherne, The Return ('To Infancy, O Lord, again I com')
    • TrT 193 pp. 13-15

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, headed The Praeparative and here beginning My Body being dead, my Limbs unknown.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 21, 23, 25.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 14-17. Bell, pp. 13-15. Margoliouth, II, 20, 22, 24. Ridler, pp. 12-14.

      Thomas Traherne, The Preparative ('My Body being Dead, my Lims unknown')
    • TrT 171 pp. 15-16

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning Spew out thy Filth, thy Flesh abjure.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 25.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 18-19. Bell, pp. 15-16. Margoliouth, II, 24. Ridler, pp. 14-15.

      Thomas Traherne, The Instruction ('Spue out thy filth, thy flesh abjure')
    • TrT 226 pp. 16-18

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning Flight is but the Praeparative: the Sight.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 27, 29.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 20-2. Bell, pp. 16-18. Margoliouth, II, 26, 28. Ridler, pp. 15-17.

      Thomas Traherne, The Vision ('Flight is but the Preparative: The Sight')
    • TrT 195 p. 19

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 31.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 23-4. Bell, p. 19. Margoliouth, II, 30. Ridler, p. 17.

      Thomas Traherne, The Rapture ('Sweet Infancy!')
    • TrT 180 pp. 20-1

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 20-1. Margoliouth, II, 88-9. Ridler, pp. 79-81.

      Thomas Traherne, News ('News from a forein Country came')
    • TrT 145 p. 22

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), p. 22. Margoliouth, II, 90. Ridler, p. 81.

      Thomas Traherne, Felicity ('Prompted to seek my Bliss abov the Skies')
    • TrT 22 pp. 23-4

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherene, heading altered from Misapprehension to Adam's Fall.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published, as Adam's Fall, in Bell (1910), pp. 23-4. Margoliouth, II, 91-2. Ridler, pp. 82-3.

      Thomas Traherne, Adam ('God made Man upright at the first')
    • TrT 62 p. 24

      Copy of the first stanza in the hand of Philip Traherne, deleted.

      See TrT 63.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 29-31. Margoliouth, II, 95-7. Ridler, pp. 86-8.

      Thomas Traherne, The Apostacy ('One Star')
    • TrT 63 pp. 29-31

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 29-31. Margoliouth, II, 95-7. Ridler, pp. 86-8.

      Thomas Traherne, The Apostacy ('One Star')
    • TrT 231 pp. 25-8

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 25-8. Margoliouth, II, 92-5. Ridler, pp. 83-6.

      Thomas Traherne, The World ('When Adam first did from his Dust arise')
    • TrT 212 pp. 32-6

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 32-6. Margoliouth, II, 98-101. Ridler, pp. 88-91.

      Thomas Traherne, Solitude ('How desolate!')
    • TrT 191 pp. 37-8

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 37-8. Margoliouth, II, 101-3. Ridler, pp. 92-3.

      Thomas Traherne, Poverty ('As in the House I sate')
    • TrT 127 pp. 39-42

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 39-42. Margoliouth, II, 103-6. Ridler, pp. 93-6.

      Thomas Traherne, Dissatisfaction ('In Cloaths confin'd, my weary Mind')
    • TrT 111 p. 43

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), p. 43. Margoliouth, II, 106. Ridler, p. 96.

      Thomas Traherne, The Bible ('That! That! There I was told')
    • TrT 113 pp. 43-52

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 43-7. Margoliouth, II, 106-10. Ridler, pp. 97-100.

      Thomas Traherne, Christendom ('When first mine Infant-Ear')
    • TrT 185 pp. 48-52

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 48-52. Margoliouth, II, 110-13. Ridler, pp. 100-3.

      Thomas Traherne, On Christmas-Day ('Shall Dumpish Melancholy spoil my Joys')
    • TrT 110 pp. 52-5

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 52-5. Margoliouth, II, 113-16. Ridler, pp. 103-5. First published as two poems, Bells I (Hark! hark, my Soul! the Bells do ring) and Bells II (From Clay, & Mire, & Dirt, my Soul).

      Thomas Traherne, Bells ('Hark!, hark, my Soul! the Bells do ring')
    • TrT 114 p. 56

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), p. 56. Margoliouth, II, 116. Ridler, pp. 105-6.

      Thomas Traherne, Churches I ('Those stately Structures which on Earth I view')
    • TrT 115 pp. 57-8

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 57-8. Margoliouth, II, 116-18. Ridler, pp. 106-7.

      Thomas Traherne, Churches II ('Were there but one alone')
    • TrT 174 pp. 59-61

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS, with a facsimile of p. 59 (f. 34) as frontispiece, in Bell.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 59-61. Margoliouth, II, 118-20. Ridler, pp. 107-9.

      Thomas Traherne, Misapprehension ('Men are not wise in their Tru Interest')
    • TrT 159 pp. 61-4

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning Tis more to recollect than make; the one.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 31, 33, 35, 37.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 25-9. Bell, pp. 61-4. Margoliouth, II, 30, 32, 34, 36. Ridler, pp. 18-20.

      Thomas Traherne, The improvment (''Tis more to recollect, then make. The one')
    • TrT 184 pp. 64-7

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 64-7. Margoliouth, II, 120-2. Ridler, pp. 109-11.

      Thomas Traherne, The Odour ('These Hands are Jewels to the Ey')
    • TrT 25 pp. 67-9

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherene.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 67-9. Margoliouth, II, 122-3. Ridler, pp. 111-12.

      Thomas Traherne, Admiration ('Can Human Shape so taking be')
    • TrT 75 pp. 69-70

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 37, 39, 41.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 30-2. Margoliouth, II, 36, 38, 40. Ridler, pp. 21-2.

      Thomas Traherne, The Approach ('That Childish Thoughts such Joys inspire')
    • TrT 179 pp. 71-3

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning That Custom is a Second Nature, we.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 61, 63, 65.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 49-52. Bell, pp. 71-3. Margoliouth, II, 60, 62, 64. Ridler, pp. 32-4.

      Thomas Traherne, Nature ('That custom is a Second Nature, we')
    • TrT 133 pp. 74-5

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, headed Eas and here beginning How easily doth Nature teach the Soul!

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 65, 67.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 53-4. Margoliouth, II, 64, 66. Ridler, pp. 35-6.

      Thomas Traherne, Ease ('How easily doth Nature teach the Soul')
    • TrT 131 pp. 75-7

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, headed Dumness and here beginning Sure Man was born to meditat on things.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 41, 43, 45.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 33-6. Margoliouth, II, 40, 42, 44. Ridler, pp. 22-4.

      Thomas Traherne, Dumnesse ('Sure Man was born to Meditat on Things')
    • TrT 177 pp. 78-82

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning My naked simple Life was I.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 51, 53, 55, 57.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 41-5. Bell (1910), pp. 78-82. Margoliouth, II, 50, 52, 54, 56. Ridler, pp. 27-30.

      Thomas Traherne, My Spirit ('My Naked Simple Life was I')
    • TrT 210 pp. 82-5

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning A quiet silent Person may possess.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 45, 47, 49, 51.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 37-40. Bell, pp. 82-5. Margoliouth, II, 44, 46, 48, 50. Ridler, pp. 25-7.

      Thomas Traherne, Silence ('A quiet Silent Person may possess')
    • TrT 202 pp. 85-8

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 85-8. Margoliouth, II, 123-6. Ridler, pp. 112-14.

      Thomas Traherne, Right Apprehension ('Giv but to things their tru Esteem')
    • TrT 71 p. 88

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, following Right Apprehension (TrT 202) and headed II.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 57.

      First published in Dobell (1903), p. 46. Bell, p. 88, as Right Apprehension II. Margoliouth, II, 56. Ridler, p. 31 (as Evidently a fragment of a discarded longer poem, which T[raherne] placed here as a kind of postscript to My Spirit [TrT 176-7]).

      Thomas Traherne, The Apprehension ('If this I did not evry moment see')
    • TrT 147 pp. 89-90

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, headed Fulness.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 59, 61.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 47-8. Margoliouth, II, 58, 60. Ridler, pp. 31-2.

      Thomas Traherne, Fullnesse ('That Light, that Sight, that Thought')
    • TrT 214 pp. 90-1

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning The liquid Pearl in Springs.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 69, 71.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 55-6. Bell, pp. 90-1. Margoliouth, II, 68, 70. Ridler, pp. 36-7.

      Thomas Traherne, Speed ('The Liquid Pearl in Springs')
    • TrT 123 pp. 92-4

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, headed The Choice and here beginning When first eternity stoopt down to Nought.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 71-4.

      First published, as The Choice, in Dobell (1903), pp. 57-9. Margoliouth, II, 70-1. Ridler, pp. 37-9.

      Thomas Traherne, The Designe ('When first Eternity Stooped down to Nought')
    • TrT 190 pp. 94-6

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning Ye sacred Limbs.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 75, 77, 79.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 60-2. Bell (1910), pp. 94-6. Margoliouth, II, 74, 76, 78. Ridler, pp. 40-1.

      Thomas Traherne, The Person ('Ye Sacred Lims')
    • TrT 157 p. 96

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, deleted.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), p. 146. Margoliouth, II, 126. Ridler, p. 115.

      Thomas Traherne, The Image ('If I be like my God, my King')
    • TrT 141 pp. 97-8

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, here beginning But shall my Soul no Wealth possess?.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 79, 81, 83.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 63-6. Bell, pp. 97-8. Margoliouth, II, 78, 80, 82. Ridler, pp. 42-3.

      Thomas Traherne, The Estate ('But shall my Soul to Wealth possess')
    • TrT 143 pp. 99-100

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 99-100. Margoliouth, II, 126-7. Ridler, pp. 115-16.

      Thomas Traherne, The Evidence ('His Word confirms the Sale')
    • TrT 137 pp. 100-1

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne, headed The Enquiry.

      Edited from this MS in Bell and in Margoliouth, II, 83, 85.

      First published in Dobell (1903), pp. 67-9. Margoliouth, II, 82, 84. Ridler, pp. 44-5.

      Thomas Traherne, The Enquirie ('Men may delighted be with Springs')
    • TrT 207 pp. 101-4

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 101-4. Margoliouth, II, 127-30. Ridler, pp. 116-18.

      Thomas Traherne, Shadows in the Water ('In unexperienc'd Infancy')
    • TrT 186 pp. 104-7

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 104-7. Margoliouth, II, 130-2. Ridler, pp. 118-20.

      Thomas Traherne, On Leaping over the Moon ('I saw new Worlds beneath the Water ly')
    • TrT 223 pp. 107-8

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published, as part of On Leaping over the Moon (TrT 186), in Bell (1910), pp. 107-8. Margoliouth, II, 132. Ridler, pp. 120-1.

      Thomas Traherne, 'To the same purpos. he not long before!'
    • TrT 208 pp. 108-10

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 108-10. Margoliouth, II, 132-4. Ridler, pp. 121-3.

      Thomas Traherne, Sight ('Mine Infant-Ey')
    • TrT 227 pp. 111-13

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 111-13. Margoliouth, II, 135-6. Ridler, pp. 123-4.

      Thomas Traherne, Walking ('To walk abroad is, not with Eys')
    • TrT 126 pp. 113-14

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 113-14. Margoliouth, II, 136-7. Ridler, pp. 124-5.

      Thomas Traherne, The Dialogue ('Why dost thou tell me that the fields are mine?')
    • TrT 128 pp. 114-16

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 114-16. Margoliouth, II, 138-9. Ridler, pp. 126-7.

      Thomas Traherne, Dreams ('Tis strange! I saw the Skies')
    • TrT 164 pp. 117-19

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 117-19. Margoliouth, II, 139-41. Ridler, pp. 127-9.

      Thomas Traherne, The Inference I ('Well-guided Thoughts within possess')
    • TrT 165 pp. 119-20

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 119-20. Margoliouth, II, 141-2. Ridler, pp. 129-30.

      Thomas Traherne, The Inference II ('David a Temple in his Mind conceiv'd')
    • TrT 117 pp. 121-4

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 121-4. Margoliouth, II, 142-5. Ridler, pp. 130-2.

      Thomas Traherne, The City ('What Structures here among God's Works appear?')
    • TrT 168 pp. 124-5

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 124-5. Margoliouth, II, 145-6. Ridler, p. 133.

      Thomas Traherne, Insatiableness I ('No Walls confine! Can nothing hold my Mind?')
    • TrT 169 pp. 125-6

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 125-6. Margoliouth, II, 146-7. Ridler, p. 134.

      Thomas Traherne, Insatiableness II ('This busy, vast, enquiring Soul!')
    • TrT 119 pp. 126-8

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 126-8. Margoliouth, II, 147-8. Ridler, pp. 134-6.

      Thomas Traherne, Consummation ('The Thoughts of Men appear')
    • TrT 152 pp. 129-31

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 129-31. Margoliouth, II, 149-51. Ridler, pp. 136-8.

      Thomas Traherne, Hosanna ('No more shall Walls, no more shall Walls confine')
    • TrT 200 pp. 131-2

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), pp. 131-2. Margoliouth, II, 151. Ridler, pp. 138-9.

      Thomas Traherne, The Review I ('Did I grow, or did I stay?')
    • TrT 201 p. 133

      Copy in the hand of Philip Traherne.

      Edited from this MS by editors.

      First published in Bell (1910), p. 133. Margoliouth, II, 152. Ridler, p. 139.

      Thomas Traherne, The Review II ('My Child-hood is a Sphere')
  • Burney MS 523

    A folio volume of miscellaneous papers in Latin and English, 125 leaves, with an index in the hand of Charles Burney.

    • StW 754.5 f. 111r

      A four-line adaptation of the poem.

      First published in Walter Porter, Madrigales and Ayres (London, 1632). Dobell, p. 41. Forey, pp. 76-7. The poem also discussed in C.F. Main, Notes on some Poems attributed to William Strode, PQ, 34 (1955), 444-8 (pp. 445-6), and see Mary Hobbs, Early Seventeenth-Century Verse Miscellanies and Their Value for Textual Editors, EMS, 1 (1989), 182-210 (pp. 199, 209).

      William Strode, Song ('I saw faire Cloris walke alone')
    • RnT 222.5 ff. 115r, 116r

      Copy, headed The Downfall of the Mitre Tavern, Cambridge, or the sinking therof into the Cellar.

      First published in Wit & Drollery (London, 1656), p. 68. Thorn-Drury, pp. 160-2.

      Thomas Randolph, On the Fall of the Mitre Tavern in Cambridge ('Lament, lament, ye Scholars all')
  • Hargrave MS 47

    A folio volume of legal and political tracts and papers, in professional secretary hands, written from both ends, 211 leaves.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer. Inscribed by him on f. ir F. Hargrave / A present to me from Dan. Jones of Fakenham Esqr 29. Sept. 1789 F.H. and (on f. 1r-v) with a table of contents in Hargraves's hand.

    • CtR 117 ff. 191r-3r

      Copy, headed A briefe discourse proveinge yt. the house of Commons hath equall power wth. ye. Peeres.

      Tract, the full title sometimes given as A Brief discourse prouinge that the house of Comons hath Equall power with the Peeres in point of Judicature written by Sr Rob: Cotton to Sr Edward Mountague Ano Dni. 1621, beginning Sir, To give you as short an accompt of your desire as I can.... First published in London, 1640. Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. [341]-351.

      Sir Robert Cotton, A Briefe Discovrse concerning the Power of the Peeres and Commons of Parliament in point of Judicature
  • Hargrave MS 89

    A folio volume of law readings, in several secretary hands, in modern quarter-morocco.

    Early-mid-17th century.

    Inscribed (f. 1r) Sum liber Edwardi Shurlande teste [?]Jo: Michell.

    • MrT 45.4 f. 3r-v

      Extracts, in a cursive secretary hand.

      The Latin version first published in Louvain, 1516. Ralph Robynson's English translation published in 1551. Yale, Vol. 4.

      Sir Thomas More, Utopia
  • Hargrave MS 168

    A folio volume of ten state tracts, in a single professional hand, 437 leaves, in modern quarter-vellum.

    c.1620s-30s.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer. Inscribed by him on f. iv A present to me from my friend Charles Butler Esqr. Fra: Hargrave 15 Jan. 1792. Inscribed on f. 1r in a different hand, Given me by Mr: S. Baker, Bookseller, Whit-. May 26. 74 in XII. f. 1. my way home from Woodfd. Church, with another Fol. Ms. Halfd:.

    • RaW 1068.5 ff. 307r-62v

      Copy.

      A treatise beginning Forasmuch as in every doubtfull and questionable matter, it is familiar and common amongst men to be diverse.... First published in London, 1734. It was probably written by Sir Thomas Wilford (1541-1601?), or possibly by Sir Francis De Vere or Nathaniel Boothe. See Lefranc (1968), pp. 64-5.

      Sir Walter Ralegh, A Military Discourse
    • LeC 25 ff. 395r-403r

      Extracts, headed Some Extracts out of the Earle of Leicesters Common wealth of which the whole booke is att Mr J. Lluyd of Ynisheere.

      This MS recorded in Peck. p. 226.

      First published as The Copie of a Leter, Wryten by a Master of Arte of Cambrige, to his Friend in London, Concerning some talke past of late betwen two worshipful and graue men, about the present state, and some procedinges of the Erle of Leycester and his friendes in England ([? Rouen], 1584). Soon banned. Reprinted as Leycesters common-wealth (London, 1641). Edited, as Leicester's Commonwealth, by D.C. Peck (Athens, OH, & London, 1985). Although various attributions have been suggested by Peck and others, the most likely author remains Robert Persons (1546-1610), Jesuit conspirator.

      Anon, Leicester's Commonwealth
    • WoH 269 ff. 414r-37r

      Copy.

      First published in London, 1641. Edited by Sir Robert Egerton Brydges (Lee Priory Press, Ickham, 1814).

      Sir Henry Wotton, A Parallel between Robert Earl of Essex and George Duke of Buckingham
  • Hargrave MS 173

    Copy, lacking title-page, in two volumes, on 581 folio leaves.

    In a single, predominantly secretary professional hand.

    1st half 17th century.

    Once in the library of Ralph Thoresby (1658-1725), Yorkshire antiquary and topographer. Later in the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal write and book collector.

    • WoH 296.5
      No description or publication history available.

      A lengthy treatise, beginning After that I had lived many years in voluntary exile and banishment.... First published in London, 1657. Wotton's authorship is not certain.

      Sir Henry Wotton, The State of Christendom
  • Hargrave MS 205

    A folio volume, in a neat secretary hand, comprising a poem, an Inner Temple play (Tancred and Gismund), and a commonplace book cum lexical compilation, 178 leaves.

    c.1568.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer.

    • SuH 70 ff. 1r-8v

      Copy, headed P Virgilij Muronis Æneidos Liber Quartus Britannico Sermoni Donatus per Comitem S, with sidenotes.

      Printed from this MS (with the text of the 1557 edition on facing pages) in Padelford, No. 58, pp. 122-65. Collated in Ridley.

      First published in London, [1554], ed. John Day. Edited by Richard Tottel (London, 1557). Padelford, No. 58, pp. 142-89. Edited by Florence H. Ridley (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1963). Jones, pp. 63-88.

      Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Virgil's Aeneid. Book IV ('But now the wounded quene, with heavie care')
  • Hargrave MS 216

    A folio volume of legal and political tracts, in professional secretary hands, 194 leaves.

    c.1630.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer.

    • CtR 355 ff. 77r-80v

      Copy.

      Tract, addressed to George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, beginning In humble obedience to your Grace's Command, I am emboldned to present my poor advice.... Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. 1-9.

      Sir Robert Cotton, A Relation of the Proceedings against Ambassadors who have miscarried themselves, etc. ... [27 April 1624]
  • Hargrave MS 219

    Extracts taken out of a Copy of a MS of Sr Robt Cotton relating to ye Court of Chauncery compiled or framed in 2 parts, beginning The Chanceller hath no Commission by Letters Patents..., with numerous sub-headings, predominantly in a single neat hand, the title in a later hand, 144 folio leaves (plus blanks), in modern cloth.

    Late 17th-early 18th century.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer and book collector. Inscribed lent me by MrGoldesborough ye Deputy Regr of ye Court of Chauncery & ye original was lent to him by Mr Grimes ye Late Usher of ye Rolls, and including (ff. 115r-144v) material from A copy of papers in ye hands of Mr Holforde...Sr Robt Cotton, headed De Magno Cancellario Angl et Cancellaria ac Cojudicibus ejus ey Authoritate eorundem.

    • CtR 139.5
      No description or publication history available.

      Tract, in two parts, the first beginning There is a Booke called the Myrror of Justices mentioned in Plowden's Commentaries..., the second beginning There be Two manner of Powers & Process....

      Sir Robert Cotton, The Courte of Chauncerye
  • Hargrave MS 223

    A folio volume of legal and state tracts and papers, 165 leaves.

    In a single professional secretary hand.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer and book collector. Also inscribed on f. 2r Tho Manby.

    • CtR 473 art. 14

      Copy.

      Tract beginning To search so high as the Norman Conquest.... First published, as The Forme of Governement of the Kingdome of England collected out of the Fundamental Lawes and Statutes of this Kingdome, London, 1642. Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. [11]-39.

      Sir Robert Cotton, That the Kings of England have been pleased usually to consult with their Peeres in the great Councell, and Commons in Parliament, of Marriage, Peace, and Warre. Written...Anno 1611
  • Hargrave MS 225

    A folio composite volume of state and antiquarian tracts and letters, in various professional hands, including the Feathery Scribe, 336 leaves.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer. Inscribed by him on f. [iv] F. Hargrave A gift made to me this day by my friend George Hardinge Esquire [(1743-1816), judge and writer]. F. H. 16. July 1789.

    Described in Peter Beal, In Praise of Scribes: Manuscripts and their Makers in Seventeenth-Century England (Oxford, 1998), p. 232 (No. 40).

    • LyJ 21 ff. 36r-7r

      Copy.

      This MS collated in Bond.

      Beginning Most Gratious and dread Soveraigne: I dare not pester yor Highnes wth many wordes.... Written probably in 1598. Bond, I, 64-5. Feuillerat, pp. 556-7.

      John Lyly, A petitionary letter to Queen Elizabeth
    • LyJ 43.5 ff. 37r-8v

      Copy.

      This MS collated in Bond.

      Beginning Most gratious and dread Soveraigne: Tyme cannott worke my peticons, nor my peticons the tyme.... Written probably in 1601. Bond, I, 70-1. Feuillerat, pp. 561-2.

      John Lyly, A second petitionary letter to Queen Elizabeth
    • CtR 474 ff. 67r-90v

      Copy, lacking title, imperfect, subscribed Robt. Cotton. Indexed in the table of contents (f. 336) as The relacon of Sr. Tho Cotton shewing yt....

      Tract beginning To search so high as the Norman Conquest.... First published, as The Forme of Governement of the Kingdome of England collected out of the Fundamental Lawes and Statutes of this Kingdome, London, 1642. Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. [11]-39.

      Sir Robert Cotton, That the Kings of England have been pleased usually to consult with their Peeres in the great Councell, and Commons in Parliament, of Marriage, Peace, and Warre. Written...Anno 1611
    • CtR 40 ff. 240r-8v

      Copy, in the professional secretary hand of the Feathery Scribe, subscribed R: C: B.

      Beal, In Praise of Scribes, No. 40.3 [not there identified] (p. 232).

      Tract beginning What, besides self-regard, or siding faction, hath been.... Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. [203]-217.

      Sir Robert Cotton, An Answer to Certain Arguments raised from Supposed Antiquity, and urged by some Members of the lower House of Parliament, to prove that Ecclesiasticall Lawes ought to be Enacted by Temporall Men
  • Hargrave MS 226

    A folio composite volume of state tracts, speeches and letters dating up to 1631, in various professional hands, including the Feathery Scribe, 313 leaves.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer. Inscribed by him on f. [iv] F Hargrave A gift to me this day from my friend George Hardinge Esquire [(1743-1816), judge and writer]. F. H. 16. July 1789.

    Briefly described in Peter Beal, In Praise of Scribes (1998), pp. 232-3 (No. 41).

    • BcF 337 ff. 2r-17v

      Copy of Bacon's speech at the arraignment of Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, 25 May 1616, in the professional secretary hand of the Feathery Scribe.

      Francis Bacon, Speech(es)
    • CtR 85 ff. 18r-30v

      Copy, as By Sr Robert Cotton, Knt.

      Tract, relating to events in 1599/1600, beginning To seek before the decay of the Roman Empire.... First published in London, 1642. Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. [73]-79 [i.e. 89].

      Sir Robert Cotton, A Breife Abstract of the Question of Precedencie between England and Spaine: Occasioned by Sir Henry Nevill the Queen of Englands Ambassador, and the Ambassador of Spaine, at Calais Commissioners appointed by the French King...
    • BcF 600 ff. 93r-100r

      Copy of a letter by Bacon, to James I, concerning his Mats Estate xijo Januarij Anno 1610.

      Francis Bacon, Letter(s)
    • BcF 157 ff. 193r-207v

      Copy, headed The Confession of ffaith written by the Late Lord Keeper Sr ffrancis Bacon.

      First published in London, 1641. Spedding, VII, 217-26.

      Francis Bacon, A Confession of Faith
    • RaW 881.5 ff. 261r-9v

      Copy of two letters by Ralegh, to his wife and to Winwood, in a professional secretary hand.

      Sir Walter Ralegh, Letter(s)
    • SiP 193 ff. 270r-82v

      Copy, partly in the hand of the Feathery Scribe (on ff. 270r, 273r-82v), partly in another professional secretary hand (on ff. 271r-2v, the same hand as SiP 202 and SiP 209), with a few marginal marks by a reader.

      This MS collated in Feuillerat, III, 325 et seq. Recorded in Duncan-Jones & Van Dorsten, p. 38.

      First published in Scrinia Caeciliana: Mysteries of State & Government (London, 1663) and in Cabala: sive Scrinia Sacra (London, 1663). Feuillerat, III, 51-60. Duncan-Jones & Van Dorsten, pp. 46-57.

      This work and its textual transmission discussed, with facsimile examples, in Peter Beal, In Praise of Scribes: Manuscripts and their Makers in Seventeenth-Century England (Oxford, 1998), Chapter 4, pp. 109-46 (with most MSS catalogued as Nos 1-37, with comments on their textual tradition, in Appendix IV, pp. 274-80).

      Sir Philip Sidney, A Letter to Queen Elizabeth touching her Marriage with Monsieur
  • Hargrave MS 227

    A folio volume of treatises and papers relating to the Court of Chancery, in a professional predominantly italic hand, with a list of contents and some marginal annotations probably by Hargrave, 341 leaves, in late 19th-century morocco.

    Mid-late 17th century.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer. Inscribed by him on f. [1v] F. Hargrave Bot. by me of Mr Lynch of Dublin with [?]t manuscripts for which together I gave £60 F. H. and with his list of contents (f. 2r-v).

    • CtR 139 ff. 3r-72r

      Copy, the first part (ff. 3r-40r) headed The Court of Chancery, the second part (ff. 41r-72r) A Learned Treatise concerng the high and Honourable Court of Chancery written by the Famous Sr Robt Cotton Pars Secunda; subscribed in Francis Hargrave's hand (Note that in another Copy which I have of this Mss. bound separately, there is an addition of 14 or 15 pages to yt. part where the mss. as concluded here.).

      Tract, in two parts, the first beginning There is a Booke called the Myrror of Justices mentioned in Plowden's Commentaries..., the second beginning There be Two manner of Powers & Process....

      Sir Robert Cotton, The Courte of Chauncerye
    • BcF 337.5 ff. 306v-14v

      Copy of Bacon's speech on taking his place in Chancery.

      Francis Bacon, Speech(es)
  • Hargrave MS 249

    A folio volume of tracts and records relating to the Court of Chancery.

    c.1630.
    • BcF 338 ff. 188v-93v

      Copy of Bacon's inaugural speech as Lord Chancellor, 7 May 1617.

      Francis Bacon, Speech(es)
  • Hargrave MS 255

    A folio volume of two works, namely Henry Elsinge's Modus Tenendi Parliamentum and a tract by Cotton, in a single cursive mixed hand, 68 leaves.

    c.1630.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer.

    • CtR 118 ff. 66r-8v

      Copy, headed That ye house of Comons hath equall power with ye Peers in poynt of Judicature by Sr: Robert Cotton.

      Tract, the full title sometimes given as A Brief discourse prouinge that the house of Comons hath Equall power with the Peeres in point of Judicature written by Sr Rob: Cotton to Sr Edward Mountague Ano Dni. 1621, beginning Sir, To give you as short an accompt of your desire as I can.... First published in London, 1640. Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. [341]-351.

      Sir Robert Cotton, A Briefe Discovrse concerning the Power of the Peeres and Commons of Parliament in point of Judicature
  • Hargrave MS 278

    A folio volume of state and legal tracts, in various professional hands, 498 leaves.

    c.1620-50.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer. Some scribbling under the table of contents on f. 1v refers to Le Neve Yorke [i.e. Peter Le Neve (1661-1729), herald and antiquary].

    • DaJ 263 ff. 408r-98r

      Copy, with a formal title-page, An Argument vppon The Question of Impositions, digested and divided into sundrie Chapters Written by Sr John Davis Knt one of his Maties: Councell learned in Ireland, & by him dedicated to Kinge James.

      A treatise, with dedicatory epistle to James I, comprising 33 chapters, beginning The Question it self is no more than this, Whether the Impositions which the King of England hath laid and levied upon Merchandize, by vertue of his Prerogative onely.... First published in London, 1656. Grosart, III, 1-116.

      Sir John Davies, The Question concerning Impositions
  • Hargrave MS 280

    Copy, in a professional predominantly secretary hand, 128 small folio leaves.

    With (f. 2r-v) a dedicatory epistle To my very Honourable good Lord the Lord North Threasurer of her Maiesties royall Houshold and of her Priuie Counsell [i.e. Roger, second Baron North (1530/1-1600), Treasurer of the Queen's Household after 30 August 1596] (beginning My good Lord, it is more then many yeeres since I first became devoted vnto yor vertue...) and with (f. 4r) a title-page Obseruations Politicall and Civill.

    c.1630.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer. Inscribed by him (f. 1r) 29. Septr. 1789. / A present to me from Dan. Jones of Fakenham in Norfolk Esqr. F. Hargrave.

    • RaW 1046
      No description or publication history available.

      A treatise beginning A Commonwealth is a certain sovereign government of many families.... First published, attributed to Sir Walter Ralegh in John Milton's preface To the Reader, as The Cabinet-Council [&c.] (London, 1658). Works (1829), VIII, 35-150.

      Widely circulated in MSS as Observations Political and Civil. The various attributions include T.B., for whom Thomas Bedingfield (early 1540s?-1613), translator of Machiavelli, is suggested in Ernest A. Strathmann, A Note on the Ralegh Canon, TLS (13 April 1956), p. 228, and in Lefranc (1968), p. 64.

      Sir Walter Ralegh, The Cabinet-Council: containing the Chief Arts of Empire and Mysteries of State
  • Hargrave MS 284

    Copy, on 42 folio leaves.

    In a professional secretary hand, headed The Effecte Off the Charge giuen to the Grand Jury att yorcke by Sir John Dauis Knight. his Mates first Seriant att Lawe. being one of the Justices of Assize for the Northerne Circute.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer and book collector, inscribed probably by him To be half bound in Vellum / To be lettered.

    • DaJ 229.5
      No description or publication history available.

      Charge beginning You my Masters that are sworn, I am to direct my Speech principally unto you.... First published (from a MS owned by A. Cooper Ramgard, Barrister) in Grosart, III (1876), 243-81.

      Sir John Davies, Charge to the Jurors of the Grand Inquest at York [in 1619]
  • Hargrave MS 311

    A folio composite volume of state tracts, letters and speeches, in various professional hands, with a table of contents (f. 1r-v), 247 leaves.

    c.1630.

    In the collection of Francis Hargrave (1740/1-1821), legal writer.

    • LeC 26 ff. 2r-61v

      Copy in a single hand, with a title-page, Leicesters Common wealthe..., annotated by readers By some thought to haue been written by Sr. Walter Raughley, By some thought to bee written by ffather Parsons the Jesuite, and Rhoda kinge.

      This MS recorded in Peck, p. 225.

      First published as The Copie of a Leter, Wryten by a Master of Arte of Cambrige, to his Friend in London, Concerning some talke past of late betwen two worshipful and graue men, about the present state, and some procedinges of the Erle of Leycester and his friendes in England ([? Rouen], 1584). Soon banned. Reprinted as Leycesters common-wealth (London, 1641). Edited, as Leicester's Commonwealth, by D.C. Peck (Athens, OH, & London, 1985). Although various attributions have been suggested by Peck and others, the most likely author remains Robert Persons (1546-1610), Jesuit conspirator.

      Anon, Leicester's Commonwealth
    • CtR 289 ff. 62r-77r

      Copy, headed A Declaration how a Kinge of England haue from tyme to tyme supported and repaired their estates Collected out of the Records of the Tower by Sr Robt Cotton knight and Barronett Anno nono Jacobi.

      Tract beginning The Kings of England have supported and repaired their Estates.... First published, as An Abstract out of the Records of the Tower, touching the Kings Revenue: and how they have supported themselves, London, [1642]. Cottoni posthuma (1651), pp. [161]-200 [i.e. 202].

      Sir Robert Cotton, The Manner and Meanes how the Kings of England have from time to time Supported and Repaired their Estates. Written...1609.
  • King's MS 166

    A fair copy, possibly the presentation copy to Queen Elizabeth, on 64 small folio leaves.

    Complete with a formal title-page (f. 1r) and Dedication To the Quenes most Excellent Maiestie (ff. 2r-9r); the main text on ff. 10r-64r; written in the accomplished, predominantly secretary hand of Howard's principal amanuensis (the same as in British Library, Lansdowne MS 792); the dedication subscribed and signed by Howard (f. 9r) Yr Mties most affectionat, humble, and / loyall subiecte, till deathe / Henry Hwward; in calf with the arms of George III in gilt and the royal arms bookplate pasted on f. 1v.

    c.1590s.
    • *HoH 39
      Autograph
      No description or publication history available.

      An unpublished translation of a suppositious work, supposed (but unlikely) to be Charles V's instructions to his son Philip II, which was circulated in MS in 16th-century Europe and published in Spanish in Sandoval's Life of Charles V (1634). An Italian translation in MS was presented to James VI by Giacomo Castelvetro between 1591 and 1595 and is now in the National Library of Scotland (MS Adv. 23. I. 6): see The Works of William Fowler, ed. H.W. Meckle, James Craigie and John Purves, III, STS 3rd Ser. 23 (Edinburgh, 1940), pp. cxxvii-cxxx, and references cited in The Basilicon Doron of King James VI, ed. James Craigie, II, STS, 3rd Ser. 18 (Edinburgh, 1950), pp. 63-9. A quite different translation was published as The Advice of Charles the Fifth … to his Son Philip the Second (London, 1670).

      Howard's translation, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, was allegedly written when he had been more than twelve years out of the Queen's favour [? in the early 1590s]. The Dedication begins If the faithful Cananite of whom we read in the holy writ …; the main text begins I have resolved (most dear son) to come now to the point …, and ends … to proceed in such a course as prayers may second your purposes. Sanctae Trinitati, &c.

      Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, A Copy of the last instructions which the Emperor Charles the Fifth gave to his son Philip before his death translated out of Spanish
  • Loan MS 76

    Copy of the original acting version of the masque represented at Ludlow Castle the 29th of September 1634.

    In an accomplished scribal hand, adopting a variant style for stage directions, on 37 quarto pages of text: entitled A Maske Represented before the right hoble: the Earle of Bridgewater Lord president of Wales and the right hoble: the Countesse of Bridgewater. At Ludlow Castle the 29th of September 1634, the title subscribed in a variant form of the same hand with the names of the chiefe persons in the reprsentacon; the text annotated throughout in a lighter-coloured ink, probably in a different hand, with abbreviated names of speakers; the title-page later subscribed in the hand of Thomas Egerton, Lord Brackley (later second Earl of Bridgewater), Author Jo: Milton.

    c.1634-7.

    The MS evidently made for the Earl of Bridgewater (and retained among the Egerton family papers).

    Edited from this MS in Henry Todd's edition of Comus (Canterbury, 1798), Appendix II, pp. 167-92; in Milton's Comus, being the Bridgewater Manuscript, with Notes and a short Family Memoir, ed. Lady Alix Egerton (London, 1910), with facsimile examples; in Visiak (1937); and, with detailed discussion, in Sprott (1972).

    Collated in The Poetical Works of Milton, ed. Henry Todd, 6 vols (London, 1801), V, 431-8; in Columbia, in Darbishire, and in Carey & Fowler. Complete facsimile (but not generally showing the additions in the lighter ink) in Illinois, I, 300-39, with transcript; the transcript reprinted in A Maske at Ludlow, ed. John S. Diekhoff (Cleveland, Ohio, 1968), pp. 207-40. Complete photocopy in the Huntington (EL 34 B 14). Discussed also in David Harrison Stevens, The Bridgewater Manuscript of Comus, MP, 24 (1927), 315-20; in John T. Shawcross, Certain Relationships of the Manuscripts of Comus, PBSA, 54 (1960), 38-56; and in Barbara Breasted, Comus and the Castlehaven Scandal, Milton Studies, 3 (1971), 201-24.

    • MnJ 59
      No description or publication history available.

      First published, as A Maske presented At Ludlow-Castle, 1634, in London, 1637. Poems (1645). Columbia, I, 85-123. Darbishire, II, 171-203. Carey & Fowler, pp. 168-229. John Milton, The Masque of Comus. The Poem, originally called A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634, &c., ed. E.H. Visiak (Bloomsbury, 1937). John Milton, A Maske: The Earlier Versions, ed. S.E. Sprott (Toronto, 1973). Various texts also discussed in A Maske at Ludlow, ed. John S. Diekhoff (Cleveland, Ohio, 1968), [see esp. pp. 251-75].

      John Milton, Comus
  • Loan MS 98

    Rough working draft.

    A rough working draft, or foul paper, of a scene in blank verse and prose between the Prince [Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence] and Lorenzo [Lorenzino de' Medici] which was later heavily adapted as Act I, scene ii of The Traitor; a fragment comprising some 144 lines of text drafted out, with numerous currente calamo revisions, in the mixed secretary and italic hand of its (probably professional) author on two conjugate folio leaves, each c.390 x 305 mm; from the papers of Sir John Coke (1563-1644), Secretary of State, or his family, and the muniments of the Marquess of Lothian at Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire; the MS at some time folded and used as wrapping paper to enclose a bundle of letters (possibly in 1634 or 1640) when books and papers were sent by his sons respectively from Gray's Inn and from London to Melbourne); marked in pencil in the 1880s by William Dashwood Fane Packet 3 (which originally contained documents of 1601-30, including Sir Fulke Greville's household accounts of 1602-3).

    c.1606-31.

    This MS was discovered by Edward Saunders and identified by Felix Pryor at Melbourne Hall in 1985. Bloomsbury Book Auctions, 20 June 1986, lot 222 (unsold).

    This MS appeared in a separate sale catalogue by Felix Pryor for Bloomsbury Book Auctions, 20 June 1986, lot 222, and is discussed by him, with a facsimile page and transcript, in Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook, ed. J.M. Brook (Detroit, 1986), pp. 133-8. It was publicized elsewhere, with occasional reduced facsimile examples, notably in The Times (6 May 1986), pp. 1, 12, and (19 October 1989); Time (19 May 1986), p. 11; New York Times (24 May 1986); TLS (13 June 1986), p. 651; The Spectator (14 June 1986), pp. 34-5; and Maine Antique Digest (July 1986), pp. 36-37C.

    Discussed, with reduced facsimiles, and the attribution to Webster supported, in Antony Hammond and Doreen DelVecchio, The Melbourne Manuscript and John Webster: A Reproduction and Transcript, SB, 41 (1988), 1-32, and in Alfred Marnau, John Webster. Teufel Wörter (Nordlingen, 1986) [where it is also translated into German as Il Moro, Herzog von Florenz. Ein Webster-Fragment]. Facsimiles also in Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion (Oxford, 1987), p. 8., and in DLB, vol. 58, Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists, ed. Fredson Bowers (Detroit, 1987), pp. 290-1.

    Discussed, and the attribution to Webster rejected in favour of Shirley, by I.A. Shapiro in letters to the TLS (4 July 1986), pp. 735-6, and (8 August 1986), p. 865 (also in unpublished further articles), and in The Works of John Webster, Vol. III, ed. David Gunby, David Carnegie, and MacDonald P. Jackson (Cambridge, 2003), pp. xxx-xxxi. See also letters and articles by Richard Proudfoot and Felix Pryor in TLS (13 June 1986), p. 651; (18 July 1986), p. 787; (22 August 1986), pp. 913-14; and (29 August 1986), p. 939, and N.W. Bawcutt, The Assassination of Alessandro de' Medici in early Seventeenth-Century English Drama, RES, NS 56 (June 2005), 412-23.

    • ShJ 192
      No description or publication history available.

      First published in London, 1635. Gifford & Dyce, II, 95-187. Edited by John Stewart Carter (London, 1965). The play was licensed on 4 May 1631 for performance at the Phoenix Theatre.

      James Shirley, The Traitor
  • Loan MS 121C

    A small folio volume of c.128 pages containing some 180 English and Latin poems dating from c.1649 to 1665.

    Written throughout in the hand of Mildmay Fane (1602-66), second Earl of Westmorland.

    • DaW 11.5 pp. 61-2

      Copy of a poem headed An Epitaph wrot by Sr William Dauenant Long since vpon Jefferey Hudson ye Queens Dwarf, 16 lines beginning Let no rude hand remoue this Ston. c.1660s.

      The text is followed by Jeffreides or Jeffery ye Dwarfs answer to Sr william Dauenant in reuenge for the Epitaph he wrot long since on him (36 lines beginning I'm stil aliue as I suppose).

      Both poems edited from this MS in Cain, who thinks that Hudson's answer may be a persona poem possibly by Mildmay Fane.

      First published in The Poetry of Mildmay Fane, Second Earl of Westmorland, ed. Tom Cain (Manchester, 2001), Appendix I, pp. 363-4.

      Sir William Davenant, An Epitaph Wrot by Sir William Davenant Long Since upon Jeffery Hudson the Queens Dwarf ('Let no rude hand remove this Ston')
    • CwT 291.5 p. 114

      Copy, headed A Flye yt flew into his Mistresses Eye by Tom Cary -- pag -- 63.

      First published in Poems (1640). Dunlap, pp. 37-9. Musical setting by Henry Lawes published in The Treasury of Musick, Book 2 (London, 1669).

      Thomas Carew, A flye that flew into my Mistris her eye ('When this Flye liv'd, she us'd to play')