Add MS 74642

DENNIS LYDDELL (d. 1717): diary as one of the Commissioners for the Navy, occupying interleaved pages in a copy of Riders (1706) British Merlin; 1706. The diary entries are autograph, the almanac is printed in red and black. Lyddell was appointed temporary clerk at the Navy Board in 1676 and was Comptroller of Treasurer's Accounts from 1691 until his death in 1717. His early employment therefore overlapped with that of Samuel Pepys. Although the entries are brief, the diary gives a detailed account of his day-to-day life, including his attendance at the Navy Board and the Admiralty Council, visits to dockyards, social engagements, church attendance (at Crutched Friars near the Navy Office in Seething Lane) and a journey with his family to Bath. With pencilled ownership inscription (f. ii): 'G.F.C April 1st 1821 / John Rittson Peyton August 23, 1821'. The Peytons were relatives of Lyddell's family, and inherited his estate at Wakehurst, co. Suss. in 1776. Purchased from A. R. Heath, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Clifton, Bristol, March 1999.

Paper; ff. iii + 61. Contemporary binding of red goatskin, with extensive and fine gilt-tooling of tendrils and flowers and the remains of metal clasps. 130 x 80 cm.