Add MS 56486

MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND PAPERS; 15th cent.-1963.

Paper and vellum; ff. 72. British Library arrangement.

A. Two leaves from the third chapter of 'De Speculatione Musice' by Walter Odington of Evesham; second half of the 15th cent. Latin. See Add. 4909, and the printed text edited by Frederick F. Hammond (Rome, 1970). English pen trials of the late 15th to early 16th cent. Coloured three and four line initials of red and blue, and diagrams with red titles inserted into the text. Purchased from Folio Fine Art, 23 Jan. 1971.

Vellum; ff. 1-2. 177 x 122mm. Ruled (lead-point). Written space 155 x 83mm. Script is a Bastard Anglicana. Some text lost through use as paste-downs.

B. Letter from William Richard Hamilton, secretary to Lord Elgin, to the Rev. Edward Daniel Clarke, concerning a scheme to recover the remainder of Lord Elgin's marble collection from Athens; 5 Nov. 1808. Purchased at Christie's, 2 Dec. 1970, lot 157.

ff. 3-4. 220 x 182mm.

C. Inventory of the stock of the Rothwell Pottery, near Leeds, the property of John Smith, John Sacheverell, William Neild and the Representative of James Ramsay, deceased, compiled by John Platt and Thomas Alcot; 14 Dec. 1772. With a bill for tableware bought of Abbott and Newbury of Fleet Street made out to Capt. Ramsay, related to James Ramsay, part-owner of the Rothwell Pottery, and addressed to Mr. Bruce of 77 Jermyn Street; 28 Sept. 1796. See D. Towner, The Leeds Pottery (1963), pp. 158-159. Purchased at Christie's, 2 Dec. 1970, lot 186.

ff. 5-7. 327 x 208mm.

D. Three supposed poems of Robert Burns forged by Alexander Howland Smith ('Antique Smith'), with signatures, and the first with the pretended date 'Jan. 1790'; circa 1886-1892. The poems are entitled 'Creation's Praise', 'The Lass of Gala-Water' and 'Johnnie and Jenny', none of which appear in James Currie, The Complete Works of Robert Burns (1854), nor in the bi-centenary edition of Robert Burns - The Complete Poetical Works, edited by James A. Mackay (1993). See Add. 43787, 43798 C for other forgeries of Burns by Smith. For an analysis of the characteristics of Smith's Burns forgeries, see J. DeLancey Ferguson, '"Antique" Smith and his forgeries of Robert Burns', The Colophon, part 13 (1933). Also see the report on Smith's forgeries by Sir George Frederic Warner, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, in Add. 50207. Three fictitious provenance inscriptions on the reverse of each poem. Purchased at Christie's, 8 Jan. 1971.

ff. 8-10. 317 x 197mm.

E. Letter from Sir Walter Scott to James Norris Brewer, regarding Scott's recommendation for Brewer to be allowed access to the British Museum Library; 16 Nov. 1814. Added under Brewer's address is the note 'present 1822 Lord Stowel', presumably indicating that the letter was in the possession of William Scott, Baron Stowell. Transferred from the Department of Printed Books, 8 March 1971.

ff. 11-12. 200 x 126mm.

F. Letter from Sir Edward William Elgar to Hon. John William Fortescue, royal librarian at Windsor Castle, replying to an invitation to send a manuscript of the 'Offertorium' which Elgar wrote for the coronation of Edward VII; 23 June 1911. The letter is on headed paper with the address '75, Gloucester Place, Portman Square, W.' Purchased from T. R. G. Lawrence & Son, Crewkerne Sale, 10 Feb. 1971, lot 353.

ff. 13-14. 228 x 175mm.

G. Memorandum on the Irish Famine by Lord John Russell, Prime Minister, afterwards 1st Earl Russell; circa 1846-1847. Autograph. See Sotheran sale cat. 768, (1917) item 373. Presented by Alan Noel Latimer Munby, Esq., 3 April 1971.

ff. 15-26. Largest size 336 x 208mm.

H. Letter from Gen. Charles George Gordon to [Rev. Charles Henry?] Waller, prior to Gordon's leaving for India as private secretary to George Frederick Samuel Robinson, Marquess of Ripon, the new Viceroy of India; 4 May 1880. Purchased from Mrs C. A. Kyrle Fletcher (Autographs), 15 May 1971.

ff. 27-28. 180 x 113mm.

I. Letter from Alexander John Ellis, philologist, to William Chappell; 10 July 1868. On headed paper with the address '25, Argyll Road, Kensington. W.' Transferred from the Department of Printed Books, 28 July 1971.

ff. 29-30. 179 x 113mm.

J. Five letters from John Galsworthy, playwright, to Mrs Mary Arnold Lewisohn née Crocker ('Bosworth Crocker'), relating to Crocker's plays, especially 'Pawns of War'; 31 Dec. 1915-18 Feb. 1919. See Pawns of War. A Play . . . With a foreword by John Galsworthy (1918). Purchased from Mrs E. C. Rinehart, 19 June 1971.

ff. 31-39. Largest size 255 x 204mm.

K. Papers relating to 19th-cent. French history. Presented by Sister M. St John, 15 June 1971.

ff. 40-43. 325 x 203mm., 270 x 210mm.

1. ff. 40-41. Eye-witness account of the Paris revolution, describing the events of 22 Feb.-27 Feb. 1848 ('This revolution has ruined France'), addressed by an anonymous English correspondent to 'Miss F.'; 27 Feb. 1848.

2. ff. 42-43. Letter from Marie Le Harival de Gonneville, Comtesse de Mirabeau, to Frederick William, Prince of Prussia, afterwards Frederick III; 16 Feb. 1873. French.

L. Letter from Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, afterwards 1st Baron Baden-Powell, to Mrs Julia Lucy Mervyn Wyatt, written aboard the 'R.M.S. Eskimo'; 12 Sept. 1912. With a typewritten copy of a letter from Baden-Powell to Algernon Methuen, written from the South African Constabulary, Zuusfontein, Transvaal; 20 Jan. 1901. Presented by Felix Hugh Wyatt Bedford, Esq., 19 June 1971.

ff. 44-46. 177 x 113mm., 330 x 203mm.

M. Two forged letters, a note and an envelope of Horatio Nelson, afterwards Viscount Nelson, relating to Nelson's first years at sea aboard the 'Raisonable'; before 1907. With two further letters, the first, dated 13 Dec. 1907, to a Mrs Bennett, and the second from Sir George Frederic Warner, Keeper of the Manuscripts in the British Museum, dated 21 Feb. 1910, to Mr A. Bennett of Brixton Hill, London, both concerning the proposed sale of 'Nelson letters' together with a chair and picture supposedly belonging to Nelson in his youth, and to which the forged letters make reference. Also included are selected pages of two printed articles: 'Famous Nelson letters sold this week', The Graphic, 27 Feb. 1909, and 'Nelson Enters the Navy' from Nelson and His Times, n.d. The second of these articles seems to have inspired the wording of the forgeries. Presented by M. A. Stroh, Esq.

ff. 47-59. Various sizes.

N. Letter of Charles Reade, dramatist, to an unnamed correspondent, regarding a production of Reade's 'Never too late to mend' at the Adelphi Theatre, London; 19 Aug. 1881. Purchased from Mrs C. A. Kyrle Fletcher (Autographs), 24 July 1971.

ff. 60-62. Largest size 217 x 175mm.

O. Bill of John Morris, embroiderer to Charles, Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II, for embroidered covers for two bibles; 1640. The bill is signed by Brian Duppa (b.1558, d.1662), Bishop of Chichester and tutor to Charles I's sons. A receipt note for four pounds, signed by Morris, appears on the reverse; 23 April 1641. Purchased at Sotheby's, 29 June 1971, lot 343A.

f. 63. 290 x 196mm.

P. Letter from Catherine de Medici, Queen Mother of France, to Monsieur Pasquier-Bochetel de la Forest, the French Ambassador in England, relating to Elizabeth I's projected marriage with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; 26 July 1566. Signed. French. Written in Ecouen and countersigned by Gilles Bourdin, procureur général to Charles IX of France. Purchased from Charavay of Paris, Bulletin 741, item 34325, 24 July 1971.

ff. 64-65. 320 x 220mm.

Q. Letter from Mrs Elizabeth David, author of cookery books, to Richard F. L. Bancroft, Superintendent of the British Museum Reading Room; 30 Aug. 1963. On headed paper with the address '24 Halsey Street, London S.W.3.' Presented by the recipient, 18 Sept. 1971.

ff. 66-68. 251 x 203mm.

R. Letter from Lt.-Gen. Sir John Moore, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Spain, to Sir James St Clair Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, Commissary-in-Chief; 4 Jan. 1809. The letter is dated during the retreat of the British Army from Toro to Corunna where Moore was to die (16 Jan. 1809) in battle with the French Army. See also Add. 57320-57332. Presented by Alan Noel Latimer Munby, Esq., 18 Sept. 1971.

f. 69. 314 x 202mm.

S. Letter from the author Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Lord Dunsany, to his publisher; 16 Feb. 1926. Purchased from Covent Garden Bookshop, cat. 41, no. 508, 18 Sept. 1971.

ff. 70-71. 177 x 114mm.

T. 'London Town' by John Masefield, O.M.; circa 1910. Autograph. First published, with minor variants, in Ballads (1910). Purchased from Covent Garden Bookshop, cat. 41, no. 2704, 18 Sept. 1971.

f. 72. 309 x 246mm.