Add MS 41577

TRANSCRIPT of Correspondence of Cardinal Reginald Pole, chiefly with crowned heads (the Emperor and the Sovereigns of Spain, France and England) or with members of the Roman Curia and other ecclesiastics; [1539]-1558. Italian, either originally or in translation, except for a letter from King Philip to Pole, 4 Jan. 1556, which remains in Spanish (ff. 218b-219). Appended (ff. 295-306) are Latin copies and extracts, with notes in Italian, from Papal registers, etc., relative to Pole's legateship. The order of the letters is roughly chronological; dates are often omitted, and when given are not always to be trusted. The earlier letters are sporadic, but with the news of Queen Mary's accession and Pole's preparation for his English mission in Aug. 1553 a regular series begins (f. 41b), ceasing only in Sept. 1558 (he died 17 Nov.), after which follow several letters (ff. 267b-283) from his intimate friend and executor, Alvise Priuli, Nov.-Dec. 1558. Few of the letters appear in the five-volume Epistolarum R. Poli Collectio, 1744-1747, by Quirini, but most have been summarised by Rawdon Brown in Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, 1534-1558, from a similar MS. in St Mark's Library (Cod. xxiv. Cl. x). For Priuli see P. Paschini, Un Amico del Card. Polo: Alvise Priuli, 1921. Cf. also Brit. Mus. Quart., iii, 1928-1929, pp. 17-18. Another volume of Pole's correspondence is Add. MS. 25425. Paper; ff. iii+3o8. Folio. XVII-XVIII cent. Sotheby's sale-cat., 13-15 Feb. 1928, lot 447.