Add MS 78577-78584

WILLIAM BRAY AND WILLIAM UPCOTT

78577-78584. EVELYN PAPERS. Vol. CCCCX- CCCCXVII. Manuscripts deriving from the association of William Bray (1736-1832) and William Upcott (1779-1845) with the Evelyn family; 1814-1846. William Bray of Shere became the Evelyn family solicitor in the lifetime of Sir John Evelyn, 1^st Bart., and obtained his place in the Greencloth by the patronage of the 2^nd Bart. In his memoir of the Evelyn family (Add. MS 78582 A below) he describes how he recommended William Upcott, librarian of the London Institution and autograph collector, to catalogue the library at Wotton and how they were both engaged by Lady Evelyn to edit and publish John Evelyn’s diary. During his time at Wotton Upcott removed many items from family archive to his own collections, apparently with the initial permission from Lady Evelyn, though what he took far exceeded whatever might have been intended by this. Yet as the correspondence below makes clear, he remained on friendly terms with Mary Jane, widow of George Evelyn and mother of William John Evelyn, until his death in 1845. The following material consists of notes, collections, transcripts and proof-sheets for Bray’s and Upcott’s editions of the diary and of Evelyn’s works, Bray’s accounts of the Evelyn family history, Upcott’s correspondence with Bray and with members of the family, and the sale catalogues of his collection (Bray’s letters to Sir Frederick and Lady Evelyn are chiefly on unrelated business matters and have been filed with their correspondence in Add. MS 78546 above). For the catalogues of the library at Wotton compiled by Upcott, see Add. MSS 78641-78643 below. His autograph albums and other collection items, bought by William John Evelyn after his death in order to retrieve the numerous Evelyn items in them, are Add. MSS 78678-78693 below.

Eight volumes.