Stowe MS 222-232

HANOVER PAPERS, being the correspondence and papers of J- Robethon, private secretary (1) to William III., (2) to George William, Duke of Zell, and (3) to George Louis, Elector of Hanover, and George I. of England; 2 Oct. 1692-13 Nov. 1719. Eleven volumes. Paper. Folio. Vols. i.-x. have been re-arranged chronologically ; vol. xi., consisting of intercepted Jacobite correspondence, remains unaltered. At Robethon's death the collection passed to his eldest son, Col. Robethon, and after the latter's decease it was sold, circ. 1752, under an execution, to Matthew Duane, by whom it was bequeathed to his relation, Michael Bray, of Wimbledon. At Bray's death it was purchased by Thomas Astle, Keeper of the Records iii the Tower, who by his will, in 1803, offered it for purchase to the Marquis of Buckingham, and it thus became part of the Stowe library. While in the hands of Matthew Duane, the correspondence was examined by James Macpherson, and many of the letters between 1702 and 1765 were transcribed for his Secret History of Great Britain from the Restoration to the Accession of the House of Hanover, London, 1775. In the following list of writers the names in each volume are arranged alphabetically. The collection deals almost exclusively with the fortunes of the Electoral House of Hanover, both before and after its accession to the throne of Great Britain ; and, except where otherwise noted, the letters are in French.