Add MS 74237 Q

Q. Sir Kenelm Digby: Twenty-two anecdotes relating to him and to others, etc.; circa 1628-1659. At the head of the first leaf is written the date 'Paris Aprill 30 - 1659', indicating that the compiler was a member of, or had connections with, the English royalist community then in exile. Two of the six Digby anecdotes, recorded in the standard biographies, relate to the Battle of Scanderoon, 1628, and to his courtship of the wife of the Duke of Guémené [i.e. Louis de Rohan, Prince de Guémené] circa early 1640s. Another involves 'Lrd Aubeny', presumably a member of the family of Stuart, Seigneurs d'Aubigny. A note of Digby's experiment with amber, involving 'F[ather]' John Porie, the traveller (d.1635), is followed by two scientific queries by the compiler. The rest relate to his brother Sir John Digby (d. circa 1645), Sir William St. Leger (d. 1642), Sir Theodore Mayerne and Sir Humphrey Foster (kt. 1592), with several reflecting on alleged characteristics of various nationalities. The sole direct source quoted is that for an anecdote of Don Juan de Aquila and 'Carew' which is given as 'Sr Wm Godol: now living, then there' [i.e. probably Sir William Godolphin (b.1605, d.1663) of Spargor]. Purchased from A. R. Heath of Clifton, Bristol, April 1999.

Paper; ff. 70-73. 185mm. x 145mm. Four leaves, formerly two bifolia, watermarked with a pot bearing letters 'RI' over 'RO'.

Commonplace Books: Theodore Turquet de Mayerne, Baron; MD: Sir John Digby, brother of Sir K Digby: Sir William St. Leger, Lord President of Munster: Sir Humphrey Foster: Anecdote rel. to Sir John Digby, Theodore Turquet de Mayerne, Sir William St. Leger and Sir Humphrey Foster: circa early 17th cent.

Commonplace Books: Sir Kenelm Digby, author and diplomatist: Anecdotes rel. to Sir Kenelm Digby: circa 1628-1659.