Add MS 59496

JOHN GOWER. Vol. II. Transcript of the Trentham Manuscript made by Henry Strachey, 1st Bart., of Sutton Court, co. Som.; 1764. Copy. This page-by-page facsimile of the whole manuscript, copied in a calligraphic hand, was produced for Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Gower and (1786) 1st Marquess of Stafford, while Strachey was private Secretary to Clive of India. It carries (f. 39) the signed attestation of Henry Rooke, Clerk of the Rolls, 1764. Hiatuses in some of the marginal notes (see f. 33) show that the original had by then already been trimmed. This transcript later served as the copy-text for the Roxburghe Club edition of 1818, and carries pencilled instructions to the printer passim. Tipped in at the front are a brief autograph description (f. iv) of the original manuscript by Thomas Warton the younger, with which compare that given in his History of English Poetry (ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1871, vol. II, pp. 33-35), and a letter (f. vi), 9 June 1764, of Henry Strachey of Sutton Court, father of the transcriber, forwarding the present transcript to Lord Gower. Pasted inside front cover is 18th-cent. armorial bookplate (f. ii) of 'Gower Earl Gower', bearing old pressmarks in pencil 'N2. 5', deleted, and D A 2', and label (f. i) with red cross of St. George. Pressmarks on front flyleaves (ff. iii, v) read '11.5', formerly '10.5', replaced by '11.1'.

Paper: ff. v+39. 375mm x 245mm. Binding of red morocco, perhaps contemporary with that of Add. 59495 above, with compartment of gilt double rules on both covers and arms of 2nd Earl Gower, with Garter and coronet, gilt-stamped on front. Spine of seven raised bands with gilt ornaments and legend 'GOWER POEMS'. Gilt-stamped doublures and small comb endpapers.

Bookplates and Book-stamps: Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Gower; 1st Marquess of Stafford 1786: Armorial bookplates of `Gower Earl Gower': circa 1754-1786: Printed.

Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet: Transcript of the Trentham MS of Gower's poems: 1764: Partly Latin and French: Copy.

includes:

• f. iv Thomas Warton, author of 'The History of English Poetry': Description of the Trentham MS of Gower's poems: circa 1750-1774: Autograph.
• f. vi Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Gower; 1st Marquess of Stafford 1786: Henry Strachey, of Sutton Court, county Somerset: Letter to Granville Leveson-Gower from Henry Strachey: 1764.
• f. 39 Henry Rooke, Clerk of the Rolls: Attestation: 1764: Signed.