Add MS 78343

EVELYN PAPERS. Vol. CLXXVI. `Rude Collections to be Inserted into Elysium Britannicum, Referring to the several Chapters of what is beg[un]' (f. 150v), consisting of Evelyn's collection of additional material to be incorporated into the `Elysium Britannicum', including insertions for Book III, of which the main text is now missing from Add. MS 78342; 1660s-[1680s?]. Mostly autograph. In his reading and correspondence Evelyn was constantly discovering more material to add to his work, which he noted down in the order he found or read them. He then annotated each item with its place in the main manuscript (Add. MS 78242 above), chiefly with the abbreviated book and chapter number (e.g. `2-8’ for Book II, chapter 8). He cut many of the leaves into slips and inserted them in the correct place in the manuscript, but he never completed the task and the uncut leaves, with the individual entries each annotated with their place in the manuscript, now make up the present manuscript, which is paginated `1-221' by Evelyn. At Add. MS 78342, ff. 2-3, is the key which links the two, headed by Evelyn,`A Table leading to the notes in the loose sheetes to be inserted in the Elysium Britannicum. Note that in the loose papers to which those figures referr: the first stands for the book, the second for the Chapter: as 2-8 in the margent: that is the second book; chap 8. viz Transplants, & so of the rest'.

The manuscript consists chiefly of notes, with some diagrams, made at different times and on different types and sizes of paper, some the blank portions of address leaves of letters to himself and his father-in-law of the 1640s and 1650s which Evelyn commonly used as scrap paper in his later years. The notes contain information gathered from a variety of sources, including published works, his own commonplace books (e.g. f. 6, `See for an Engine or water-worke, my Booke of Receipts Mechanical: paragraph 68') and private communications. The latter include some original letters and lists of plants sent to Evelyn by friends and associates, as detailed below. Formerly Evelyn MS 38.

Paginated by Evelyn, `1-221' (+ several unnumbered); two pages are numbered 35, and the following pages are missing: 62, 72, 74, 77-78, 81, 100, 103(?), 111, 124, 127, 143, 183, 192-195, 198-201, 218. Several of the latter, all bearing Evelyn's pagination (pp. 72, 77, 81, 111, 124, 143, 193, 218), are now amongst the group of notes relating to the `Elysium Britannicum' in the papers of William Upcott in Add. MS 15950, ff. 142-174. In the 19th century the whole of the present collection was mounted on guards and bound, after which the volume suffered a great deal of deterioration apparently from damp. Much of the paper, although now conserved, is damaged and discoloured, affecting the text. Several folios relating to language and education, originally at the end of this volume, having been added by mistake from an unrelated bundle of commonplace notes at the time of the earlier binding, have now been placed Add. MS 78351 below.

ff. 155. British Library binding. 350 x 280mm.

Contents:

1. ff. 1-10, 14-16v, 19-24v. Notes for incorporation into all three books of the `Elysium Britannicum', with abbreviated chapter headings added in the margin for each item, referring to those in the table of contents in Add. 78342, f. 1; including (f. 22) a page of notes headed `Villa'.

2. ff. 11-13v, 17, 25-57, 59-65, 76-78, 81-98, 115-125, 127-132, 136-149v. Notes for incorporation into all three books of the `Elysium Britannicum', with book and chapter numbers in arabic numerals added in the margins for each item (e.g. `2-1' for Book II, chapter 1). Including several lists of plants (ff. 93, 95, 147-149v) not in Evelyn's hand.

3. ff. 18, 153-155. Notes with chapter numbers in roman numerals in the margins, referring to the continuous sequence (I-XLVII) added by Evelyn to the printed table of contents in Add. MS 78342, f. 1, above, in addition to sequences of arabic chapter numbers for each book.

4. f. 58. Letter from Cuthbert Horsley to `Madame' [Lady Tuke?], 20 April 1670, with a passage marked by Evelyn for insertion in Book II, chapter 19.

5. ff. 66-74v, 79, 126, 133-135. Letters from John Beale to Evelyn, 19, 22, 29 Oct. 1670; 11 Dec. 1668; n.d.; 12, 9, 2 Nov. 1662, discussing the `Elysium Britannicum' or matters relevant to it, some passages marked by Evelyn with the book and chapter numbers. For the rest of Beale's letters, see Add. MSS 78312-78313 below and 78683 below.

6. f. 75. `An Extract of Mr [Henry] Oldenburg Letters Paris', [1660s?], containing a message for Evelyn concerning a French work giving advice about the situation of a garden.

7. ff. 99-114. Letter headed `Madrid 12 June 1668', much faded but describing the gardens of Spain, from Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (see Evelyn's letters to him of 13 Dec. 1667 and 21 Aug. 1668 in Add. MS 78298 above), with passages marked by Evelyn for insertion chiefly in Book 3, chapter 9.

8. f. 150v. Original wrapper for this bundle of notes, marked with a [flower] symbol.

9. ff. 151-152. List of books and authors consulted in the compilation of `Elysium Britannicum'.