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Harley MS 285
- Record Id:
- 040-002046113
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002046113
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000596.0x00024e
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100163606665.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 285
- Title:
- A collection of letters and papers relating to the Low Countries and its relations with England from the time of King Edward VI and Elizabeth I
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 1r-298v: A collection of letters and papers relating to the Low Countries and its relations with England from the time of King Edward VI and Elizabeth I.
Originals and copies in Dutch, English and French from 1549-1586, including an account of the death of William of Orange translated from Dutch into English; original warrants by Queen Elizabeth I for William Davison; and letters by Sir Philip Sidney, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to William Davison and Sir Francis Walsingham.
Decoration:
A two-page map in colours (yellow and purple) of the coast of the Northern Netherlands (Groningen), from the Dollard to Jade Bight, particularly focusing on the river Ems [‘Eems’], made ‘By me George Rawe’ (ff. 248v-248*recto); a description of the Ems by George Rawe can be found in Harley MS 532.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002046113", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 285: A collection of letters and papers relating to the Low Countries and its relations with England from the time of King Edward VI and…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002046113 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 285 : A collection of letters and papers relating to the Low Countries and its relations with England from the time of King Edward VI… - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[0284]/040-002046113
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100163606665.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Dutch
English
French - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1549
- End Date:
- 1586
- Date Range:
- 1549-1586
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Paper.
Dimensions: 210-345 x 140-235 mm.
Foliation: ff. 70* + 72* + 122* + 247* + 248* + 250* + 298 ( + 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end); ff. 251 and 252 are a folded paper sheet with a foldout at their lower margin; red wax seals on ff. 67v [covered with paper], 76v [remains], 83v [x3], 170v, 181v [covered with paper], 191v [covered with paper], 193v [covered with paper], 193v [covered with paper], 201v, 204v [covered with paper], 206v, 208r [remains], 210v [covered with paper], 212v [covered with paper], 213r [covered with paper], 216v [covered with paper], 218v [covered with paper], 220v [covered with paper], 227v[ covered with paper], 229v [covered with paper], 235v [covered with paper], 238v, 240v [covered with paper], 255v [covered with paper], 257v [imprint], 261v [covered with paper], 267v [covered with paper], 269v [covered with paper], 279v [covered with paper], 281v [covered with paper], 283v [covered with paper]; 1 unfoliated paper pastedown on f. [300]verso (note of repair).
Script: 16th-century script.
Binding: British Museum in-house.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England.
Provenance:
John Dee (b. 1527, d. 1609), mathematician, astrologer, and antiquary: his sign on items 4 and 117, with a title in his hand; notes in his hand on items 12-13, 64, 69-71, 74-75, (?) 76, 77-78, and 94 [the items are as listed in the Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (1808), I, pp. 124-30] (see Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (1966), p. 110; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), pp. 126-28).
Ralph Starkey (d. 1628) of Darley Hall in Oulton, owned the manuscript: items 40-41, 79 and 106 are in his hand, which is also on items 4, 5, 8, 11-15, 17-20, 22, 24-26, 28-34, 38, 42-50, 52, 54-55, 57, 99-101, 110-12 [the items are as listed in the Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (1808), I, pp. 124-30] (see Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (1966), p. 110); acquired from him in 1628 by Sir Simonds D’Ewes (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 314).
Sir Simonds D’Ewes (b. 1602, d. 1650), 1st baronet, diarist, antiquary, and friend of Sir Robert Cotton; his hand is on ff. 89v (item 38), 91v (item 39), 102r (item 43), 169 (item 69), 230r (item 95), and 285r (item 124) [the items are as listed in the Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (1808), I, pp. 124-30]; listed in his catalogues as A.143 and (?) B.222; items 32, 51, and 100 are noticed at B.248, and items 12-13, 42, 45, and 47 at B.249 (see Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (1966), p. 110; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), pp. 131-37).
Sir Simonds D’Ewes (d. 1722), 3rd baronet and grandson of the former: inherited and later sold the D’Ewes library to Robert Harley on 4 October 1705 for £450.
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.
- Publications:
-
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), I (1808), pp. 124-30.
Andrew G. Watson, The Library of Sir Simonds D'Ewes (London: British Museum, 1966), p. 110 [A.143].
Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 376.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)