Lansdowne MS 118

Burghley Papers

A box or portfolio case, containing a private memorandum book, wholly in the hand-writing of Sir William Cecill, afterwards Lord Burghley; containing, among man other matters, a very curious and minute account of his estate in lands and other effects; of his family, household, and expenditures between the years 1552 and 1557. This book was found, among the collections of Lord Burghley's Secretary, Sir Michael Hicks, purchased by Mr. Strype, who refers to it in his Annals. It is also quoted, in all probability with Mr. Strype's permission, by the authors of the Biographia Britannica in their account of Lord Burghley, and by Mr. Peck in his Desiderata Curiosa. About fifty of the leaves had been taken out or lost before it became the property of the public. In fo. 2 there is a table of its contents by Lord Burghley himself but this wag found so very brief and defective, that it was thought necessary to compile the following particular, and it is presumed more accurate description of the volume.