Royal MS 17 B L

TRANSCRIPTS of letters, &c., chiefly connected with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, circ. 1590-1600, viz.:-

1. 'Verses made by the Earle of Essex in his Trouble'; printed in A. B. Grosart's Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies Library, iv, p. 97, W. B. Devereux' Lives of the Earls of Essex, ii, p. 111, and elsewhere. Beg. 'The waies on earth haue paths and turnings knowne'. f. 2.

2. 'Verses made by Mr. Fra[ncis] Bacon'; printed from this MS. (the only authority for the attribution?) by Spedding, Works of Francis Bacon, vii, p. 269. An anonymous and imperfect copy is in Harley MS. 4064, f. 235. Beg. 'The man of life upright, whose giltles heart is free'. f. 2 b. Artt. 1, 2 and the table of contents (f. 1 b) are in a different hand from the rest of the volume.

3. 'My lord Edgerton [Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Keeper, afterwards Viscount Brackley] to the Erle of Essex', with the reply of [Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex,] 'the Erle Martiall to the Lord Keeper'; n.d. [15, 18 Oct. 1598]. Two letters found in innumerable MSS. (e.g. Lansd. MS. 87, ff. 45, 191, two copies, Harley MS. 677, f. 109 b, Sloane MS. 1775, f. 54, &c.) and printed in Cabala, 1654, ii, pp. 27, 29 (1691 ed., pp. 216, 217), Birch's Memoirs of the Reign of Qu. Elizabeth, ii (1754), p. 384, and elsewhere. ff. 3, 6.

4. 'My lord Hen. Haward [Henry Howard, after wards Earl of Northampton] to Mr. Frauncis Bacon,'; n.d. [Dec. 1599]. Printed in Birch, op. cit. ii, p. 460. f. 10 b.

5. 'Mr. Fra[ncis] Bacon to the Quene': letter drafted by Bacon for Essex to Queen Elizabeth, but subscribed here 'Frauncis Bacon'; n.d. [1600]. Printed by Spedding, ix, p. 193. f. 13.

6. 'By the Erle Marshall [Essex] to the Quene'; n.d. [circ. 1590 ?]. Printed in Cabala, 1654, ii, p. 25 (1691 ed., p. 215). Other copies are in Harley MS. 1323, f. 246, Sloane MS. 1856, f. 6b. Beg. 'My dutyfull affection'. f. 14 b.

7. 'The Erle of Essex to the Quene'; n.d. [? 30 Aug. 1599]. Printed in Cabala, ll. cc., and by Devereux, ii, p. 68. Beg. 'From a mynd deligh[t]inge in sorrowe.'. f. 17.

8. 'My lady Rich [Penelope, wife of Richard, 3rd Baron Rich] to the Quene'; n.d. [? 1600]. Printed by Birch, ii, p. 442. f. 18.

9. 'My lo[rd] of Essex to [Henry Wriothesley,] the Erle of Sowthamton'; n.d. [1601]. First printed in 1642, cf. Somers Tracts, 1st Ser., 1748, iv, p. 132 (Sir W. Scott's ed., 1809, i, p. 502). It is accepted by Birch, ii, p. 484, as written by Essex, but not to Southampton. For another copy see Stowe MS. 276, f. 3 b. Beg. 'My lord, as neyther nature nor Custome'. f. 22.

10. ' Meditacion', attributed to Essex in the table of contents. A copy by Birch from this MS. is in Add. MS. 4128, f. 9. Beg. 'Since that tyme the sonne hath gone about the world and inspired liefe'. f. 28. Paper; ff. 30. Quarto. 8 in. x 53/4 in. Early XVII cent. Not in the old catalogues.