Royal MS 18 B XXIX

TREATISE entitled 'A true Description of the life o Claudius of Guyse, Abbot of Cluny in Fraunce, conteineinge his diuelish deedes even almost from his birth to the death of the Cardinall of Lorraine, &c. Translated out of frenshe into English by W. Shute, 1599'. The original French work with the title 'La Legende de Domp Claude de Guyse' was printed at Paris, 1581, and in the Memoires de Condé, 1743, vol. vi, the editor of which gives his reasons for assigning the work to Gilbert Regnault, Seigneur de Vaux, Bailli de Cluny, in preference to Jean Dagonneau, to whom de Thou and Le Long assigned it (op.cit. xii). The translator is probably identical with the W. Shute whose Generall Historie of Venice, translated from the French, and two other translations were published in 1612-1613. The present treatise does not seem to have been printed, though the following note is added on f. 3, 'This is allowed to be imprinted, Abraham Hartwell' [the antiquary, secretary to Archbishop Whitgift]. It omits nine chapters (ch. 7, 15, 16, 19, 26, 28, 30, 31, 39) of the original, and the later chapters are much abridged. On f. 1 b are notes of sums received 'of my Lord Admyrall' [Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln], April-Nov. 1572, for a debt due since Easter 1570, and that 'I delyvered him my patent aboute ye 7 or 8 of November in ye same yere', and on f. 5 notes of victualling accompts of John Thikpeny, victualler for Cork and Munster, 1569-1574. Possibly W. Shute was related to John Shute (cf. 17 C. XXII), one of whose works was dedicated in 1573 to the Countess of Lincoln. On f. 2 is an index in Italian and French to some unnamed historical work.

Paper; ff. 40. Folio. 12 in. x 71/2 in. Circ. 1599. The name of William Ponsonby is On f. 3. A vellum scrap attached to f. 1 belongs to 18 B. XXVIII, and one attached to 18 B. XXX, f. 1, belongs to this MS. Not in the old catalogues.