Correspondence, autograph manuscripts, and one printed broadside song documenting aspects of the social and creative life of the poet John Hall-Stevenson. Contents include manuscripts of verses by John Hall-Stevenson and Robert Lascelles; letters by members of his club and social circle, including a lengthy letter by Jean-Baptiste Tollot discussing Laurence Sterne's character and good nature (1762 April 4) and another describing events in Geneva immediately after the expulsion of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1764 January 8); and related correspondence, including a letter of advice from Hall-Stevenson to his grandson John Wharton and several business letters received by Wharton. The printed broadside song, "Trout Hall," is extensively annotated in Hall-Stevenson's hand.
Description:
Formerly owned by William Durrant Cooper. Purchased from Paul Grinke on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 1972., John Hall-Stevenson (1718-1785), was a poet, a country gentleman, and a close friend of Laurence Sterne, whom he met at Cambridge and who based the character of Eugenius in Tristram Shandy on him. Hall-Stevenson founded a club of "Demoniacks," which met at "Crazy Castle," his country seat, and was loosely modeled on Sir Francis Dashwood's Monks of Medmenham. His published works included Crazy Tales and Fables for Grown Gentlemen, both of which were reprinted several times during his lifetime. He died at home in March, 1785., and The collection also contains a photocopy of W. Durrant Cooper's "Seven Letters Written by Sterne and His Friends;" a copy of the bookseller's catalogue; and a handwritten finding aid for the collection.
Subject (Topic):
Authors, English--18th century and English literature--18th century
Manuscript, in several hands, containing two letters written by Elizabeth Montagu. The first letter, signed by Montagu and addressed "To Doctor Monsey," admonishes the recipient's attachment to "Miss B," warning him, "Do not sadden your retirement & embitter your life by hopeless love." She describes the recent marriage of her elderly brewer to "a jolly lass of 25," urges him to visit, and asks him in a postcript to get her a "bottle of eye water." The second letter, written in another hand and addressed to "The Revd. Dr. Percy," apologizes for Mrs. Montagu's illness and subsequent absence "when he did her the favour to call," and requests him to call again and "bring certain manuscripts in his pocket." The volume also includes an engraving of Elizabeth Montagu.
Description:
Binding: cloth covered boards; blue morocco spine. and For information on the source of acquisition, consult the appropriate curator.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain--Social life and customs--18th century.
Subject (Name):
Montagu,--Mrs.--(Elizabeth),--1720-1800. and Percy, Thomas,--1729-1811.
47 letters and documents, on paper (one document on parchment) in various cursive scripts, produced in England between 1554 and 1706. Mostly from the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, they consist of claims for expenses, wages, and other benefits. They include an account of a banquet (15 November 1561), signed by the Marquis of Winchester and Sir Walter Mildmay; a Claim for Allowances (1563) by Sir Thomas Chaloner, Ambassador to Spain; L. S. (1578) by Lord Burgley about money to be sent to Ireland and mentioning Sir Philip Sidney; A. L. S. (1597) by George, Lord Hunsdon; A. K. S. (Chester, 11 Aug. 1601) by the antiquary and mathematician Edward Brerewood to the Privy Council. The documents also include signatures of other government officials and nobles. and The documents derive from the papers of Robert Petre, Auditor for the Exchequer, and his colleague Vincent Skinner.
Description:
Binding: Middle Hill boards, spine missing., Ex libris Sir Thomas Phillipps (unnumbered MS)., and Modern pencil pagination employed. Wanting p. 43-46, 65-68, 109-114, 119-120, 125-132, 139-142, 161-168, 177-178.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain--Politics and government--1533-1603 and Great Britain--Politics and government--1603-1625
Subject (Name):
Elizabeth--I,--Queen of England,--1533-1603, Great Britain.--Exchequer, James--I,--King of England,--1566-1625, and Phillipps, Thomas,--Sir,--1792-1872--Ownership
Subject (Topic):
Finance, Public--Great Britain and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library