This manuscript, a unique specimen of dramatic composition by Queen Elizabeth, represents the only surviving piece of stage property from the Elizabethan theater. It was passed from player to player during the great Theobalds Entertainment of 1591, and it is the only surviving original manuscript of any part of that Entertainment., Elizabeth was entertained by her Lord High Treasurer, Lord Burghley, at his Hertfordshire house, Theobalds, between 10 and 20 May 1591. In a contemporary manuscript text of the entertainments at Theobalds (British Library, Egerton MS. 2623), there is preserved a fanciful speech by a "Hermit," delivered to the Queen on Burghley's behalf, in which, pleading for royal permission to retire from public life, he requests her to restore to him his "cell," namely, Theobalds. The present document was prepared as an answer to Burghley's request and grants the "Hermit," her "woorthely belooved Coounceloour," the right to retire to his "cave," his "own houus," with "full & pacifik possession of all & every part thearof," and to be henceforth free from public duties if he so wishes., The text of the "charter" was printed in John Strype's Annals of the Reformation (1709), where it is described as having been "drawn up by the queen herself in a facetious style, to cheer the said treasurer." A highly characteristic example of Elizabethan wit, it has the form of a formal charter, certified and signed by Lord Chancellor Hatton, who is known to have taken part in a number of court entertainments. It bears the Great Seal and was no doubt read out and presented to Burghley, or to an actor representing him as a hermit. Instead of giving a simple answer to Burghley's request to retire from public life, Elizabeth evidently chose to enter into the spirit of the Hermit's request and frame her reply accordingly having this charter drawn up by one of her chancery scribes and passed by Hatton under the Great Seal, as part of a prearranged performance for the amusement of the court on the first day of her visit to Theobalds., The entertainment at Theobalds are described by E.K. Chambers in The Elizabethan Stage (II:247-248), Sir Walter Greg in the Review of English Studies (I[1924]:452-454), John Payne Collier in his History of English Dramatic Poetry (I:276), Alexander Dyce in The Works of George Peele (III:161-169), and John Nichols in his account of The Progress and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth (III:74)., and Purchased 1985.
Manuscript on paper containing 1) Anthony Jenkinson (1529-1610/11), Relation of a travel to Russia and Persia. 2) Anonymous sonnet in praise of Queen Elizabeth I. Probably an autograph. 3) Anonymous treatise in four parts attacking the apology which Cardinal William Allen (1532-1594) published in 1587 for Sir William Stanley's action in the Netherlands in the preceding year. 4) Accounts regarding tenements; one is headed "Lambeth". 5) Account of a journey through the Middle East, made in 1578 and attributed by another hand to an unrecorded Sir Anthony Standen. 6) Definition of terms related to the Turkish empire encountered in art. 5. 7) Description of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany under Francesco Maria de' Medici (1541-1587). 8) Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva (1508-1582), Proposal addressed to King Philip II of Spain regarding the conquest of Portugal, made 25 May 1579, in English translation. 9) Description of the Benedictine convent of Camaldoli near Arezzo. 10) Short description of England and Scotland. 11) Accounts signed William Garnett; the last one is dated from the 33d year of Queen Elizabeth (1591/1592). The upper outer corner of the page is missing, with loss of text. 12) Collection of state letters. 13) Estate accounts partly dating from 1586/1587 and addressed to unknown person
Description:
In English., Script: Part I (between 1550 and 1600): Art. 1, 3 and the group 5-10 are each written by a different scribe, all writing Gothica Cursiva Libraria (Secretary). The quotations and headings in art. 3 are in Humanistica Cursiva. Art. 2 is also written in Humanistica Cursiva. Art. 4 is in Gothica Cursiva Currens (Secretary)., Script: Part II (between 1600 and 1625): Written by one hand in Gothica Cursiva Currens (Secretary), some quotations and headings in Humanistica Cursiva., Script: Part III (between 1575 and 1600): Written by one hand in Gothica Cursiva Formata (Secretary)., and Binding: Seventeenth century (?). Brown (?) sheepskin over pasteboard, rebacked. On the spine the gold-tooled titles (s. XIX-XX) "JENKINSON RELATION 1561" and "STATE PAPERS?? MS.".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., England, Middle East, Russia, and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Allen, William, 1532-1594., Jenkinson, Anthony., and Standen, Anthony, Sir.
Subject (Topic):
English poetry, English prose literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, Description and travel, History, and Politics and government
Manuscript describes the career of John Francis Rigaud (1742-1810) in detail and includes discussion of his painting techniques. There are frequent mentions of the Royal Academy. Accompanied by seven related pieces concerning the Rigaud and Dutilh families
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Dutilh family., Rigaud family., Rigaud, J. F. 1742-1810. (John Francis),, Rigaud, Stephen Francis Dutilh, 1777-1861., and Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain)
Autograph manuscript, signed, of a highly decorated and illustrated genealogy of the rulers of England from Egbert of Wessex to Queen Elizabeth I. The genealogical trees are illustrated with coats of arms, in full color, as well as marriage symbols and other decorations. Pages 13-14 and 33-34 are parchment rather than paper and contain an abbreviated and stylized family tree for Elizabeth I; color illustrations of an angelic figure with a trumpet and an armored knight; and a full-color chart with the white and red roses of York and Lancaster as the central roundel containing the name of Elizabeth I. The charts are followed by "Briefe observations of the disposition, of everie severall kynge of England from William the Conqueror untill this present 1592." The text concludes with Colman's monogram in red ink. The volume concludes with a full-color illustration of the coat of arms of Sir Francis Bacon
Description:
In English., Ownership inscription on front flyleaf: H. Crofts., Bookplate: Sir John Saunders Seabright., Script: English secretary script., Decoration: numerous illustrations of coats of arms and other genealogical decorations. Full-page, full-color illustrations on pages 13-14 and page 34., Title from spine., and Binding: eighteenth-century half russia, gilt.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain., Great Britain, Connecticut, and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626. and Colman, Morgan.
Subject (Topic):
Heraldry, Kings and rulers, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Renaissance
Manuscript, in a single hand, of a collection of genealogies of families of Curtiss, Barnes, Newell, Potter, Woodruff, and Hart in Connecticut, particularly from the towns of Southington and Farmington. The volume includes copies of wills; land deeds; detailed accounts of where they resided; and personal anecdotes, including family members' involvement in religious activities; the American Revolution; and the Civil War. The manuscript notes the marriage of Hawkins Hart of Wallingford to Mary Widow of Street, "grand daugthter of Rev John Eliot the Apostle to the Indians, Author of a translation of the Bible into the Indian language ..."
Description:
In English., Tipped in: dealer's description of manuscript., Seventeen leaves at the beginning left blank., Laid in at p. 178: newspaper clipping of "the only complete record now existing of citizens of Southington who enlisted in the late War of the Rebellion.", Laid in at p. 341: small square of embroidered cloth., Paper blind-embossed stamp: Congress J. Smith., and Binding: machine-grain black morocco.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and Missouri
Subject (Name):
Andrews, Gad, b. 1803., Barnes family., Curtis family., Hart family., Newell family., Potter family., Woodruff family., and Yale College (1718-1887)
Subject (Topic):
Alumni and alumnae, Genealogy, History, and Religious life and customs
Manuscript, in a single hand, of a collection of about 390 entries in verse and prose, which present satirical as well as sentimental and elegiac perspectives on the subjects of love, women, religion, and death. Titles include A reflection on death; On the death of a mother; Written in consequence of the execution of a young man for forgery, by Mrs. Taylor; Hymn by Miss Scott; To a lady who sung in too low a voice; On kissing; On female neatness after marriage; Advice to a young lady lately married; Unbeliever's creed; Sir Isaac Newton's creed; and numerous humorous epigrams and epitaphs. Several anonymous poems are labeled "Forton Prison" and dated 1795; the collection also includes poems by Tobias Smollett, Samuel Bishop, Samuel Rogers, Samuel Butler, and William Cowper
Description:
In English., 16-page index at beginning of manuscript., Title from title page. Also on title page: Vol 1., Laid in: newspaper clipping from the Daily Telegraph dated April 16, 1974., and Binding: half calf over paper-covered board; back cover missing. In gilt on spine: Gleanings.
Elegiac poetry, English, English wit and humor, Epigrams, Epitaphs, Occasional verse, English, Sentimentalism in literature, Verse satire, English, Women authors, Women, Conduct of life, and Religious life and customs
Manuscript, on paper, in a single hand, of a genealogy of the rulers of England from Brutus and Julius Caesar to James I, containing short biographies of each individual and illustrated with their emblazoned coats of arms
Description:
In English., Spine title: Arms of the Nobility of England. MS. 1042-1619., Script: English secretary hand., Decoration: more than 600 emblazoned coats of arms, in full color., and Binding: nineteenth-century full polished calf, by Clarke & Bedford.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain., Great Britain, Connecticut, and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Heraldry, Kings and rulers, Biography, Genealogy, Manuscripts, Renaissance, and Nobility
Manuscript, in Walpole's hand, of drafts, with numerous emendations, of five lighthearted and occasionally satirical fairy tales. The first tale, titled A new Arabian night's entertainment, is a parody of the relationship between Scheherezade and Shahryar in the frame tale of The Arabian Nights. The second tale, titled The king and his three daughters, concerns the political and dynastic problems of a kingdom in which the king's eldest daughter does not exist. The third tale, titled The Dice-box and annotated, "translated from the French translation of the Countess of Daunois for the entertainment of Miss Caroline Campbell," is a fantastic tale of a nine-year-old girl named Pissimissi, the elephant and ladybird which draw her car, and her encounter with King Solomon. The fourth tale, titled The peach in brandy: a milesian tale, addresses the dynastic problems of a country with Irish connotations. The fifth and final tale, titled The bird's nest, describes the fantastic dream of Guzalme, Queen of Serendip
Description:
In English., Typed transcripts of the fifth tale included with manuscript., and The fifth and sixth tales publised as Hieroglyphic tales (Strawberry Hill Press, 1785) are not included in this manuscript.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797.
Subject (Topic):
Fairy tales, Nonsense literature, English, Parodies, English, and Satire, English
Manuscript on paper of Seventeen hunting calls with hunting codes for the horn. Instructions in English: "To call the Company in the Morninge...The Mount is from partie to partie every Note repeated thrice."
Description:
In English., Watermarks: unidentified pot similar in design to Heawood 3637-38., Script: Written in well formed English secretary script., and Removed from a copy of The Booke of hawking, huntyng and fysshyng attributed to Dame Juliana Berners (London, [1561]).