Manuscript, in a single hand, of a copy by Mark Noble, with annotations, of his sister's diary of their tour through Derby and Stafford, recording their impressions of the counties' great houses and churches; and relating anecdotes and historical notes about the inhabitants, the churches and monuments, local legends and superstitions. She explores the town of Ashborne and Ashborne School, while a guest at Sandy Brook, the home of a Mrs. Gisborne; reminiscenses about Dr. Taylor and Dr. Johnson, and the students of Taylor's including the brother of the antiquarian Thomas Astle. In the chapel at Ashbourne Hall, she examines a monument Sir Brook Boothby had erected there in memory of his daughter Penelope and deplores his harsh treatment of his wife, said to have been a dwarf. In Derby, she passes by Sir Michael Gresley's seat, and relates details of their difficult relationship. She praises the furniture at Ilam Hall; visits John Gisborne's mansion at Sudbury; writes approvingly of his character; and concludes her narrative with a description of his wife and children. They visit Lichfield Cathedral and write about the monuments and renovations
Description:
Mrs. Sarah Chattock was the sister of the antiquarian Rev. Mark Noble (1754-1827)., In English., Binding: marbled paper. Written on front cover: Mrs. S. Chattock's Tour through Derby & Stafford Shires with note by her brother the Rev. Mark Noble., and For further infromation, consult library staff.
Subject (Geographic):
England, Derbyshire., Staffordshire., England., Derbyshire (England), and Staffordshire (England)
Subject (Name):
Ashbourne Hall (Ashbourne, England), Boothby, Brooke, 1743-1824., Bertram, Saint., Camden, William, 1551-1623. Britannia., Cokayne family., Chattock, Sarah., Greene, Richard, 1716-1793., Gisborne family., Gisborne, J. 1770-1851 (John),, Gisborne, Thomas, 1758-1846., Gresley family., Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587, Laporte family., Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784., Noble, Mark, 1754-1827., Taylor, John, 1711-1788., Ashbourne (England), Ilam Hall (Staffordshire, England), Lichfield Cathedral., and Sudbury Hall (England)
Subject (Topic):
Description and travel, Architecture, Domestic, Gentry, Conduct of life, Monuments, Sepulchral monuments, Travelers' writings, English, and Social life and customs
Manuscript, in Jephson's hand, of a parody of Johnson's A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. Using florid language throughout, the author explains his satiety with Dublin and determines to explore the countryside. Traveling with Dean Marlay, Mrs Greville and Mrs Jephson, he complains about the unsightly mendicants who mar the scenery; sings, along with his companions, the Beggar's Opera to pass the time; and runs over "pigs and children who were lying together in the middle of the highway." At Celbridge, he praises the landscape, estate, and the appearance of its owner, Colonel Marlay. The essay concludes with a description of the narrator's fall into the Liffey, and his rescue by catching hold of a passing cow and Horace Walpole has filled in Johnson's name and added "By Richard Jephson, Esqre" underneath the title
Description:
Robert Jephson (1736-1803), playwright and parodist, was born in Dublin. His first play, Braganza, was performed in 1775, with an epilogue by Horace Walpole. His most commercially successful play, performed 37 times between 1781 and 1798, was The Count of Narbonne, based on Walpole's Castle of Otranto as well as Walpole's play, Mysterious Mother. In addition to other plays, Jephson also wrote numerous parodic pieces, including a series in the government newspaper The Mercury under the title "The Bachelor." He parodied the style of the printer George Faulkner and criticized Charles Townshend's enemies in An Epistle to Gorges Edmund Howard (1771); wrote Extempore Ludicrous Miltonic Verses(1788); and wrote a prose piece titled Confessions of James Baptiste Couteau (1794), a satirical parody of revolutionary politics., In English., Title from first page., and For further information, consult library staff.
Subject (Geographic):
Ireland., Celbridge (Ireland), and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Gay, John, 1685-1732., Jephson, Robert, 1736-1803., Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784., Marlay, Richard, d. 1802., and Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797.
Subject (Topic):
English wit and humor, Parodies, English, Poverty, Travelers' writings, English, Description and travel, and Social life and customs
Holograph of a diary kept by 14-year-old Dorothy Walpole, who records primarily routine social activities, both her own and those of family members, especially her mother, father, sister Rachel, and brother Horace, such as visits to and from friends; trips every Monday and Friday to the dancing academy; visits by the music master; and breakfasts, teas, and dinners with acquaintances; attendance at balls. She visits with Jane, Charlotte, and Fanny Pepys in London; on another occasion, she accompanies her mother to the Pantheon where she buys worsteds and patterns. She records the gifts she receives for Christmas; and, at the end of the volume, her travels through Italy, where she describes the quality of her lodgings in various towns; views paintings and churches; and declares Parma "the most horrible place I ever was in." Elsewhere, she records several verses, including an epitaph and a poem on mortality called The common lot; as well as a prose narrative of the life of St. Dorothy
Description:
Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill (née Walpole) (1826-1913), hostess, horticulturist, and writer, was the youngest daughter of Horatio Walpole, third earl of Orford, and his wife, Mary, daughter of William Augustus Fawkener. In 1847, she married her cousin Reginald Henry Nevill (1807-1878); their 23-acre garden at Dangstein, in west Sussex, soon became well-known in horticultural circles, particularly for its collection of exotic plants and silkworms. She was the author of five books: Mannington and the Walpoles, Earls of Orford (1894), a book on silkworms, and three autobiographical volumes: The Reminiscences of Lady Dorothy Nevill (1906), Leaves from the Notebooks of Lady Dorothy Nevill (1907), and Under Five Reigns (1910)., In English., On title page: Journal begun May 1st 1840 Friday., On verso of title page: My Journal book. Dorothy Fanny Walpole. May 1st 1840 Friday., Pasted inside front cover: advertisement for W. Creswick, Paper Maker, 5 John Street, Oxford Street., and Binding: green half calf over marbled boards.
Manuscript, in a single hand with numerous corrections, of a collection of 15 letters describing life in England, translated into French, possibly from German. The letters discuss English lotteries; the proliferation of newspapers; the constitution and the difficulty of reconciling ideology with practice; Parliamentary elections; literary societies; and the nobility. One letter describes and deplores the cruelty of amusements such as hunting, cock-fighting, and "combats des gladiateurs"; another letter mocks an English law against the illegal wearing of buttons. A letter dated December 14, 1790 discusses the possibility of the abolition of the slave trade; the author declares it is the most talked-of subject of conversation and expresses his astonishment that the trade still exists and The letters are followed by a lengthy essay explaining the Women's March on Versailles on October 5-6, 1789. The volume is prefaced by a note by the translator, who criticizes the motives of many travel writers; says that he was drawn to this letter-writer for his curiosity and interest in humanity; and explains that the writer published two volumes, the first of letters written in Paris and Versailles during the revolution in 1789, and the second of letters in England
Description:
In French., Binding: full calf., and For further information, consult library staff.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain, Great Britain., England, France, and Versailles (France)
Subject (Name):
Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834., Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793., and Necker, Jacques, 1732-1804.
Subject (Topic):
Cockfighting, Elections, Hunting, Lotteries, Slave trade, Newspapers, Nobility, Travelers' writings, French, Description and travel, History, Women, Intellectual life, Politics and government, and Social life and customs
Manuscript, in a single hand, of twelve letters written during a tour of London and addressed to "dear Elvira." In the letters, the author (Mrs. Percivall or Percival?) describes the social sights of London, including parties and dinners she attends, music she hears, and nobility she sees, including a masquerade at Somerset House where her friend dresses up as an Indian princess; a dinner which the Queen gave to the Ambassador; a military show by soldiers in Hyde Park; and, at the end of the volume, a masquerade ball in which she meets "a very agreeable gentleman." In addition, "being almost smothered with the thick air of London," she and her acquaintances take a trip into the country, where they visit Hatfield and attend a concert of music hosted by Italian marquis, where "there was an eunuch who sang." Throughout, she provides detailed descriptions of paintings, furniture, silverware, food, equipages, and the dress of the nobility
Description:
In English., Title from first page., Leaves are numbered and written on the rectos only, except for pages 6, 8, and 44 which are numbered and written on versos., Binding: half morocco over machine-grain morocco boards., and An unvetted transcript is available in the object file. For further information, consult library staff.
Subject (Geographic):
England, London., England., Great Britain., Great Britain, and London
Subject (Name):
Percivall, Mrs.
Subject (Topic):
Amusements, Country homes, Courts and courtiers, Nobility, Social life and customs, and Description and travel
Manuscript, in a single hand, of a description of summer tours, in the author's phaeton, through England, Wales, and Scotland, both alone and accompanied by family members. Each journey begins and ends in Wanstead; along the way, the author records the quality of the roads; houses he visits; and the names of significant inhabitants. In Llangollen, he admires the library of Miss Ponsonby and Miss Butler; in Aberystwyth, he describes the sea and the bathing procedures of women there. In Edinburgh, he writes approvingly of a Presbyterian service he attends but complains of the dark taverns, "and the Stair Cases are nasty & very dark when perhaps your room is 3 or 4 stories high." He visits several factories in Birmingham, including Mr Bolton's, whose factory produces ormolu, silver plate, boxes, and buttons; and Mr Clay's, "who has a Patent for making paper pannels for Coaches tea boards &c." The volume also includes several charts listing mileages from Wanstead to the author's various destinations
Description:
George Bowles (1732-1817) of Wanstead Grove, Essex, and Burford House, Salop, was High Sheriff of Essex in 1785. He died unmarried and left Wanstead Grove to his niece, Anne Rushout, whose bookplate is pasted into the volume., In English., Pasted in on flyleaf: envelope front addressed to "The Lady Rushout"; with Windsor postal stamp; 1-penny postage; and a drawing of a black figure playing tennis., Bookplate of Honorable Anne Rushout., Marbled endpapers., and Binding: full calf. Printed on spine: Travels.
Subject (Geographic):
Aberystwyth (Wales), Birmingham (England), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Bowles, George, 1732-1817.
Subject (Topic):
Gentry, Conduct of life, Travelers' writings, English, Description and travel, and Social life and customs