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
A group of letters written by the novelist Abel Hermant to George Eli Hall, focusing on details of Hermant's daily life and the progress of his writings.
Alternative Title:
[Letters : Abel Hermant to George Hall]
Subject (Name):
Hall, George Eli, 1863-1911 and Hermant, Abel,--1862-1950
North America -- British Empire -- Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Connecticut River, North America -- British Empire -- Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Deerfield, North America -- British Empire -- Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Hadley, North America -- British Empire -- Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Malden, North America -- British Empire -- Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Springfield, North America -- British Empire -- Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Swansea, North America -- British Empire -- Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Westford, North America -- United States of America -- Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- Connecticut River, North America -- United States of America -- Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- Deerfield, North America -- United States of America -- Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- Hadley, North America -- United States of America -- Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- Malden, North America -- United States of America -- Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- Springfield, North America -- United States of America -- Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- Swansea, and Unknown
Manuscript on paper of a collection of extracts from various alchemical and medical writers. Includes John of Rupescissa, Liber de confectione veri lapidis; and Arnold of Villanova, De perfectione operis alkimie. Compiled by one Johannes Baptista F., along with Mellon MSS 34 and 36.
Description:
Binding: Original parchment over pasteboards with remains of thong ties; probably a home-made binding utilizing used parchment (show-through of writing visible) from a document, plain edges. Labeled in ink in the hand of the compiler on the backstrip: "Medicina astrologia." Loose in cover and wormed., Denis Duveen; Mellon MS 23, acquired with the Duveen collection. Gift of Paul and Mary Mellon, 1965., In Latin, Italian, and Spanish., and Script: Written by one or perhaps two hands in mid-16th-century italic, sometimes of excellent, professional quality, but often ranging from fairly good to extremely bad and careless.
Subject (Name):
Arnaldus, de Villanova, -1311. and Johannes, de Rupescissa, ca. 1300-ca. 1365.
Subject (Topic):
Alchemy--Early works to 1800., Italian poetry--16th century., Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven., and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library.
Several lacunae in the text. and Volume I only, stops in the middle of the story of Qamar al-Zamān and Budūr.
Alternative Title:
Arabian nights., Kitāb Alf laylah wa-laylah, ألف ليلة وليلة. -- [17--؟]., and كتاب ألف ليلة وليلة
Description:
Fair modern (18th century) nastaʻlīq, leaves 1-5 supplied in a later hand., In manuscript on leaf 1 recto: "Bought by me at Mocha 1805. M. Thoms[on].", Incipit: "Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm ... Ḥukiya, wa-Allāh aʻlam wa-aʻraf [wa-]akram, fīmā maḍá wa-taqaddam min asālīf al-umam, annahu [kāna] malikayn min mulūk al-ʻAjam, min Banī Sāsān, wa-kānū khawayn [akhawayn] shaqīqayn min umm wa-ab ...", Islamic binding, in brown., Purchased from the Wellcome-Kraus collection in 1949., and البداية: "بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ... حكي، والله أعلم وأعرف [و]أكرم، فيما مضى وتقدّم من أساليف الأمم، أنّه [كان] ملكين من ملوك العجم، من بني ساسان، وكانوا خوين [أخوين] شقيقين من أم وأب ..."
Subject (Topic):
Arabic manuscripts. and Arabic prose literature--Early works to 1800.