Copy of a précis of a statement by Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, made before the Russian ambassador to Paris, Prince Alexander Borisovitch Kurakin, on 15 Aug 1811, ostensibly proposing a basis for negotiations with Alexander I, Emperor of Russia. The document refers to the battle of Rudchek between the Turks and Russians, troops in Danzig, Warsaw and Poland, the size of French armies and Russia's violation of the Tilsit agreements. The source of the copy was a dispatch of the Austrian ambassador to Paris, Karl-Philip von Schwarzenberg.
Sans titreMiscellaneous papers, 1497-1793, collected by Aubrey John Toppin, consisting of some letters, but mostly of 18th century legal papers, notes on cases, judgements and fees.
Sans titreTwo fragments cut from the head of two bifolia from a noted Missal, foliated 51 and 54, 56 and [-] in a 13th century hand, and containing part of the temporale from the introit for the 3rd feria of the 3rd week after Quadragesima to the 4th feria. The manuscript was written in the Low Countries or North-east France in the late 12th century.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing a treatise entitled 'The means of a most ample increase of the wealth and strength of England in a few years', 1706, including sections concerning the economic history of England, government regulation of trade and the East India Company. Includes a dedicatory epistle to Queen Anne.
Sans titreA collection of mediaeval and early nineteenth century legal documents, which include letters of administration, bankruptcy and insurance papers.
Sans titreAn unpublished typescript of an anthology of verse and prose on wild flowers written by Eric Edward Mockler-Ferryman in 1973.
Sans titreTwo papers, each in a different hand, containing observations on the price of wheat and flour and its effect upon the price of bread, with reasons given for the fluctuations and suggestions for dealing with them, with particular reference to London, [1800-1801]. The items are enclosed in a wrapper, possibly sent by J. Williams (maybe the MP for Winchelsea), addressed to Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, Bt, Commissioner of H.M. Dockyard, Portsmouth, dated and franked 14 Dec 1831.
Sans titreAccount books, 1807-1827, of John Ferguson's textile manufacturing company, Robert Ferguson & Son.
Sans titreManuscript volume concerning the fraudulent activities of maltsters and distillers, [1860], including tables of inspections made by postmasters in Kingston and Surbiton Common, London, from 1838 to 1844, investigating frauds by distillers, with reports on hypothetical cases of fraud, one dated 1861, and what appear to be copies of answers to examination questions. This section includes printed Regulations respecting the entry of premises subject to the survey of the excise (Excise Office, London, 1835). Inserted are a number of loose sheets, 1859-1865, including a lists of examination questions on the control of disilleries which were set in an examination at Somerset House, notes on duties and law relating to the Excise, as well as a letter from J Williams dated 31 Jan 1863 and giving 'the particulars of the late examination'.
Sans titreFragment of a leaf from an antiphoner, formerly a fly-leaf in a binding, containing part of the common of a martyr. The fragment was written in north-east France in the 13th or 14th century.
Sans titreIncomplete farm account book relating to a farm at Calthorpe, Norfolk, kept by an unidentified tenant famer, who also had a farmhouse at Aylsham. The account book gives details of crops and acreage planted between 1820 and 1827, and accounts of receipts and expenses from 1 Nov 1820 to 15 Aug 1829, which show that the farmer sold mostly cereals, eggs and butter, mainly at Erpingham market. There are also notes relating chiefly to the harvest of cereals in 1843 with 'Pegg's Pig Account' for 1834, a list of fields totalling 25 acres headed 'Glebe', and a note of the assessment of Calthorpe for the poor rate in 1842.
Sans titreCollection of transcripts, all written in the same hand in [1750], of papers relating chiefly to the administration of poor relief and vagrancy in Edinburgh from 1594-1750, including an Act to impose stent of £500 p.a. for 3 years for cleansing the town, 1687; a 'Report from the committee of the lords appointed to consider the proper method for providing the poor', 1731; an Act of Sederunt imposing stent for 2% on members of the College of Justice for the maintenance of the poor, 1732; a contract between the Council of Edinburgh and the Kirk Sessions for the upkeep of 'a large hospitall or work house... for the more regular maintenance and employment of the whole poor of the...city', 1740; a confirmation of the erection of 'the burgh of the Canongate', 1594; an Act in favour of 'the burgh of Edinburgh anent the annuity' 1661; a report of the 'annexation of the lands and annualls mortifyed to the ministers and hospital of Edinburgh', undated; and a report of the Lords of Council and Session on method for support and maintenance of the begging poor in the charity work house, 1749. There are also additions of 1752 and 1754, the latter being the estimate of the expense of the City Guard for 1745-1746.
Sans titreA volume entitled Notes on subjects connected with agriculture, from W. Moorcroft, Kashmeer, 1823, addressed to the Secretary of the Board of Agriculture.
Sans titreIncludes letters and papers relating to Thomas Attwood MP (from the period 1812-1843) and Benjamin Hadley, sometime chairman and honorary secretary respectively of the Birmingham Political Union. Also includes "rules to be observed at this club" from a meeting at the Rose and Crown, Coventry, 1732.
Sans titreManuscripts relating to poor relief in Morwich, bound at the end of John Fransham's printed An exact account of the charge for supporting the poor of the City of Norwich (1720). The fourteen used leaves, composed in 1783-1784, contain:
- Table apparently showing the amount spent annually on poor relief from 1757-1784 in Norwich, the price of corn, and 'Observations for particular years.
- An 'Account of 1 year's expense of the New (or Duke's Palace) Workhouse, 1782', with a concluding memorandum on the cost for each pauper dated Jan 1783.
- Accounts for the workhouse in Norwich, giving a table of salaries, details of the diet and earnings of the inmates, 'of the spinning schools', and the 'earnings clear to the corporation'.
Two volumes, 1797-1806, relating to the estates owned by Lawton Parry in Shropshire, Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire.
Sans titreAn autograph album with leaves of various colours containing sketches, verses, etc., 1908-1914.
Sans titreAn autograph album, 1826-1841, containing verses, sketches, and portraits by Mary Ann Scriven. The album also contains signed tributes by friends of Scriven.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing a treatise by John Sharp, Archbishop of York, on English coins and their history, 1697, containing chapters on silver and gold coins, Scots and Irish money, and a commentary on the treatment of coinage in William Nicolson's The English historical library (London, 1696-1699). Marginal notes state that Nicolson had requested Sharp's opinion on his book before its publication, and the whole of this manuscript appears to have been known to Nicolson before he began writing The English historical library. The references to pages in Nicholson's book given in Sharp's notes refer apparently to Nicholson's manuscript copy.
Sans titreVolume containing engraved pages completed in manuscript listing fortnightly prices of corn in the markets of the principal towns of each Généralité of France; headings and wheat prices have been added in manuscript for the years 1771-1773.
Sans titreHolograph poem writeen by Ebenezer Elliott entitled 'William Cobbett. By the author of Corn Law Rhymes', and dated 23 Jun 1835. In addition there is a letter written from Sheffield by Elliott to Samuel Carter Hall at 4 Piccadilly, London, offering him the poem for publication: 'The poem I now send you is very unworthy of the Amulet, and infinitely so of the subject. But I have done my very best, as I always do...'.
This poem, inspired by the burial of Cobbett (he had died on 18 June 1835), was first published in The New Monthly Magazine, Vol 44 (1835), and reprinted (with the addition of a final verse) as 'Elegy on William Cobbett' in The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott, the Corn-Law Rhymer (1840). A portrait of the poet is enclosed.
Manuscript volume of sermons of James Robert Talbot, Vicar Apostolic, London District, and instruction on the sacraments of confirmation and confession. The vellum cover is dated 1765, but parts of the text were being delivered at least until 1777. A loose slip of paper bears, in another hand, the names of several parishes north-east of Newbury, Berkshire.
Sans titreA volume entitled Customs of ye Stanarys & Journall of ye Convocators 1703. It relates chiefly to the stannary of Blackmore, but also other Cornish stannaries. Concludes with a note that information used 'were copied out of a manuscript I had of Mr Thomas Hawkins. Signed John Hill.'
Sans titreAn account book, 1802-1819 of mixed farming and general nature, probably kept by Richard Walker of Bradmore, Notts, whose name appears inside the covers of the volume, and who is probably the addressee 'dear brother' in a letter enclosed signed 'J. Walker.'
Sans titreCertified copy of grain prices in Lanarkshire for 1799-1820. The first three leaves contain the prices for the upper ward of the country, 1799-1811, and for the whole county, 1812-1820. These are certified as 'a true copy of the fair prices...of grain before mentioned' in a declaration signed by John Marr, 1 Nov 1821. Each page also bears his signature at the foot. Another hand continues the list up to 1823, adding prices of beans, pease and malt. The document is twice endorsed as being a certified copy for 1799-1820.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing a paper entitled 'Proposal of a new bank', possibly by James Armour, c1699-1700, probably concerning the Scottish banking. James T Bell assigned this manuscript to 'J.A.', though there is now nothing on the document to justify this - part of the title seems to have been lost during binding repairs. 'J.A.' is probably James Armour (fl 1699-1721), who made proposals about the Bank of Scotland in 1722. He also published A proposal to supply the defect of money and relief to the poor (1696). This manuscript seems to be another version of the same proposal.
Sans titreCommonplace book, written in the early 19th century, containing copies of poems by various authors, including Mrs. R. Wilmot, the Reverend John Chetwood, and Eward Wilmot. The poems include 'To Miss Wilmot, now Mrs. Bradford, on her arrival from Russia' by F.S.I. (p.135), and 'Prologue written for the opening of the Lyceum at Madras 1782, spoken by Major Maule, by Eyles Irwin, Esq.' (p.245). A few poems are dated, 1782, 1788, 1802-1816.
Sans titreAnonymous English prose translation of De Rerum Natura by Titus Lucretius Carus, entitled 'The Natural Philosophy of Epicurus as delivered by T.Lucretius Carus in his poem "Of the Nature of Things"'. The manuscript was written c1850.
Sans titreWarrant of 10 Dec 1747 addressed to Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford and Auditor of the Exchequer, for the payment to Richard Tuck, Sheriff of Wiltshire, of £160 'to repay the like sum disbursed by him for the following rewards upon the conviction of the several offenders mentioned in the annexed certificates'. These certificates are wanting, but a list follows of the names of the offenders and of those securing their conviction, with details of the sums paid as rewards totalling £160.
Sans titreManuscript inventory of the goods of Thomas Church, of All Hallows, Broad Street, London, skinner, 14 May 1700, valued by Charles Wickes and Joseph Devenish, citizens of London.
Sans titreDraft minutes of the weekly meetings of the proprietors of Anderson, New and Co., held at the Compting House, Redcross St., Bristol, from 2 Jul 1798 to 11 Mar 1799. The proprietors were James New junior, Samuel New junior, Francis Bull, S. James, William Walker and Charles Anderson. The drafts record their decisions in some detail, concerning the purchase of land at Netham Mill and Blacksworth, the building of warehouses, and the purchase of raw material and machinery. At the foot of each sheet is written 'Ent[ere]d', followed usually by the initials 'J.N.'
Sans titreExchequer order, dated 7 May 1715, addressed to George Montagu, Auditor of the Receipt of the Exchequer, by virtue of letters under the Privy Seal of 31 Dec 1714, to pay to Henry Scott, 1st Earl of Deloraine, £200 (a quarter of his annuity) from money applicable to the uses of the civil government. The order is signed by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, First Lord of the Treasury, and endorsed 'Intr. in Officio Cler. pelliu[m]'.
Sans titrePapers relating to property of John Michie, Director of the East India Company, at 'Muffets' or North Mimms, Hertfordshire, comprising a list of the fields, woods, etc. with their acreages, dated May 1780. There is also a list of those paying land tax, with the amounts, headed 'Present rate of North Myms Common' 7 Jul 1780.
On the reverse of one list is a brief memorandum headed 'By the Joint Committee of private Trade and Shipping', concerning an enquiry into the conduct of captain Peter Douglas of the Queen and Captain John Coggan of the Shrewsbury for 'parting company outward bound contrary to the orders of the Secret Committee' in 1777, dated 5 May 1780, initialled by four of the Company directors, and with a note that it was read in court. The documents are accompanied by a wrapper endorsed 'Muffets. (Account of Grounds by Messrs. Michie'.
List of the expenses incurred over a number of weeks by J Brown whilst taking affidavits and oaths, presented as an account to Messrs Watson & Delavel, totalling £57 10s. 9d. The list is undated, and pasted to a backing sheet (now separated from the document) watermarked 1800. The list begins 'To my expenses with George Simpson, John Adams... and drinking [with] them warmly before I could get them prevailed on all night and next day to make affidavits...'.
Sans titrePrinted indenture of apprenticeship, completed in manuscript, 5 Oct 1798, between James Rudge, son of James Rudge of Gloucester, upholsterer, and George Holder of Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, apothecary, for a term of 7 years, with Holder to provide meat, drink and bedding. The consideration is £10 paid by the Mayor and burgesses of Gloucester out of public charity money given by Mrs Jane Hunter, deceased. Signed and sealed by Holder and James Rudge, witnessed by William Birt. On the dorse is a note of the enrolment at the Tolsey in Gloucester, signed by Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk, mayor, and two others.
Sans titreManuscript volume, 1660-1702, containing transcripts of briefs, patents and commissions relating to the Exchequer, from the reign of King Charles II to the beginning of the reign of Queen Anne, with descriptions of offices within the Exchequer. There is a possibility that this manuscript was compiled by William Bromley, and it is of considerable interest for the history of the Exchequer.
Sans titre'An inventory of all the household furniture and other effects of Mr. Robert Gibbs, deceased, that was on the premises of no.7 Theobald's Row', London, 23 Nov 1808'. The goods are listed under the names of persons (Edward Gibbs, Thomas Gibbs, Louisa Gibbs, Mr. Dalton, and Mrs. Smith), and under rooms, e.g. kitchen, parlour, shop, granary. The endorsement gives the total value as £230 4s.6d, valued by Mr. Davis. A few items are individually valued.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing 'An abstract of the gross and net produce of the revenue of excise, malt, etc', with sections on 'rates on exciseable commodities' (including beer, wines, spirits, malt, candles, soap, paper, printed silks, wire, starch, hides, coffee, tea, chocolate, silver household plate and plate licences, victuallers licences, glass, coaches auctioneers' licences and auctions, male servants, bricks and tiles, linen, cotton, etc), the repeal of duties on paper in 1781 and additions of 1784, an 'Account of the Appropriations of the excise revenue', and 'Gross and Net produce of Excise, Malt etc' from 1709-1785.
Sans titreMemorial signed by Thomas Wroe of Hollinwood near Manchester, cotton manufacturer, addressed to the Rt Hon Spencer Perceval and the Lords of the Treasury, seeking compensation for the loss of his steam-powered cotton mill at West Houghton, which was destroyed by a 'riotous mob', dated 24th April, 1812. Endorsed to the effect that there does not appear to be any means of indemnifying Mr Wroe.
Sans titreManuscript volume containing part of a formulary (items numbered 17-42) of private deeds, [1600], including the following types: Bargain & Sale, Lease, Agreement, Recognisance, Award, Gift and Inquisition Post Mortem (the last two types in Latin).
Sans titreManuscript notebook, [1764], containing an introductory section on philosophy and three sections on logic, the third being unfinished. Two engravings, printed in France, are inserted in the text, and the manuscript is probably French in origin. The partly obliterated date of 1764 occurs at the end of section 3.
Sans titreFour notebooks. The first notebook contains manuscript exercises written while George Grote, aged 11 (1805-1806), was a pupil at Charterhouse. The other three notebooks dated 1816, 1817 and 1820 contain notes and essays on various subjects.
Sans titreManuscript volume, 1669-1670, containing 'miscellanies' relating to Ireland, namely 'The establishment beginning Michaelmas 1669', including lists of salaries for civil officers, pensions and annuities, military payments, salaries for military officers and soldiers, the names of officers of regiments of horse and foot on 25 Dec 1670, provincial, noble and clerical subsidies, and a list of Parliamentary seats; 'A table for reducing plantation acres into English and ascertaining the King's rent in the severall provinces of Ireland according to the explanatory act', [1669]; an abstract of the demise made by King Charles II to John Foorth and Partners of the revenue of Ireland, 12 Jul 1669. There is an index, added by Sir David William Smith, 1st Baronet, in 1828.
Sans titreManuscript volume written by Edward Burnell entitled 'Epitome ecclesiastice historie Nicephori calisti'. The Epitome, in its imperfect state, extends as far as the time of Justinian, Emperor of the East. The manuscript is illustrated throughout with many marginal pen-drawings of the persons and events dealt with. At the head of the title-page is an inaccurate attempt to reproduce the arms of Philip and Mary, King and Queen of England. The ecclesiastical arms at the foot of the page (repeated on folio 80) have not been identified.
Sans titreLetters and accounts from Gunter, Greenway & Co. to Joseph Previté concerning the import and export of groceries. The account books cover the period March 1840 to March 1843.
Sans titreIncomplete copy of instructions to sheriffs of counties and mayors of corporate towns to fix tax assessments, dated 12 August, 1634. The sheriffs are to divide the whole charge laid upon the county into hundreds, lathes and other divisions, and those into parishes and towns, which are to be rated by houses and lands 'saveing that it is his Majestie's pleasure that where there shall happen to be any men of ability, by reason of gainfull trades, great stockes of money or personall estate, who perchance have either none or little land and consequently in an ordinary landscott, would pay nothing or very little such men be rated and assessed according to their worth and ability, and that the moneys that shall bee levyed upon such may be applied to the spareing and easing of such as being either of weake estate, or charged with many children or great debts are unable to beare soe great a chardge as the lands in their occupation might require in an usuall and ordinary proportion...'. The clergy are to be taxed and assessed in the same way as the rest of the king's subjects. Transcript of the signatures of 18 persons, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Coventry, and the Earls of Arundel, Bridgewater and Dorset.
Sans titreVolume containing the printed reports of the Committee appointed to enquire into the original standards of weights and measures (in 1758 and 1759), Statutes on the same subject, and a report and inquisition on the same, with reference to the county of Renfrew (1827). These printed items are annotated in various hands, including that of John Joshua Probyn, 1st Earl of Carysfort.
The volume also contains two manuscript items, numbered 10 and 14, namely 'Remarks upon some of the practical provisions contained in the Weights and Measures Bill', as amended on recommitment (1 July 1822) and printed, written by A Campbell in 1823; and 'Powers in the Uniformity Weights and Measures Act (5 Geo.4, c.74) and statutes therein referred to for preventing other than legal weights and measures', in the hand of Lord Carysfort, written in 1824.
The collection contains a memoranda book covering the years 1783 to 1785, with additions and annotations. The contents include notes of orders, bills, advertisements, names of customers, tables showing different qualities of worsteds and a 'black list' of employees.
Sans titreDraft of a bill 'for the more effectual prevention of the use of false and deficient measures', 1815, with proposals including Justices of the Peace to appoint persons to examine the measures within their districts; a penalty of 5-20s on conviction; proper measures according to the standard made by the Exchequer to be purchased out of the general rate and deposited with the clerks of the peace; some form of conviction to be given. The draft is endorsed '9 March 1815. Copy to Mr [Samuel] Whitbread [M.P. for Bedford] per post'.
Sans titreTwo holograph manuscripts, 1830-1. The first is a six verse poem written for The Metropolitan. The second is a draft of an article, 'Notices of the Life of Lord Byron by Mr Moore, and remarks on those notices by Lady Byron', published without significant alteration in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, Vol. 28 (1830), pp. 33.
Sans titre