Commonplace-book of Richard Bowater, containing English poems, a library catalogue, and business accounts and correspondence

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 206 Brotherton Collection MS Lt q 40
  • Dates of Creation
      1694-1725
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
      English
  • Physical Description
      1 vol. (33 ff.), folio, manuscript. Bound in worn contemporary calf with some blind tooling. 39 leaves have been removed from between ff. 18 and 19 of the present foliation, stubs remaining. F. 1r reads 'Anno Domini 1694'. F. 2v is blank, as are ff. 4v, 11v, 17r, 18v, 23v, 27r, 28r, 30v, 31v, and 33v. Probably in a single hand.

Scope and Content

Comprises: (1) Ff. 1v-2r: list of books in a library; (2) Ff. 3r-16v: 9 English poems, largely on affairs of state, including items by Halifax, Milbourne, Pope, and Bold, apparently in the hand of Richard Bowater; (3) Ff. 17v-18r: copies of 5 business letters by Bowater, dated 16 August 1718-11 March 1724; (5) F. 19r is headed 'Gentlemens and Ladies Institute', and bears the names of 6 members, all inked out but legible; (6) From f. 19v to f. 33 the volume is reversed and contains copies of receipts, accounts, and business letters of Richard Bowater, concerning cotton and sugar trade with New England and the Caribbean, dated 26 November 1717 to 5 May 1725.

Administrative / Biographical History

Richard Bowater is not otherwise known.

Access Information

Access is unrestricted.

Acquisition Information

Purchased at Christie's, 30 January 1980, lot 33.

Note

In English.

Other Finding Aids

The poems are indexed in the BCMSV database http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/spcoll/bcmsv/bcmvlink.htm#bcltq40

Personal Names