Letters to and from Ralph Palmer and his son

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 161 MSS. Eng. lett. c. 438, d. 409
  • Dates of Creation
      17th-mid 18th century
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
      English.
  • Physical Description
      2 shelfmarks The binding (kept separately as MS. Eng. lett. d. 409) is mid 18th century red morocco, gilt dentelle including birds and insects, with a gilt spine lettered 'Original Letters vol: II'.

Scope and Content

Letters to and from Ralph Palmer and his son of the same name, collected by the latter.

Administrative / Biographical History

Ralph Palmer (d. 1716) of Chelsea, was a barrister of the Middle Temple. Ralph Palmer (1670-1736) was his son.

Access Information

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk).

Note

Collection level description created by Susan Thomas, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.

Other Finding Aids

A description is available in the Library, where there is also a card index to unpublished catalogues.

Custodial History

There is an inscription erased from the fly leaf, probably ' Bibliotheca Palmerina'; there is also the armorial bookplate of the Verney family (the 1st Earl was grandson of Ralph Palmer the elder), probably that of Ralph, 2nd Earl Verney. The volume was owned by Sir Henry Ingilby, Bart., during the 19th century; it was sold at Sotheby's on the 4th Apr. 1977 (lot 259), when some of the contents were dispersed (e.g. many of the letters of Jonathan Richardson calendared in 1877 are no longer in the volume).

Bibliography

The letters were calendared by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, see HMC 6th report 1877-8, appendix, pp. 390-5, and in 1977, when the volume was sold at Sotheby's.