Sketch book, 1742-c.1850

The sketch book contains prose, caricatures and student notes. The first complete item in the volume appears to be a critical piece about Rev. Young who, with Henry Fielding, translated 'Plutus, the God of Riches: A Comedy by Aristophanes' from the original Greek in 1742. This piece appears to date from the middle of the 18th century and is therefore contemporary with the volume itself which has 'Y-Z' tooled on the spine.

The rest of the volume's contents are later, probably 19th century. These items include sketches, caricatures and doodles depicting family life, townscapes, paddle steamers and people. Speech bubbles are sometimes employed with caricatures. Occasional passages of text between the sketches include student notes, fragments of children's stories and plays.

From physical evidence, the volume appears to date from the mid-eighteenth century. The identity of the compilers of the book are unknown. After its first use for prose, it seems to have been used by one or more children for sketches and other occasional writings. Inside the back cover of the volume is the name 'Master Shuttleworth'. It is not clear whether this is the name of the owner or creator of the book or a reference to one of the caricatures featuring in it. Other names appear in the volume include 'Debuhra' and 'Miss Ann Rees'.

No archival arrangement has been necessary.

ACCESS: Accessible to all registered readers.

LANGUAGE: English

• This description is the only finding aid available for the sketch book. Copyright in the description belongs to The University of Nottingham.

REPROGRAPHIC: Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

COPYRIGHT: Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk).

The early provenance of the volume is not known. It was acquired by the library of The University of Nottingham in the 1950s.