Sandys, Sir Edwin

Manuscript volume containing a report by Sir Edwin Sandys on behalf of the parliamentary committee on free trade, entitled 'Instructions touching the Bill for Free Trade'. The report was read to the House of Commons by Sandys on 21 May 1604. Catalogued by Reginald Rye, Goldsmith's Librarian of the University of London, as the original manuscript. The manuscript contains material which was not printed in the Journals of the House of Commons .

Sir Edwin Sandys (1561-1629) was Prebendary of York from 1582-1602, and MP for Andover, 1586, and Plympton, 1589 and 1593. He travelled abroad with Archbishop Cramner, where he wrote 'Europae Speculum' (1599), which was piratically published as A Relation of the state of religion; and with what hopes and policies it hath beene framed and is maintained in the severall states of these westerne parts of the world , (S Waterson, London, 1605). On his return to England in 1603, Sandys was knighted, became MP for Stockbridge, and assumed a leading position in the House of Commons. He was later MP for Sandwich, 1621, Kent, 1624, and Penryn, 1625 and 1626. In addition, Sandys was deeply involved in the colonisation and government of Virginia, acting as joint Manager, 1617, and Treasurer, 1619-1620, of the Virginia Company. Sandys died in 1629.

Single item.

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Uncatalogued material may not be seen. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Part of the Goldsmith's Library of Economic Literature, initially collected by Herbert Somerton Foxwell and presented by the Goldsmith's Company to the University of London in 1903.

Collection level description.

Manuscript folio.

Compiled by Sarah Smith as part of the RSLP AIm25 Project.

Sheffield Archives hold a manuscript of 'A View of the State of Religion in the Westerne Parts of The World' written by Sir Edwin Sandys, Knight 1599 (Ref: WWM).

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

The manuscript was in the collection of Sir John Malet (d 1686), and later formed part of the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (1792-1872) as MS 4893. It was sold to Herbert Somerton Foxwell by Henry Gray.

A version lacking the last paragraph of this manuscript was printed in the Journals of the House of Commons , I, pp. 218-221, reprinted in Seventeenth century economic documents ed. Joan Thirsk and J P Cooper (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1972). A partial version was also made by Josiah Tucker in The elements of commerce and theory of taxes (Manuscript notes, privately printed, 1755).