Notebooks of Sir William Hamilton

This material is held atBodleian Library, University of Oxford

  • Reference
    • GB 161 MSS. Eng. hist. g. 3-16; Eng. misc. e. 105
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1747-93
  • Language of Material
    • English.
  • Physical Description
    • 15 shelfmarks

Scope and Content

Notebooks of Sir William Hamilton consisting of:

  • Orderly books of the 4rd Regiment of Foot Guards in Holland, 1747-8
  • Notebooks of extracts made by Hamilton in 1764 from Sir James Gray's correspondence with secretaries of state when envoy to Naples, 1754-64
  • Deciphered copies of letters to Hamilton as envoy to Naples, 1765-8
  • Hamilton's memoranda on his correspondence as envoy, 1783, 1789-93
  • Notebook containing lists of subjects of works of art, not in Sir William's hand

Administrative / Biographical History

Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) was a diplomat and archaeologist. He was an officer in the 3rd Regiment of the Foot Guards, 1747-58, and British envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary at the court of Naples, 1764-1800. Details are given in the Dictionary of National Biography.

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.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/specialcollections).

Acquisition Information

The notebooks were bought from P.J. & A.E. Dobell in 1921.

Note

Collection level description created by Emily Tarrant, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.

Other Finding Aids

M. Clapinson and T.D. Rogers, Summary Catalogue of Post-Medieval Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Oxford. Acquisitions 1916-1975. (Oxford, 1991), vol. I, nos. 40359-73.

Geographical Names