'Letters from the Reverend John Brand, M.A., fellow and secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, London, to Dr. Ralph Beilby of Newcastle upon Tyne'

The contents are compiled from what appear to be page-proofs of the volume of letters, to form an extra-illustrated volume, with the "extras" - apparently from a set of proofs for Brand's Newcastle - considerably outweighing the publication itself. The great majority of the material dates from the early years of the 19th century. Bookplate evidence shows that at an early stage the volume belonged to John Fenwick (and subsequently to others of his family) and at some time to Mathew Mackey, before being presented to SAL in 1949 by Eric Birley FSA. A few loose press cuttings, most (?all) from the Newcastle Journal in the mid-1920s, relate to a monumental brass in All Saints church and to the Newcastle city coat of arms. One loose page tucked in at the end is from The Historians' History [of the World], an early 20th century publication. Towards the beginning, and dated 2 Apr 1864, a note by John Fenwick, who had acquired the letters from Beilby's widow and had been responsible for publishing them, first in the Newcastle Magazine for 1824 and then as a volume of the Newcastle Typographical Society.

One of the many bookplates on the inner front cover records that it was given to SAL by Eric Birley, FSA, on 27 May 1949. A.J. 29 (1949), 245-50, records that at SAL meeting on 6 May 1949 Birley "exhibited a copy of the letters of Rev John Brand, F.S.A., once the property of John Fenwick, F.S.A.."

https://collections.sal.org.uk/bra.02