Papers of William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney

Papers of William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney comprising papers relating to Egyptology, Greek and Latin papyri, and miscellanea.

Egyptology:

• material from a visit to the Middle East in 1894-5
• lists of correspondence about Lord Amherst's collection, mainly the Egyptian antiquities, 1890-1904 and n.d.
• 2 letters of P.E. Newberry, 1894-5, listing Lord Amhersts' collection of Egyptian (non-classical) papyri and discussing further acquisitions.

Greek and Latin papyri:

• letters from B.P. Grenfell, 1896-1903 and n.d., from Oxford and Egypt, concerning his acquisition of Greek papyri for Lord Amherst, and their publication as The Amherst papyri : being an account of the Greek papyri in the collection of the Right Hon. Lord Amherst of Hackney, at Didlington Hall, Norfolk, (London : H. Frowde, 1900-1901)
• a collotype made c. 1898 of Lord Amherst's 4th-century papyrus of Genesis, i, 1-5, with associated correspondence
• Lord Amherst's correspondence with the Oxford University Press concerning the publication by the London office of the two volumes edited by Grenfell and Hunt, mainly letters from Horace Hart and Henry Frowde, with a set of '1st revise' proofs of part I
• letters of thanks for complimentary copies of parts I and/or II, and a few requests for them, addressed to Lord Amherst or B.P. Grenfell from various English and foreign scholars and institutions
• reviews of parts I and/or II
• correspondence concerning the publication of S.M.R.R. de Ricci's A Latin deed of manumission of a slave (A.D. 221) (reprinted from Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1904), mainly letters of thanks for complimentary copies

Miscellaneous:

• papers relating to Lord Amherst's antiquarian interests, 1881-1903, including correspondence with the Dean of Westminster, C.G. Bradley, about a proposed Chaucer memorial in the Abbey, 1900
• papers concerning Lord Amherst's public affairs, 1885-1903
• papers relating to family matters, 1864-1904 and n.d., including letters from Lord Amherst's eldest daughter Mary Rothes Margaret and her husband Lord William Cecil, c. 1892 (the latter writes from Balmoral on taking up his duties as Groom-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria), and letters from John Collier, 1894-9 about family portraits by him
• papers regarding local affairs, mainly concerning Norfolk in 1893, with a lease of 1893 for Hesleyside in Northumberland
• letters concerning shooting, 1891(?)-1899 and n.d.
• miscellaneous letters and papers, 1892-1900 and n.d.

William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney (1835-1909), was a collector of rare books, MSS., tapestries, antique furniture, and other works of art for more than fifty years. In 1906 Lord Amherst sold a portion of his library. See the Dictionary of National Biography for further details.

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).

Bought by the Library at Sotheby's, 15 Dec. 1980, lot 162 (see also lot 158, letters from Howard Carter and Flinders Petrie, and 211, booksellers accounts and receipts, not bought).

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

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

See P.E. Newberry The Amherst Papyri: being an account of the Egyptian papyri in the collection of the Right Hon. Lord Amherst of Hackney, F.S.A. at Didlington Hall, Norfolk, (London: 1899); and B.P. Grenfell and A.S. Hunt (eds.) The Amherst papyri : being an account of the Greek papyri in the collection of the Right Hon. Lord Amherst of Hackney, at Didlington Hall, Norfolk, (London 1900-1) .