St John's College S.15 (James 409)

Matthew Prior, letters to the sixth earl of Dorset. English, 1694-1701

 

Matthew Prior (1664-1721), Fellow of St John's College, poet and diplomat: four letters to his friend and patron Charles Sackville, sixth earl of Dorset: 1. Paris, 17/27 Dec. 1698, concerning the Spanish succession and 'poor King James'; 2. The Hague, 18/28 June 1697, working towards 'our treaty [of Ryswick]'; 3. [London], 'Tuesday 7 in the Evening' [1701], concerning events in Parliament; 4. The Hague, 4/14 May 1694, concerning the death of the Elector of Saxony, French moves in Flanders, prayers in verse for the earl's health.

Manuscript extra information

240x190 mm. ii+10+ii fos. At fo. [1r]: 'May 17 1751. These Original Letters of Mr Prior were given me by the Rev. Mr Upton Prebend of Rochester, to be deposited in St John's College Library. John Taylor.' Small College bookplate (eighteenth century) inside front cover.

Holograph. Paper. Leather binding on boards. Some staining through damp.

These letters are listed in 'The Matthew Prior Project. Phase I: A Calendar of Prior's Complete Correspondence. Compiled by H. Bunker Wright, Richard B. Kline, and Deborah Kempf Wright in collaboration with Miami University Libraries Oxford, Ohio', which is available at http://digital.lib.muohio.edu/prior/