I've just put the finishing touches to the bibliographic record for the final item bound in a fascinating volume of early printed material which I've been lucky enough to be cataloguing over the past few months. The volume contains 105 items, mostly broadsides ("single sheet publications" in DCRM(B) terms) published in the reigns of Charles I, James II, and William and Mary. The collection seems to have been assembled by Robert Brady (1627?-1700), a doctor and historian, who was directly involved in some of the events the broadsides document. Item no. 47 (one of a few folio format publications bound in the volume) includes a deposition, delivered by Brady under oath before the king and an "extraordinary council" at Whitehall on the 22nd October 1688, in which he gives an account of his part in the events of the 10th of June 1688 at St. James' Palace, where Mary of Modena gave birth to James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales. Brady's deposition is one of 41 (surely they can't all have been present in the Queen's bed chamber?!) printed, "by his majesties [King James II of England] special command", in which he responds to reports that "very many do not think this son with which God hath blessed me, to be mine, but a supposed child" and in the belief that "the Prince of Orange, with the first Eastwardly wind, will invade this kingdom". Item no. 48, which responds to these depositions, is one of my favourites. It includes a map of St. James' Palace, "describing the place wherein it is supposed the true mother was delivered", on which a dotted line indicates the route by which "the child was conveyed to the Queen's bed-chamber"!
Cataloguing this volume has been an incredibly interesting project. I knew very little of the history of this period beforehand and, to be honest, wasn't at all interested in remedying that. But working with these sources captured my imagination, made the events described and recorded in them vivid and exciting, and really inspired me to find out more. I was reading about the events through the eyes of the people involved; their propaganda, their proclamations, declarations, depositions, petitions. What a wonderful experience, and a personal reminder that the collections of early books and materials which many of us look after have the power to inspire and educate in a way that textbooks and lectures can't. What a brilliant resource this volume, and others like it, would make for engaging with members of the community both within and beyond the college's walls...
2 comments:
When I was a College Librarian I found cataloguing the pamphlet collection acquired by Thomas Sherlock (died 1761) fascinating. He collected material relating to the Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. I realise that much of the material has been digitized but handling what one person thought worth preserving was an honour
Hello Suzan. I wholeheartedly agree. I found the experience quite humbling. Brady is long dead, but this volume remains as a testament to the time he committed to and the care with which he went about compiling the documents in it. And here was I, 350 years later, being excited and inspired by his work, reading his annotations, feeling much closer to him than the span of those years! I hope I am able to leave such a legacy!
Post a Comment