The folded plate containing 24 portraits (busts) of the subjects of the biographies in this volume
51 P976
Acquired July 2017
Manuscript inventory for the Scots Arms, [10] Little Hermitage Street, a pub in Wapping in East London. Drawn up at a change of ownership in 1799, the document gives a record of the furniture, fixtues and other contents of this London pub during the late Georgian period. Equipment and paraphenalia relating to the running of the pub are included, in particular items listed in the “tap room”, “kitchen” and “cellars”.
LWL Mss Vol. 235
Acquired July 2017
Italian engraver and printmaker Luigi Schiavonetti (1765-1810) arrived in London around 1790 and was employed by Bartolozzi before setting up a successful business with his brother Niccolò. Schiavonetti’s varied output included book illustrations, prints and cards. Autograph letter signed, in Italian, from Luigi Schiavonetti to his uncle in Italy. Writing from London, Schiavonetti confides that his relatives, the climate, society and works of art in Italy are still in his heart and he would return were it not for the ailing state of the Italian print market and the uncertain political climate. He continues by noting that if he were to return to Italy and take up the kind offer of a pension from the Venetian government then he would have to abandon his well-established business in London and leave England, where he considers the art of engraving is more advanced than in any other country. Though he cannot take up the offer he requests that his uncle thank those that have promoted the proposal.
LWL Mss File 138
Acquired July 2017
A membership card for a trade union with a female figure with an anchor on her left and a shield with three calibers on the right, standing under a broken pediment supported by two Corinthian columns and surmounted by a pineapple.
File 66 798 Ad23
Acquired July 2017
63 819 R81
Acquired July 2017
File 125 EL47 798
Acquired July 2017
761 745 P99
Acquired July 2017
125 Ag266 817
Acquired July 2017
Printed form has been filled out in ink for “Paol Antonio Girolami a gentleman … native of Corsica,” presumably a refugee. Manuscript completions on the sheet supply his age, height, complexion, eye color and other distinguishing features.
File 66 799 G77
Acquired July 2017
A collection of some 150 separate pieces, in English and French, neatly attached to pages of good quality paper, in a variety of different hands and dating mainly from ca 1780 to 1824. The manuscripts appear in most cases to have been given to Anne Rushout by acquaintances in her circle, which included Fanny Burney (who describes in her Diary a visit to her in Wanstead in 1784). Almost all are poetry, and include charades, acrostics and riddles culled from various sources including the Thesaurus Aenigmaticus, the Satirist and The Universal Magazine. Names mentioned as writers or subjects, giving an insight into the circle in which Anne moved, include William Hayley, William Shenstone, Colley Cibber, David Garrick, Richard (Bishop) Heber, [Horace] Walpole, Walter Scott, the Sheridans and Sarah Siddons. In addition to the poetical contents there are few printed pieces and two accomplished mathematical conundrums. The principal places mentioned are Northwick Park, Worcestershire (now Gloucestershire), Wanstead Grove and Daylesford Grove.
LWL Mss Vol. 232
Acquired July 2017