Manuscripts

London, British Library, MS Stowe 1023-1024 IMAGINES seu Figuræ variarum Inscriptionum præcipue Sepulchralium, Lapidum in orbes depositorum [etc.]

Latin
s. xviii
English manuscripts
paper

An 18th-century two-volume collection of drawings and sketches of antiquities from England and Cornwall (vol. 1, ff. 9-78), Wales (vol. 1, ff. 79-181, and vol. 2, ff. 1-78), Scotland (vol. 2. ff. 79-124) and Ireland (vol. 2, ff. 125-196). They represent unique copies, less likely originals, of sketches that were made by Edward Lhuyd, or one of his assistants and correspondents, during his journeys through Britain and Ireland c.1700. The collection was made for the antiquarian John Anstis. Also included is a letter from Richard Richardson to Edward Lhuyd, dated 3 July 1709 (i.e. shortly after the recipient's death).

General
Contents

Identifiers

Location

England London, British Library

Shelfmark

Stowe 1023-1024

Title

IMAGINES seu Figuræ variarum Inscriptionum præcipue Sepulchralium, Lapidum in orbes depositorum [etc.]

Full title: IMAGINES seu Figuræ variarum Inscriptionum præcipue Sepulchralium, Lapidum in orbes depositorum, Substructionum quas Wallici Kromlech et Kistvêan nominant, cipporum quos cruces dicimus, castrorum seu castrametationum antiquarum, in Angliâ, Scotiâ et Hiberniâ, curâ Johannis Anstis, Fecialium Principis cognomento Garter, delineata et ob oculos posita.

Type

drawings of antiquities

Provenance and related aspects

Language

Latin

Date

s. xviii

Origin, provenance

Provenance: ass. with Anstis (John)

Anstis (John)

(1669–1744)

John Anstis (the Elder), politician, MP and antiquarian.

See more The copyist is unknown. John Anstis added the title-page and some pages at the start of vol. 1.

Later provenance: ass. with Astle (Thomas)

Astle (Thomas)

(1735–1803)

English archivist and antiquarian.

See more In 1768, Thomas Astle acquired the volumes along with many other of Anstis’s manuscripts. In Archaeologia 13 (1798), he published a paper entitled “Observations on stone pillars, crosses, and crucifixes (read 11 Jan 1798)”, in which he referred to the manuscript by title and borrowed some of its images.

Hands, scribes

Codicological information

Material

paper

Distinct units

vol. 1

London, British Library, MS Stowe 1023

England, Cornwall, and Wales (part 1).

vol. 2

London, British Library, MS Stowe 1024

Wales (part 2), Scotland, and Ireland.

Table of contents

Legend

Texts

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Locus

While it is not a reality yet, CODECS seeks consistency in formatting references to locations of texts and other items of interest in manuscripts. Our preferences may be best explained with some examples:

f. 23ra.34: meaning folio 23 recto, first column, line 34
f. 96vb.m: meaning folio 96, verso, second column, middle of the page (s = top, m = middle, i = bottom)
- Note that marg. = marginalia, while m = middle.
p. 67b.23: meaning page 67, second column, line 23

English manuscripts

Sources

Primary sources This section typically includes references to diplomatic editions, facsimiles and photographic reproductions, notably digital image archives, of at least a major portion of the manuscript. For editions of individual texts, see their separate entries.

Digitisation wanted

Secondary sources (select)

McGuinness, David, “Edward Lhuyd’s contribution to the study of Irish megalithic tombs”, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 126 (1996): 62–85.

abstract:

This paper examines three aspects of Lhuyd's work on Irish megalithic tombs: (i) the context of his famous account of Newgrange is assessed and is shown to have a more complex background than hitherto assumed; (ii) using several complementary pieces of evidence, Lhuyd's classification of British megalithic tombs is outlined and discussed, and it is shown to have been used by him to describe megaliths encountered on his Irish tour; (iii) an examination of Lhuyd's Additions to Gibson's edition of Camden's Britannia of 1695 is used to illustrate his ideas on the function, origin and chronology of megalithic tombs. Antiquarian studies of Irish megalithic tombs after Lhuyd are discussed in the context of his contribution.

Owen, Edward, A catalogue of the manuscripts relating to Wales in the British Museum, vol. 4, London: The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1922.

Internet Archive: <link>

851–853

Catalogue of the Stowe manuscripts in the British Museum, vol. 1: Text, London: Trustees, 1895.