GEMMS IDGEMMS-MANUSCRIPT-001265
TitleMiscellaneous tracts
ShelfmarkHarley MS 6356
Creation Dateca. 1580 - 1700
RepositoryBritish Library
Contents NoteA collection of miscellaneous tracts, including the following items: several printed books published in 1583 which are interleaved with manuscript translations; copies of letters; sermons; and speeches. Notable authors of the sermons include John Donne and Andrew Marvell, the father of the poet. The sermons are written in several different seventeenth-century professional hands. There are also some manuscripts in Russian and Arabic; for further information regarding the Russian manuscripts, see Vladimir Burtsev, 'Russian Documents in the British Museum', The Slavonic Review, 4.12 (1926), 669-85; Pëtr S. Stefanovic, 'Dialog der Kulturen? Selbstaussagen in Briefen zwischen Pskov und England 1686/1687', in Vom Wir Zum Ich: Individuum und Autobiographik im Zarenreich, ed. by Julia Herzberg and Christoph Schmidt (Cologne: Böhlau, 2007), pp. 77-93; Jos Schaeken, 'On Language Learning and Intercultural Communication in Seventeenth-Century Russia', Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, 59.3 (2011), 390-98.
Material FeaturesLarge quarto. Calf gilt. 494 leaves.
Associated Peoplemanuscript owner - Harley, Robertmanuscript owner - Pryme, Abrahammanuscript owner - Sadleir, Anne
ProvenanceAnne Sadleir was a former owner of the sermons by John Donne contained within this manuscript. See Hunt, pp. 211 and 233. The volume was later owned by Abraham Pryme, who added a table of contents.
AcquisitionThe Harleian Library was founded by Robert Harley, First Earl of Oxford (1661-1724). According to Cyril Ernest Wright, Robert Harley ‘was primarily interested in English historical and political material and in volumes of sermons and theological controversy, sharing in the latter the taste of his Harley ancestors’. See Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), p. xxxiv.
Source of DataA Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, in the British Museum (1808), Vol. III, pp. 359-60; Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972); Arnold Hunt, 'The Books, Manuscripts and Literary Patronage of Mrs Anne Sadleir (1585-1670)', in Early Modern Women's Manuscript Writing, ed. by Victoria E. Burke and Jonathan Gibson (Aldershot and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004), pp. 205-36; CELM; Hannah Yip.
Other NoteThe manuscript is erratically paginated in ink; a more modern hand in pencil foliates the volume throughout. The modern foliation has been followed by the present cataloguer. For a detailed description of the Donne sermons (the first two sermons in this manuscript), see Jeanne Shami, 'New Manuscript Texts of Sermons by John Donne', in Peter Beal, ed. English Manuscript Studies 1100-1700, Volume 13: New Texts and Discoveries in Early Modern English Manuscripts (London: The British Library, 2007), pp. 77-119.
Sermons ContainedSermon on Matthew 21:44 -- ff. 118r-131vSermon on Ecclesiastes 12:1 -- ff. 132r-143vA Funeral Sermon upon the death of Ramsden -- ff. 153r-162rSermon on Luke 4:23 -- ff. 163r-167vSermon on Galatians 2:20 -- ff. 168r-170vThe Christian Crucifix -- ff. 172r-179vJoshua's Protestation -- ff. 180r-185rSermon on John 1:12 -- ff. 186r-192rSermon on 1 Timothy 6:20 -- ff. 193r-196rA Fragment of a Sermon -- ff. 220r-227v
Sermon Reports Contained
Attached URLs:
| URL | Notes |
|---|---|
| donnesermons.web.ox.ac.uk/british-library-ms-harley-6356 | Information about British Library, Harley MS 6356 (Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne web page). |
GEMMS record createdJanuary 08, 2020
GEMMS record last editedFebruary 22, 2020