Letters to and from Ralph Palmer and his Son

Collection Level Description: Letters to and from Ralph Palmer and his Son

Reference: MSS. Eng. lett. c. 438, d. 409
Title: Letters to and from Ralph Palmer and his Son
Dates of Creation: 17th-mid 18th cent.
Extent: 2 shelfmarks
Physical Description: The binding (kept separately as MS. Eng. lett. d. 409) is mid 18th century red morocco, gilt dentelle including birds and insects, with a gilt spine lettered 'Original Letters vol: II'.
Name of Creator: Ralph Palmer, and his son of the same name

Language of Material: English

Administrative/Biographical History

Ralph Palmer (d. 1716) of Chelsea, was a barrister of the Middle Temple. Ralph Palmer (1670-1736) was his son.

Scope and Content

Letters to and from Ralph Palmer and his son of the same name, collected by the latter.

Administrative Information

Custodial History

There is an inscription erased from the fly leaf, probably ' Bibliotheca Palmerina'; there is also the armorial bookplate of the Verney family (the 1st Earl was grandson of Ralph Palmer the elder), probably that of Ralph, 2nd Earl Verney. The volume was owned by Sir Henry Ingilby, Bart., during the 19th century; it was sold at Sotheby's on the 4th Apr. 1977 (lot 259), when some of the contents were dispersed (e.g. many of the letters of Jonathan Richardson calendared in 1877 are no longer in the volume).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Access Conditions

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/admissions/).

Further Information

Finding Aids

A description is available in the Library, where there is also a card index to unpublished catalogues.

Publication Note

The letters were calendared by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, see HMC 6th report 1877-8, appendix, pp. 390-5, and in 1977, when the volume was sold at Sotheby's.

Access Points

Palmer | Ralph | b 1667 | barrister

Palmer | Ralph | 1670-1736

Enquiries Transformation from XML to HTML by Lawrence Mielniczuk
09 June 2011