NEWDIGATE NEWSLETTERS NUMBERS 1 THROUGH 2100 (3 JANUARY 1673/4 THROUGH 11 JUNE 1692) TRANSCRIBED AND EDITED BY PHILIP HINES, JR. 1994 THE NEWDIGATE NEWSLETTERS INTRODUCTION This is a printed version of the first 2100 manuscript newsletters in the Newdigate series. The whole collection has 3950 such letters, most of them addressed to Sir Richard Newdigate (d. 1710), Arbury, Warwickshire; they date from 13 January 1673/4 to 29 September 1715 and are now at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C. They were issued on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays by the Secretary of State's office and were usually written on three sides of a bifolium--the first recto, then first verso, then second recto. The scribe next turned the sheet sideways and filled the left margins of the three pages in inverse order, ending on the first recto (except in the very few cases when letters continued through the upper third or--rarely--upper half of the second verso). He then folded the letter in thirds and addressed it on the (usually) blank second verso. Letters in the present edition come up through 11 June 1692. These letters are especially valuable as primary-document sources, with much matter of intrinsic interest on the Stuart courts and those of most of Europe; on social, diplomatic, and military history; parliamentary news; commercial and maritime relations, particularly those with the colonies in North America and the Indies, West and East. They report on the whole history of the Popish Plot. They have seventeen items, from 29 December to 15 March, on activities on the River Thames during the Great Frost of 1683-84. They cast light on the early history of the press in England. Indeed, they cover nearly all the period from the Restoration to the Hanoverian succession, when newsletters began in Britain on a regular basis and then became the most important medium for domestic news, their spread much stimulated by the coming of the penny post in 1680. My intention has been to let the worth of these unedited letters speak for itself, to change as little of the original spelling and punctuation as possible so as to preserve content, style, tone, and linguistic integrity. In fact, this edition began as an aid to readers of the handwritten letters. The collection is readable and clear in such a printed form. I have thus made a good road through the often difficult, crowded, and faded "terrain" of the several handwritings, enabling a reader to examine not eight or ten letters per day but perhaps seventy-five or more. If the problem has been that until recently few scholars could find a sufficient number of newsletters to study, this edition makes such a collection both accessible and easy to read. Since sentences in the letters frequently lack terminal punctuation, I have been very careful to observe an interval of two spaces between sentences; I omit the address to Newdigate on the second verso, and from the relatively few letters that have them I omit salutations (usually "Sr" or "Sir," often elaborately written). Others of my editorial rules are: -I indent the first line of paragraphs as the scribes do--three spaces or five (usually five)--and regularize larger indentations at five spaces. -I use the plus sign (+) to show the start of a new paragraph when the scribes do not indent, as they frequently do not at the beginning of letters and at the start of a paragraph at the top of a verso or new folio. -I note, usually at the start of letters, changes in handwriting since most changes occur there. In very few cases changes come within a letter, but almost never more than once. Some evidence emerges that letters were at least slightly edited, for at times a word is added or an error corrected in another contemporary hand. -I omit catchwords and words clearly repeated in error. -When it is necessary to omit a blotted or illegible word or phrase, I note the size of the omission. (An example is in the first paragraph of Letter 1.) -When a whole letter, a paragraph, or a sizable part (usually three or more lines) is identical with or very similar to an earlier part, I so note and omit the repetition. (An example is in Letter 56.) -I omit hyphens often placed on each side of written numbers (e. g., "-2-," "-5-"). -I regularize when in doubt that a letter is upper or lower case. -I put editorial notes in the text and then only when absolutely necessary. In the notes the phrase "outside of letter" is interchangeable with "second verso." -I make three small concessions to modern technology: 1. I regularize superior letters. 2. I omit punctuation marks under such letters. 3. I omit the few circumflexes over vowels (e. g., "th“," "thr“,") and print dates in this form-- "Sept. 12/22" or "Dec. 20/30"--that the scribe __ __ __ __ writes "Sept. 12" or "Dec. 20." Dates on the letters are all old style. The Folger Library's call numbers for the letters start at L. c. 1 and end at L. c. 3950. I use this system to number the letters in this edition. These letters cover more years than does Narcissus Luttrell's "Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs" (6 vols., Oxford, 1857, reprinted Wilmington, Del., 1974), which extends from late September 1678 to 1 April 1714. The works have many items that are similar but never identical; Luttrell's are usually briefer, less specific, and often of later date, at times appearing to be from the same source as Newdigate's but edited. Also, gaps occur in both series, Newdigate's having fifteen of from a month to almost four years: -22 May--23 June 1674 -11 December 1684--18 February 1685/6 except for one letter on 9 January 1685/6 -24 March 1687/8--23 October 1688 -26 September 1689--10 November 1691 except for single letters on 16 and 30 January, 20 March 1689/90, and 7 February 1690/1 -7 January 1691/2--4 June 1692 -23 June--20 August 1692 -23 March 1696/7--18 January 1700/1 -20 March 1700/1--30 May 1704 except for an undated letter and other single letters on 5 July 1701, 14 May, 9 July, 20 August, and 13 and 20 October 1702 -27 June--19 September 1704 -2 February 1705/6--30 March 1706 -8 May--1 July 1707 -6 September 1707--10 February 1707/8 except for single letters on 8 October and 6 December 1707 and two letters on 1 January 1707/8 -30 July--17 September 1709 -22 December 1709--2 April 1712 except for single letters on 16 March 1709/10 and 8 June 1710 and an undated letter -11 August--15 October 1713 (See below, pp. 9-11, for a different presentation of these gaps.) Luttrell's work has only two such gaps, 31 March 1711 to 1 January 1711/2 and 9 February 1711/2 to 25 March 1714. But since he has entries for only seventeen days in January and early February 1711/2 and four days in late March 1714, his coverage in effect ends with 31 March 1711. (Similarly, the two largest gaps in Newdigate, March 1696/7 to January 1700/1 and March 1700/1 to late May 1704, connected by only the twenty- six letters of January, February, and March, 1700/1 and the seven others until almost June 1704, make in effect a "crater" of more than seven years in the coverage of this series.) Of course, both works have dozens of smaller gaps. Further as to two gaps in Newdigate cited above, the second one shows that the collection is silent upon the last two months of Charles II's reign, his final illness and death, and the first year of James II's reign. Even so, more than 340 letters are dated within the rest of James's tenure, and the letters feature no one or nothing more than they do the sovereign. And a note in Newdigate's hand on the second verso of Letter 230 shows that he knew of the first gap: R. H. Newes being a transcript of Sr Joseph Williamson from ye 13 of Jan: 73/4 at wch time I began to have them untill the 1st of Oct 75. but many are wanting viz all May June 74 & Mar. 75 and many others. But this note raises confusion too: the collection has ten letters from May 1674 (including two each on 2 and 9 May) and three from late June. And from March 1674/5--to which the note must refer--the collection has fourteen letters (including two on 18 March) with only one four-day gap; from March 1675/6--which is later than the last date in the note--it has eleven letters (including two on 4 March) and one six-day gap; even in March 1673/4 it has eleven letters (including two on 14 March) and a four-day and an eight-day gap. So which March is meant? Perhaps the letters from "Mar. 75" were acquired later since it is very unlikely that those from Williamson are just part of the collection. Or perhaps the note-writer has made an error. (Williamson was Under-Secretary of State, 1660-74; Secretary of State, 1674-79; and Keeper of State Papers and of the Royal Library, 1661-1701.) Other good points are made in the next five indented paragraphs and list of letters per month, 1674-1715, quoted from the Folger Library's brief "Key" to the series, although some points have to do with letters later than June 1692. The "Key" also uses the note just discussed above: That these were at the beginning the official Newsletter of Sir Joseph Williamson is shown by the pencilled note in Sir Richard Newdigate's hand on the verso of L. c. 230, 28 Sep. 1675. That at least two other newsletters are included is suggested by the following evidence: a. Letters of Henry Muddiman: L. c. 1411, 2 Aug. 1683 gives proof through the note on its verso that Sir Richard also subscribed to the letters of his personal friend, Muddiman. (The Whitehall heading is, in itself, sufficient identification.) These letters ran regularly for a period of several months. Now and then they appear at other times ... as may be seen in ... L. c. 2317, 28 Apr. 1694.... b. In 1708 and 1709 a second series of letters appears once again. Letters received during that period were dated and identified on the verso, one of the following codes being usual: nNl, oNL, WNL, DNL. On L. c. 3271 and 3272, however, is found "6 nov 1708 News old" and "Nov 6: 1708 new N'let." News old is equal to oNL which, in turn, is equal to W[for Williamson]NL. The identification of the DNL is still in doubt, at least from the evidence of the letters alone. Williamson's letters were franked, while those of "D" were paid. That the newsletters were usually sent out with a one page printed advice ("The Gazette"?--see L. c. 2360 which is the only printed matter in the collection) is easily seen by the frequency of faint fresh ink transfers on the first page. Ordinarily ... 12, 13, or 14 [letters were sent] each month. In some periods two were occasionally sent on the same day, and for a time during 1708 and 1709 this became common practice (there being 22 letters each for June and October 1708). In all parts of the 42-year span there were small irregularities in the spacing. ...also, letters appear to have been lost, so that there are many gaps.... It is impossible to determine how many of these losses occurred after Newdigate received the letters and how many, if any, resulted from loss in transit. It is possible also that for some periods, long or short, the letters were not sent. There are indications, however, that losses did occur after receipt. The total of the gaps may be appreciated by calculating that 13 letters per month would have amounted to 6500 letters over the whole period, while what we have are 3950, or approximately 60 percent. In the list below, for each month the date of the first letter is given, followed by the Folger serial number. From these numbers it will be apparent how many letters will be found for any month. ... for ... simplicity the dates are [here] modernized. Undated letters (of which there are perhaps a score) remain in the positions in which they were found in the bound volumes. 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 Jan 13 1 Jan 2 128 Jan 1 270 Jan 3 418 Jan 3 571 Feb 3 11 Feb 2 141 Feb 2 283 Feb 3 430 Feb 2 585 Mar 3 24 Mar 1 151 Mar 4 295 Mar 1 442 Mar 2 596 Apr 2 35 Apr 1 165 Apr 1 306 Apr 1 456 Apr 4 610 May 2 43 May 1 177 May 3 320 May 4 470 May 2 621 Jun 23 53 Jun 1 189 Jun 2 330 Jun 1 481 Jun 1 635 Jul 4 56 Jul 1 200 Jul 4 343 Jul 3 496 Jul 1 648 Aug 1 67 Aug 5 209 Aug 1 356 Aug 4 509 Aug 1 662 Sep 3 78 Sep 4 221 Sep 1 369 Sep 7 522 Sep 2 676 Oct 1 88 Oct 2 232 Oct 3 383 Oct 3 534 Oct 3 689 Nov 1 102 Nov 2 246 Nov 1 392 Nov 1 546 Nov 1 699 Dec 1 114 Dec 2 259 Dec 1 405 Dec 1 559 Dec 2 713 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 Jan 2 727 Jan 1 881 Jan 4 1028 Jan 3 1168 Jan 2 1319 Feb 1 740 Feb 2 895 Feb 1 1036 Feb 2 1179 Feb 1 1332 Mar 1 753 Mar 1 907 Mar 1 1048 Mar 2 1188 Mar 1 1344 Apr 3 767 Apr 1 919 Apr 2 1060 Apr 1 1200 Apr 3 1358 May 1 779 May 1 929 May 3 1071 May 4 1214 May 1 1370 Jun 2 792 Jun 3 942 Jun 4 1083 Jun 1 1224 Jun 2 1384 Jul 3 805 Jul 1 954 Jul 2 1095 Jul 1 1236 Jul 3 1397 Aug 2 818 Aug 3 968 Aug 4 1108 Aug 1 1252 Aug 2 1410 Sep 1 829 Sep 7 979 Sep 1 1119 Sep 2 1269 Sep 1 1427 Oct 2 843 Oct 2 990 Oct 1 1132 Oct 3 1282 Oct 2 1444 Nov 1 856 Nov 1 1002 Nov 5 1144 Nov 2 1295 Nov 1 1458 Dec 1 868 Dec 1 1015 Dec 1 1155 Dec 2 1307 Dec 6 1464 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 Jan 1 1472 Jan 9 1626 Jan 1 1755 Jan 3 1903 Feb 2 1491 Feb 18 1627 Feb 1 1768 Feb 2 1916 Mar 1 1504 Mar 2 1631 Mar 1 1779 Mar 1 1922 Apr 1 1517 Apr 1 1642 Apr 2 1792 May 1 1530 May 1 1654 May 3 1804 Jun 3 1544 Jun 1 1665 Jun 2 1815 Jul 1 1556 Jul 1 1676 Jul 2 1828 Aug 2 1570 Aug 3 1690 Aug 2 1838 Sep 2 1583 Sep 2 1703 Sep 1 1851 Oct 2 1596 Oct 2 1715 Oct 1 1864 Oct 23 1932 Nov 1 1609 Nov 2 1728 Nov 1 1877 Nov 8 1933 Dec 2 1621 Dec 2 1742 Dec 1 1889 Dec 1 1942 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 Jan 1 1955 Jan 16 2068 Jan 2 2095 Jan 3 2123 Feb 2 1967 Feb 7 2071 Feb 2 2134 Mar 2 1983 Mar 20 2070 Mar 2 2146 Apr 2 1997 Apr 1 2159 May 2 2010 May 2 2172 Jun 1 2023 Jun 4 2098 Jun 6 2182 Jul 2 2035 Jul 1 2193 Aug 1 2047 Aug 20 2105 Aug 1 2203 Sep 3 2059 Sep 13 2106 Sep 2 2217 Oct 4 2111 Oct 3 2229 Nov 10 2072 Nov 3 2115 Nov 2 2242 Dec 1 2081 Dec 6 2119 Dec 2 2254 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 Jan 2 2268 Jan 1 2415 Jan 2 2567 Jan 2 2716 Feb 1 2281 Feb 2 2429 Feb 1 2579 Feb 2 2729 Mar 1 2294 Mar 2 2441 Mar 3 2591 Mar 2 2745 Apr 3 2308 Apr 2 2454 Apr 2 2604 May 3 2318 May 2 2467 May 2 2617 Jun 2 2330 Jun 1 2480 Jun 2 2631 Jul 3 2342 Jul 2 2491 Jul 2 2644 Aug 4 2355 Aug 1 2502 Aug 1 2652 Sep 1 2366 Sep 3 2516 Sep 1 2663 Oct 2 2378 Oct 1 2528 Oct 1 2676 Nov 1 2392 Nov 2 2542 Nov 3 2690 Dec 1 2404 Dec 3 2554 Dec 1 2702 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703 Jan 18 2755 Feb 1 2761 Mar 1 2772 May 14 2782 Jul 5 2781 Jul 9 2783 Aug 20 2784 Oct 13 2785 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 Jan 2 2837 Jan 1 2963 Jan 2 3092 Jan 1 3157 Feb 1 2850 Feb 2 2977 Feb 1 3104 Feb 10 3159 Mar 1 2862 Mar 30 2978 Mar 1 3117 Mar 2 3166 Apr 3 2874 Apr 4 2979 Apr 5 3131 Apr 1 3171 May 30 2787 May 1 2881 May 4 2986 May 3 3133 May 1 3173 Jun 3 2788 Jun 2 2890 Jun 1 3000 Jun 1 3185 Jul 5 2903 Jul 2 3014 Jul 1 3136 Jul 13 3208 Aug 2 2912 Aug 1 3027 Aug 5 3143 Aug 5 3216 Sep 19 2794 Sep 1 2923 Sep 3 3041 Sep 6 3154 Sep 4 3232 Oct 3 2800 Oct 2 2935 Oct 1 3053 Oct 18 3155 Oct 2 3247 Nov 2 2812 Nov 1 2947 Nov 2 3066 Nov 2 3269 Dec 2 2824 Dec 6 2957 Dec 3 3079 Dec 6 3156 Dec 2 3286 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 Jan 1 3297 Jan 1 3557 Feb 1 3319 Feb 3 3571 Mar 1 3335 Mar 16 3454 Mar 3 3583 Apr 2 3357 Apr 2 3457 Apr 7 3598 May 3 3376 May 1 3460 May 2 3609 Jun 2 3399 Jun 8 3455 Jun 3 3471 Jun 2 3622 Jul 5 3415 Jul 1 3481 Jul 2 3635 Aug 5 3493 Aug 4 3648 Sep 17 3435 Sep 2 3505 Oct 11 3436 Oct 2 3518 Oct 15 3651 Nov 5 3438 Nov 1 3531 Nov 3 3659 Dec 1 3452 Dec 2 3544 Dec 1 3671 1714 1715 Jan 2 3685 Jan 1 3840 10 Oct 1745 is to be found as Feb 2 3698 Feb 1 3852 L. c. 749 -- it is not a newsletter. Mar 2 3710 Mar 1 3863 Apr 1 3723 Apr 2 3875 May 1 3736 May 3 3888 Jun 1 3748 Jun 2 3901 Jul 1 3762 Jul 2 3914 Aug 3 3776 Aug 2 3927 Sep 2 3789 Sep 1 3940 Oct 2 3803 Nov 2 3814 Dec 2 3827 I find few works that comment very much on newsletters: a biography of Sir Richard with much matter from these newsletters and his other papers; a biography of Henry Muddiman, perhaps the best writer of newsletters from 1667 to 1689, when he ceased writing; a work on the gathering of official intelligence by the two Secretaries of State and their network of correspondents (especially Williamson's); an article on John Dyer (d. 1713), "the best-known and most influential newswriter" from the Revolution of 1688 to the Hanoverian Succession; and three notes that record items on the theater, actors, playwrights, and entertainments from the collection. The first four of these works have good information on the period, and the careers of Henry Muddiman and John Dyer cover all but two years of the Newdigate series. But newsletters of the time as a genre need more studies with penetration and studies on the many other aspects of the subject; newsletters are part of the history of journalism. 1. Lady Newdigate-Newdegate's "Cavalier and Puritan in the Days of the Stuarts" (London, 1901), the life of Sir Richard, also has information from his diary and his account books. For her the collection dates from only 1675 to 1712. After citing five "momentous events" from 1685, a year of "overwhelming interest to Protestant England," she gives a political explanation for the "ominous" second gap in the series: "Charles II's sudden illness on ... February 2, ending in his death four days later; James's accession to the throne; the subsequent risings in Scotland and England, headed respectively by the Earl of Argyle and the Duke of Monmouth; their speedy suppression; the capture of the two leaders, followed by their death upon the scaffold.... It was probably due to necessary precaution" that no newsletters were kept at this time. "... with his pronounced opinions and well-known championship of ... Monmouth, [Sir Richard] could hardly have escaped being a marked man.... Suspicion was rife on all sides, and ... warned by previous experience," he may have feared a raid on his papers. "Otherwise we cannot suppose that he voluntarily dispensed with ... intelligence which was afterwards resumed and continued for many years...." She also regrets the third gap (of seven months in 1688): "In this last year of James II's reign we are left in ignorance of the newsmen's version of the crisis ... impending. They give us no subtle indications of the slumberous discontent which was shortly to be roused" and which ended the Stuart kings' rule. "Nor have we any record of the ... advent of a Prince of Wales [and] ... disbelief in the genuineness of the royal babe." Not until October when Prince William arrived "with a small following, to be rapidly increased in his progress ... [do] the news-letters recommence...." (x, 263-64, 264-65) 2. J. G. Muddiman's "The King's Journalist, 1659-1689: Studies in the Reign of Charles II" (London, 1923; reprinted New York, 1971) is on Henry Muddiman and his newsletters, which were "in a class apart" since he wrote "with privilege" as the King's journalist, and which are easily identified by the heading "Whitehall" that was reserved for him. The author discusses Muddiman's relations with Sir Joseph Williamson at length. Muddiman kept his monopoly of issuing the written news until the end of 1687. He kept drafts of all his newsletters with dates in a "continuous journal from 1667 to 1689 ...." The author says of the journal that it "is the only complete record extant of the reigns of the last two Stuart kings" and of Muddiman's newsletters that they "are one of the most valuable records" of James II's reign. Since practically no state papers exist for that reign, the newsletters for those three years "ought to be printed almost in their entirety." Up to the Revolution of 1688 the "London Gazette" has little domestic news; "... Muddiman's news-letters took its place." Newsletters competed so well and so long with printed news, particularly the "London Gazette," because the prints could not carry without permission the votes and proceedings of the House of Commons; newsletters had no such stricture. To show Muddiman's influence at Court, the author cites Sir Richard's asking Muddiman in 1677 for aid in declining a baronetcy that the King was to confer on him. (vi, 125, 187n, 195, 204, 207, 245) 3. To Peter Fraser in "The Intelligence of the Secretaries of State, 1660-1688" (Cambridge, 1956) the great value of newsletters of the time is that "they record the immediate reaction of the Secretaries or their subordinates to the events of the day." Until 1688 the two Secretaries had a monopoly of licensed news, and up to 1676 only official newsletters circulated, "each Secretary sending about a hundred of these per week to a select list of domestic and foreign correspondents...." In this medium Henry Muddiman was famous as the most reliable source of news, many people taking him in error as an independent journalist. "... Williamson repaid his correspondents in kind" by having a newsletter compiled that took the best from the weekly letters of some fifty correspondents "from all over the kingdom, added news of his own such as official appointments and parliamentary proceedings, employed ... four or five clerks to multiply the copy ... and sent out these newsletters every week as a 'quid pro quo' to all his correspondents and to ... 'country friends,' who [paid] œ5 p. a. for the privilege." Money thus raised covered the wages and upkeep of the office. So no profit was made; the "chief purpose was to get intelligence, not to sell it." The best news usually went to the newsletters to raise their value in exchange for other (especially foreign) newsletters. Abraham Casteleyn, who founded the "Haarlem Gazette," put his best domestic news in his newsletters and sent copies only to foreign newswriters who he thought could "send him a newsletter of equal quality." In fall 1674 Henry Ball, who managed Williamson's "paper office," reported that he had four clerks who on post days copied the letters. Each man copied some with a week's news and other short letters "with two days' news for ... correspondents who [received] three newsletters weekly. Late at night the letters were sent, with a list of [addressees] to ... the Post Office." Fraser roughly analyzes the domestic correspondents of 1667-69: 1. Lieutenants and titled persons in the counties who wrote only on extraordinary occasions and paid œ5 p. a. for the newsletters....37 2. Customs officers, naval storekeepers, and others in the ports....35 3. Postmasters and others inland....................................23 4. Governors of garrisons, commanders of fleets, etc................ 9 5. Williamson's personal friends.................................... 9 6. Privy Councillors and office-holders in London................... 6 7. Unidentified persons............................................. 3 After 1676 unlicensed newsletters grew in volume, sold by professional newswriters, which the Secretaries tried to stop together with unlicensed printed journals that spread with the Popish Plot. Whig newsletters (that sprang up at about that time) "were in general restricted to much the same classes who paid for the Secretaries' newsletters, the nobility and gentry in the counties, and the merchants, lawyers, and professional men in the City. The exception was that copies of Whig newsletters were also by then bought by London coffeehouses and "reached a wide general public." (1-2, 8, 28, 30, 32-33, 34, 40, 44, 127) 4. Henry L. Snyder, "Newsletters in England, 1689-1715, with Special Reference to John Dyer--A Byway in the History of England," in "Newsletters to Newspapers: Eighteenth-Century Journalism," ed. Donovan H. Bond and William R. McLeod (Morgantown, W. Va., 1977), 3-19. Dyer, a Tory who lived about sixty years, "seems to have begun ... his newsletter soon after the Revolution" and was well known by 1693. The Newdigate series has more than 150 of his newsletters. (4, 5, 7) 5. John Harold Wilson's two articles in "Theatre Notebook," "Theatre Notes from the Newdigate Newsletters," 15, 3 (1961), 79-84, and "More Theatre Notes from the Newdigate Newsletters," 16, 2 (1961-62), 59, have a total of 59 references to the theater, actors, playwrights, and entertainments of the time. 6. My "Theatre Items from the Newdigate Newsletters," "Theatre Notebook," 39, 2 (1985), 76-83, has 76 such entries, including 23 from Luttrell. If the heading "Whitehall" safely identifies Henry Muddiman's newsletters (see above, p. 13), then in this edition five early letters-- 239 and 240, 19 and 21 October 1675; 331, 3 June 1676; 416, 30 December 1676; and 464, 17 April 1677--are his. Other letters through 464 have only a date at the top. From that point through 751, 24 February 1678/9, more than two-thirds (about 195) of the letters are headed "Whitehall." Then "Whitehall" disappears, with no change in handwriting at first, and is not used for four and a half years. Nearly all letters from 800 to 960 are headed "London"; handwritings then change, but "London" heads nearly all letters through 2100. However, from 1411, 2 August 1683, a Thursday, until the next 7 February Sir Richard received on Thursdays letters headed "Whitehall" with the "W" written elaborately. In fact, from 25 October to 20 December 1683 the series has only letters so headed, including one--1460, 10 November, a Saturday. These 29 letters, in my opinion, are the most likely of all to be Muddiman's. (There are perhaps 20 to 24 different handwritings through 2100. One-- "Ra: Hope"--prevails through 250; another clearer, easier-to-read hand prevails from 548, 8 November 1677, to 962, 17 July 1680, and from 1467, 22 December 1683, to 2070, 20 March 1689/90, almost half the letters in this edition.) Advice and help have come to me from many friends, colleagues, and former students, all of which I gratefully acknowledge. I wish especially to thank Laetitia Yeandle, Manuscript Curator at the Folger Library; Garland F. White III, former Director of the Computer-Based Laboratory for Instruction and Analysis at Old Dominion University; and Henry L. Snyder of the University of California, Riverside, Director of "The Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue--North America," for much very fundamental aid. I thank the Research Foundation and the Research and Publication Committees of the College of Arts and Letters and of the Department of English (all of Old Dominion University) for grants-in-aid in support of this project. And for their faithful and effective help in transcribing the letters I thank Eric Bing, Wayne E. Bowman, Kevin Farley, Frances Johnson, Daniel Martin, Gwen McAlpine, Alison Rand, Nancy Rector, and Mark Thorsen. Philip Hines, Jr. Norfolk, VA USA June, 1994