Introduction

James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1820–1889), the antiquarian and Shakespearean scholar, donated subject-spanning manuscripts and books to various institutions, including the Smithsonian Institute (Washington), Chatham’s Library (Manchester), the Penzance Library (now the Morrab Library), and the Plymouth Library (now the Plymouth Proprietary Library). Plymouth historian Llewellynn Jewitt (1816–1886), who served as the organisation’s chief librarian from 1849 to 1853, secured the book collector’s donation to the library. 

In keeping with other catalogues penned by the antiquarian, A brief description of the ancient & modern manuscripts preserved in the Public Library, Plymouth lacks a ‘scholarly apparatus and…any systematic arrangement’ (Spevack 2001: 194). Cataloguing efforts by the likes of PPL librarian Edward Wilcocks and bibliographer Dr Cyril Ernest Wright (dat. August 1955), as well as valuations by various auctioneers, have fractionally supplemented Halliwell-Phillipps’ cursory descriptions of ‘manuscripts on vellum and paper’. In 2015, historian John Day catalogued item XLIII, ‘a collection of [naval] papers of the Windham family, of the 18th century…’ (Halliwell-Phillipps 1853: pp. [i]–9). It should also be noted that the original donation has been attenuated: various items perished under enemy action in 1941, followed by, in 1977 and 1978, assorted manuscripts being auctioned off at Sotheby’s (both catalogues are to be found in the PPL-related paperwork). 

Besides this collection, the PPL houses other coveted and disparately sourced literary classics and local history oddities: a first edition (third issue) of John Milton’s Paradise Lost (dat. 1669); English Civil War news pamphlets (1644); as well as select later copies of Plymouth's first newspaper, The Plymouth Weekly Journal (orig. run. 1718–1725). In 1951, Plymouth historian Charles William Bracken (1868–1950) enriched this collection with his bequest to the library. This gathering of texts is chiefly preoccupied with the Eikon Basilike, a spurious spiritual autobiography of King Charles I, and its associated literature and historical era. The current catalogue seeks to provide these books and manuscripts, as well as those constituting the Halliwell-Phillipps collection, with the scholarly appraisal they merit. 

Note: for transcripts of printed matter, a quasi-facsimile approach has been adopted with the original spelling, punctuation, and grammar retained; manuscript titles and excerpts have been transcribed in a diplomatic fashion with the retention of superscript letters, abbreviations, and formatting. 

Acknowledgements 

Particular recognition should be accorded to Dr Emma Barrett-Brown for her comprehensive inventory of the library’s other historic assets. Other recipients of my sincerest appreciation and gratitude include:

Prof. John Baker; the editorial team of The Book Collector; Prof. Brian Clack; Emily Crouch of the National Trust; Lewis Eynon; Prof. William Gibson; Dr David Gwyn O.B.E.; Dr Arnold Hunt; Prof. Anthony Milton; Grace Myerscough; Prof. Jennifer Rampling; and the staff and patrons of the PPL, especially Dr Darren Bevin and Sue Bartlett. 

General Bibliography 

Aris, R. (1990). Explicatio Formarum Litterarum: The Unfolding Of Letterforms. Saint Paul: Calligraphy Connection. 

Attar, K.E. (ed.) (2016). A Directory Of Rare Book And Special Collections In The UK And Republic Of Ireland. Third edition. London: Facet Publishing (in association with the American Library Association). 

Beal, P. (ed.) (1980). Index of English Literary Manuscripts. Vol. 1: 1450-1625. London: Mansell. 

Beal, P. (ed.) (1987). Index of English Literary Manuscripts. Vol. 2: 1625-1700. London: Mansell. 

Beal, P. (1989). ‘John Donne And The Circulation Of Manuscripts’. In: English Manuscript Studies 1100-1700, 1: 148–169. 

Beal, P. (1998). In Praise Of Scribes: Manuscripts And Their Makers In Seventeenth-Century England. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 

Beal, P. (2010). A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Bischoff, B. (1990). Latin Palaeography: Antiquity And The Middle Ages. Cróinín, D. Ó. & Ganz, D. (Trans.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Blair, A. (2015). 'Reflections On Technological Continuities: Manuscripts Copied From Printed Books'. In: Bulletin Of The John Rylands Library, 91, 1: 7–33. 

Bowers, F. (2024). Principles Of Bibliographical Description. Reprint. Winchester: St Paul's Bibliographies. 

Briquet, C.M. (1968). Les Filigranes: Dictionnaire Historique Des Marques Du Papier. Reprint. Amsterdam: The Paper Publications Society. 

Briquet, C.M. (2021). Liste Des Motifs Principaux. Available at: https://briquet-online.at/ (Accessed: 6 July 2026) 

Brown, Michelle P. (1998). The British Library Guide to Writing and Scripts: History and Techniques. London: British Library. 

Brown, T. J. (1993). A Palaeographer's View: The Selected Writings Of Julian Brown. Bately, J. & Brown, M. P. & Roberts, J. (eds.) London: Harvey Miller. 

Cappelli, A. (1985). Dizionario Di Abbreviature Latine Ed Italiane. Sixth edition. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli. 

Carter, J. & Barker, N. (2016). ABC For Book Collectors. Ninth edition. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press. 

CELM. (2013). Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450–1700. Available at: https://celm.folger.edu/ (Accessed: 19 May 2026). 

CELM. (2013a). CELM: Plymouth Proprietary Library, Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450-1700. Available at: https://celm.folger.edu/repositories/plymouth-proprietary-library.html

(Accessed: 19 May 2026). 

Clemens, R. & Graham, T. (2007). Introduction To Manuscript Studies. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 

Coulson, F.T. & Babcock, R.G. (eds.) (2020). The Oxford Handbook of Latin Palaeography. New York: Oxford University Press. 

Dawson, G.E. & Kennedy-Skipton, L. (1981). Elizabethan Handwriting 1500-1650: A Guide To The Reading Of Documents And Manuscripts. Chichester: Phillimore. 

Day, J. (2015). The Windham Papers. Plymouth: PDS Print. 

Derolez, A. (2003). The Palaeography Of Gothic Manuscript Books: From The Twelfth To The Early Sixteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

English Short Title Catalogue. (1976) English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC). Available at: https://datb.cerl.org/estc (Accessed: 7 April 2026). 

Freeman, A. (2024). Bibliotheca Fictiva: A Collection Of Books & Manuscripts Relating To Literary Forgery 400 BC – AD 2000. Second edition. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. 

Gaskell, P. (1995). A New Introduction to Bibliography. Reprint with corrections. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press. 

Gioia, D. (1996) ‘The Hand of the Poet: The Magical Value of Manuscripts’. In: The Hudson Review, 49, 1: 9–29. 

Greenfield, J. (1998). ABC Of Bookbinding: A Unique Glossary With Over 700 Illustrations For Collectors And Librarians. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press. 

Grieve, H.E.P. (1949). Some Examples of English Handwriting from Essex Official, Ecclesiastical, Estate and Family Archives of the 12th to the 17th Century. Chelmsford: Essex County Council. 

Halliwell-Phillipps, J.O. (1853). A Brief Description Of The Ancient & Modern Manuscripts Preserved In The Public Library, Plymouth: To Which Are Added, Some Fragments Of Early Literature Hitherto Unpublished. London: Printed (by C. and J. Adlard) for private circulation only. 

Harralson, H.H. & Miller, L.S. (2021). Huber and Headrick’s Handwriting Identification: Facts and Fundamentals. Second edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 

Hiatt, A. (2004). The Making of Medieval Forgeries: False Documents in Fifteenth-Century England. London: The British Library. 

Ivy, G.S. (1958). ‘The Bibliography Of The Manuscript Book’. In: Wormald, F. & Wright, C.E. (eds.). The English Library Before 1700: Studies In Its History. London: The Athlone Press, pp. 32–65. 

Jackson, W.A. (1997). The Carl H. Pforzheimer Library: English Literature, 1475-1700. Vol. 2. Reprint. New Castle: Oak Knoll Press. 

James, K. (2020). English Paleography and Manuscript Culture, 1500-1800. United Kingdom: Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 

Love, H. (1993). Scribal Publication In Seventeenth-Century England. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 

Lovett, P. (2000). The British Library Companion To Calligraphy, Illumination And Heraldry: A History And Practical Guide. London: The British Library. 

Marotti, A.F. (1995). Manuscript, Print, and the English Renaissance Lyric. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 

May, S.W. & Wolfe, H. (2010). 'Manuscripts in Tudor England'. In: Cartwright, K. (ed.) A Companion to Tudor Literature. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 123–139. 

McMahon, M. (2023). ‘Ancient Letters and Old Paper: How Matthew Parker (1504–1575) Understood Medieval Books’. In: Book History, 26, 2, pp. 385–418. 

Noordzij, G. (1982). The Stroke Of The Pen: Fundamental Aspects Of Western Writing. The Hague: Royal Academy Of Fine Arts. 

North, M.L. (2015). ‘Household Scribes and the Production of Literary Manuscripts in Early Modern England’. In: Journal of Early Modern Studies, 4: 133-157. 

Osley, A. S. (ed.) (1980). Scribes And Sources: Handbook Of The Chancery Hand In The Sixteenth Century. Boston: D. R. Godine. 

Pearson, D. (2019). Provenance Research In Book History: A Handbook. Second edition. Oxford: Bodleian Library. 

Pollard A.W. & Redgrave, G. R. (1976-1991). A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475–1640. London: Bibliographical Society. 

Powell, J.M. (ed.) (1992). Medieval Studies: An Introduction. Second edition. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. 

Preston, J.F. & Yeandle, L. (1999). English Handwriting, 1400-1650: An Introductory Manual. Asheville: Pegasus Press. 

Rare Books and Manuscripts Section. (2011). Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books). Third printing. Washington, DC: Library of Congress. 

Reynolds, L.D. & Wilson, N.G. (2013). Scribes And Scholars: A Guide To The Transmission Of Greek And Latin Literature. Fourth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Shailor, B.A. (1988). The Medieval Book: Illustrated from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. New Haven: Yale University Press. 

Sherman, W.H. (2007). Used Books: Marking Readers In Renaissance England. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 

Spevack, M. (2001). James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps: The Life and Works of the Shakespearean Scholar and Bookman. United Kingdom: Oak Knoll Press. 

Stevenson, A.H. (1948). New Uses of Watermarks as Bibliographical Evidence. In: Papers of the Bibliographical Society, 1: 149–182. 

Stevenson, A. H. (1951). Watermarks Are Twins. In: Studies in Bibliography, 4: 57–235. 

Stevenson, A. (1954). Chain-Indentations in Paper as Evidence. In: Studies in Bibliography, 6: 181–195. 

Stewart, A. & Wolfe, H. (2004). Letterwriting in Renaissance England. Washington: Folger Shakespeare Library. 

Todd, W.B. (1949). Procedures For Determining The Identity And Order Of Certain Eighteenth-Century Editions. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Chicago. 

Todd, W.B. (1951). ‘Bibliography and the Editorial Problem in the Eighteenth Century’. In: Studies in Bibliography, 4: 41–55. 

Werner, S. (2019). Studying Early Printed Books, 1450-1800: A Practical Guide. Hoboken: Wiley. 

White, E. (2020). ‘Binding Waste as Book History: Patterns of Survival Among the Early Mainz Donatus Editions’. In: Dondi, C. (ed.) Printing R-Evolution and Society 1450-1500. Fifty Years that Changed Europe. Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, pp. 253–277. 

Wing, D.G. (1945–1951). Short-Title Catalogue Of Books Printed In England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, And British America, And Of English Books Printed In Other Countries, 1641-1700. Vols. 1–3. New York: Index Society. 

Wing, D.G. (1996). Wing's Short-Title Catalogue 1641-1700. [CD-ROM]. Woodbridge: Chadwyck-Healey. 

Woudhuysen, H.R. (1996). Sir Philip Sidney and the Circulation of Manuscripts, 1558-1640. Oxford: Clarendon Press.  

Library Classmark: PPL Collection No. 20. 

Format: Printed matter. 

ESTC (2025) and Wing (1996) references: ESTC No. R13406; Wing No. M2142. 

Title:

[double-ruled border] | Paradise lost. | A | POEM | IN | TEN BOOKS. | [rule 9.5cm] | The Author | JOHN MILTON. | [rule 9.5cm] | LONDON, | Printed by S. Simmons, and are to be sold by | T. Helder at the Angel in Little Brittain. | 1 6 6 9. 

Author: John Milton, 1608–1674. 

Place, imprint, date, language: England, London; ‘...Printed by S. Simmons, and are to be sold by | T. Helder at the Angel in Little Brittain…’; 1669 (listed date, see ‘comments’ section below); English. 

Former Owners: George Langworthy (n.d.), with multiple ownership inscriptions by him, including to the front and back endpapers, as well as made to and with sig. L[1]r of text. 

Comments: The first edition of John Milton’s epic poem was published by Samuel Simmons (fl. 1665–78), who issued the minimum contracted print run of 1,300 copies (capped at 1,500), with seven variant title pages from 1667 to 1669. The poem’s order of publication still continues to generate bibliographical discussion and debate. In 1983, bibliographer Hugh Amory opined that copies bearing the 1668 title page, and not 1667, constitute the earliest issue. This thesis and its critics notwithstanding, the PPL’s copy of Paradise Lost forms part of Simmons’ original print run. Simmons subsequently published the poem’s second edition (1674), in which Milton reorganised the text from ten books into twelve and added a few transitional lines between sections. 

PPL No. 20 is also accompanied by an autograph letter penned by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), to [Commander?] James White (n.d.), dat. Plymouth, January 18 1830. The book’s repaired front free endpaper bears handwritten notations, including a price, while the rear flyleaf (also repaired) carries the inscription: ‘Know all men | by those presents | that no who so names’. Contains fourteen pages of titled preliminary material, including ‘The Printer to the Reader’ (with the four-line setting of the note), ‘The Argument’, ‘The Verse’, and an ‘Errata’ list (Milton, 1669: sig. A2r-A4v, a[1]r-a4v). Significantly, the last of these enjoins the reader to substitute ‘in’ for ‘with’ in this specific line of verse: ‘Throws his steep flight in many an Aerie wheele’ (Milton, 1669: line 750, sig. L2v). This notable variant has enabled bibliographers to chart the printing history and different states of the first edition. 

Editions: The title exists in multiple states. This specific copy is a first edition, third issue with the ‘seventh’ title page (Amory 1983: 65). R.G. Moyles identifies this variant as the fourth state of the title page (1985: 171), and it is additionally listed as entry No. 302 in J.T. Shawcross’s bibliography of Milton’s works (1984: 79-80). Dated 1669 with ‘Angel’, as listed in the imprint, in roman type. 

Extent/collational formula: Leaf: 13.5cm (l) x 18.5cm (w); Board: 19cm x 14.5cm. 4°: π², A 4 (-A1 + one cancel stub following A4), a 4 , A-Vv 4 (± Vv2.3, Vv2.3 blk.) Unpaginated. 

Material: Antique laid paper. The leaves for sigs. I-O show extensive signs of corner damage and repair with consequent loss of the text. Additionally, historic signs of woodworm are visible across multiple other leaf corners. 

Watermarks: Prefatory material: Quatrefoil; crescent motif. Main text: Unidentified cylindrical object capped by a curve/loop. 

Type and layout for central text: Pica type with each full page bearing 32 lines of verse, framed by narrow headers and vertically printed rules bearing book and line number references, respectively. Approximate text block dimensions inclusive of headers and borders: 16cm (l) x 10cm (w). 

Binding: Calf binding. Rebacked, with new lining strips applied to the inner joints of the front and back boards. Ink markings on the rear board. 

Provenance: This volume was presented to the library by Miss Arscott (n.d.) and bears her presentation label (dat. 4 December 1868) on the verso of the front board. 

References 

Amory, H. (1983). ‘Things Unattempted Yet’. In: The Book Collector, 32, 1: 41–66. 

Barnard, J. (2001). ‘London Publishing 1640–1660: Crisis, Continuity And Innovation’. In: Book History, 4: 1–16. 

Corns, T.N. (2012). The Milton Encyclopedia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 

Dobranski, S. B. (2012). ‘Samuel Simmons’. In: Corns, T. N. (ed.) The Milton Encyclopedia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p. 337. 

Fulton, T. (2010). Historical Milton: Manuscript, Print, and Political Culture in Revolutionary England. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. 

Grossman, M. (2012). ‘Eikonklastes’. In: Corns, T. N. (ed.) The Milton Encyclopedia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p. 105. 

Hunter, W.B. (2003). ‘Paradise Lost. In: Corns, T. N. (ed.) A Companion to Milton. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 273–285. 

Leonard, J. (2000). ‘Introduction’. In: Milton, J. Paradise Lost. New York: Penguin, pp. vii–lviii. 

Lacey, A. (2007). Texts To Be Read: Charles I and the Eikon Basilike. In: Prose Studies, 29, 1: 4–18. 

Lindenbaum, P. (1991). ‘John Milton and the Republican Mode of Literary Production’. In: Yearbook of English Studies, 21: 121-36. 

Lindenbaum, P. (1994). ‘Milton's Contract’. In: Jaszi, P. & Woodmansee, M. (eds.) The Construction of Authorship: Textual Appropriation in Law and Literature. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 175-90. 

Lindenbaum, P. (1995). ‘The Poet in the Marketplace: Milton and Samuel Simmons’. In: Of Poetry and Politics: New Essays on Milton and His World. Stanwood, P.G. (ed.) Binghamton, NY: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, pp. 249-62. 

Miller, T.C. (ed.) (1997). The Critical Response to John Milton's ‘Paradise Lost’. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. 

Milton, J. (1669). Paradise lost: a poem in ten books. London: S. Simmons. Held at: Plymouth Proprietary Library (PPL No. 20). 

Milton, J. (1669a). Paradise lost. A poem in ten books. The author John Milton. London: printed by S. Simmons. [Online]. Available at: Early English Books Online (ESTC Record No. R13406): https://datb.cerl.org/estc/R13406 (Accessed: 23 May 2026). 

Milton, J. (1998). Paradise Lost. Second edition. Fowler, A. (ed.) London and New York: Longman. 

Milton, J. (2007). Paradise Lost: A Poem Written In Ten Books: An Authoritative Text Of The 1667 First Edition. Lieb, M. & Shawcross, J. T. (eds.) Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press. 

Moyles, R.G. (1985). The Text of Paradise Lost: A Study in Editorial Procedure. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 

Shawcross, J.T. (1984). Milton: A Bibliography For The Years 1624–1700. Binghamton, NY: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies. 

Shawcross, J.T. (2006). ‘Milton in Print: A Review of Some Recent Editions’. In: Milton Quarterly, 40: 220-34. 

von Maltzahn, N. (1996). ‘The First Reception of Paradise Lost’. In: Review of English Studies: A Quarterly Journal of English Literature and the English Language, 47: 479-99. 

Wing, D.G. (1996). Wing's Short-Title Catalogue 1641-1700. [CD-ROM]. Woodbridge: Chadwyck-Healey.