Newly Acquired Manuscripts Catalogued 2013

20 Dec 2013

‘Where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs?’ 

‘In the salt chuckle of rocks with their sea pools, there was the sound

Like a rumour without any echo

 Of History, really beginning.’

                                        From The Sea is History by Derek Walcott

 "Glory is acquired by virtue but preserved by letters." Petrarch

The archive team have had a very busy year working on several important and varied projects this year and have still found time to generate 76 new catalogue records in the archive catalogue. Take a look at the range of material the Archive Team have catalogued in 2013 as a complete list in our archive catalogue: http://collections.rmg.co.uk/archive.html#!asearch;start=0;userTag=Manuscripts_catalogued_2013 Small Collections  CRJ/37-41  

Additional watercolours and sketches in the Cree collection. These manuscripts, acquired as a gift, supplement the existing Cree collection on loan to the museum. Doctor Edward Hodges Cree (1814-1901) was a surgeon in the Navy and produced twenty-one illustrated journals containing watercolours between 1837 and 1861.  Brereton Collection (BRE) The papers of William Brereton, Captain, fl 1755-1769 include four documents regarding the Manila campaign of 1762.  Walker Collection (WLK) Letterbook and papers of the eighteenth century privateer Commander George Walker who commanded a squadron of privateers – the King George, the Prince Frederick, Duke and Princess Amelia, collectively known as the Royal Family – which was commissioned to attack French and Spanish cargo ships in the Atlantic. The Royal Family undertook two eight month cruises, from April 1746 to March 1747 and July 1747 to April 1748, capturing £400,000 worth of prizes, including the seventy gun Spanish Glorioso.  SMT/21-24 This collection includes a journal kept by John Spencer Smith, titled 'Miscellany' between 1779 and 1790. He was the younger brother of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith (1764-1840). The journal offers an interesting insight into the period with a range of subjects covered.  FIE/100-102 Papers of Vice-Admiral John George Mostyn Field (1849-1912). Extent: Journal written by Field whilst serving as a sub lieutenant between 1869 and 1871; an account of visits to St Petersburg and Heligoland in 1881; and a report on a typhoon in the South China Sea in 1900.  Letters  A number of number of seventeenth century treasures have also been worked on, including a letter by Cloudesley Shovell (AGC/S/25).  An autograph letter from James Cook aboard HMS Endeavour, to the Commissioners of the Navy in 1771 (AGC/C/19).  Correspondence of sailors aboard HMS Victory and HMS Temeraire around the time of the Battle of Trafalgar (AGC/H/29 and AGC/K/3).  A letter from the Spanish astronomer and mathematician Josef de Mendoza y Rios (AGC/M/19).

Historical Records  HSR/Z/33 Four letters relating to the Nore Mutiny of 1797, including a letter from Richard Parker, leader of the mutineers.

REC/69/1-7 Astronomical works by H. P. Wilkins, FRAS, Astronomer including observations of the moon made between 1908 and 1957; and selenographical observations made between 1954 and 1955.  REC/70 Notes and Calculations regarding a method of determining the declination of a star or planet, circa 1670.  NOT/42 A thirteen page account of the Battle of Jutland (31 May - 1 June 1916) by an unknown author, with ten small manuscript diagrams of various points in the battle.  HSR/Z/34 An account of a hurricane experienced by Captain Charles Dudley Parker of HMS Thisbe, in 1798.  HSR/Z/35 Two documents relating to the visit of the astronomer Edmond Halley to Saint Helena in 1677.

 Journals and Logs  JOD/254 A diary written by Commander Gabriel Johnston whilst acting as agent for transports during the Crimean War.  LOG/N/40 A pilot's flying log book kept during the First World War by Flight Sub-Lieutenant Douglas Capper of the Royal Naval Air Service.  LOG/N/D/15/1-2 Log kept by Frederick John Pike in 1894 of the battle of Yalu between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Chinese Beiyang Fleet at Korea Bay. The battle was the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.  JOD/253 Diary kept between 1914 and 1916 by Jack Findlay, Royal Naval Reserve, Assistant Paymaster. Findlay served during the Dardanelles campaign and Gallipoli in 1915.  Library books and journals cataloguing  The Caird Library staff regularly catalogue books and journals that have recently been added to the collection. A full list of new books can be seen at rmg.co.uk/librarycatalogue; click on the New Books link. Mike