Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1804–1805 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 volume, measuring about 27 x 24 x 10 cm, containing two title-leaves, an index, and 249 letters and other papers pasted onto guards, interspersed with blank leaves (four after the index and four after the second title page). One of the title-pages is at the beginning, followed by the index; the other is between Nos. 98 and 99. There is a stiff fly-leaf at the front and another at the back. Half-bound in light-brown leather and marbled paper.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dawson Turner was born and spent much of his life at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. He was admitted as an undergraduate at Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1793, but returned to Yarmouth before graduating, in order to take his place in the family banking business.
For some years Turner's chief interest was botany, particularly mosses, and he published several works on the subject and corresponded with many of the notable botanists of his day. In later life he concentrated on antiquarian pursuits, amassing a valuable collection of historical documents and autographs, as well as a substantial library which was eventually dispersed in a series of sales. He was a Fellow of various learned bodies, including the Royal Society, the Linnaean Society, and the Society of Antiquaries.
In 1796 Turner married Mary Palgrave, by whom he had eight surviving children. Mary Turner and her daughters were talented amateur artists; they were tutored in drawing by John Sell Cotman and also mastered the arts of etching and lithography. Between them they produced a significant number of sketches and prints, especially portraits and architectural studies, examples of which were often used by their father to embellish his books.
Repository
Archival history
See the general note under O.13.1. The following letters were removed from the volume before it came to the Library. Their current locations, where known, are shown in brackets (NRO = Norfolk Record Office).
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 9 May 1804.
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 18 Aug. 1804 (NRO, MC 2487/1).
Letter from Mary Turner, 18 Dec. 1804 (TURN II KK4/1).
Letter from Mary Turner, 19 and 24 Dec. 1804 (TURN II KK4/2).
Letter from William Palgrave, 22 Dec. 1804 (TURN II W1/1).
Letter from Francis Turner, 24 Feb. 1805 (TURN II GG1/1).
Letter from Mary Turner, 31 May 1805 (TURN II KK4/3).
Letter from Hudson Gurney, 29 June 1805 (TURN II K1/4).
Letter from Maria Turner, 1805 (TURN II L1/1).
Letter from Mary Turner, 23–24 Sept. 1805 (TURN II KK4/4).
Letter from Mary Turner, 24–25 Sept. 1805 (TURN II KK4/5).
Letter from Mary Turner, 26–27 Sept. 1805 (TURN II KK4/6).
Letter from Mary Turner, 19 Oct. 1805 (TURN II KK4/7).
Letter from Hudson Gurney, 20 Dec. 1805 (TURN II K1/5).
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 28 Dec. 1805.
The letter from Francis Turner was probably removed by mistake instead of the letter from Cotman which follows it (No. 125).
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
On the spine is stamped ‘CORRESPONDENCE | JAN.–DEC. | 1804–1805’. There are two title-leaves, one for each year, but only one index. Turner has marked many of the letters with the date of his reply, and added pencil dates at the head of most of the letters which are either undated or dated at the end. The volume contains one letter from 1802 (No. 113) and one from 1806 (No. 187).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The documents are numbered in the order in which they stand.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
- French
- German
- Latin
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Three loose documents—Nos. 109, 154, and 164—have been removed from the volume for safe-keeping.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Preferred form of reference
Access points
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Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
In descriptions of ‘extent and medium’, a ‘single sheet’ is a single unfolded leaf of paper comprising 2 pages; a ‘folded sheet’ is a sheet of paper folded once, comprising 2 leaves and 4 pages.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
This description was created by A. C. Green in 2021.