sub-fonds 659 - Papers of Dawson Turner

These papers were presented to the Library by Arthur Freeman, a dealer in rare books and manuscripts, on 21 October 2001. In an accompanying letter the writer—presumably Freeman himself, though the signature is illegible—records that he had bought them some time previously from H. P. Kraus, mainly on account of two letters from William Stevenson Fitch, which, he says, were ‘put to good use’, i.e., presumably, sold. It is unclear whether any other items were sold from the collection before it was presented to Trinity. Freeman noted that the papers probably derived from ‘the Phillips Nachlass’ at Kraus, in other words the residue of Sir Thomas Phillipps’s collection bought by H. P. Kraus in 1977.

Most of the papers were probably once in one or more of Turner’s albums and letter-books, and least some of them were probably in his collection of ‘Autographs’. Many of the letters were directed to either Dawson Turner or his firm, and many of the others bear notes in his hand. Nearly all the items are either mounted on leaves (i.e. inserted into spaces cut out for them) or attached to the remains of paper guards. 8, 11, 13-15, and 22 appear to have come from the same volume. 22 probably immediately preceded 14, and 10 may have been attached to a leaf adjacent to the leaf from which 11 was torn.

Most of the letters not sent to Turner were sent to local people, and most of these were probably passed directly to him by the recipients or those who came into possession of their papers, since it is clear that his friends and correspondents were aware of his interest in collecting autographs (cf. 23 and 35). 1-2, both addressed to Goodchild Clarke, probably came from the same source, as did 19 and 21, both addressed to G. W. Manby, and 31-2, both addressed to Christopher Sayers.