Ten Pound Island Book Company

Old, Rare And Out of Print Books, Manuscripts And Charts Pertaining To The Sea

May 8 to July 30, 1661. “Parliamentum inceptum et tentum apud civitatem Westminster.”

By

Item #47956
May 8 to July 30, 1661. “Parliamentum inceptum et tentum apud civitatem Westminster.”
Manuscript Journal.
( 1661),
Folio, 31 cm. 744 pages numbered in manuscript.
Price: $2750

This manuscript records the first three months of business that took place in the “Cavalier Parliament,” so-called because of the predominance of royalist MPs. It was the second Parliament of Charles II. The website for the “History of Parliament Trust” provides this context: “Anglicans and royalists had felt they had been insufficiently rewarded by the restored monarch. More had been done to sweeten the King’s former enemies than themselves, and it was in this changed, cynical atmosphere that the elections took place in March and April 1661… The return of many ‘Cavalier’ MPs reflected the strength of pro-royalist feeling throughout the kingdom. They included at least 108 who had fought in arms for the King during the civil war, and together with other royalist sympathisers amounted to over half the House, while Presbyterians were reckoned at less than a third. But the presence of over 100 MPs whose parliamentary experience dated from the 1640s was enough to ensure that royal policy would not be uncritically endorsed.” Another factor in the tenor of this manuscript is that in 1625 the House voted that only orders of business were to be recorded in Parliamentary Journals, as members of Parliament were concerned that their speeches, if recorded, would be read by the king and possibly used against them. The restoration of Charles II in 1660 did not allay these fears. Hence, the Journals of Parliament, as well as this manuscript, recorded only business proceedings and no individual speeches. Cromwell had died in 1658. In 1660 his body was disinterred and hanged at Tyburn. In a similar vein, this manuscript records Parliament’s orders for the removal of honors and titles from some prisoners, that “they be drawn from the Tower of London upon sledges and hurdles through the street and highways to and under the Gallows at Tyburn with ropes around their necks and from thence to be conveyed back to the tower theire to remaine prisoners during their lives.” Also, all documents pertaining to authorization of the Commonwealth were to be found and burned by the common hangman. A comparison of this portion of the manuscript with the published “Journals” shows that the ms. agrees with the printed text. For example, the above order as it appears in the published “Lunæ, 27 die Maii, 13 Caroli, 1661” finds its exact correspondence in this manuscript – “Resolved, upon the Question, nemine contradicente, That the said traiterous cursed Writing, in Parchment, called, An Act of the Commons assembled in Parliament, for erecting an High Court of Justice for trying and judging Charles Stuart, be burned on Tuesday Morning, being the Twenty-eighth of May Instant, in Westminster Hall, by the Hand of the common Hangman: And the Sheriff of Middlesex is to take Order, that the Executioner do performe this Service: And the Serjeant at Arms attending this House is to see it done accordingly.” Apparently this was a common practice. Treasonous documents were to be “executed” as if they were human. Many other such Orders, pertaining to individuals or state business, fill these pages. The script is surprisingly legible and the text block is clean and tightly bound. The text lacks four leaves – pp. 183-4, 393-4, 559-60, and 709-10. Comparison with the printed record shows no immediate reason why these pages were removed, as there seems to be nothing of particular importance in the matters they report. The front free endpaper (detached) contains the signature of Thomas Baker. This may have been the British antiquarian Baker (1656-1740) in which case, obviously, he would have acquired the book later in life. This possibility is enhanced by the presence of a second name – (?)” which has been crossed out. With the 19th century engraved bookplate of Dr. John Mitchell Davidson. Securely bound in full reverse sheep with red leather spine label lettered in gilt “JO:OF. Ho COM / FROM.8.MAY.1661.TO.JUL:30.1661” A July, 2000 letter from Maija Jansson, Director of the Yale Center for Parliamentary History informs this book’s former owner, “You have a treasure… I can’t give you a number but there are certainly only a few of these manuscripts extant.” A remarkable survival.