25th Jan, 2023 10:30 GMT/BST
The David Stather Library
73
Godfrey (Sir Edmond Berry)
Manuscript deposition statement signed Edm: B: Godfrey, relating to Charles, late Duke of Richmond and Lenox, testifying that the estate should honour the claim for payment for coal and wood.
1st September, 1676, ink on paper, sheet approx 29.5cm x 23.5cm, several folds, strengthened verso, paper a little tanned, tipped in to card folder, together with engraved portrait [the frontis from Tuke's 'Memoires of ... Godfrey, laid down].
[Godfrey was a magistrate involved in the 'discovery' of the 'Popish Plot' having taken 'evidence' from Titus Oates. He was found dead, killed by his own sword, in Primrose Hill in October 1678, the death was conveniently blamed on Catholics to support the theory of a Jesuit plot against Charles II]
Sold for £280
Estimated at £300 - £400
Auction: The David Stather Library, 25th Jan, 2023
A single-owner sale of the Library of David Stather (1940-2022)
The library comprises a large collection of early books, pamphlets and manuscripts on English history, focusing on the English Civil War, the ‘Popish Plot’, the Monmouth Rebellion and the Glorious Revolution, early Parliament and the Monarchy of that period, the development of English law, the Reformation, early bibles and prayer books, chronicles of English history and some very early books on witchcraft.
The earliest manuscript dates from 1285, and the earliest book is an incunable from 1486, however the majority date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Interestingly, many are books that contribute to English history rather than just reporting on it, for example the collection includes books reporting the Popish Plot, which were written specifically to create social division through what is now known as ‘fake news’.
The books have been lovingly preserved by David Stather and the auction provides a rare opportunity to purchase books from a very focused collection built up over his lifetime.
Please submit any enquiries for the sale to books@tennants-ltd.co.uk
Viewing
Tuesday 24th January 10am-5pm and the morning of the sale from 8am
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