Beschreibung:

[Mary, Queen of Scots.]--Elizabeth, Queen, Lord Burghley, Francis Walsingham, and others. A COLLECTION OF LETTERS WRITTEN TO SIR RALPH SADLER WHEN ENTRUSTED WITH THE CUSTODY OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, 1584-85 Discussing such subjects as the conditions and security of the Scottish Queen's confinement, and her negotiations with Queen Elizabeth, comprising four letters signed by Elizabeth I, one with an autograph superscription ("...Use but olde trust and new diligence | Your affectionat loving Soueraine Elizabeth R..."), seven autograph letters signed and one letter signed by Lord Burghley, 17 letters signed and two autograph letters signed by Francis Walsingham, one autograph letter signed by the Earl of Leicester (to Walsingham), three letters by others, six draft or copy letters in the hand of Sadler's secretary John Sommer including a copy of a letter by Queen Elizabeth to Mary, Queen of Scots (3 December 1584), a set of accounts relating to the Duchy of Lancaster, and "An Inventorie of such Lynen & platt as is to be caryed to wyngefeild" altogether 43 items, 68 pages of text, folio, plus address leaves, marginal notes and docketing in the hand of Sommer, and blanks, with later pencil pagination and some other pencil notes, in total 180 pages, 12 August 1584 to 7 May 1585, loose in eighteenth-century blue boards but some pieces with sewing-thread still attached, in a blue folding box and morocco-backed slipcase, some spotting and soiling, nicks and tears including seal tears