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Foreigners in England manuscript volumes

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 7 Jun 2023

Biographical History

Nothing is known of the compiler(s) of these volumes. The volumes appear to have been compiled over several years, drawing on state and diplomatic papers and letters as well as on a range of printed works (e.g. the Newgate Calendar), popular newspapers, and local antiquarian histories (church, county, etc.). According to the dealer's catalog, the volumes were orignally in the possession of the Dukes of Buckingham; in 1849 they were acquired by Sir Thomas Phillipps, English antiquary and book collector, by whom they were cataloged as Phillipps MS 13746.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Foreigners in England, comprising two handwritten volumes bound in vellum, contains biographical sketches of foreign residents and visitors to England, from the medieval period (p. 13 of volume 2: "Adilberg daughter of Charibert I king of France married Edolbert [Æthelberht] King of Kent...AD 570") to the mid-18th century. Some entries are brief, others extend over several pages. At the front of each volume is an alphabetical index, and there are "See" references throughout the text referring the reader to other related entries. "Phillipps MS 13746" is written inside the front cover of each volume.

Individuals selected for inclusion run the gamut: royalty, members of the nobility, clergymen, and politicians, as well as artists, musicians, scholars, and criminals. They include Henri Estienne (French printer/scholar), Bernouilli (Swiss mathematician), Erasmus and Rousseau (philosophers), Lassus and Handel (composers), Boerhaave (Dutch physician), Geminiani (an African prince who appeared at the Theatre Royal in 1759), Signora Faustina (singer), Theodore Gardelle (painter, enameller and murderer), Simon Pingano (forger), Paolo Rolli (Italian librettist/poet), John Tradescant (botanist), the Chevalier d'Éon (transgender French diplomat and spy), Bartholomew Rocque (agriculturalist), Emin Joseph Emin (East India Company officer and Armenian nationalist), fencing master Domenico Angelo, Hungarian conjoined twins Helen and Judith, German feral child Peter the Wild Boy, a group of Cherokee who visited London in 1730, Chitqua / Tan-Che-Qua (Chinese artist who worked in London) and Joseph of Arimathea.

The compiler(s) evidently were interested in all foreign visitors, not just the wealthy or important. One entry, on page 155 of volume 2, begins as follows:

Andretti, Violante: an Advertisement appearing in the public papers, setting forth, that a foreign Lady of very great Beauty, was publickly to shew her Legs, high as her knees, against those of an English Lady, the majority of the Company to decide which had the finest..."

Arrangement of the Collection

Bound volumes.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Subjects

Biographies.
Civilization, Medieval.
Noncitizens -- Great Britain.
Travellers -- Great Britain.

Places

Great Britain -- History.
Great Britain -- Social life and customs.

Genres and Forms

Manuscript (document genre)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

"Foreigners in England" manuscript volumes,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 2023.

Table of Contents

Foreigners in England

Inventory