Record

Document ReferencePw V 117
TitleCommonplace book incorporating Riders British Merlin; 1706
Date1706
Extent83 ff
LevelItem/file
Content DescriptionMS commonplace book with general information and profuse commentaries and notes relating to an English printed almanac 'Riders (1706)/ British Merlin:/... ' (title on p 30 of MS); gives details of longitude and latitude of places within Great Britain and Ireland, various observations of year 1706 in general, notes of husbandry and physics, fairs and markets; MS is bound together with printed book, cover made specially, to include additional slips of paper added at foot of printed pages and then annotated; MS ends with a family tree which includes 17th century members of a Smith family.

On p 1 the text commences with classic palindromic word-square 'Sator/ Arepo/ Tenet/ Opera/ Rotas' (i.e. 'Arepo the Sower holds the wheels carefully', see R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright, The Roman Inscription of Britain (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1992) vol 2, p 72)
LanguageEnglish
ReprodnNoteVolumes from Pw V cannot be photographed by readers with their own camera or device, but reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only.
Physical DescriptionHalf quarto volume
ConditionFragile; binding and first two folios are damaged; upper cover is missing card packing and pastedown; lower cover also damaged
Descriptive FeaturesWatermark: Three Circles: the uppermost circle is the crowned arms of Genoa, the middle circle, contains either the letters GD or GR, the bottom circle contains the figure 4 approx. 70 x 40 mm

Small secretary script with cursive titles

Vellum on card lined with paper, upper cover continues into a flap (measuring 164 x 54 mm) which goes on top of fore edges and locks with a brass/copper clasp onto the lower cover; covers and flap are decorated with blind tooled double fillet lines; on upper cover there are traces of an ink inscription which includes the word 'office'.
WatermarkCircles, three
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