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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Hyde 86

Thomas Percy additional papers

Overview

Correspondence and manuscripts of writer Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore, mostly concerning literature and history.

Dates

  • Creation: 1753-1804

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Extent

.5 linear feet (1 box)

Series I, Correspondence, includes 16 letters by Percy, and 20 letters addressed to him. Prominent correspondents include Thomas Apperley, item (4); James Grainger, item (8); Edmond Malone, item (13); and George Steevens, item (16). Most of the letters relate to Percy's scholarly and literary interests; many discuss his friend Samuel Johnson.

Series II, Manuscripts, consists of three items in Percy's hand: a draft of his poem Flavia, a draft of a biographical note on James Grainger, and his transcript of an ode by Bonnell Thornton.

Biographical / Historical

Thomas Percy (1729-1811) served as the parson of Easton Maudit, Northamptonshire, England from 1753 to 1782. He was appointed the Bishop of Dromore (Ireland) in 1782. He was a prolific author, best remembered for compiling The Reliques of Ancient English Poetry in 1765.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

  1. I. Correspondence
  2. II. Manuscripts

Physical Location

b (shelved with MS Hyde 85)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2003JM-58 (part). Bequest of Mary Hyde Eccles, Four Oaks Farm, Somerville, New Jersey; received: 2004.

Related Materials

Several related items are also part of the Hyde Collection, including six letters from Samuel Johnson to Percy in MS Hyde 1, item (91); three letters from James Boswell to Percy in MS Hyde 2, item (31); two letters from David Garrick to Percy in MS Hyde 6, item (15); two letters from Sir Joshua Reynolds to Percy in MS Hyde 9, item (10); a letter from Percy to James Boswell, MS Hyde 24; two related Samuel Johnson manuscripts in MS Hyde 50, items (53) and (55); Boswell's transcript of Percy's Samuel Johnson bibliography, in MS Hyde 51, item (34); a letter from Percy to Samuel Hoole in MS Hyde 57, page 28; six items in MS Hyde 75; fifteen items in MS Hyde 76; and thirty items in MS Hyde 77.

See also MS Eng 891 and MS Eng 893 for Thomas Percy Papers held by the Houghton Library.

Processing Information

Processed by: Rick Stattler

Title
Percy, Thomas, 1729-1811. Thomas Percy additional papers, 1753-1804: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01737

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

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