Edward Lhuyd - William Courten - 1691-09-25

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Edward Lhuyd, Oxford

Edward Lhuyd - William Courten - 1691-09-25
FINA IDUnique ID of the page  15546
InstitutionName of Institution. London, British Library
InventoryInventory number. Sloane MS 3962, ff.288-9
AuthorAuthor of the document. Edward Lhuyd
RecipientRecipient of the correspondence. William Courten
Correspondence dateDate when the correspondence was written: day - month - year . September 25, 1691
PlacePlace of publication of the book, composition of the document or institution. Oxford 51° 45' 7.25" N, 1° 15' 28.26" W
Associated personsNames of Persons who are mentioned in the annotation. Elias Ashmole, Martin Lister
LiteratureReference to literature. Gunther 1945, p. 149, no. 401, Burnett 2020b, pp. 455, 657, 775, 1151 n. 182
KeywordNumismatic Keywords  Theft , Ashmolean Museum
LanguageLanguage of the correspondence English
External LinkLink to external information, e.g. Wikpedia  https://tinyurl.com/y9b4fch3
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Grand documentOriginal passage from the "Grand document".

'Having lately had the unfortunate mischance of being rob’d at the Museum; I doubt not but you will pardon the boldnesse I take in troubling you with these papers. & also take upon you some trouble to enquire amoungst your acquaintance concerning the person suspected & the things lost. ...
[Postscript:] I writ a hasty letter about this, yesterday to Dr Lister, having but little time, & that full of confusion. I am afraid Mr Ashmole will be implacable.

  1. Three Indian Rupees: whereof one stamp’d with the sun in Cancer, another with the Sun in Taurus; & the third with onely Indian Characters on each side, coin’d at Surat. the first coin’d Anno Hegiræ 1027. Regni 13. the 2d also in the same year. Both coin’d by Gÿhan Ghir at Ahmed Abada.
  2. One Mahmudia coin’d by Acber the 8th Prince from Tamerlan. 3. A very small Indian gold coin weighing 8. gr.
  3. A pretty large silver meddal guilt, Obverse, King David veiwing Bethsheba bathing her self. Revers, Lot & his daughters drinking wine.
  4. An Ovol silver meddal. Obverse, a young woman with the inscription Quæ sim post terga videbis. Reverse Death inscription sic nunc pulcherrima quondam.
  5. A pretty large silver meddal. Obverse an old man suckling his daughter. inscription in Dutch. The Roman woman loveth her father & giveth him nourishment. Reverse the storks or Canes feeding the old one inscription in Dutch, the Storks teach us how we must honour our worthy Parents.
  6. King James the second’s Coronation meddal in Gold.
  7. His Queens in Silver.
  8. A large fair meddal of the wrack silver recovered by Capt. Phipps. Obverse King & his Queen. Reverse a ship. inscription semper tibi pendeat hamus. naufraga reperta, Anno 1687.
  9. An oval gold meddal of Carolus Gustavus weighing two ounces.
  10. A small Agat of various colour in the form of an heart, set in gold.
  11. An Oval peice of Amber encompassed with a silver hoop having a frog enclosed.
  12. A shell set in a peice of gold about the compass of a Guinea engraved with three faces of several colours. viz. an old man & two young women.
  13. A small face of Turcoise (or perhaps enamel) set in a circle of small perl.
  14. A Picture of St Mary Magdalene coverd with izing Glass, & set in a case like a pin-cusheon.
  15. A small oval box set in silver on the one side our Savious picture, on the other the viring Mary’s in miniature. being open’d severall small reliques are stich’d within with the names of severall Saints in french, as St Denis, St Pierre, St Calcedoine, St Cassian, &c.
  16. A small picture of John Aubrey Esquire in water colour done by Cooper set in a square frame of Ebony
  17. A picture of Archbishop Bancrofts set in a round box of Ivory not much bigger then a Crown peice.

These things were lost from the repository at Oxon, between the 17th & 22d of September the person suspected is a forreign Gent. supposed by his speech to be a German, but speaks tolerable good English & Latine, between forty & fifty years of Age, a pretty corpulent man with a red full face a long periwig, a white coat pretty much worn.'

(London, British Library, Sloane MS 3962, ff.288-9 (transcription from EMLO); Gunther 1945, p. 149, no. 40; Burnett 2020b, pp. 455, 657)

References

  1. ^  Gunther, R.T. (ed.)(1945) Early Science in Oxford, XIV: Life and Letters of Edward Lhwyd, Oxford.
  2. ^  Burnett, Andrew M. (2020), The Hidden Treasures of this Happy Land. A History of Numismatics in Britain from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, BNS Special Publ. No 14 = RNS Special Publ. No 58, London, Spink & Son.