BIB_ID
137384
Accession number
MA 8806
Creator
Sherburne, Edward, Sir, 1618-1702.
Display Date
1675 February 2.
Credit line
Purchased, 1971.
Description
1 item (2 pages, with address) ; 23.4 x 17.5 cm
Notes
Written from The Tower of London.
This item was purchased with an autograph signed letter (MA 3609) from Lord Arlington to Sir Christopher Wren commissioning the monument to the two young Princes.
With a manuscript layout for the Latin text for the monument. The manuscript contains 18 lines on paper measuring 23.0 x 31.1 cm.
The English translation of the Latin inscription reads: "Here lie the remains of Edward V, King of England, and Richard, Duke of York. These brothers, confined in the Tower of London and suffocated with pillows, were secretly and dishonorably buried by order of their perfidious uncle Richard the Usurper. These bones, much longed for and asked about, after 191 years in the rubble below the stairs (those lately leading to the Chapel of the White Tower) buried deep, were discovered through unquestionable evidence, on the 17th day of July in the year of Our Lord 1674. Charles II, a most compassionate King, pitying their cruel fate, restored these unhappy Princes to the monuments of their forefathers, in the 28th year of his reign."
This item was purchased with an autograph signed letter (MA 3609) from Lord Arlington to Sir Christopher Wren commissioning the monument to the two young Princes.
With a manuscript layout for the Latin text for the monument. The manuscript contains 18 lines on paper measuring 23.0 x 31.1 cm.
The English translation of the Latin inscription reads: "Here lie the remains of Edward V, King of England, and Richard, Duke of York. These brothers, confined in the Tower of London and suffocated with pillows, were secretly and dishonorably buried by order of their perfidious uncle Richard the Usurper. These bones, much longed for and asked about, after 191 years in the rubble below the stairs (those lately leading to the Chapel of the White Tower) buried deep, were discovered through unquestionable evidence, on the 17th day of July in the year of Our Lord 1674. Charles II, a most compassionate King, pitying their cruel fate, restored these unhappy Princes to the monuments of their forefathers, in the 28th year of his reign."
Provenance
Purchased on the Fellows Fund from J.F.T. Rodgers, London, June 1971.
Summary
Sending his design for the Latin inscription to be carved on the monument to the young Princes, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York; saying he has "drawne it as plaine, as cliare, and as brief as I could possibly; and yet as full as the Table't of the Monumint will admitt;" asking if he will show it to Sir Christopher Wren for his approval and he will make sure it is engraved; adding that if it is not to his liking, perhaps it will at least "excite some ablir Penn...as so this Particular might bee bitter satisfied."
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