MS Eng 1778 1

Note to Mary Hamilton from an unknown author

diplomatic | normalised | metadata | image (pdf)

Diplomatic Text

^[1]
This precious
      The precious Gift is doubly dear
      Token of truth & love sincere
      Revered Eliza used this stand
& Catherine
      By By Catherine left to Mary's hand

this Ink Stand was bequeathed by the celebrate[d]
M^rs. Elizabeth Carter to Lady Herries
who left it as a Legacyto their mutual friend to M^rs. Dickenʃon^[2]
1808

^[3]

^[4]

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Notes

1. This edition interprets the present item differently from the catalogue of its holding library.
2. The inkstand is mentioned in a letter from Harriet Foote in mid-January 1808 (HAM/1/17/305 p.2 col.2), shortly after Lady Wake's death. Her widower, Sir Robert Herries, writes that the box containing Lady Wake's bequests to Hamilton was dispatched by waggon on 12 March 1808 (HAM/1/17/307 p.1).
3. This page is blank.
4. This page is blank.

Normalised Text

      The precious Gift is doubly dear
      Token of truth & love sincere
      Revered Eliza used this stand

      By Catherine left to Mary's hand

this Ink Stand was bequeathed by the celebrated
Mrs. Elizabeth Carter to Lady Herries
who left it to their mutual friend Mrs. Dickenson
1808

(consult diplomatic text or XML for annotations, deletions, clarifications, persons,
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)

Notes

Metadata

Library References

Repository: Houghton Library Repository, Harvard University

Archive: Elizabeth Carter and Hannah More letters to Mary Hamilton

Item title: Note to Mary Hamilton from an unknown author

Shelfmark: MS Eng 1778 1

Correspondence Details

Sender:

Place sent: to be determined

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: Leighton Buzzard (certainty: low)

Date sent: 12 March 1808

Letter Description

Summary: Note to Mary Hamilton from an unknown author with four lines of verse, accompanying an ink stand bequeathed by Elizabeth Carter [died 19 February 1806] to Lady Herries [died 4 January 1808], and by her to Hamilton.
Original entry in Houghton Library catalogue: Manuscript note concerning provenance of this volume of letters.

Length: 2 sheets, 47 words

Transliteration Information

Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers' (Hannah Barker, Sophie Coulombeau, David Denison, Tino Oudesluijs, Cassandra Ulph, Christine Wallis & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2019-2023).

All quotation marks are retained in the text and are represented by appropriate Unicode characters. Words split across two lines may have a hyphen on the first, the second or both fragments (reco-|ver, imperfect|-ly, satisfacti-|-on); or a double hyphen (pur=|port, dan|=ger, qua=|=litys); or none (respect|ing). Any point in abbreviations with superscripted letter(s) is placed last, regardless of relative left-right orientation in the original. Thus, M^rs. or M^rs may occur, but M.^rs or M^r.s do not.

Acknowledgements: XML version first created without transcription as part of project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers', funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under grant AH/S007121/1. Transcription added after the funded period under the supervision of David Denison and Nuria Yáñez-Bouza.

Transliterator: Pete Morris, Artificial Intelligence and Ideas Adoption (AIIA), The University of Manchester Library (Plain text transliteration submitted 13 January 2026)

Cataloguer: Bonnie B. Salt, Archivist, Houghton Library

Revision date: 7 April 2026

Single Letter