| AdminHistory | The presumption of Elizabeth I's favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (1533-1588), provoked an anonymous and libellous pamphlet, published (probably at Antwerp) in 1584, 'The copy of a Letter wryten by a Master of Arte of Cambridge to his Friend in London concerning some talke past of late between two worshipfull and grave men about the present state and some proceedyngs of the Erle of Leycester and his friendes in England' (commonly known as 'Leicester's Commonwealth'), alleging the subversion of the ancient constitution of the realm and the absorption of the government of the country by Leicester, who with his relations was said to hold all offices of trust. In 1585 the Queen forbade the book's circulation by order in council, asserting that its charges were false. Although certainly inaccurate, it reflects the hatred that Leicester had excited. Attributed to the Jesuit Father Parsons, the pamphlet was more probably the work of a courtier. A French translation of the work appeared as 'La Vie Abominable, Ruses, Trahisons, Meurtres, Impostures' (1585); a Latin version by Iulius Briegerus, 'Flores Calvinistici decerpti ex Vita Roberti Dudlei, comitis Leicestriae' (Naples, 1585); republished as 'Leicester's Commonwealth identified' (London, 1641); versified as 'Leicester's Ghost', c1641. Orders were issued for its suppression in 1641. Numerous manuscript copies were also circulated. It formed a key source for many later works on Dudley. |
| CustodialHistory | Part of the library of Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), linguistic psychologist, founder of the Orthological Institute and originator of the language system Basic English, whose interests in language systems are reflected in the subject matter of his collection, which comprised individual manuscripts and manuscript collections dating from the 14th to the 20th century. |