Miscellaneous collection of letters and other items

Includes: letter from Roger Ascham to William Cecil, 9 Jan. 1548; copy letter from Samuel Ward to James Ussher, 24 May 1637; letters from Francis Standish, Thomas Hearne, Samuel Noyes and unidentified to Simon Patrick; letters from Edmund Symondes, John Ste[?], Sir William Denny, John Vincent, and William Burgess to Thomas Rogerson, 1619-62 and undated; 'The Conquest of China by the Tartars', 1 fo., c. 1690; letter from John Strype, with memorandum concerning the Hicks MSS. Aug. 1714; letter from Strype to Samuel Knight, undated; John Patrick, 'Reasons against the repealing [of the Test Acts]', 1687, unpublished; 'The Substance of what was alledged before the worthy Dr F. Chancellor of L. in the Parish Church of M, June 12 1684'; John Gibson, 'A Word of Caution to the Inhabitants of England, 4 Oct. 1666'; William Cecil, Lord Burghley, 'Certain Precepts ...'; petition from the parish of Wisbech St Peter to Simon Patrick, undated; transcript of passage relating to Gunpowder plot, with extract of will of Peter Heywood; notes of sermon preached by James Rowe in St Giles, Edinburgh; copy of letter from Jean de St Bonnet, Seigneur de Toiras, to 1st duke of Buckingham [1627]; hand of John Patrick: declaration of war by the prince of Transylvania against the Holy Roman Emperor [1678?], Algernon Sidney's petition of Nov. 1683, and an unidentified speech in the House of Lords temp. Charles II; Sir Sidney Montague: abstract of case upon Quo Warranto against the Lords of the manors of Somersham and Ramsey, Hunts.; letter of Edward Wetenhall, bishop of Cork, to an unidentified correspondent, 21 Mar. 1699. Several items have appeared in print.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Belonged to Samuel Knight DD, prebend of Ely and rector of Bluntisham, Hunts. After Knight's death in 1746, the MS. descended to John Percy Baumgartner of Milton, Cambs., who presented it to the Library in 1861.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

Microfilm available