Given the astonishing range of talents possessed by writer, artist, and designer John Leighton, it’s almost reassuring to know that even he was capable of an occasional oversight.  Can you spot the mistake in his design? Fortunately, it wasn't carried over into the final binding!*

Design for upper cover and spine of Marmion by John Leighton

Trade ticket (used by Leighton’s family workshop) from lower cover of Marmion.

Leighton came from a long line of bookbinders (see binder’s ticket above) who worked in London from 1764 until 1920.  He himself was a prolific cover designer, widely admired for his intricate detail and characteristic humour.

Enlargement of spine of Marmion  - note John Leighton’s intertwined initials beneath the blade.

Although he signed his covers with the initials ‘J L’, he also adopted the pseudonym Luke Limner.  When journalist George Augustus Sala was mistakenly accused of being Limner, he replied that he only wished he had been!

Column written by George Augustus  Sala in Bristol Times and Mirror - Saturday 8 March 1890 p.13. British Newspaper Archive

The Library’s legal deposit copy of this edition of Marmion lacks its original covers, making this acquisition in excellent condition an important addition.  Moreover, the survival of the original drawing for the spine and covers is a rarity.  These were frequently destroyed in the process of creating the brass blocks, used to stamp the design onto cloth or leather.

Leighton’s talents extended well beyond book design.  He served on the 1851 Great Exhibition Commission, designed banknotes, stained glass, and bookplates, and contributed to magazines including The Gentleman’s Magazine, The Graphic, and The Sunbeam.  His own publications showcased his wide-ranging interests, from graphic novels to a pamphlet on the reform of the London Underground system.  His involvement in local government and his attempt to stand as a Liberal Unionist MP suggest a strong social conscience.

One wonders how Leighton’s bohemian leanings would have resonated with the electorate.  A keen observer of fashion, he wrote Madre Natura; or, the Moloch of Fashion, a critique of the frills and furbelows apparently favored by women.  On one occasion, after being stopped by a policeman in Regent Street for wearing women’s clothing, Leighton explained that he was simply conducting research for a new edition of Madre Natura.

Upper cover of recently acquired copy of Scott’s Marmion (shelf mark pending).

*The lettering on the design omits the ‘d’ in ‘field’

P J M Marks
Printed Historical Collections

Further reading;
The Book Cover Designs of John Leighton, F.S.A. by E. M. B. King features photographs of Leighton and some of his covers.
Leighton also appears in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Wikipedia.

In February 1861, the India Office received a communication from the Foreign Office forwarding a letter from G M Dallas of the Legation of the United States, dated London 6 February 1861.  Mr Dallas stated that the President of the United States had awarded a silver medal to Captain John L Gillet, a Custom’s Officer at Bombay, for the special efforts he had made in assisting the distressed crew of the American ship Squantum, which had been wrecked off the coast of Bombay in June 1860.

'Wreck of the Peacock' from Charles Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition ... 1838-1842 (1844) British Library shelfmark 10001.d volume 4 BL Images Online

Launched in December 1849, the Squantum was an American cargo ship owned by Messrs Thomas B Wales & Co of Boston.  Commanded by Captain Miller, she left Boston on 18 February 1860 on a routine voyage to Bombay carrying 925 tons of ice and 50 tons of general cargo.  The journey went smoothly until 14 June when she experienced difficult sailing conditions with high seas and cloudy squalls.  Shortly after 9pm near the coast of Allybaugh, she struck in 5 fathoms of water, and with heavy seas pouring over her decks, she parted with her port anchor and was swept ashore onto a sandy point.  Her masts were cut away, and with the sea making complete breeches over her, the captain, his family and the crew sheltered in the top-gallant forecastle for safety.

In the morning, an attempt was made by the mate and two crewmen to launch the lifeboat, but it was immediately struck by a heavy sea, splitting the bow open and rolling it over.  Light rafts were then constructed from spars but none of the crew were prepared to try them after seeing what had happened to the lifeboat.  The captain then knocked a panel out of a door which was lying on the deck, and asked his young son to have a go, to which he cheerfully and bravely said yes.  Being a good swimmer and bound to the panel with rope, he was able to reach the shore, although not without some terrifying moments.  Inspired by this heroic action, the rest of the crew consented to try the rafts, and in groups of two and three they eventually reached the shore.  After the last crewman had gone, Captain Miller tied his wife to a plank, and they pushed off the ship.  The turbulent sea rolled them over repeatedly, but they were able to keep their heads above water, and reached the shore safely .

Tragically, the cook got caught up in the ship’s rigging and, becoming exhausted, drowned.  It was also later discovered that the carpenter and another member of the crew were missing, having perished in the attempt to reach shore.  The crew were taken to Bombay, and housed in the Sailors' Home until arrangements were made for them to return home to America.  Only three of the crew required hospital treatment, and Mrs Miller suffered with exhaustion and dysentery.  Captain Miller praised his crew for obedience to orders in pumping the vessel and undertaking other necessary measures to keep her afloat after she was first struck.  But for their efforts, a tragic event could have been much worse.

John O’Brien
India Office Records

Further Reading:
Award of a silver medal to Captain John L Gillet, Custom’s Officer at Bombay, for aiding the distressed crew and passengers of the American ship Squantum of Boston, Feb 1861, reference IOR/L/PJ/2/157 File 22/1.
British Newspaper Archive:
• Glasgow Herald, Monday 23 July 1860.
• Bombay Gazette, Friday 28 December 1860.

 

The 17th and early 18th-century manuscripts among the Harley Collection are rich in theological, legal, historical, political, scientific and literary manuscripts.  But very few of them were written by women.

One exception is a notebook kept by Anne Harcourt during the 1640s (Harley MS 6028).  At the beginning is her prominent ownership inscription - ‘Anne Harcourt her Booke’.

Ownership inscription of Anne Harcourt (Harley MS 6025, f. 1v)

The main part of the text is written in the same cursive, round hand, with idiosyncratic spelling, filling almost all the space on the page.  It consists of notes on sermons, many given by a Mr Park, others by better known preachers, such as William Bridge, Samuel Bamford and Edmund Calamy.  Dates, where present, are 1640-1642.  They were preached in London, and other parts of England, but also in Delft and Rotterdam, Holland, where nonconformist ministers in exile met relative tolerance.  Towards the end of the manuscript another hand appears, and the content changes to scripture notes and theological arguments with dates in the late 1640s (ff. 105v-122).

‘Notes of Mr Bridges sermon preached at Roterdam the 5 day of August’ 1641. On Galatians 1:20 (Harley MS 6025, f. 2v)

Who was Anne Harcourt?  Most likely she was the wife/widow of Sir Simon Harcourt (1601-1642), heir to the financially burdened Stanton Harcourt estate.  Anne was born around 1605 to William Paget, 4th Baron Paget (1572–1629), and his wife Lettice Knollys (died 1655).  She had a religious upbringing, which she described in her diary as ‘strickt’.  In her mid-twenties she married Harcourt: as a professional soldier, he was often abroad, in the Low Countries, and later in Scotland and Ireland.  Surviving correspondence between the couple (printed in The Harcourt Papers) indicates that the relationship was an affectionate one, and that Anne was adept at managing practical affairs in her husband’s absence.  But in 1642 Harcourt died in Ireland of wounds received in a military engagement.  Anne was left a widow with two young children, solely responsible for Stanton Harcourt estate.  A decade later, she married Sir William Waller (1598-1668), former parliamentarian army officer.  Life was still fraught with difficulties both financial and political (Waller was imprisoned for a time in the Tower of London), their three children died young, and the family was beset with ailments.  In her journal (now at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington), Anne looked for evidence of God’s divine assistance in delivering her and her family from ill, and for comfort in the face of misfortune.

‘Not[e]s of Mr Parks sermons in the after-noon.' On Psalm 141 (Harley MS 6025, f. 3)

While at Stanton Harcourt, Anne had hired a parish preacher at her own cost, and after moving to Osterley Park with Waller she paid for a lectureship to minister to the spiritual needs of the parish there.  In her funeral eulogy, Edmund Calamy noted her piety and concern for the spiritual nurture of others.  We cannot tell whether the sermon notes in Harley MS 6028 were made when the sermons were delivered, or copied long after.  Were they written as a spiritual consolation during the years of Anne’s widowhood?  Or were they a life-long form of religious practice for this 17th-century woman?

Tabitha Driver
Manuscript Cataloguer, Modern Archives & Manuscripts

Further reading:
Anne Waller, Spiritual journal and notebook, 1646-1660 [manuscript]. Folger Shakespeare Library, V.b.376. 
The Harcourt Papers, ed. E W Harcourt. 14 vols. (London, 1880–1905). Volume 1 includes Extracts from letters from Sir Simon Harcourt to Anne (pp. 136-162) and Extracts from Anne’s journal and notebook, now at the Folger (pp. 169-199)
Gateway to Early Modern Manuscript Sermons gives a list of the sermons in Harley MS 6028 
Julia Gasper, ‘Waller [née Paget], Anne, Lady Waller [other married name Anne Harcourt, Lady Harcourt] (d. 1661)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) 

Post-1600 Harley Manuscripts are currently being re-catalogued as part of the British Library's Unlocking Hidden Collections cataloguing programme.