[ Sir Richard Carnac Temple, Lavinia Mary Anstey, Henry Howard and the Hakluyt Society. ] Correspondence of Anstey and Temple with Howard, with other material, mainly relating to 'The Bowrey Papers'. [see below for subjects and Defoe reference.

A total of 55 items. In good condition, on aged and worn paper, except for one item (postcard by Anstey) which is damaged (without loss of text). ONE. Anstey, 31 items: 30 Typed Letters Signed and one Typed Card Signed. TWO. Temple, 16 items, totalling 49pp.: 13 Autograph Letters Signed and two Typed Letters Signed, with one unsigned typed memorandum. THREE. Howard, 3 items: two Typed Copies of letters (one apiece to Anstey and Temple), one of them (to Anstey) initialled, and Autograph Copy Signed ('H H.') of letter to Temple. FOUR. Five miscellaneous items: typed copies of letter from Temple to W. G. Perrin, Librarian, The Admiralty, and of Perrin's reply, 1924; typed draft title of 'The Life Story of the Mary Galley (1704-1709) […]; typed two-page memorandum titled 'Bowrey Papers | Statement of work done on these up to date (24 November 1922)', the second page giving a proposed division of material over two volumes; Typed Letter Signed from George Harris Healey of Cornell University to Howard's daughter 'Mrs. Duff', regarding the whereabouts of letters by Daniel Defoe in the Bowrey papers. The two volumes of 'The papers of Thomas Bowrey, 1669-1713, discovered in 1913 by John Humphreys […] and now in the possession of Lieut.-Colonel Henry Howard' was published by the Hakluyt Society in 1927. For information on Temple, see his entries in the Oxford DNB and Who Was Who. Information on his co-editor is not so easily forthcoming. In 1941 Anstey received an MBE 'For services to Indian history and the history of early travel in the East.' The Bowrey Papers, as Anstey explains here, is now broken up, with parts at locations including the Guildhall Library and Lloyd's of London. The scholarship of both Temple and Anstey was fundamentally Victorian in approach, and the present collection provides an interesting insight into the privileged academic world which they inhabited. Temple writes at length, in unbuttoned and assured style, taking a broad view of the project, with occasional references to his own affairs and health. In his first letter, on 27 May 1922, he writes a long letter on Howard's proposal that he edit the volume, beginning: 'I was very pleased to hear your news about the Bowrey papers which clearly contain the makings of a fine & valuable book, dividing itself into history, family history, commercial history, literature, shipbuilding.' On 12 August, following a preliminary examination at India House, he begins an eight-page letter: 'Yours of 10th. Miss Anstey had got all the bundles (20 of them) out of the Bowrey papers in order of years. And we went into the “Worcester” bundle – the largest – as a start in detail to see how the papers shaped.' On 22 December 1922 he discusses options for funding the project, concluding 'The value of these documents becomes more and more apparent as we proceed with the sorting.' On 29 November 1925 he writes: 'You will be glad to hear that the Bowrey Papers book has gone to press – illustrations & all & I hope it will be a valuable one as the information about the Mary Galley is almost unique & the Dick yacht also is almost unique as it must have been one of the earliest small yachts built in England by a private individual. I have had invaluable help from the Science Museum in South Kensington […]'. Anstey is more focussed than her co-editor, giving a diligent and detailed description of the progress of editing, from a report on 14 August 1922 of the initial 'cursory examination of one of the bundles of papers' at India House, followed by Temple's 'second day's work' a few days later, then a 'first rough sorting' in October 1922, and 'arranging and classifying' in December of the same year. On 19 December 1922 she gives a financial 'estimate of what is left to be done on the Papers', to which Howard replies two days later: 'I have no fault to find with it, and should like the papers put to the best possible use, but I am very sorry that I really cannot afford to see it through and find all the money. I will pay for the completion of the sorting, etc., which you estimate at about £50, but then my financial liability must cease.' On 1 January 1924 she informs him that the 'Hague Diary' is about to be typed up 'for the inspection of the President of the Hakluyt Society', and that Perrin 'is inclined to consider the story of Bowrey's ships for publication in the “Mariners' Mirror'. By 1 May 1925 she can report that Temple 'is very pleased at the turn affairs have taken with regard to the Bowrey papers and is now hopeful that the Hakluyt Society will issue a second volume later on'. In August of the same year she states that 'Sir Richard is putting an enormous amount of work into it during his brief stay in England'. Following a letter of December 1925 there is a gap in Anstey's letters until 1931, her correspondence following Temple's death providing an interesting coda. On 13 March 1931 all seems well: 'You will have seen the announcement in the Times by the present Sir Richard Temple that the remains of my good and kind friend have been brought to England and will be laid to rest tomorrow with his ancestors in the family vault at Kempsey.' And two days later she describes how the Bowrey Papers have been distributed, with 'the New River receipts' going to the Metropolitan Water Board ('Mr Warner Terry […] says that they will be mounted and framed and placed in the central corridor of the Board's building'), and others going to the Guildhall and Lloyd's ('I agree with [Mr Warren Dawson] that Lloyds is the rightful home of the shipping papers […] I had hardly dared to hope that a competent editor would be found to continue Sir Richard's work in immortalizing Bowrey, and it seems that Mr Dawson is just the man to undertake the task. He tells me that the Admiralty Library would not have accepted the gift as that Library deals only with ships of the Royal Navy. He is at present at work on the Nelson Papers and expects to be free to tackle Bowrey's collection in a few months.'). On 8 May 1931 she reports that the 'whole collection is now distributed except the two accompanying water colours that I do not like to destroy and can find no home for', and that Lady Temple is 'quite prostrated by her loss and unable to face the future without her lifelong companion. I am very sorry for her, for I miss Sir Richard so badly that I can estimate her grief in some measure.' On 20 May 1931, she writes in a different tone: 'I really do not know how to thank you for your great and unexpected kindness. It is most good of you and at the present moment especially welcome for things have gone awry ever since Sir Richard's death. […] just before Easter, my lawyer informed me that there is now no hope of recovering any of the £3000 that was obtained from me by specious promises. In addition, my sister and I have felt morally responsible for £600 obtained from an old and elderly friend by the use of our name and that has naturally made things difficult for the present. However, we shall get the loan at the bank paid off in two years, we hope, and now that I have touched the bottom, things will be sure to improve.' The reference is perhaps explained by the following from Temple's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'In his later years, from 1921 until his death, Temple was greatly inconvenienced by domestic troubles and ill health, which led him to an enforced exile, mostly at Territet in Switzerland. There, in touch with many devoted friends, he continued his literary activities, including the editorship of the Indian Antiquary, of which he had been sole editor since 1892. He had an exceptional range of oriental knowledge and interests, worked very hard, and enjoyed it. He died at Hôtel Bonward, Territet, Vaud, Switzerland, on 3 March 1931'. Note: "Papers include: Documents relating to his life in IndiaDocument relating to his life in EnglandPapers relating to his ships and their cargosVarious scheme and proposalsPapers relating to his Malay DictionaryA diary of his journey to France, Flanders and HollandPapers connected to the Gardiner, Searle and Bushell families (many created after Bowrey’s death)The papers included two letters from Daniel Defoe. By 1955, these letters were in the possession of Dr Henry C Hutchins of New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Hutchins sold them at Sotheby’s New York in 1984. It is assumed that they were returned to the UK because they were sold again at Christie’s London in 2007. Further letters from Elihu Yale were donated to Yale University."