AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED, addressed to James Smith in London, an order to pay Thomas Williams and Abraham Anselme the sum of £25 sterling.

BLACKMORE, Sir Richard.

Edité par 'Stratsbourg May 2/12 ', 1684

A propos de cet article

Manuscript in ink, one page (85 x 168mm), ten lines in a single hand, with signature at foot of 'James Smyth', and endorsements on verso by Thomas Coulson and others. One small repair, and a little dust-soiled and creased; else in good condition. Richard Blackmore (1654-1729) was educated at Westminster School and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. After his father's death in 1681, he went abroad, travelling in France and Switzerland before going on to Italy. He studied medicine at Padua, where he graduated on 24 March 1684, and then came back to England via Germany. This note acknowledges that he owed £25 to Thomas Williams and Abraham Anselme (also British, but described as 'of Venice'), on the surety of James Smith of London. Abraham Anselm is such an unusual name that it is not hard to find some trace of him in British records: in 1674 he was named as one of the officers to collect the revenue 'arising by fire-hearths and stoves', along with John Pery and Edward Buckley of London; and in 1694, described as 'late secretary to the late admirals of the Fleet', he was attacked by John Praed for various misdemeanours. What other positions he might have held, I cannot discover. Blackmore married shortly after his return, and became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1687. He was to follow a joint career as a physician and as a poet, over the next forty years. He was always unpopular with his fellow-poets, because of the uninspired nature of his work; and with his fellow-physicians, because of his quarrelsome nature. However, he was not an insignificant figure in the literary world of his time. James Smith (also spelt Smyth at another point) lived at the Red Lion in Fenchurch St, London, and was the uncle of George Smith, who may well have been travelling with Blackmore at this time: this bill is recorded as having been found, along with other bills drawn by Smith himself on his uncle, with the journal of his tour abroad in the years 1682-4. We know that George Smith visited France and Switzerland, but he probably went on to Rome as well. In the late 19th century, Smith's journal was among the MSS of Reginald Cholmondeley of Condover Hall, and is noted in HMC (5th report, 1876), p. 338.

N° de réf. du vendeur 26790

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED, addressed to James Smith in London, an order to pay Thomas Williams and Abraham Anselme the sum of £25 sterling.
• Éditeur: 'Stratsbourg May 2/12 '
• Date de parution: 1684
• Reliure: Couverture souple
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Poetry