Details
OVERBURY, Sir Thomas (c.1581-1613). Manuscript, 'Observations uppon the State of the seaventeene Provinces as they stoode Anno D[omi]ni 1609 the Treaty of Peace being then on foote', in a very elegant early 17th C secretary hand, the final blank annotated on verso 'Tho. Overbury anno aetat. 28', 16 leaves, 4to (some discolouration to early leaves), modern speckled calf gilt (some light wear). Provenance. Thomas Edward Watson, Newport, Monmouthshire (armorial bookplate; by descent to the present owners).
The manuscript comprises observations on the United Provinces, the Spanish Netherlands and France, apparently the product of a tour on the continent made by Overbury in 1609. The ODNB notes the survival of at least 12 manuscript copies, as well as Anthony Wood's doubts as to Overbury's authorship (Wood, 2.135). The annotation to the last leaf of the present copy, while not certainly in the same hand as the body of the manuscript, encourages a note to the front free end paper that this may be an authorial copy. Overbury held considerable influence at the court of James I, springing from his close relationship with the favourite Robert Carr, later Earl of Somerset. His opposition to Carr's marriage to Frances Howard led to his fall from grace in 1613, and his death in the Tower on 15 September that year inspired a notorious series of show trials on the premise that he had been murdered by poisoning.
The manuscript comprises observations on the United Provinces, the Spanish Netherlands and France, apparently the product of a tour on the continent made by Overbury in 1609. The ODNB notes the survival of at least 12 manuscript copies, as well as Anthony Wood's doubts as to Overbury's authorship (Wood, 2.135). The annotation to the last leaf of the present copy, while not certainly in the same hand as the body of the manuscript, encourages a note to the front free end paper that this may be an authorial copy. Overbury held considerable influence at the court of James I, springing from his close relationship with the favourite Robert Carr, later Earl of Somerset. His opposition to Carr's marriage to Frances Howard led to his fall from grace in 1613, and his death in the Tower on 15 September that year inspired a notorious series of show trials on the premise that he had been murdered by poisoning.
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