Wednesday, December 11, 2019

An Historic Manuscript

From the BBC:
It was while searching in the library for translations of Tacitus that Dr John-Mark Philo found the mysterious 42-page manuscript. He established it was written on a very specific kind of paper, which had "gained special prominence" in the Tudor Court in the 1590s. "There was, however, only one translator at the Tudor court to whom a translation of Tacitus was ascribed by a contemporary, and who was using the same paper in her translations and private correspondence - the queen herself," added Dr Philo.

A further clue was the presence of three watermarks - a rampant lion and the initials G.B with a crossbow countermark - which are also found on the paper Elizabeth I used in her personal correspondence. But the clinching argument was the handwriting. The translation was copied by one of her secretaries but it is covered in corrections and additions which match the queen's highly distinctive, indeed rather messy, hand. (Read more.)
Share

No comments: