[HOUSE OF COMMONS] | A group of 76 Parliament Journals, recording proceedings from 19 March 1604 to 15 February 1709, representing the governments of six British monarchs, and chronicling such foundational events as the Glorious Revolution, the passage of the Bill of Rights, and the establishment of the Bank of England. [N.P., but likely London, composed circa 1709]

[HOUSE OF COMMONS]

A group of 76 Parliament Journals, recording proceedings from 19 March 1604 to 15 February 1709, representing the governments of six British monarchs, and chronicling such foundational events as the Glorious Revolution, the passage of the Bill of Rights, and the establishment of the Bank of England. [N.P., but likely London, composed circa 1709]

76 volumes, folio. Approximately 49,000 pages written in 32 distinct scribal hands (in most cases each volume being the work of a single scribe), on various paper-stocks (the most common watermarks including Arms of Amsterdam with "VI" and "KWM" countermarks, and the Seven Provinces of the Netherlands with crowned "GR" countermark, all consistent with an early-eighteenth century date), each volume red-ruled, most volumes with contemporary pagination and the remainder with paragraph numbers, each volume indexed, five volumes (temp. Charles II) composed of two shorter booklets bound together but separately indexed, six volumes incorporating fold-out tables, seven volumes for Parliamentary proceedings between 1689-92 with additional notes on final blanks in another hand, and two volumes with two-page summaries of content in another hand tipped in. Uniformly bound in contemporary calf with spines in six compartments, five gilt and one with red morocco lettering pieces; bindings restored, five volumes affected by dampstaining.

[Together with:] "Calendar or Abstracts of the Journals of the House of Commons from Edward 6^th Anno 1546 to the year 1642 [1660-1710]". 2 volumes, folio. 527 and 776 pages, blanks, accomplished in a single hand, red ruled margins, contemporary pagination. Contemporary calf; rebacked and restored, spotting. ⁠— "Journal of the House of Lords." 25 April to 29 December 1660, incorporating a copy of Sir Harbottle Grimstone's speech to the King. 1 volume, folio. 1,000 pages, blanks, accomplished in a single hand, red ruled margins, contemporary pagination. Contemporary speckled calf; rebacked retaining original lettering piece. — "A Calendar of the Journals of the House of Lords Beginning with the Reign of King Henry VIII and Ending with the Reign of King Charles I", and "Beginning with the Reign of King Charles II and ending with the VIth Parliament of Great Britain Upon the Death of King George I", i.e. 1727 but with some later entries. 2 volumes, folio. 631 and 725 pages, blanks and indexes, accomplished in a single hand, red ruled margins, contemporary pagination. Modern calf backed marbled boards with new endpapers; dampstained.

The most extensive surviving set of manuscript copies of the early House of Commons Journals, documenting some of the most significant acts in Britain's history, including the establishment of the Bank of England

This remarkable set records the business of the Commons from the accession of James I to after the Act of Union. It documents the establishment of the modern British state through such monumental constitutional events as the Glorious Revolution, the Bill of Rights, the foundation of the Bank of England, the Act of Union, and the Restoration: 

"... [1 May 1660] the Earle of Manchester had acquainted the Committee of this House with the Lords receit of a Letter from his Majesty and of a Declaracion inclosed he told us it was a maxim where the word of a King is there is power and where the word of our King is as it is now received there is truth and power and Truth are the best Supports of Government ...

Resolved &c

That this House doth agree with the Lords and doe own and Declare that according to the antient and fundamentall Lawes of this Kingdom the Government is and ought to be by the King Lords and Commons.

Ordered

That it be referd to a Committee to peruse the Journalls and Records and to examin what pretended Acts or Orders have been passed which are inconsistent with the Government by the King, Lords, and Commons and report them with their opinion therein to this House..."

These volumes also record the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, periods of extreme tension between the Commons and the Crown stretching from the days of James I to those of the Exclusion Crisis, and the volatile hysteria and cynicism of the Popish Plot. Beyond the more extreme acts and events mentioned above, these journals also offer detailed insight into the matters that occupied the Commons from day to day, making them a comprehensive chronicle. The House of Commons Journals were kept by the Clerk of the House, and developed in the mid-sixteenth century, as successive Clerks began to maintain a record of proceedings in the House that was more detailed than a simple register of Bills. It recorded (and still records) the business transacted on each day's sittings: Bills read, Orders and Resolutions, Divisions, Licences, etc.

These exquisitely produced journals represents a trove of highly privileged information related to Parliamentary precedents, and powers. The Journals were fiercely—one might even say jealously—guarded by the House of Commons. As evidence of this, in 1628 they refused to allow members of the House of Lords to consult the Journals, and in 1666 it was ordered that only MPs should be allowed access to the Journals. The official journals were produced by two (and then later three) Clerks who sat at the Table of the House noting down proceedings, the duplication allowing for cross-checking. After the sitting, these "Originals" or "Scribbled Books" were copied into neatly written journals. Few journals survive in rough "Original" form. 

Scribal copies of individual volumes of Commons Journals occasionally appear in major collections, but a very small number have appeared at auction. A series of 19 volumes, covering the period from the Restoration to the Glorious Revolution, form a part of the British Library's collection (Add. MSS 36830-36848). However, aside from the original manuscripts, we have not found record of any other set to rival the scale of the one present here.

There is no doubt that these volumes were produced as a set, which was most likely commissioned by a Parliamentarian with significant wealth. Given the bookplates present in the volumes, it is likely that the whole set came from Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedfordshire, in which case the Commons Journals may have been commissioned by the son of the 10th Earl of Kent. Henry, a favourite of the Duchess of Marlborough, served as Lord Chamberlain (1704-10), and in 1710 was elevated to the title of Duke of Kent.⁠ The production of roughly 49,000 folio pages of manuscript was an incredible undertaking. The number of different hands involved (32) is strikingly large, especially given that the copying must have taken place in the House of Commons (it is inconceivable that the original Journals were loaned out for copying), and was presumably undertaken by the Clerk's office. 

These volumes span the proceedings of the following British monarchs: James I (7 volumes, from 19 March 1603/4 [misdated "29 Martii 1602"] to 17 March 1620/1 only), Charles I (3 volumes, from 21 June 1625 to 2 March 1629 only), Charles II (18 volumes, the final volume also detailing the Parliaments of James II, from 25 April 1660 to 28 April 1687), William III and Mary II (33 volumes, from 22 March 1688/9 to 7 March 1701/2), and Queen Anne (15 volumes, from 8 March 1701/2 to 15 February 1708/9).

A remarkable collection, unrivalled in its breadth by even the British Library

LITERATURE:

D. Menhennet, The Journal of the House of Commons: A Bibliographical and Historical Guide (1971); M.F. Bond, Guide to the Records of Parliament (1971)

PROVENANCE:

Anthony Grey, 10th Earl of Kent (the Journal of the House of Lords bears his posthumous bookplate) ⁠— Earl de Grey (nineteenth-century Wrest Park bookplate) — Sotheby's London, 10 July 2012, lot 3