Pen and ink on one parchment membrane (210 x 290 mm), parchment tag with armorial wax seal, three witness signatures on the dors
1647
by Lovelace, Richard
1647. Pen and ink on one parchment membrane (210 x 290 mm), parchment tag with armorial wax seal, three witness signatures on the dorse, including the poet's brother Dudley Lovelace. Tear in top left margin not affecting text, small portion of seal missing. In a custom red morocco-backed folding-box. Pen and ink on one parchment membrane (210 x 290 mm), parchment tag with armorial wax seal, three witness signatures on the dorse, including the poet's brother Dudley Lovelace. Rare Signature of Richard Lovelace. Extremely rare example of the signature of cavalier poet Richard Lovelace (1617-1657) - the only known privately owned example of his hand. Save for his "To Althea, from Prison", of which contemporary manuscript copies are known, Lovelace's work achieved limited popularity in his time and there is a corresponding derth of manuscript material in his hand. Only one complete manuscript in Lovelace's hand - a petition to the House of Commons - is known to exist. His signature appears on a series of 13 documents, of which this is one, relating to land transactions in Kent. CELM LoR 63. Provenance: Robert S Pirie (purchase Phillips, London, 14 June 1990, lot 37, through Quaritch)
(Inventory #: 304172)