MS 411: John Berkley, Secret Transactions & Intrigues

Archive Unit
  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 473 MS411
  • Dates of Creation
      England?, 17th c?; 1650-1678?
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
      English
  • Physical Description
      Support (paper) 290 x 179 mm. Text area: typically 218 x 126 mm. Fol. i + 63 + i leaves (fols 1-63r integral pagination: 123 pages). Binding: 18th/19th? c. brown sheepskin? halfbound with darker leather (perhaps as part of later repair). 6 raised bands to spine. Binding dimensions: 296 x 191 mm.

Scope and Content

Fair copy, in a contemporary? hand, of a journal of the negotiations and intrigues between Charles I and the Parliamentarians in 1647, kept by Sir John Berkley (1607-1678, Royalist army officer & courtier).

1. Fols 1r-63r: Berkley, John. Secret transactions and intrigues . English. Single 17th c? hand in black ink. Written in long lines with 20 lines to a page. Margins frame-ruled in red ink throughout. Catchwords bottom margin right of each page.

  • a. Title page, fol. 1r: "A Private Manuscript containing | all the secret transactions and Intrigues | carried on between His Majesty K. | Charles first, Cromwell, the Adju- | tators of the Army and Ireton | during his Majesties Confinement | with Sr Orlando Bridgeman and | others. | Being an exact Journall of every | days occurrences Kept by | Sir John Berkly | who with Mr John Ashbournham | was sent by her Majesty from | France to Negotiate Matters | between the King and the Army. | [Pen flourish]." [Fol. 1v blank].
  • b. Fols 2r- 63r: "In the year 1647 Her Matie and his Highness the Prince of Wales were pleased to send me into Holland to Console the death of the Prince of Orange … that some might be sent to ye Queen from us all, which was consented unto, and I made choice of by the rest. [Pen flourish]."

Access Information

For information about how to access St John's Special Collections and how to request images and/or publication permissions, please visit https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/library/research-visits-image-requests/

Other Finding Aids

This catalogue entry derives from Stewart Tiley's unpublished descriptive catalogue of the post-1500 western manuscripts at St John's College, Oxford (2018). This entry was uploaded to ArchivesHub in April 2023 as part of the St John's College Library digitization project. To learn more about the project and to find digital resources, please visit the Digital Library

Geographical Names

England