SELIM Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera, Selim 11 (2001-2002): 147—165 PHILIP PERRY'S MANUSCRIPT SKETCH OF BRITISH HISTORY (c. 1770): EDITING A VALLISOLETAN HISTORICAL RECORD OF EARLY BRITAIN For at least 25 years now, Anglists and historians of the University of Valladolid have kept a scientific and humanistic interest in the English College of Saint Alban in Valladolid, an institution that holds bibliographical and documentary sources of an exceptional wealth. In this article, we intend to give notice of the constitution of a team of researchers in the English Department of the University of Valladolid devoted to the study of such documentary funds. The Group is currently working on the edition of one of the manuscripts kept in the College Archive —Sketch of British History, an ecclesiastical history of early Britain written in the 18th century by former College Rector Philip Perry. This article is a preliminary note on a work in progress. THE ROYAL ENGLISH COLLEGE OF ST. ALBAN, VALLADOLID The English College of Valladolid was founded in the 16th century, when English Seminaries were established on the continent for the training of priests that would serve "the English Mission" during the persecution of Catholics in England and Wales.1 The Colleges in France and Italy being beset by political and economic troubles, Spain began to be seen as the best alternative to found a new seminary. In 1589, Father Robert Persons was granted king Philip II's authority to found a new training-college in 1 The first of those was the English College at Douai, France, founded in 1568 by Cardinal William Allen to educate young Catholics not allowed to practice their religion under Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The College flourished for two centuries and sent dozens of priests into England as missionaries. The new hazards that the French Revolution brought to the Catholic Church threatened the College's survival. In 1793, it was moved from France back into England and became St. Edmund’s College, a small Catholic boarding school in Ware. Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 148 Valladolid, with St. Alban, the English protomartyr, as patron saint.2 In the lead of this Castilian college, the Seminary of St Gregory was established in Seville three years later and in 1610 the College of St. George in Madrid. The three seminaries were under the administration of the Jesuits and when these were expelled from Spain in 1767 and the colleges mistakenly thought to be their properties, they were confiscated —only to be returned to the English clergy soon afterwards. Dr. Philip Perry, a secular priest and author of the manuscript we are presenting here, was appointed the first English Rector of the united Colleges in 1768. The three English Colleges in Spain had all merged into the Valladolid institution. Perry had a difficult work ahead bringing together their books, rents and foundations. So important is what he accomplished, that Michael Williams —the scholar that has published more consistently on St. Alban's College— considers Philip Perry its second founder (1986: 107). We today are fortunate to have within easy reach the two magnificent libraries that Perry's efforts helped to conform and preserve3 and the College Archive that he reorganized, extremely valuable document repositories that have attracted the interest of a number of scholars.4 2 Needless to say, Queen Elizabeth I saw these Seminaries as a breeding-place of traitors: «The King of Spaine, for furthering of other intentions against Englande, has dealt with Cardinal Allen and Father Persons to gather together with great labour uppon his charges a multitude of dissolute youthes to begin this seminary of Valladolid and others in Spaine» [Proclamation against seminary priests and Jesuits issued by Queen Elizabeth I (1591:2)]. 3 The 'Pigskin' Library with 2,883 volumes bound in vellum, comprising the original library at St. Alban's and the acquisitions from St. George's in Madrid and other Jesuit houses; and the Old Library, with 6,765 volumes. An important number of volumes are, for obvious historical reasons, Books of Controversies � passionate defences of the Catholic orthodoxy then assaulted by a number of heretic reforms. The Jesuit spirituality is also manifest in the sheer abundance of volumes by Jesuit theologians such as Francisco Suárez, together with books on law, history, astronomy, grammar, etc. and an important number of texts related to the city of Valladolid. 4 These investigative efforts are particularly evident in the period that spans from 1977 to 1990, when the English Department Review, ES, published a number of articles by the late Professor Ruiz Ruiz, among others, who wrote on the founder of the College —the English Jesuit Robert Persons (1546-1610)— and other early College figures, and began to call attention on some of the historical documents kept in the College Archives. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 149 THE SAN ALBANO RESEARCH GROUP In 2001, a research team was constituted in the Department of English of the University of Valladolid, with Dr. Carlos Herrero Quirós as Director. The San Albano Research Group —as the eight members have chosen to call themselves (www.uva.es/sanalbano)— began their work with a broad motivation: to help establish an academic forum dedicated to the study of the College's rich documentary and bibliographical funds; more specifically, the group has undertaken the creation of a deposit of microfilms of medieval and modern documentary sources on the ecclesiastical history of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the acquisition of bibliographical resources on ecclesiastical history, particularly that dealing with the Medieval and Modern periods �both deposits being an offshoot of their two years' background research on one of Rector Perry's manuscripts held in the College Archive: an ecclesiastical history of early Britain whose critical edition is currently in active preparation. PHILIP PERRY'S MEDIEVALIST INTERESTS AND OUTPUT To better understand the particulars of this interesting autograph ecclesiastical history, we will benefit from an overview of the author's personality as a committed bibliophile and a tireless writer of historical and devotional works. Although not exclusively interested in the medieval era, Philip Perry nevertheless disclosed a particular interest in it, both in the books he chose to bring to the Library and those he wrote. A vast number of volumes in the College Old Library that were his own revolve around the medieval era. Asser's ninth century Life of King Alfred or De Alfredi Rebus Gestis (839),5 William Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum (1655-73),6 James Ussher's Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates (1639),7 Henry 5 In William Camden’s Anglica, Normannica, Hibernica, Cambrica a veteribus scripta. Perry’s personal copy was printed in Germany (Frankfurt, 1603) [St. Alb. Big Lib. 3466]. 6 Or, The History of the Ancient Abbies and other Monasteries, Hospitals, Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches in England and Wales. Perry’s signed two- volume copy was printed in London (1693) [St. Alb. Big Lib. 3812, 3813]. 7 Perry’s copy (Dublin, 1639) [St. Alb. Big Lib. 5149]. Ussher’s Antiquities of the British Church seems to influence the Sketch’s general plan to such a degree that it can be argued that Perry’s text may be an abridged English version of Ussher’s Latin work. An attempt to unearth their intricate connection remains to be made. Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 150 Wharton's Anglia Sacra (1691),8 Thomas Innes's Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland (1729),9 or collections of classical and medieval sources like Thomas Gale's Scriptores Historiae Britannicae, Saxonicae, Anglo-Danicae (1687),10 to name but a few, are invaluable sources on Medieval English History that Perry's interests have left for our enjoyment today. Not only did he read, buy and collect books �he also wrote. A true scholar, Perry has left us many autograph manuscripts: to this day, the College Archive holds eighteen voluminous bundles containing his writings. These bundles are representative of the Rector's many interests; the medieval period stands out among them. Hagiography is one of Perry's favourites as shown by his Lives of British and English Saints; together with the Lives of Martyrs and Holy Persons, they testify to the Rector's interest in biography in general, particularly evident in his Life of Bishop Robert Grosseteste. Reformation Figures and the Reformation Period in general are also looked into, as is British History, in the form of loose papers and, of course, in our bundle of three manuscripts, containing a Continuation of Bede's History and two versions of Sketch of British History.11 8 Philip Perry’s personal copy (1691) [St. Alb. Big Lib. 3602, De Archiepiscopis et Episcopis Ecclesiarum Cathedralium; 3603, Plures antiquas de Vitis and rebus gestis Præsulum Anglicorum Historias]. 9 Innes’s two first-edition volumes, printed in London, in 1729, are signed by Philip Perry [St. Alb. Big Lib. 5157 and 5158]. 10 It contains the works of Gildas, Nennius, William of Malmesbury, John Fordun, among others, and chronicles like Annales Waverleienses. Perry’s personal copy is in two volumes (1684, 1691) [St. Alb. Big Lib. 3600, 3601]. 11 The Perry Manuscripts kept in the Archive of San Albano and their bundle numbers are: [151] Old Testament Lives; [152] Lives of British Saints; [153] Lives of Various English Saints (Incomplete); [154] English Martyrs and Lives of Saints and Holy Persons (Foreign); [155] Continuation of Bede's History; [156] Life of Grosseteste (MS); [157] Life of Fisher (Incomplete); [158] Various Writings on John Fisher; [159] Life of Erasmus (Incomplete); [160] Various writings on Erasmus; [161] Reformation Figures e.g. Colet, More, Crammer, Luter (Copied); [162] Loose Quaternions on Reformation period. Including transcriptions; [163] Loose papers on Theological Subjects and Loose papers on British History; [164] Liturgical Notes: Sermons: Instructions on the Blessed Sacrament; [165] Sheperd's letters to Perry; [S/N] Perry's Catalogue of Archives; Perry's Travels; A Collection of Notes for Historical Studies; [S/N] Perry Correspondence 1768-73. Sheperd Correspondence. Sheperd vv. Catholic Committee; [S/N] Perry's Mss. (history & research). We have used the title that Michael Williams wrote on each bundle and, if absent, the content summary written on the box that contains each bundle. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 151 But Perry's output was even larger than this. On finding out a concomitance in the title of the first manuscript in our chosen bundle — Continuation of Bede's History— with that of a Perry manuscript held in the Scottish Catholic Archives,12 two members of the Group travelled to Edinburgh to examine the link between both texts. The Scottish Archives hold ten manuscript volumes by Philip Perry, all but one of which coincide either in title or in subject matter with the Valladolid texts.13 The parallelism between the Valladolid and the Edinburgh papers is one we are currently examining, but this early we are almost certain that the Edinburgh versions of the texts with similar title kept in Valladolid are the final versions of the San Albano drafts.14 In any case, Michael Williams gives some evidence as to how the works could have reached Scotland: John Geddes, Rector of the Scots College in Valladolid and a friend of Perry's with similar bibliophile interests, would have mediated after the English Rector's death to have the books transferred to the Isles since he thought that those revised final versions merited publication (1983: 94-95).15 The Sketch of British History, 12 In 1957, the Scottish bishops bought a house in Edinburgh —Columba House— where the Scottish Church Archives, housed in Blairs College (Aberdeen) could be transferred and thus be more accessible to researchers in general. The Archives represent Catholic life in Scotland from the 16th century down to the late 19th century, when the Scottish Catholic Hierarchy was re-established and each diocese began to maintain its own archives. See David McRoberts (1977): 125-28. 13 These are the Philip Perry manuscripts held in the Scottish Catholic Archives: [P5.1] Vita Christi, companion volume to Introduction to the Lives of the Saints; [P5.2] Introduction to the Lives of the Saints; [P5.3] A Chronological Catalogue of British, Irish and Scotch Saints and Holy Persons; [P5.4] Continuation of Bede's Civil and Ecclesiastical History down to the Norman Conquest, in four volumes (vol. 1); [P5.5] Succession of the Kings of Mercia (vol. 2); [P5.6] King Egbert, King of the West Saxons and First Monarch of England (vol. 3); [P5.7] Succession of Kings of the Third Period (vol. 4); [P5.8] Life of John Fisher, in two volumes (vol. 1); [P5.9] Life of John Fisher (vol. 2); [P5.10] Essay on the Life and Manners of the Venerable Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln. 14 Except for the Life of Grosseteste, that would have been written in England before Perry left for Valladolid. See Williams (1983: 94). 15 John Geddes was the Scottish agent sent to Madrid by the Scottish bishops — urged by Philip Perry— to prevent the loss of the Scots College in Madrid after the expulsion of the Jesuits, who had run the institution until then. The Madrid foundation had been joined to the Alcalá Irish College. Geddes was given the college library but neither a college nor secure endowment. He wanted the Madrid and Seville foundations to be amalgamated and transferred to Valladolid. Philip Perry's influence was used. The king finally agreed to Geddes's desires and in 1771 the Jesuit College of San Ambrosio in Valladolid —unoccupied since the Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 152 both in its draft form and its clean-up version, remained in Valladolid. But Perry surely would have liked to bring it to public notice —a task that we are aiming to fulfil, even if two hundred years late. Before dealing with the problems involved in preparing a version of Perry’s work for presentation to a reading public, it will be useful to provide some brief identification and description of the manuscript, along with a fuller sketch of its contents, with the understanding that the information advanced here should be supplemented by consultation of our first appendix. THE LEGAJO [BUNDLE] ‘SAN ALBANO, VALLADOLID, 155’ The bundle is number 155 of Michael Williams's reorganization of the Archive of St. Alban’s College's documents and papers.16 This legajo stores three independent manuscripts. MS. 1 comprises methodical notes for the future composition of the four-volume work on the English church history after Bede’s time that is kept in the Scottish Catholic Archives. MS. 2 is the government confiscation in 1767— became the new Scots College in Spain, placed under royal patronage; the Real Colegio de Escoceses would be a university college of Valladolid until the early 19th century when the universities became secularized. 16 John Guest is responsible for the first classification in 1855 of the 25 legajos that then existed in the Archive of Saint Alban’s College. At the turn of the 20th century, about 1906, Joseph Kelly subdivided and reorganised all the legajos. In 1920 he formed an index of the archives, where each individual document was numbered under divisions I-VII and A-H. His Indice de los Archivos del Colegio de los Ingleses, Valladolid collects three inventories. The earlier one (pp. 1-94) was compiled before 1767 and is now outdated and useless; the second one (Ser. I, pp. 101-220; Ser. II, pp. 237-69) is his own compilation (c. 1920) and is still useful today; the third inventory (Seville, pp. 297-369) lists the collections in the Archivos del Colegio de San Gregorio in Seville. In pages 205-07 Kelly registered the Sketch as belonging to one of the 11 legajos under Letra G, in Serie II, Legajo 3º and his hand set down a location number for it on its front card-cover, which read “San Albano, Valladolid, Serie II, Legajo 3º”. Kelly’s legajos were kept virtually intact when Edwin Henson broke many of them up in the year 1940. Most were bounded in leather, while a group of them (mainly fragments and loose correspondence items, some unclassified, a good many unread) remained loose until the time of Michael Williams’s undertakings in the mid-1960s. His studious activity is liable for the renumbering of Kelly’s legajos in the manuscript inventory Archive of St. Alban’s College, Valladolid. Compiled by Michael Williams in 1965, this inventory was completed in 1988. It includes the Madrid, Seville and Valladolid holdings, these last comprising manuscripts, transcripts, legajos, and bound books. Perry’s bundle is registered in page 71. His catalogue still needs updating, though. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 153 Sketch of British History our research group has prepared for editing �in fact it is only a preliminary draft of a final version that follows it, making MS. no. 3 in the collected bundle. Because this revised version is incomplete (only the first 15 quires are kept), to prepare our edition we have had to make do with the first uncorrected document in MS. 2. Blotted words, crossed-out paragraphs and excised leaves have come in our way, but the value and singularity of this piece of work was all too inviting. MANUSCRIPT DESCRIPTION The Sketch's draft makes up a total number of 192 leaves. Its 96 half- sheets are of watermarked, laid paper, their size being in quarto. The sheets were cut, folded once and stitched making up 45 gatherings or quires of four leaves each �with a few rare exceptions. As can be seen from the sample digital copy of fol. 6:3r appended below [Fig.1], the author included no foliation, except for the numbering of each gathering on the right upper corner of every first recto. One should note the presence of several excised leaves and loose leaves that Perry added by way of emendation. CONTENTS OF THE SKETCH OF BRITISH HISTORY, BY PHILIP PERRY (1720-1774) Its full title, as proposed on its first folio, is Sketch of British History, chiefly with regard to Church affairs, from its first conversion to Christianity, down to the conversion of the Saxons. Perry’s history discloses the text’s direct dependence on this heading. The first part of the title reveals Perry’s plan of content organization. Thus, the words ‘Sketch of British History, chiefly with regard to Church affairs’ announce that the text will alternate successively the narration of the landmarks of civil history with those concerning the ecclesiastical affairs of the period described immediately before. The second part of the title points more specifically to the time-span to be covered. It reads ‘from its first conversion to Christianity, down to the conversion of the Saxons’ and accordingly, Perry’s civil and Church history opens with the landing of the Romans on the island in Julius Caesar’s time and the subsequent arrival of the first Christians, and extends to Saint Columba’s mission in the sixth century, after the Saxon settlements. Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 154 Careful reading allows us to distinguish five stages �preceded by an introductory passage� in Perry's account of these events. 1. INTRODUCTION [F. 1:1R] Perry’s history is introduced by a short description of the isle of Britain, an explanation of the mythical and historical origin of its name and Celtic inhabitants, a relation of the main cities they peopled and a vivid report of their customs and druidic practices. One could say this makes nothing original, simply an echo of past historizing manners. But Perry lent it its distinct character. At these early stages in the narration, the author exhibits, as he will invariably do throughout his Sketch, an abundance of ancient, medieval and modern sources, a profusion which gives his writing an ‘illustrated’, encyclopaedic character of sorts.17 A case in point of such erudition, on sources ancient or contemporary, is this extract on the possible origin of the name ‘Britannia’ (1:2r): The ancient name of the island, as appears from Aristotle1 and Ptolomey2, was Albion. It was called Britannia, by way of epithet or description, from some property either of the country or its inhabitants. It has since been called absolutely Britannia, from the Welch word Brethck and the Celtic word Tannia. Bretha, according to Camden, signifies 'painted', and Tannia, according to Pezron, signifies 'country', and both together signify 'the country of a people that painted their bodies'. 1lib. de mundo, cap.3. 2apud Gale 17 We would need further discussion to clarify our understanding of ‘illustrated’ as applied to Perry, but in principle, his documenting practices should be more logically considered as a product of his natural fondness for the historical records of the English Catholic past. Also, Perry’s antiquarian use of sources can be interpreted �in view of D.R. Woolf’s statement that especially after the Reformation those interested in medieval antiquities had to worry about the charge of adhering to popery (1992: 11-16)� as a Catholic priest’s deliberate commitment to the religious counter-reformation of his nation through the presentation of reliable documentary evidence of the Roman Catholic foundational origins of her religious culture. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 155 2. FIRST-CENTURY BRITAIN: FROM JULIUS CAESAR TO THE FIRST PLANTERS OF THE GOSPEL [F. 3:3R] In the opening section of his Sketch Perry details the series of events pertaining to the early Roman province of Britannia, progressively romanized along the first century under a number of governors —Aulus Plautius, Ostorius Scapula, Quintus Veranius, Suetonius Paulinus, follow in succession, and so does the account of their reduction of the Trinovantes, the Brigantes, the Silures, or the Iceni and Queen Boadicea. Is there a purpose in presenting all these events other than mere chronicling? A sequence of transitional passages at the end of this section suggests a possible trajectory of interpretation of Perry’s stand as a Christian historian: firstly, that the work of God drew on the political and cultural grandeur of the Roman Empire with an aim to erase the superstitious religious practices of the Britons and thus favour the propagation of the Gospel, and secondly, that only after that, the true Christian faith was allowed to shine on the British nation through the works and miracles of those saintly men that lived after the Roman retreat and before the Germanic invasions.18 Here is one of those intermediary sections that encapsulate Perry’s twofold thesis: Now as the reduction of Britain under the Roman Empire had opened the road to the first planters of the Gospel, so this extirpation of the supports of idolatry, which followed so close upon the confessed destruction of their own venerated demons, contributed no doubt, to render the propagation of the Gospel more successful. (6:1v)19 18 In reading such passages, we found another interpretative path that could be applied to the text’s general content plan, not in the least in confrontation with the five divisions here proposed. The text could be divided into two basic sections: a first one (which includes divisions 2 and 3) would revolve around the Roman extirpation of pagan and druidic practices; a following section (developing along divisions 4 to 5) would then focus on the gradual strengthening of the islanders’ Christian character. These considerations on content distribution will be duly taken into account when setting divisions in our final edited document. 19 Stronger evidence makes such a reading sustainable, for the same twofold argument opens the Sketch in its very first paragraph: «It’s an observation of ecclesiastic writers, no less judicious than Christian, that Almighty God, in sending his Son into the world, united the whole universe under one sole Roman Empire, Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 156 3. SECOND-CENTURY BRITAIN: KING LUCIUS AND THE RISE OF THE BRITISH ECCLESIASTICAL ORDER [F. 6:3R] Thus opens a second historical sequence. On this occasion, Perry dwells on the conversion of the Celtic chieftain Lucius,20 which he still gives credit for, as happening around A.D. 175, during Pope Eleutherius's pontificate. It is interesting the way in which he now details how the Bishop of Rome promoted the constitution of an official British Church hierarchy, as represented by the consecration of the first suffragan bishops of London, York and Caerleon, but his focus unexpectedly, though not unjustifiably, turns somewhere else. Perry informs us that these were the days of formation of the first dogmas, rites and liturgy of the Roman Church, which leads him to review at length the works of Saint Justin and other apologists of the 2nd century. Why he enlarges on their treatises to paraphrase their defence of the Eucharist, for instance, or their attacks against heresies, can be properly explained through his claim that circumstances remain unchanged. Perry would have gladly applied their teachings to his own time, given the persistent anti-Catholic sentiment that his fellow priests had been facing back in England. It is only natural, then, that he chooses to close this second section with the exemplary portraits of Fagan and Deruvian, the first two native Christian apostles. 4. FOURTH-CENTURY BRITAIN: ROMAN PERSECUTIONS OF CHRISTIANS AND FIRST BRITISH MARTYRS [F. 10:2V] The next stage in the narration is concerned with the third century. Severus and Caracalla’s campaigns and Diocletian’s persecutions allow Perry to depict the staunch faith of the Britons. To prove their firmness, he for the more easy propagation of his saving Gospel amongst mankind. This same conduct his providence held in a palpable manner with regard to our Britains: his wisdom not only made use of the Roman power to subdue and unite Britain to the rest of the Empire, but on their humanity to remove the two chief obstacles to the reception of the Gospel, by taming the barbarity of the nation and extirpating the cruel superstitions of their druidish doctors» (1:1r). 20 Incidentally, St. Alban's College houses a collection of portraits of seven kings of England by Velázquez's master Francisco Pacheco (1564-1644) �six of them are saints, beginning with Lucius, the Christian king of the Britons; the others are Ethelbert, St. Sebbi, St. Edmund, St. Edward III, St. Richard I and St. Edward II. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 157 dwells on the shedding of St. Alban’s and the first British martyrs’ blood; to enhance their influential capacity, he highlights the attendance of native prelates to the main contemporary continental Church councils; to illustrate the devotion of the Britons, he tells of their travels and peregrination to the Holy Land, Syria or Rome. 5. FOURTH-CENTURY BRITAIN: ROMAN RETREAT AND ATTACKS OF THE CALEDONIANS [F. 18:1R] At this point, the narration traces the history of Britain in the 4th century: a succinct retrospective of the political instabilities in the island caused by the progressive retreat of Roman legions and garrisons after Constantine’s days. Perry relates how the Picts and Scots routed the Britons, as Perry puts it, after Bede’s style, «no otherwise than as ravenous wolves, whose hunger, increased by the good watch of the shepherds, falls with more greediness and cruelty on the abandoned flock» (19:4v). According to Perry, the virtual extermination of «the flower of the British youth», to use those days’ cherished phrase, at the hands of both the Romans and the Caledonians, culminated in a truce. This exceptional circumstance Perry attributes to the miraculous converting labours of St. Ninian among the Northern Picts and St. Patrick among the Irish (Scots). He offers detailed accounts of their missions to open the next section and to conclude the Sketch. 6. FIFTH-CENTURY BRITAIN: THE GOLDEN AGE OF CELTIC CHRISTIANITY AND THE GERMANIC INVASIONS [F. 26:3V] This final section culminates with the Germanic peoples reaching the coasts of Britain. Perry reasons this is a consequence of the period of moral dissipation that followed King Arthur’s time, a period of corrupt leadership among the British chieftains and Church representatives. In fact, his focus is on Wales now, to depict the lives and miracles of those holy men that lived among the dissolute. A contrast is set through biographical sketches like those of St. Winwaloc, St. John of Chinon, St. Carantock, St. Gundlaus, St. Cadoc, St. Dubricius, St. David, St. Thelian or St. Oudoceus, who appear among many other representatives of the golden age of Celtic Christianity. Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 158 The final leaves are reserved for St. Columba, the apostle of the Northern Picts, the last discernible date in the manuscript being A.D. 607. Columba’s detailed sketch finishes abruptly with the words «his successors in the Abbeys of Hy» (45:4v). It would therefore appear that those words are not the definitive ending of the Sketch. We may speculate that a couple of leaves are missing, but this accident does not prevent the text from covering fully the time-span and content that the title promised. OUR EDITION:21 To prepare a version of Perry’s work for presentation to a reading public was our task and it is with this task and with the decisions and problems attending it that this article will conclude. The first major decision we made was that our edition was to be critical. We would attempt to establish a text based upon the type of research proposed by the principles of textual criticism. The chosen copy-text for such a scholarly edition was to be MS. 2 in Bundle 155 of the Archive of St. Alban’s, given that the more perfected version of it that follows in the bundle was incomplete. An edition of MS. 3 was to be appended after it. These decisions were taken after a series of considerations. To establish the text, the Group first attempted a Diplomatic Transcript Edition of its 45 gatherings. We began by microfilming the entire bundle, and printing paper copies from which to start transcribing. Paper copies were in any case no substitute for the examination of the manuscript itself, for our original intention was to reproduce in a modern typeface as many of the features of the manuscript and as much of its physical appearance as possible. We needed clear and consistent principles. A decision was made not to observe exact lineation, though; the degree of fidelity to the document need not make a type facsimile, since there was neither intended plan nor editorial interest in facing our transcript pages with image reproductions of the folios. The transcript would neither take any regard of special letter- shapes like long s or round s, except for æ or ß. In turn, our transcript should concentrate on the textual content of Perry’s manuscript, not only reproduce 21 For textual practice, Philip Gaskell (1972) and D.C. Greetham (1994) are still to be recommended. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 159 original spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, but also unexpanded abbreviations and superscripts [Fig. 2]. Our future editorial conjectures could then rest upon this transcript and critical choices could depend on the evidence available in it. A second major decision came soon after completing the transcript of MS. 2 and MS. 3: our critical edition need not just be a separate typesetting of the text. G. Thomas Tanselle notes that the editor should distinguish between treating documents intended for publication and those which are more of a private nature (correspondence, notebooks, etc.): he suggests he should transcribe the latter as they are and not attempt to normalize them (Greetham 1994: 350-51). But the problem was that our Sketch shared those two identities: clearly a preliminary draft, there seemed to be evidence to prove, however, that it had been intendedly written for publication. Take for instance the existence of Perry’s corrected version of the Sketch, though unfinished, or likewise the above-mentioned fact that his revised histories and biographies were brought to Scotland by one of his contemporaries to be published there. Consequently, some degree of normalization would be pertinent, away from absolute, scrupulus fidelity to appearance. From here, the next possible step we envisaged was to attempt an Eclectic Clear-Text Edition of Perry’s British History, a practice much dominant in Anglo-American textual criticism over the last half-century. We could embark on the production of a clear-text reading version by selecting variants from the two different states of the text in MS. 2 and 3, in an attempt to reconstruct Perry’s final text as he intended it to be published. The trouble was, on the one hand, that MS. 3 was not complete, and on the other, that we were aware of Tanselle’s warnings against a critic’s capacity to judge the author’s intention and of the complex editorial work involved (Greetham 1994: 336-37). How possible then was to make our edited text bear features from those two witnesses, and how recommendable was it to make it become a text that never was? We considered that MS. 2 could stand on its own as a reliable testimony to the Sketch’s textual entity. MS. 3 could not be regarded as more than an unfinished rewriting project. Given that a single copy-text was to be used, the best choice seemed to be a Clear-Text reading version [Fig. 3]. The text- Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 160 page would be entirely free of signs of editorial intervention, providing a clear reading text separate from the various types of apparatus, in such a way that unless the reader specifically looked into the apparatus, there would be no sign of changes made by the editors. In similar fashion, textual notes should be necessarily simplified, given that no variants would be put into play. Instead, our textual introduction would present the principles used in the editing process in full. There we would offer a complete discussion on any degree of normalization or modernization applied, with regard to punctuation, for instance, a record of any transcriptional changes put into use, our handling of word-division, expanded abbreviations, and the introduction of any emendations. Finally, again for the sake of clarity, explanatory and historical annotations, glossary and indexes of persons, places and topics would be taken particular care of. CONCLUSION We would like to conclude by admitting that, in truth, the materials in the Archive of Saint Alban’s College would be of special interest to Renaissance and modern historians, particularly those intrigued by Anglo-Hispanic political and religious relations. However, we trust that adequate cataloguing may bring out the Archive’s wealth of contents in full, and unveil the interest they have for medievalists too. The College Old Library, for its part, is rich enough to interest them. Philip Perry’s Sketch and his extensive use of sources are certainly an instance of how the library's rare book holdings can be a source for historians of Early Britain, Anglo-Saxonists and Medievalists. The eventual publication of Perry’s Sketch of British History by the Research Group may hopefully become a threshold to both documentary deposits. Our Research Group will work to publicize the college’s open possibilities of promising research. Medievalists may be glad to know that the Group's next project is to edit Perry’s Continuation of Bede’s History, and that the authors of this article are personally undertaking the cataloguing of those rare books for the study of early Britain and Medieval England which are housed at the Old Library of the College. It is our hope that in the future all SELIM members can benefit from the results of our work. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 161 Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera Universidad de Valladolid APPENDIX I: MANUSCRIPT DESCRIPTION ARCHIVO DEL COLEGIO DE LOS INGLESES, VALLADOLID: MS. 2, BUNDLE 155. Ff. 192. Paper, good condition, slightly damped. 215 x 155 mm. Frame 115 x 200 mm., containing 23 lines. Abundant notes on margins. e 20th-c. fastened cardboard covers. COLLATION: 1-88, 916,178 (loose leaf), 18-268, 2716 (wants 1, 13, 15), 28-338, 3410 (loose leaf), 35-408, 4112, 42-458. CONTENTS: Perry, Sketch of British History chiefly with regard to Church affairs from their first conversion to Christianity down to the conversion of the Saxons (c. 1770). Lacks final quire, misplaced? f. 1:1r Introduction: A description of the island, origin of its name and inhabitants, their main cities, customs and religious practices. f. 3:3r 1st-century Britain: From Julius Caesar’s expeditions to the British resistance and the landing of the first planters of the Gospel (Joseph the Just?). f. 6:3r 2nd-century Britain: King Lucius and the establishment of regular ecclesiastical order in London, York and Caerleon. f. 10:2v 3rd-century Britain: Roman persecutions of Christians and first British martyrs (St. Alban, †209?). f. 18:1r 4th-century Britain: Roman retreat and attacks of Picts, Attacotti and Irish (Scots) on British towns. f. 26:3v 5th-century Britain: The golden age of Celtic Christianity and the Germanic invasions. Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 162 HAND: Perry. Ligatures, long -s. Written in Valladolid, probably after 1770. Wholly in English, barring notes or citations in Latin. Frequent blotted words and crossed-out paragraphs. HISTORY: First draft. Incomplete revised version follows after in the bundle. NOTICES: Kelly, Index, c. 1920, pp. 205-07. Williams, Archive, 1987- 88, p. 71. APPENDIX II: A FOLIO OF THE SKETCH ILLUSTRATED, TRANSCRIBED, EDITED FIG. 1. Fol. 6:3r of Perry’s Sketch of British History (c. 1770): manuscript copy written by Philip Perry in black ink, c. 1770. MS. 2, Bundle 155, Archivo Colegio San Albano, Valladolid. Digital Image. Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 163 FIG. 2. Diplomatic Transcript Edition of Perry’s Sketch of British History (c. 1770), fol. 6:3r, by Grupo de Investigación San Albano (2002), observing original lineation. †Monast.Anglic. đ.3 p.188 ‡Angl. Sacr: đ:2: p.667. tributary he was: be this as it may; it was under these two last= =mentioned Emperors, and the Pontificate of Pope Eleutherius, who Sat the thirteenth in S. Peters chair: from an 177 to 192, that K. Lucius, profiting of the General Liberty lately allowd by Marcus Aurelius, Sent an Embassy to S: Eleutherius as to the common Father of Xtians, in order to obtain instructors both for himself & people; there were at this time, flourishing Churches of Xtians, in the neighburhood of Britain, both in Gaul & Spain, as is testified by Iræneus & Tertullian, both contemporary authors, yet to neither of these did Lucius make application, but the more distant Bp of Rome, as to ye acknowledg'd Head of the Christian Church. the old book of Landaff, published by Dugdale†, and in part by Wharton‡, and esteemed by Collier to contain the original traditions of the British Church, relates the matter thus, very conformably to Bede, tho Somewhat more particularly: «Lucius K. of the Britains, Sent his Embaßadors «Elvan, and Meduin to Eleutherius, the twelfth Pope Anunciación Carrera & Mª José Carrera 164 FIG. 3. Clear-Text Edition: Perry, Sketch of British History (c. 1770), fol. 6:3r. Grupo de Investigación San Albano’s proposal (2003). Subject to revision. [6:3r] tributary he was. Be this as it may, it was under these two last-mentioned emperors, and the pontificate of Pope Eleutherius, who sat the thirteenth in St. Peter's chair, from anno 177 to 192, that King Lucius, profiting of the general liberty lately allowed by Marcus Aurelius, sent an embassy to St. Eleutherius, as to the common father of Christians, in order to obtain instructors both for himself and [his] people. There were at this time flourishing churches of Christians in the neighbourhood of Britain, both in Gaul and Spain, as is testified by Iraeneus and Tertullian, both contemporary authors. Yet to neither of these did Lucius make application, but [to] the more distant Bishop of Rome, as to the acknowledged head of the Christian Church. The old Book of Landaff, published by Dugdale†, and in part by Wharton‡, and esteemed by Collier to contain the original traditions of the British Church, relates the matter thus, very conformably to Bede, though somewhat more particularly: «Lucius, king of the Britains, sent his embassadors Elvan and Meduin to Eleutherius, the twelfth pope [6:3v] †Monasticon Anglicanum 3, p. 188. ‡Anglia Sacra 2, p. 667. REFERENCES Gaskell, Philip 1995 [1972]: A New Introduction to Bibliography. St. Paul’s Bibliographies, Winchester. Greetham, D.C. 1994 [1992]: Textual Scholarship: An Introduction. Garland Reference Library for the Humanities 1417. Garland, New York. Grupo de Investigación San Albano 2003: Documentación Inédita de la Biblioteca de San Albano de Valladolid: Hacia una edición crítica de Sketch of the Ancient British History de Philip Perry (1720-1774). Pilar Abad & José Ramón Fernández. eds. Estudios de Filología Philip Perry's Manuscript Sketch of British History (c.1770) 165 Inglesa: Homenaje al Prof. José Mª Ruiz. Servicio de Publicaciones de la UVA, Valladolid: 321-35. Kelly, Joseph c. 1920: Índice de los Archivos del Colegio de los Ingleses, Valladolid. Three manuscript inventories bound in one volume, kept at the Archivo del Colegio de los Ingleses, Valladolid. McRoberts, David 1977: Columba House. The Innes Review. The Scottish Catholic Archives 1560-1978, vol. 28: no. 2: 125-28. Perry, Philip c. 1770: Sketch of British History, chiefly with regard to Church affairs, from its first conversion to Christianity, down to the conversion of the Saxons. MS 2, Legajo 155. Archivo del Colegio de los Ingleses, Valladolid. Proclamation by Elizabeth I 1591: By the Queene. A declaration of great troubles pretended against the Realme by a number of Seminarie Priests and Jesuits … with a provision very necessary for remedy thereof, etc. (18 Oct. 1591). B.L., Deputies of C. Baker, London. Williams, Michael 1983: English Manuscripts in Scottish Archives: The Legacy of an Eighteenth-Century Friendship. The Innes Review, vol. 34: 93-96. Williams, Michael 1986: St. Alban's College, Valladolid: Four Centuries of English Catholic Presence in Spain. Hurst, London. Williams, Michael. Completed c. 1988: Archive of St. Alban’s College, Valladolid, compiled in 1965. Bound manuscript volume kept at the Archivo del Colegio de los Ingleses, Valladolid. Woolf, D.R. 1992: The Dawn of the Artifact: The Antiquarian Impulse in England, 1500-1730. Medievalism in England, ed. Leslie J. Workman [Studies in Medievalism IV]. D.S. Brewer, Cambridge. * † *