Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-29
DECAY|NC RECORDS
Historic English Papers Buried
in Old Vaults.
MANUSCRIPT TREASURES
Documents Dating From and Telling
of the Great Fire and the
Plague of London.
From the London Chronicle.

From the London Chronicle.
The possibility of Shakespeare records
being among the large quantity of unex-
amined documents in the vaults of the
Gulldhall, IS stated by Dr. Sharpe. be-
fore the royal commission on public rec
ords. has aroused keen and widespread
interest Dr. Sharpe, as records clerk to
the city corporation, has been engaged
for many Years deciphering ancient rec
ors OF the city, and has already publish
ed. under the direction of the authorities,
number OF volumes bearing on the re-
search already made and the important
discoveries -'ound lin the archives of the
Guildhall The documents which lie I'M
touched in the city records office are very
valuable, bat unless some attempt is
made to rescue them it is probable that
some will be lost entirely. Prof Wallace
is anxious hat a systematic search be
pected. be approached in the near future
IN the hope that some more light will be
thrown on the life of Shakespeare.
A responsible official told one of our
representatives Saturday that it was only
last year that new charter closet had
been finished for the holding of the an
clnt charters. many of which bore the
signatures Of historical personages. but
We're in an extremely dilapidated condi-
ton. Ever after the new chambers
We're built he said. lit was found that
the temperature of the strong room in the
town clerks department was often too
nigh. and damage was caused to the
bindings of the volumes. We have also
BEEN collecting parish records from all
the churches and old public buildings
where such existed. They were brought
here in carloads. and were in such state
that dlsinfectants had to be used before
they could he handled. Many of these
records related to the great plague of
London. and were written about that
time in beautiful handwriting. These
nave not been indexed Or catalogued yet
and it VIII take many years before the
work is accomplished.
1t is not surprising to learn that many
documents have been irretrievably lost
for it is only now that the record Office
at the Guildhall is beginning to see a
way out of the untltterabIe chaos which
threatened to overwhelm it half q GEN.
tury ago. SO late the year 1869 the IL
brary committee sent resolution to the
court of common council pointing out the
danger which overshadowed the valuable
papers buried in the vaults. The appeal
emphasized the fact that there are
among the records of the corporation in
the custody of the town clerk manu-
scripts of great historical interest and
Importance which it is desirable should
be rescued from the oblivion to which
they are at present consigned"
An Inventory of Treasures.
An inventory of the treasures was de-
termined on, and the result showed that
even where charters had been trans
lated the interpretations were in many
instances wrong, and in other cases no
trace of the original documents was to
be found The record room was d vaulted
chamber beneath the council apartment,
and when an examination was made the
results somewhat appalled, the investi
gators. Vast quantities of origina! pa
pers and documents relating TO the may
or's court, proceedings under writs of
dover. ETC.. were lying rotting in damp
corners. Papers bearing royal sigma lures
We're full of Termin and lay huddled
among others, mildewed and decaying
There were several hundred rolls of in
ventories of orphans effects, Old Bailey
sessions, London sessions, Southwark
sessions presentations from the borough
of Southwark. documents relating to the
poll tax. papers dealing with ward as
sessments of 1850, a large quantity of
original docun ents submitted to the
courts of aldermen. and a great number
of corporation books. including nine draft
minute books of committees and courts
of the corporation. In a large iron chest
were found, in a state of disorder, bun
dies of deeds, copies of wills and maria ge
settlements, many of the former being
the title deeds of property
purchased by the corporation These
were not listed in any of the preserved
records and the report of the investi-
gators stated emphatically that 1.-The fore
going evfnces so much laxity i'm the
preservation of these valuable documents
that we feel it our duty to call atten-
ton TO the state of affairs
Papers Still Neglected.
Ever since thar time comparatively lit
tie has been done to preserve and deci-
pher the papers. In the chamberlain's de-
partment the condition of affairs was
even worse. A room beneath the loggia
leading from the Guildhall to the read
ing room was fun of other papers some
in sacks few in boxes and many lying
loosely on the floor. The wallis were
damp. and large number of the docu-
ments were damaged by water. others
were mildcwcd and verminous Many
important documents were entirely de-
stroycd. Some were SO rotten that they
could not he handled. The writing on
number was entirely obitcratcd. The
room was dirty and oycrcrowded. In
twenty five sacks were found mscella-
neous papers said to have been saved
from a fire whic1 destroyed a chamber
In 1855. numbers were. found stuck to-
eether so that il was impossible to sep
arate Them Among them were printed