A poignant provenance: Henry Calverley’s Book

Rachel Eckersley, Rare Book Specialist writes:

In 2022 our Special Collections blog featured a fascinating article about Leeds University Library’s rare copy of the play ‘A Yorkshire tragedie : Not so new, as lamentable and true‘ (1619), which according to the title page was written by a certain William Shakespeare. Re-printed by William Jaggar for Thomas Pavier in 1619, it was first published in 1608 and is now generally regarded as the work of the playwright and poet Thomas Middleton (1580-1627). It dramatizes the real-life case of Walter Calverley of Calverley Hall, near Leeds, who was executed in 1605 at York for the murder of two of his sons, William (1601-1605) and Walter (1603-1605). He also tried to murder his wife, Phillipa Brooke (1585-1613), and he was only frustrated in his attempt to harm his youngest son, Henry, because he was not in the house at the time.

Henry Calverley (1604-1650/1651), British (English) School, National Trust, Wallington. Photo credit: National Trust Images (via Art UK).

In 2023 Leeds University Library acquired a copy of ‘The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the Seventh‘ by Francis Bacon (1561-1626) for its particular and poignant provenance. An inscription on the title page in a seventeenth-century hand reads: Henrie Caluerley his booke. Henry Calverley (1604-1651?/1661?), the surviving son of the infamous Walter, inherited the estate in 1623. He was the last of the family to live regularly at Calverley Hall, Calverley, West Yorkshire, a medieval manor house and now a Landmark Trust property. ¹

In later life, Henry Calverley faced further difficulties when Parliament fined him heavily for being a Royalist and the family’s financial position became precarious. It is possible that chattels, including books, were sold to help pay the fine. The family’s fortunes were restored only by the efforts of Henry’s son and grandson, both named Walter.

Title page of ‘The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh‘ with the signatures of Henrie Calverley and John Yonge Akerman. Image credit Leeds University Library.

There are two other identifiable former owners of ‘The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the Seventh’. John Yonge Akerman, originally Ackermann (1806-1873), was a numismatist and joint secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, and annotations about the text in the margins of several pages are in his hand; he acquired the book in 1829. A further inscription on the front flyleaf reveals how Ackerman came by Henry Calverley’s book: ‘Dear Sir, As you are curious in historical books, be pleased to accept of this history of Henry VIIth from your sincere friend Wm Cobbett Jr.’ It was presented to him by William Cobbett Jnr (1798-1878), eldest son of the journalist, writer, and politician William Cobbett (1763-1835).

Inscription on the front flyleaf of ‘The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh‘ with the signature of William Cobbett, junior. Image credit Leeds University Library.

¹ The Landmark Trust, Calverley Old Hall, https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/search-and-book/properties/calverley-old-hall-5219/#Overview