Guide to the Gibbon Family Papers M0348
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
1999; updated 2023
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Gibbon Family Papers
Creator:
Gibbon family
Creator:
Gibbon, Edward
Creator:
James, King of England, I
Creator:
James, King of England, I
Creator:
Gibbon, Edward
Creator:
Ashton, Thomas
Creator:
Gibbon family
source:
Carnochan, W. B.
Creator:
Elizabeth I, Queen of England
Creator:
Elizabeth I, Queen of England
source:
Carnochan, W. B.
Creator:
Gibbon family
Creator:
Ashton, Thomas
Identifier/Call Number: M0348
Identifier/Call Number: 515
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
[2 manuscript boxes, 3 flat boxes]
Date (inclusive): 1519-1813
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36 hours in advance.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Provenance
This collection was given by W.B. Carnochan to Stanford University, Special Collections in 1981.
Biographical Note
Edward Gibbon was born in Putney, 27 April 1737. His mother died in 1747, and his father, Edward Gibbon (1707-1770), retired
from a political career to live at Buriton, near Petersfield, in Hampshire. Gibbon entered Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1752,
but left in 1753 without taking a degree. He spent the next five years living in Lausanne, Switzerland and returned to England
in 1758, when his father married his second wife, Dorothea Gibbon, (née Patton).
At Lausanne in 1764 Gibbon met John Baker Holroyd (1735-1821), the first Earl of Sheffield. He became his most intimate friend
and most important correspondent. In this year as well the idea came to him to write a comprehensive history of Rome: as I
sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted fryars were singing Vespers in the Temple of Jupiter... the
idea of writing the decline and fall of the City first started to my mind. However, filial obligations and military service
prevented him from devoting himself to writing full-time until his father's death in November, 1770. He then moved to London,
where the eight volumes of his
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire were published at regular intervals starting in 1776. He took up residence again at Lausanne in 1783, where he continued his
work on
The Decline and Fall. He returned to England upon the death of the first Lady Sheffield in 1793. He died suddenly of gout in 1794 and was buried
at Fletching Church, Sussex. In 1796 Lord Sheffield published two quarto volumes of Gibbon's
Miscellaneous Works. A second edition was printed in 1814.
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of item] Gibbon Family Papers (M0348). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford Libraries,
Stanford, Calif.
Scope and Content
Special Collections M0348 consists of letters, household bills and accounts, and legal documents related to the Gibbon Family.
The three autograph letters by Edward Gibbon are addressed to Mrs. Holroyd, the first Lady Sheffield, at Brighthelmstone.
The first concerns his father's fatal illness, 1770. The other two are light in tone, as he jokes about the dilatory nature
of her dressmaker and his bookbinder (Madame de Sevigné... is now in Hall's hands from which books do not easily escape) and
sends her news of mutual friends, 1775. The collection also includes letters to Lord Sheffield by Jean David Levade, a professor
of moral theology at the Séminaire de Lausanne, announcing the death of one of Gibbon's closest friends, Mme. Catherine Charrière
de Sévery, 1796; by W. Charrière de Severy, her son, one concerning Gibbon's legacy to him, 1796-1820; and G. H. de Seigneux,
1820. There are two letters by Hester Gibbon, Edward Gibbon's aunt, one of which refers to her nephew, the historian, 1786.
There is also a letter from Francis North, later second Earl of Guilford, to his sister Anne, later Countess of Sheffield
and third wife of John Baker Holroyd, in which he gives an irreverent description of Gibbon at a party in Lausanne, 1791.
The collection also contains a memorandum of an agreement, signed, between Lord Sheffield and John Murray, for publication
of Gibbon's
Miscellaneous Works.
The household documents include Edward Gibbon senior's house and farm account book at Buriton, 1765, and fragments of the
account book, 1767, household correspondence, bills and accounts, 1742-70. Also included are letters and documents concerning
the estate of Dorothea Gibbon, 1790-97 and photocopies of sequestered papers relating to the Gibbon property at Mapledurham,
1693-1744.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Pryor, William
Hanbury, Thomas
Hanbury, Thomas
Pryor, William
Carnochan, W. B.
Carnochan, W. B.
Series I: Letters to Lady Sheffield 159655
Box 1, folder 1
Gibbon, Edward. TLS to Lady Sheffield, (?) 159659
13 April 1770
Box 1, folder 2
Gibbon, Edward. TLS to Lady Sheffield 159657
1775
Container Summary: 2 items.
Series II: Letters to Lord Sheffield 159639
Box 1, folder 3
Barrett, John. TLS to Lord Sheffield 159653
29 Jan, 1816
Box 1, folder 4
Charrière de Sévery, W. TLSs to Lord Sheffield 159651
1794-1820
Container Summary: 4 items.
Box 1, folder 5
Gibbon, Hester. TLSs to Lord Sheffield 159649
1886
Container Summary: 2 items.
Box 1, folder 6
Levade, Jean David. TLS to Lord Sheffield 159647
20 Jan, 1796
Box 1, folder 7
Murray, John. TLS to Lord Sheffield and Memorandum of Agreement 159645
1813-1815
Container Summary: 2 items.
Box 1, folder 8
North, Francis. TLS to Anne North 159643
29 Jan, 1791
Box 1, folder 9
de Seigneux, G.H. TLS to Lord Sheffield 159641
6 Jun 1820
Series III. The Gibbon Family's Household Documents 159619
Box 1, folder 10
Miscellaneous Correspondence 159637
1742
Container Summary: 2 items.
Box 1, folder 11
Miscellaneous Correspondence 159635
1760-1769
Container Summary: 23 items.
Box 1, folder 12
Miscellaneous Correspondence 159633
1773-1814
Container Summary: 3 items.
Box 1, folder 13
Edward Gibbon's Account Book 159631
1765
Box 1, folder 14
Fragments of Edward Gibbon's Account Book 159629
1767
Container Summary: 11 items
Box 1, folder 15
Bills and Receipts 159627
1690-1765 and undated
Container Summary: 39 items.
Box 1, folder 16
Bills and Receipts 159625
1760-1796
Box 1, folder 17
Household Accounts 159623
1753-1767
Container Summary: 13 items.
Box 1, folder 18
Miscellaneous 159621
Container Summary: 5 items.
Series IV. Documents Concerning the Estate of Dorothea Gibbon 159611
Box 2, folder 1
Gibbon, Dorothea. Last Will and Testament 159617
2 February 1794
Box 2, folder 2
Documents Concerning the Estate of Dorothea Gibbon 159615
1790-1797
Container Summary: 14 items.
Box 2, folder 3
Letters Concerning the Estate of Dorothea Gibbon 159613
1790-1797
Container Summary: 16 items.
Series V. Papers Concerning the Gibbon Property at Mapledurham 159605
Box 2, folder 4
Photocopies of sequestered papers concerning the Gibbon property at Mapledurham 159609
1694-1744
Container Summary: 45 items.
Box 2, folder 5
Photocopies of sequestered papers concerning the Gibbon property at Mapledurham 159607
1694-1744
Container Summary: 23 items.
Series VI. Oversize Documents
Box 3A, Item 1
Agreement concerning succession to the title to a manor in Denethorpe
8 December 1519
Physical Description: 1 item : vellum : 42 x 43 cm
Scope and Contents
Agreement stipulates that Thomas Ashton will pay a sum for use of manor in Denethorpe to Cristina Colet (mother of John Colet),
during her life. Agreement written in Latin.
Box 3A, Item 2
Adjudication of dispute between Edward Gibbon (father of historian) and David Montelien
25 July 1743
Physical Description: 1 item : vellum : 55 x 43 cm
Scope and Contents
Signed by four adjudicators: Michael Wickham, John Platt, Thomas Hammond, and George Gutteridge. With map drawn as inset and
a tax stamp. Document is written in English
Box 3B
Legal document
28 October 1586
Physical Description: 1 item : vellum : 22 x 26 cm. (Seal, 9.5 cm diameter)
Scope and Contents
Legal document in Latin created in the name of Queen Elizabeth I of England with attached seal.
Box 3C
Licence of alienation between William Pryor and Thomas Hanbury
20 November 1607
Physical Description: 1 item : vellum : 19 x 35 cm. (Seal, 15 cm diameter)
Scope and Contents
Document in Latin created in the name of King James I of England
