Item 1963/1 - Two letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart with two letters from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt

4 items, paper

Two letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart with two letters from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt:
(a) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated 3 January 1963, thanking CEB for his letter and "for having settled the outstanding points on the Moneta paper", promising to incorporate the recommended corrections. He notes that he is enclosing two pairs of casts, one of the Erebald on Eden from the BM and the other "a Sheldon coin from the same obv. die", asking whether it would be possible to prepare a slide and a print of all four casts together for the January BNS meeting. He further remarks that MD [i.e. Michael Dolley] provided the Sheldon cast, who instructed that no one else should know anything about them. IS believes that the cast was made from a coin in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire and, through his daughter, is seeking "to get a sight of it". He asks whether CEB has seen a copy of the Canterbury and Rochester sections of Mercia from CSSL [i.e. Stewart Lyon].
(b) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated 6 January 1963, recounting the practicalities of preparing the requested slide and photo. He says that he believes the Sheldon hoard to be at Chatsworth. He doesn't understand all the secrecy about it, but says that the Duke of Devonshire has a very good librarian named Thompson and that he "would not have expected any difficulty fora responsible person to see the coins". He asks IS to let him know how things develop. He says that he has seen the Canterbury and Rochester sections and agrees that they must meet to discuss it, perhaps at Ramsbury.
(c) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated 13 January 1963, explaining that the weekend of 2-3 March would be suitable for a meeting and hoping that Stewart Lyon will be able to come. There is a reference to the rescheduling of the BNS meeting and a brief account about the visit(s) of [Hugh] Pagan and [Nicholas] Rhodes, noting that "Pagan didn't like the Ludica" [i.e. a coin of the king of Mercia, 826-827]. He also says that he is still awaiting the photographs, because the people who develop them have a backlog, but he expects to have them by the 22nd.
(d) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated 14 January 1963, saying that CSSL [i.e. Stewart Lyon] will be able to attend their meeting of 2-3 March. There is discussion of their work on Mercia and the proposal that all their work be merged together since the points of disagreement are few and insignificant. He says that Stewart Lyon showed him a letter from [Hugh] Pagan with information on the two coins from the Delgany hoard and on the Ciolheard solidus. Before any reading of the paper on the solidus, IS believes it would be wise to consult [Philip] Grierson for his views, since he is the only person able to put this isolated gold coin in wider perspective. He notes that he will be discussing the Erebald stuff with Michael [Dolley] on the following evening and thanks CEB for arranging the photograph(s).