Item 1967/2 - Two letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart and two sets of notes with two letters and two cards from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt

8 items, paper

Two letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart and two sets of notes with two letters and two cards from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt:
(a) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript,one folio (recto & verso), dated from St George's Rd, SE1, on 9 July 1967, thanking CEB for his invitation to Ramsbury in September and giving assurances that he will be able to write up the Loch Doon hoard. He agrees with CEB about the BNS and will speak with MMA [i.e. Marion Archibald] about it if necessary. In the meantime, he is writing to JK [i.e. John Kent] to ask whether he can read a paper during the next session but is waiting to hear from Stewart [Lyon] before doing anything further. He says that he has spoken to FEJ about his joint paper with CEB in January and sets out the provisional programme for the entire year.
(b) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated 20 August 1967, noting that IS's St Martin paper just arrived. He says that he will need to consider the arguments and their implications for his study of the Aethelstan coinage very seriously. He will be delighted to have it for the BNJ but his does raise several "trifling points", to which he devotes the rest of the letter.
(c) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), from St George's Rd, SE1, dated 12 October 1967, stating that his St Martin paper is far from finished but enclosing a draft without references, unchecked and with gaps to give CEB the opportunity to make an editorial appraisal and, for IS's benefit, to provide his expert comment. He asks about the deadline for the final version. He also says that CEB may scribble on the copy as necessary and asks that he "pass it straight on to Michael [Dolley] (with a plea to comment and return [...] as soon as possible)". He notes that Dorothy Whitelock does not "seem horrified by a post-918 Lincoln coinage".
(d) notes of Christopher Blunt, manuscript, one folio of lined paper (recto & verso), entitled "The St Martin coins of Lincoln: notes of BHIHS's paper", initialed by CEB and dated 17 October 1967, setting out his comments on the paper. He concludes that IS has not satisfactorily made the case for upsetting the pre-918 dating of the Lincoln coinage, but says that he would be inclined to accept it for the BNJ "as a serious attempt to deal with a difficult problem".
(e) notes of Christopher Blunt, manuscript, two pages on two folios of recycled paper (with the verso being printed pages from Michael Dolley's 1965 article on the Buckingham mint), virtually identical to the previous set but with some variation in wording.
(f) card from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, undated but postmarked [25] October 1967, expressing regrets about CEB's lumbago, thanking him for taking so much trouble with the St Martin paper and awaiting comments. He says that the argument hinges on the dating of the literate sword St Peter and explains that quite a few St Peter and St Martin coins have 18th-century pedigrees, which perhaps suggests that these coins derived from an early hoard.
(g) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated 28 October 1967, explaining that Michael [Dolley] has returned IS's St Martin paper to him because he wanted to oversight that he believes CEB should have picked up. Apart from that, RHMD "is prepared to go along with [IS] rather more" than CEB is. He goes to comment on the death of Thomas Reddaway, an urban historian of 17th-century London. There is also reference to a Ludica coin, which both CEB and IS thought had a good chance of being genuine, but he says that he has now seen an enlarged photograph that convinces him it is not, and Michael [Dolley] agrees, but he again appeals to IS for his views. He asks that IS deliver the final version of his St Martin paper at the AGM of the BNS.
(h) card from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, dated 2 November 1967, commenting vaguely on a Coenwulf coin [and a possible connection with the Ludica coin?]. He asks CEB to send him a note with the titles of his and FEJ's contributions on Stephen hoards as they should appear in the programme. There are annotations in the hand of CEB on the side with address and postmark.