Item 1986/2 - Six letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart

6 items, paper

Six letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart:
(a) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ramsbury on 24 April 1986, thanking IS for the "Conclusions", which he says that he is putting aside for the moment, as they agreed. He encloses some notes that he made upon going "through Stewart [Lyon]'s most helpful comments", noting that he is also sending a copy to him. In the meantime, he will make a start on the comments on some of the later drafts. Thinking again about a possible replacement on the Treasure Trove Review Committee for Peter Chance, he suggests that Arthur Grimwade or the Goldsmith's Company as possibilities, adding however that a fellow from the Society of Antiquaries would no doubt be an expert – but, "like many 'pan' academics, not necessarily commercial-minded enough for that job". He also reiterates he feeling that a museum person wouldn't be suitable, and he ultimately favours someone in the trade as silver auctioneer or dealer.
(b) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, single page, dated from Ramsbury on 9 June 1986, enclosing proofs of IS's Appendix to "Ash/Hunt" and asking for a quick turn around if any corrections are necessary as he is planning to deliver the material with CTCE [= Coinage in Tenth-Century England] to Oxford on Friday. The rest of the letter is turned over to a discussion of matters relating to the funding of publications.
(c) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ramsbury on 13 June 1986, saying that all went well when he was making his delivery to Oxford. He adds that their CTCE material will be returned after the Publications Committee meeting, after which they will be able to finalise any points that still need to be addressed. He remarks that Philip [Grierson] commented upon the bibliography and has taken away a photocopy to put it into professional shape. He finishes by noting the "nice entry in the MS minutes if the Soc[iety] of Antiq[uarie]s of Newcastle upon Tyne [for] 6 Sept 1842: 'Mr Brockelt mentioned the letter ... in the Tyne Mercury on the dirty state of the Society's Rooms – where it was thought best not to notice it – there's luck in muck' – better not tell the boss"!
(d) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, two pages on two folios (recto only), dated from Lawrence, Kansas [USA], on Michaelmas Day [i.e. 29 September (1986?)], saying that his daughter Judith, who came to help him on the journey, "are having a very happy time with [his other daughter] Anne in this pretty university town right in the middle of America". He relates how he has been impressed into giving a talk on Anglo-Saxon coins for any students and staff who care to turn up, adding that the librarian, Richard Ring, is a friend of Philip [Grierson]. He expresses his concerns about CTCE [= Coinage in Tenth-Century England] and how he had expected to be through not only the first proofs by this time but the final proofs. He says that he had taken on other projects in that expectation. He says that he has never been a very fast worker and that everything takes so much longer as he grows older. One of the problems is that the Edward the Elder chapter still is not complete. He doesn't want Stewart [Lyon] to think that any of this is his fault, because "it is largely caused by delays that we could not have foreseen". He mentions a coin [of Offa] that, if the BM doesn't go after it, they should, and he says that he is prepared to do so. He is also hoping to get news of the Heriger of Eadred from the Glendining sale on 30 September.
(e) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ramsbury on 21 November 1986, advising IS that "the enclosed superb Eric [coin] has turned and Mark [Blackburn] has got us permission to add it to their list" and suggesting how "this should be done". He also notes that his Radulf [coin] ex Grantley 961 has the "same dies as BMS 1261-2" and that they all have the same obverse die as the new coin, which has a new die on the reverse. He says that it was "found in the East Yorkshire wolds between Malton and Beverley on what is believed to be an old habitation site".
(f) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript) photocopy, single page from what might have been a lengthier original, dated from Ramsbury on 3 December 1986, saying that the "photographs of the Mercian coins found 'on farmland in Lincolnshire 1985/6' have come" and that "the Eadred Offa is entirely new". He discusses the similarities that it shares with other coins but says that he cannot find a die-link. He notes that the other Offa is by [the moneyer] Dud and is the same as his 31, though he has not yet checked for any die-links among other coins of this variety. He says that the third coin is a Coenwulf, tribrach type by [the moneyer] Wighard, of whom he thinks they "only know one example, BMC 101, with the same reverse die". Below, overlaid on the letter in the photocopy and obscuring several lines of writing, is an index card for the Offa coin from the moneyer Eadred, found in Lincolnshire 1985/6 and now in the collection of J. Bispham.

For related correspondence originally associated with Christopher Blunt's letter to Ian Stewart of 18 February 1986 (see item (e) above) and four other attachments (see items (f-i) above), see JCPP/Stewartby/1/1/ADDYMAN/1982/1 & JCPP/Stewartby/1/1/HAWKES/1986/1