Item 1962/2 - Six letters from Philip Grierson, one with attachment

7 items, paper

Six letters from Philip Grierson, all in typescript:
(a) dated 25 May 1962, referring to a draft and the "terminus post quem" formula but is taken up mostly with discussion of the recent presentation of a paper [by PG?]. There are allusions to "die alterations and imperial beards", "punching out after striking", "off-centre striking with collared dies", and interventions of Potter and Derek [Allen]. PG concludes by stating the Peter Wait had visited recently and was impressed by their progress.
(b) dated 1 June 1962, touching again upon the "terminus post quem" problem, with PG stating that he has no objection to "termini inter quos". The discussion then moves on to PG's overdue draft of Chapter 14 and IS's draft of Chapter 15, arrangements for IS's next visit to Cambridge, the prospect of missing Peter Spufford's wedding, "the strange indifference of Portuguese die-cutters to grammar in the 15th century", PG's work on Forgeries in Coins and Medals, and [Michael] Metcalf's German article on coin finds, which PG describes as "only giving scientific pseudo-verisimilitude to a lot of things that aren't scientific at all". PG comments on the article in three further paragraphs and includes an excerpt on the author's coin find statistics as an attachment.
(c) dated 4 June 1962, in which PG first complains of a recent encounter with a customs officer at Dover. He then states that he did not manage to do Chapter 14 over the weekend but did finish the work on forgeries, and he discusses again arrangements for IS's forthcoming visit to Cambridge. There is further reaction to Metcalf's article "as an example of how not to use statistics" and a note to say that "Peter Tranchell asks whether 'termini inter quibus' would not be better"? The letter concludes with small amendments for the Dating chapter. There is a manuscript PS in which PG advises IS that it may be some days before he is able to send him the Forgeries material and that Chapter 14 requires complete rearrangement.
(d) dated 7 June 1962, providing cover for several enclosures, no longer attached: IS's "moneta" article, with comments from Dorothy Whitelock and someone named Page who PG doesn't know; the C&M chapter on "Counterfeits and Forgeries" for use in Chapter 20; and the C&M section on "Treasure Trove". The letter concludes with a discussion of Chapter 14, a reference to the problem of PG's "wandering attention" and a short manuscript PS on "medieval knowledge of the classics".
(e) dated 15 July 1962, likewise providing cover for several enclosures, no longer attached: IS's Coinage of England, a retyped Table of contents, a top copy of revised Chapter 15, and an offprint of "Byzantine beards". There is a manuscript addendum that gives PG's address for the rest of the summer at Dumbarton Oaks.
(f) dated from Dumbarton Oaks on 19 September 1962, the day before his return to PG's Cambridge, stating that he would be disinclined to write a preface for a new edition of Engel-Serrure if it were to be merely a reprint. He suggests that a more useful service would be the preparation of an index for the book. He noted the existence of a manuscript index now in the BN, with a photo-copy at the ANS. PG asks IS to let him know when he will next be in Cambridge. He concludes with comments about the recent "string of Byzantine articles" that Metcalf has published.