Item 1979/2 - Three letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart and three letters from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt

6 items, paper

Three letters from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart and three letters from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt with two attachments:
(a) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, single page, on House of Commons letterhead dated from 6 August 1979, enclosing the Droitwich proofs of his joint article with CEB, asking CEB to look them over and considering whether to add a reference to a relevant lot in a forthcoming Spink sale. He says that he enjoyed his stay at Ramsbury and apologises that he wasn't very sociable but notes that the numismatics benefitted, having almost completed a short chapter on imitations. There are three postscripts. In the first, he asks whether CEB sent back the St Peter [coin?], noting that he's very suspicious of it. In the second, he asks whether two coins could be early East Anglian Athelstans. In the third, he says that the Commons library has lost its copy of EHD I [i.e. English Historical Documents, vol. I] and asks to borrow CEB's copy.
(b) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, single page, dated from Ramsbury on 10 August 1979, thanking IS for everything that he sent and stating "here is vol. I of EHD". He says that he bought the St Peter coin, which he has determined is clearly a struck piece, having "had it under the binocular microscope" with Marion Archibald. He says that he then took the coin to Frank Purvey, who "carefully and unhesitatingly pronounced it genuine", and asked him to try and get more information on its provenance, which he believed to be East Anglia.
(c) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ramsbury on 13 August 1979, confirming that he sent EHD and hoping that it had reached IS by now. He encloses his piece on Howel [sic; recto: Hywel] Dda and asks for comments. He mentions a "fascinating Cnut hoard from North Wales" consisting in 204 coins. He also acknowledges that his acquisition of the St Peter coin before the arrival of IS's letter might have been rash. He recounts his investigations with Marion Archibald and discussions with Frank Purvey, the latter of whom, he notes, "had an interest in authenticity". He says that the Droitwich proofs have gone back and responds to IS's query about two of his coins possibly being early East Anglian Athelstans.
(d) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from St Georg'e Road, London SE1, on 26 August 1979, thanking CEB for sending EHD and asking to keep it until he has drafted the historical introduction. He returns Howell [Hywel?], having taken a copy for himself, but asks whether it may go somewhere outside their 10th-century volume to avoid giving unnecessary attention to the [David] Dykes theory. He notes that Henry Loyn has written about Sitric and Regnald and hopes to "resolve that dating business at the next Sylloge meeting". He encloses a copy of his letter to Stewart Lyon about Edward the Elder, noting that CSSL's text is very difficult to follow in its present form but surely "is on the right lines". He says that he aims to adjust the ex-Brescia Mia text, which is really excellent but needs only slight reogranisation. He hopes that he was wrong about the St Peter coin but is glad that it looked okay under the microscope. He advises CEB, for his records, that he purchased the Edwig Bedford HAR ... ex Bird from Spink and, much more exciting, a broken Edmund, of which he encloses a rubbing. He mentions a certain "Martin", proposing to send Sheil comments on the Scots and CEB on the Saxons. In a postscript, he wonder whether the Forum hoard might have been earlier than 946, because "the Rome III figures show much lower proportions of Edward and Athelstan in relation to Edmund", which suggests that the coins were removed from circulation before the end of Edmund's reign.
(e) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, single page, dated from 18 September 1979, enclosing a rough draft of a chapter on imitations and inviting comments. He thanks CEB for the information about Grigard, noting that "its obverse reading is most unusual". He also wonders whether he had asked "about the Lindsay-Martin correspondence", supposing that CEB "will be able to say all that is needed on the Saxon part" while he does the Scottish part.
(f) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ramsbury on 28 September 1979, suggesting that IS's Edmund / Grigen is from the same reverse dies as BMC 134, as suspected, and going on the discuss "the two BM coins of Eadred". He also returns to IS an irregular piece that he had given him some time ago. He then mentions an Edgar penny of Winchester that he "didn't much like the look of" because of its "casty appearance", but he found that a similar coin was recorded in 1744, so he is now planning to take it to the BM to look at it through the microscope. Finally, he discusses the "useful Sylloge meeting" and the "useful talk that he had with Christopher Challis" afterwards.