Item 1981/1 - 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:
(a) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ramsbury on 24 January 1981, saying that Liz Pirie asked him to pass along to IS a photograph of the "splendid Sihtric penny, the only one apparently with sword to left. Because the obverse legend is retrograde, moreover, he wonders whether "the die-maker has simply copied directly from a coin". He discusses the coin over a paragraph before turning to their 10th-century work. He says that he has read through Stewart Lyon's revision of Edward the Elder, noting that it is difficult to for him follow without better illustrations though he has the clear impression that he is making good sense. He says that he has sent him "some trifling comments". He explains that he hasn't done very much work himself because he has been preoccupied in dealing with a large hoard of Roman coins.
(b) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Baldwin Crescent, London SE5, on 14 February 1981, expressing relief that CEB has found Post-B. [i.e. Brunanburh] and is allowing him to borrow it. He notes that he also has Stewart Lyon's and plans to incorporate notes from both of them. He says that he has completed a first draft of the rewritten chapter on 939-954, though it still needs a lot of tidying up and annotation. He is adding Canterbury and Oxford for Edred but "hesitant about 2T = Stamford for Anlaf", though he does "believe EBR in York". He says he "was glad to see the doubtful St Peters in print" and is now working on Regnald and Bossall. He mentions the meeting between CEB and CSSL about Edward the Elder. He wonders whether CEB has looked at BMC 1142-1165 St Peter and any similar Edward coins in the BM, adding that he likes CEB's idea of a new St Peter hoard, since Walmgate is too late and the Bossall coins too uncorroded.
(c) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, three pages on two folios, dated from Ramsbury on 16 March 1981, thanking IS for the draft Anglo-Viking corpus and complimenting him on the vast amount of material it includes. He goes on to comment on the draft in greater detail.
(d) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, single page, dated from the House of Commons on 14 March 1981, thanking CEB for his comments on the draft corpus but stressing the important roll that CEB's card index played in enabling him to put the material together. He encloses a copy of the text in provisional form and asks him to comment on it and show it to Marion [Archibald].
(e) letter from Christopher Blunt to Ian Stewart, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ramsbury on 23 March 1981, expressing his delight with IS's work on 939-954 and saying this his arguments are entirely convincing. He encloses "some entirely trivial comments" and a list of suggested illustrations, and then turns to other matters related to their 10th-century project. In particular, he notes that he has completed the moneyers' index, which he describes as a major job but worth the effort. it needs only cross-checking against the lists at the beginning of each section and some tidying up, following the forms suggested by Veronica.
(f) letter from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from the House of Commons on 30 March 1981, thanking CEB for approving so enthusiastically of IS's Viking draft and offering his helpful comments and corrections. Once he has comments from Stewart [Lyon], he will complete the text and get it ready for press before turning to the earlier Viking chapter, which he says will be easier to deal with once the Regnald die-study and Bossall bits are removed. He expresses the hope that they will be able to have a text for the bulk of the volume by the end of the year. He asks whether it would acceptable to use Rome I, II & III for the Vatican, Forum and 1846 hoards, noting that Michael Dolley's use of A & B [for two of them?] effectively rules out any possibility of using A, B & C. He thanks CEB for the invitation to Ramsbury and asks whether he saw the St Edmund half-penny in Seaby. There is an annotation in CEB's hand in the bottom right margin of the verso.