CROMWELL

Full title: 'Killing no Murder, Briefly Discours'd, In Three Questions, fit for Publick View, To Deter and Prevent Tyrants from Usurping Supreme Power. Writ by Col. Titus, under the Name of William Allen, and Dedicated to Oliver Cromwel. Now Reprinted, and Address'd to the French King.' 28pp., small 4to. Disbound. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with slight damage to last few leaves, affecting text. The original version was published in 1657, and advocated the assassination of Oliver Cromwell. Six copies on COPAC. Now scarce.

Pp.[3 title]-27[1 blank], 8vo, disbound, presumably missing hf-title, title and final blank dingy, small hole on p.27 with loss of part of page number and a couple of letters. ESTC R205565. Multiple copies in British and US libraries. No copy currently on the market.

37 leaves, paginated on rectos (from 3.), versos (blank) headed "Notes", 8vo, beige printed wraps, spotted, fold mark at middle, back sl. grubby, spine worn at top and bottom, contents good. Shelf-mark apparentlyin manuscript top of front wrap. Also addition ot date spane "?1642". No other copy recorded on COPAC or WorldCat.

One page, 13 x 19cm,small chip at base losing the "o" of "for", mainly good condition. Text printed in Strutt's "The History and Descryption of Colchester", pp.9-10 [Googlebook "Major Haynes Colchester"], and other material relating to the history of Colchester (Thomas Cromwell etc), with minor variants ("uncapable" for "unable", "directions" for "direction", "Mayor" for "mayor"). "Oliver P | There having been of late several complaints from the Antient Aldermen [...] Colchester [...] Given at Whitehall ye 4th December 1655. For Major Haynes."

1p., 4to. On a piece of watermarked laid paper. Aged, and with chipping and loss along the fold lines, which have been repaired on the reverse with (nineteenth-century?) tape. The words 'Cromwells Protector' in a later hand at the head of the reverse, which is otherwise blank. Accompanied by a autograph transcript (3pp., foolscap 8vo) by Beamont, 'Copied from the original Mar. 15, 1878', and an Autograph Letter (2pp., 12mo) from him to 'Miss Blackburne', on letterhead of Orford Hall, Warrington, also dated 15 March 1878. Beamont begins his letter: 'I return your paper with a transcript.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium, with Foss's letter (33 lines) on both sides of the first leaf, and the page of extracts by the recipient (38 lines) on the recto of the second leaf. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with one corner of the first leaf cut away. The letter is addressed to 'My dear Sir', without any indication of the recipient's identity.

14pp., fol,disbound, staining and foxing, mainly outer leaves, front page partly detached, some chipping not affecting text. He outlines his proposed measures to mend the country.

Folio, 3 pp. Bifolium. Printed on laid, watermarked paper. Around thirty-four lines to the page. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with loss to one corner (not affecting text). Reverse of second leaf docketed, and with thin strip from mount adhering at fold. Written in a neat seventeenth-century hand, with a number of emendations (including a deletion of three lines) suggesting that this copy was made by the anonymous author himself.

Title continues: '[...] Aldermen, and Common Councell of the City of London.' 4to: 8 pp, paginated [ii] + 6. Trimmed (leaf dimensions roughly 165 x 135 mm) causing loss of the last line of text (the publication details beneath the word 'LONDON') on the title. Stitched as issued. Unbound. In poor condition, on aged, spotted and creased paper, with chipping to extremities and with the lower part of the last leaf torn away causing loss of around a dozen lines of text. A few lines in a contemporary hand on the first couple of leaves.

Welsh puritan (1618-51), executed for plotting against the Commonwealth. The passage in cipher is presumably Love's prophecy that the world would be destroyed in 1805, followed by an age of everlasting peace when God would be known by all. Two pages, on the two leaves of a quarto bifoliate. On Durham & Co. laid paper. Grubby, stained, creased and discoloured, but entirely legible. Prophecy in cypher on thirty-one lines. Occasional names (Oliver Cromwell, Seth Adams, Sodom & Gomorah) in normal script, as well as a number of dates from 1651 to 1800.