IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0096 MS 228
Held at: Senate House Library, University of London
Title: Treatise on the worship of Priapus
Date(s): [1786]
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume containing 130 leaves and 17 plates
Name of creator(s): Unknown
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824) was a numismatist. Having travelled in Sicily, in 1777, he began to form a magnificent collection of bronzes, which he bequeathed upon his death to the British Museum. He was MP for Leominster, 1780, and Ludlow, 1784-1806. He was Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries, and wrote extensively on ancient art.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Manuscript copy, [1786], of a work by Richard Payne Knight entitled An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus, lately existing at Isernia, in the Kingdom of Naples...to which is added a discourse on the worship of Priapus, and its connexion with the mystic theology of the ancients, which was privately published and distributed by Payne Knight in 1786, who gave a copy to each member of the Dilettanti Society. The work, however, was so severely attacked by Thomas James Mathias that the author endeavoured to buy back all the copies. It is unclear whether this manuscript is the original of Payne Knight's work, or a copy made by another person following the publication of the work.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Single item.
Conditions governing access:
Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Uncatalogued material may not be seen. Please contact the University Archivist for details.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.
Physical characteristics:
Manuscript quarto. Bound in morocco.
Finding aids:
Collection level description.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
From the Library of the London Institution.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
Richard Payne Knight, An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus, lately existing at Isernia, in the Kingdom of Naples: in two letters; one from Sir William Hamilton ... to Sir Joseph Banks ... and the other from a person residing at Isernia: to which is added a discourse on the worship of Priapus, and its connexion with the mystic theology of the ancients (T. Spilsbury: London, 1786).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Sarah Smith as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.
Date(s) of descriptions: Jun 2000