![GRAY, Thomas (1716-1771). Two autograph manuscripts, titled ‘England demands’ and ‘Present State of India’, n.d. [after 1763-1764]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2017/CKS/2017_CKS_14301_0032_000(gray_thomas_two_autograph_manuscripts_titled_england_demands_and_prese024212).jpg?w=1)
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GRAY, Thomas (1716-1771). Two autograph manuscripts, titled ‘England demands’ and ‘Present State of India’, n.d. [after 1763-1764]
Two pages, 210 x 168, bifolium, docket in another hand on verso ‘Heads of the Treaty of the Peace of Versailles/ 15.2’ and 1¼ pages, 230 x 187mm, bifolium, docket in another hand on verso ‘Present State of India/ 15.1’. Laid down on album leaves. [And:] manuscript transcription in another hand of Gray’s translation of Dante, canto 33 of Inferno, with a related leaf. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 4 August 1854, bought by – Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton (1809 – 1885; poet, politician, and literary patron) – Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945) - by descent.
Thomas Gray’s unpublished manuscript notes on the 1763 Treaty of Paris and the rulers of mid-18th-century India: a testament to the breadth of his scholarly interests. ‘England demands’ lists twelve requirements of the English – the right to govern Canada, that the harbour of Dunkirk be demolished, the cessation of hostilities, and other territorial claims – with the French response to each, while ‘Present State of India’ treats the political situation in the region, chiefly focusing on the ruling power in each area – from Ahmad Shah Durrani (‘Ahmed Abdalla Khan’) in Afghanistan to the British in ‘Bengal & Behar & (nominally) Orissa’ [after the Battle of Buxar in 1764].
Gray’s unpublished manuscripts revealed a wealth of notes and observations on subjects ranging from politics and philosophy to art and natural history.
Two pages, 210 x 168, bifolium, docket in another hand on verso ‘Heads of the Treaty of the Peace of Versailles/ 15.2’ and 1¼ pages, 230 x 187mm, bifolium, docket in another hand on verso ‘Present State of India/ 15.1’. Laid down on album leaves. [And:] manuscript transcription in another hand of Gray’s translation of Dante, canto 33 of Inferno, with a related leaf. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 4 August 1854, bought by – Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton (1809 – 1885; poet, politician, and literary patron) – Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945) - by descent.
Thomas Gray’s unpublished manuscript notes on the 1763 Treaty of Paris and the rulers of mid-18th-century India: a testament to the breadth of his scholarly interests. ‘England demands’ lists twelve requirements of the English – the right to govern Canada, that the harbour of Dunkirk be demolished, the cessation of hostilities, and other territorial claims – with the French response to each, while ‘Present State of India’ treats the political situation in the region, chiefly focusing on the ruling power in each area – from Ahmad Shah Durrani (‘Ahmed Abdalla Khan’) in Afghanistan to the British in ‘Bengal & Behar & (nominally) Orissa’ [after the Battle of Buxar in 1764].
Gray’s unpublished manuscripts revealed a wealth of notes and observations on subjects ranging from politics and philosophy to art and natural history.
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