Journal notes and drafts, of Recollections of an excursion to the monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha (1835)

Title

Journal notes and drafts, of Recollections of an excursion to the monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha (1835)

Shelfmark

MS. Beckford d. 7

Summary

(fols. 1-10a) journal notes, 2-13 June 1794, with some later alterations and (fols. 5v-6v) two drafts, c.1834, of a passage printed in 1835, pp. 31-3; fols. 8-9 are the boards from a printed work, with journal entries written on the pastedowns

(fol. 10b) entry headed 'Montserrat ce vendredi 25 Juillet 1794', with (fol. 10bv) draft beg. 'The twilight began to shade'

(fols. 11-21) drafts, 20 Nov. 1834 and (fol. 21) 24 Dec. 1834, of the text printed pp. 98-136

(fols. 22-35, 36-66, 67-90) draft of most of the work, with many alterations and re-workings, in three sections, the first undated, part of the second dated 10 Nov. 1834, parts of the third dated 2 Jan.- 4 Feb. 1835, corresponding to the printed text pp. 13-17 and 26-43, 44-140, and 141-224

(fols. 91-119) drafts and re-workings of parts of the text, 18 Oct. 1834-11 Feb. 1835, n.d., some written on letters to Beckford

(fol. 120) fair copy of the text printed as pp. 128-9, in the hand of an amanuensis, with alterations by Beckford, pages numbered 73-4 in a contemporary hand, the closest surviving text to a printer's copy, n.d.

(fols. 121-2) draft of the entry for 3 June (printed text for 5 June, pp. 18-25), written 7 April 1835.

None of the drafts corresponds exactly to the 1835 text, and the dates of entries in the manuscript differ from those in the printed text (1 June becomes 3 June). There are at least four drafts of one passage (printed pp. 128-9), at fol. 19 (undated), fol. 99 (14 Dec. 1834), fol. 119 (11 Feb. 1835), and fol. 120. The journal notes for 2-13 June were published by Boyd Alexander in H.W. Gotlieb, William Beckford...catalogue of an exhibition (Yale University Library, 1960), pp. 90-100 (with a reproduction of fol. 8 at p. 90), and in Recollections of an excursion (Fontwell, 1972), pp. xxxvi-xlix (with reproductions of fol. 1 and fol. 9 at pp.xxvii and xlvii). Two pencil drawings by Beckford, (fol. 24) the Franciscan convent at Cadafaiz, 18 Feb. 1835, and (fol. 25) the castle of Alfagirão [Alfeizerão], 23 May 1835, 'from a sketch taken june 11 1794', are reproduced in The travel-diaries of William Beckford, ed. Guy Chapman, ii (1928), pp. 346 and 343 respectively.

Date

2-13 June, 25 July 1794, 1834-5, n.d.

Language

English

Physical extent

124 Leaves