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A JACOBEAN ANTIQUARY REASSESSED: THOMAS LYTE, THE LYTE GENEALOGY AND THE LYTE JEWEL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2016

Arnold Hunt ,
Dora Thornton  and
George Dalgleish
Arnold Hunt
Affiliation:
Arnold Hunt, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9EF, UK. Email: ach23@cam.ac.uk
Dora Thornton
Affiliation:
Dora Thornton, Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, London WC1B 3DG, UK. Email: dthornton@britishmuseum.org
George Dalgleish
Affiliation:
George Dalgleish, 390 Ferry Road, Edinburgh EH5 3QG, UK. Email: george.dalgleish1@btinternet.com
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Abstract

This paper discusses two objects once owned by the antiquary Thomas Lyte (1568–1638). The Lyte Genealogy, now in the British Library, is an illustrated pedigree of Britain’s monarchs, tracing the royal succession through multiple lines of descent from the Trojan prince Brute. It demonstrates the importance of antiquarianism, and the continuing relevance of the traditional British history derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth, in supporting the legitimacy of the Stuart succession. The Lyte Jewel, now in the British Museum, is a tablet miniature containing a portrait of James i by Nicholas Hilliard, presented to Thomas Lyte by the king as a reward for his work on the Genealogy. New evidence points to the king’s jeweller, George Heriot, as its likely designer. Together, the Lyte Genealogy and the Lyte Jewel offer new insights into the antiquarian pursuits of the early Stuart gentry and the intellectual and material culture of the Jacobean court.

Type
Papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 96 , September 2016 , pp. 169 - 205
Copyright
© The Society of Antiquaries of London 2016 

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References

Abbreviations and bibliography

AbbreviationsGoogle Scholar
Beinecke Beinecke Library, YaleGoogle Scholar
BL British Library, LondonGoogle Scholar
BM British Museum, LondonGoogle Scholar
Bodleian Bodleian Library, OxfordGoogle Scholar
KHLC Kent History and Library CentreGoogle Scholar
NPG National Portrait Gallery, LondonGoogle Scholar
NRS National Records of Scotland, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
SRO Somerset Record Office, TauntonGoogle Scholar
TNA The National Archives, KewGoogle Scholar
V&A Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonGoogle Scholar

Manuscript sources

Beinecke, Osborn fa56 (Morgan Colman, ‘Genealogies of the Kings of England’)Google Scholar
Beinecke, Osborn pa33 (Henry Lyte, annotated copy of Camden’s Britannia)Google Scholar
BL, Add ms 48343 (Lyte Genealogy)Google Scholar
BL, Add ms 59741 (Thomas Lyte, ‘Britaines Monarchie’, 1605)Google Scholar
BL, Harleian ms 593 (Simonds D’Ewes, ‘Brutus-Redivivus, or Brittaines True Bruto in parte discovered’)Google Scholar
BL, Harleian Rolls H.26 (Henry Lyte, ‘A Table wherby it is supposed that Lyte of Lytescarie sprange of the Race and Stock of Leitus’)Google Scholar
BL, 442.h.9 (Henry Lyte, annotated copy of Dodoens’ New Herball)Google Scholar
BM, 1856,0614.148 (Renold Elstrack, engraving of James i in Parliament)Google Scholar
BM, WB.167 (Waddesdon Bequest)Google Scholar
Bodleian, ms Eng hist c 479 (Herrick family papers)Google Scholar
Bodleian, ms Lat misc a.1 (Morgan Colman, ‘Arbor Regalis’)Google Scholar
Bodleian, ms Rawl D.859 (Hannibal Baskerville’s genealogical collections)Google Scholar
Bodleian, ms Twyne 2, fols 160–168 (Henry Lyte, ‘Recordes of the true originall of the noble Britaynes’ and ‘The mysticall Oxon of Oxfourde’)Google Scholar
Bodleian, ms Wood F.39 (Letters of John Aubrey to Anthony Wood)Google Scholar
KHLC, U 269 A1/1 and U 269/1 OE 324 ‘Sackville Accounts’ (Accounts of Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, 1607)Google Scholar
NRS, GD421/1/3 (Records of the George Heriot’s Trust, Edinburgh, 1474–1962: personal and executry papers: accounts and receipts for jewels, etc, 1590–1623)Google Scholar
NRS, GD421/1/3/5 (Itemised account of jewels supplied to the Queen by George Heriot the Younger in May and Aug 1593)Google Scholar
NRS, GD421/1/3/6 (Itemised account of jewels, as NRS, GD421/1/3/5; additional note, signed by the Queen, recording total account at 1,806 crowns and details of part payment, May 1593)Google Scholar
NRS, GD421/1/3/8 (Letter of obligation by the Queen to Heriot for £1,238 8s Scots, 20 Dec 1596; itemised list of jewels with details of jewels delivered to Heriot in pledge)Google Scholar
NRS, GD421/1/3/32 (Itemised account of jewels, etc, supplied to the Queen by George Heriot, 9 Mar–20 Sept 1606)Google Scholar
NRS, GD421/1/3/37/2 (Copy of petition from George Heriot the Younger to the Queen for payment of her debts to him; endorsed with notes of payment, etc, c 1610)Google Scholar
SRO, DD/X/LY/1 (Lyte pedigree roll, c 1610)Google Scholar
SRO, DD/X/LY/2 (Lyte pedigree roll, 1633)Google Scholar
SRO, DD/X/LY/3 (Thomas Lyte’s notebook)Google Scholar
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