A letter written by Gilbert White to the antiquarian John Loveday has made its way back to Gilbert White’s House and Gardens in Selborne thanks to The Friends of the Nation’s Libraries.
Friends of the Nations’ Libraries saves the country’s written and printed heritage through acquisition grants to national and regional archives, libraries and collections.
FNL’s contribution to the UK’s national book, manuscript and archive collections is unrivalled. It is the only UK charity focusing solely on supporting acquisitions in this area: it is the equivalent of the Art Fund for rare books, manuscripts and fine bindings. FNL granted Gilbert White’s House & Gardens financial help in order to purchase the letter.
The letter in question is a continuation of an in person conversation between Loveday and White. White is in the midst of research for the antiquities section of his famous book The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. Which is thought to be the fourth most published book in the English Language.
John Loveday was an antiquarian, wrote articles for The Gentleman’s Magazine, and was interested in history and archelogy and was well known for his descriptions of Country Houses. As an alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford, he was ideally placed to act as an expert to answer Gilbert White’s questions about Selborne Priory.
‘Might I presume to beg further that you would at your leisure inform me what a preceptory was; and who the preceptors were; and what was their power, Etc.’
Selborne Priory was a priory of Augustinian canons which had resided in the village between 1233 and 1485. When the priory was dissolved the land it held and its records were annexed by Magdalen College.
We know that white communicated with other naturalists during the making of the Natural History of Selborne, but this shows us that community was there for him for all aspects of the book and that he reached out to experts of all kinds. No man is an island and Gilbert White was certainly not writing this book alone.
The letter will be on display within the museum from the 23rd May for visitors to see.
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