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Narcissus Luttrell (1657–1732) was an English historian, diarist, and bibliographer, and briefly Member of Parliament for two different Cornish boroughs.^[1] His Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from September 1678 to April 1714, a chronicle of the Parliaments of England and Great Britain, was distilled from his diary and published in 1857, after Macaulay had drawn attention to the manuscript in All Souls College, Oxford.^[2]

Writing career

Although Luttrell was for most of his life a private citizen and relied primarily on secondary sources for the workings of Parliament, he is often the best source available for legal and political matters of the time. The legislation itself is covered by the official parliamentary journals, but Luttrell's diary is often the only record of debates within the Palace of Westminster. As a result, Luttrell provides crucial political information which cannot be found elsewhere; as one example out of many, he notes that the debate on taxation of 1691 was divided according to geography, with Norfolk and Suffolk arguing against the remainder of the country over methods of taxation.^[3] Since individual members' votes were not recorded, the political significance of the legislation would be less clear without Luttrell's record.

Luttrell's diary also covers major events in diplomacy, literature and the arts, as well as parliamentary proceedings, and is supplemented in those areas by annotations within his massive library. He also compiled a bibliography of texts relating to the Popish Plot, The Compleat Catalogue of Stitch’d Books and Single Sheets, &c. Luttrell had one of the most impressive book collections of his time, and it was his wish that the library would be preserved intact, perhaps in an institution such as Gray's Inn (where he was called to the bar in 1680). After the death in 1749 of Luttrell's only surviving son, Francis, the library passed to Luttrell's sister, Dorothy Wynne. Her grandson, Luttrell Wynne, a fellow of All Souls College Oxford, gave Luttrell's MSS to the Codrington Library at All Souls College, but other material was dispersed through sales.

On 21 January 1694 the future Anne, Queen of Great Britain lost another child to stillbirth. Although she had a surviving son in the person of Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, she had suffered two stillbirths, three miscarriages, and lost 4 babies within hours, minutes, months, or years after they were born. Some sources say this child was a girl, who was 6 months gestation. Luttrell wrote that Anne “miscarried of a dead child.” He did not specify a gender. Anne would fall pregnant 6 more times, but they would end in miscarriage or stillbirth. Her son William died in 1700 at the age of 11 from an unknown illness.

Scattered remnants of his collection

While many pieces from Luttrell's collection were eventually acquired by the British Library, many were not. Material purchased by Professor James Osborn from two sales at Sotheby's (in 1936 and 1957) was later given to Beinecke Library at Yale University. Various portions of the collection are now housed in several libraries in Britain and the United States, notably the British Library, Beinecke Library, Newberry Library and Huntington Library. The whereabouts of other material remains unknown.

Major published works

A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs: from September 1678 to April 1714 (reprint of the 6 volume University Press, Oxford, 1857 ed.). Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources. 1974. ISBN 978-0842014236. OCLC 1675354.
The Compleat Catalogue of Stitch’d Books and Single Sheets, &c. Printed Since the First Discovery of the Popish Plot (London, 1680).
The Parliamentary Diary of Narcissus Luttrell, 1691–1693; ed. Henry Horwitz (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, ISBN 0-19-822367-6).
Narcissus Luttrell's Popish Plot Catalogues (Oxford: Blackwell for the Luttrell Society, 1956).

References

^ Rayment, Leigh. "House of Commons"^[usurped].
^ The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th Edition. Edited by Margaret Drabble, Oxford University Press, 2000 p. 617
^ Beckett, J.V. (1985). '"Land Tax or Excise: The Levying of Taxation in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century England." The English Historical Review, Vol. 100, No. 395 (Apr., 1985), pp. 285–308

External links

Media related to Narcissus Luttrell at Wikimedia Commons

Parliament of England
Preceded by William Coryton John Tregagle	Member of Parliament for Bossiney 1679–1681 With: Charles Robartes	Succeeded by Charles Robartes Sir Peter Colleton, Bt
Preceded by Sir John Carew Richard Carew	Member of Parliament for Saltash 1691–1695 With: Sir John Carew 1691–1692 Michael Hill 1692–1695	Succeeded by Francis Buller Walter Moyle

[1] Rayment, Leigh. "House of Commons"^[usurped].

[2] The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th Edition. Edited by Margaret Drabble, Oxford University Press, 2000 p. 617

[3] Beckett, J.V. (1985). '"Land Tax or Excise: The Levying of Taxation in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century England." The English Historical Review, Vol. 100, No. 395 (Apr., 1985), pp. 285–308

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|English historian, diarist, bibliographer and Member of Parliament}}
-'''Narcissus Luttrell''' (1657–1732) was an [[England|English]] [[history|historian]], [[diary|diarist]], and [[bibliography|bibliographer]], and briefly [[Member of Parliament]] for two different [[Cornwall|Cornish]] [[parliamentary borough|boroughs]].<ref>Rayment</ref> He published ''A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from September 1678 to April 1714'', a [[chronicle]] of the Parliaments of [[Parliament of England|England]] and [[Parliament of Great Britain|Great Britain]] distilled from his diary after [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Macauley]] had drawn attention to the manuscript in All Souls College, Oxford.<ref>The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th Edition. Edited by Margaret Drabble, Oxford University Press, 2000 p.617</ref>
+{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
+{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
+'''Narcissus Luttrell''' (1657–1732) was an [[England|English]] [[history|historian]], [[diary|diarist]], and [[bibliography|bibliographer]], and briefly [[Member of Parliament]] for two different [[Cornwall|Cornish]] [[parliamentary borough|boroughs]].<ref>Rayment, Leigh. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080607022521/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons.htm "House of Commons"]}}.</ref> His ''Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from September 1678 to April 1714'', a [[chronicle]] of the Parliaments of [[Parliament of England|England]] and [[Parliament of Great Britain|Great Britain]], was distilled from his diary and published in 1857, after [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Macaulay]] had drawn attention to the manuscript in All Souls College, Oxford.<ref>''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'', 6th Edition. Edited by Margaret Drabble, Oxford University Press, 2000 p. 617</ref>
+==Writing career==
-Although Luttrell was for most of his life a private citizen and relied primarily on secondary sources for the workings of Parliament, he is often the best source available for legal and political matters of the time. The legislation itself is covered by the official parliamentary journals, but Luttrell's diary is often the only record of debates within the [[Palace of Westminster]].  As a result, Luttrell provides crucial political information which cannot be found elsewhere; as one example out of many, he notes that the debate on [[taxation]] of 1691 was divided according to geography, with Norfolk and Suffolk arguing against the remainder of the country over methods of taxation.<ref>Beckett</ref> Since individual members' votes were not recorded, the political significance of the legislation would be less clear without Luttrell's record.
+Although Luttrell was for most of his life a private citizen and relied primarily on secondary sources for the workings of Parliament, he is often the best source available for legal and political matters of the time. The legislation itself is covered by the official parliamentary journals, but Luttrell's diary is often the only record of debates within the [[Palace of Westminster]].  As a result, Luttrell provides crucial political information which cannot be found elsewhere; as one example out of many, he notes that the debate on [[taxation]] of 1691 was divided according to geography, with Norfolk and Suffolk arguing against the remainder of the country over methods of taxation.<ref>Beckett, J.V. (1985). '"Land Tax or Excise: The Levying of Taxation in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century England." ''The English Historical Review,'' Vol. 100, No. 395 (Apr., 1985), pp.&nbsp;285–308</ref> Since individual members' votes were not recorded, the political significance of the legislation would be less clear without Luttrell's record.
-Luttrell's diary also covers major events in diplomacy, literature and the arts, as well as parliamentary proceedings, and is supplemented in those areas by annotations within his massive library. He also compiled a bibliography of texts relating to the [[Popish Plot]], ''The Compleat Catalogue of Stitch’d Books and Single Sheets, &c.'' Luttrell had one of the most impressive [[book collecting|book collections]] of his time, but due apparently to financial difficulties he had to divide and sell it, and various portions are now contained in several libraries in Britain and the United States, notably the [[British Library]], [[Newberry Library]] and [[Huntington Library]].
+Luttrell's diary also covers major events in diplomacy, literature and the arts, as well as parliamentary proceedings, and is supplemented in those areas by annotations within his massive library. He also compiled a bibliography of texts relating to the [[Popish Plot]], ''The Compleat Catalogue of Stitch’d Books and Single Sheets, &c.'' Luttrell had one of the most impressive [[book collecting|book collections]] of his time, and it was his wish that the library would be preserved intact, perhaps in an institution such as Gray's Inn (where he was called to the bar in 1680). After the death in 1749 of Luttrell's only surviving son, Francis, the library passed to Luttrell's sister, Dorothy Wynne. Her grandson, Luttrell Wynne, a fellow of All Souls College Oxford, gave Luttrell's MSS to the Codrington Library at All Souls College, but other material was dispersed through sales.
+On 21 January 1694 the future [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain]] lost another child to stillbirth. Although she had a surviving son in the person of [[Prince William, Duke of Gloucester]], she had suffered two stillbirths, three miscarriages, and lost 4 babies within hours, minutes, months, or years after they were born. Some sources say this child was a girl, who was 6 months gestation. Luttrell wrote that Anne “miscarried of a dead child.” He did not specify a gender. Anne would fall pregnant 6 more times, but they would end in miscarriage or stillbirth. Her son William died in 1700 at the age of 11 from an unknown illness.
+==Scattered remnants of his collection==
+While many pieces from Luttrell's collection were eventually acquired by the British Library, many were not. Material purchased by Professor James Osborn from two sales at Sotheby's (in 1936 and 1957) was later given to Beinecke Library at Yale University. Various portions of the collection are now housed in several libraries in Britain and the United States, notably the [[British Library]], [[Beinecke Library]], [[Newberry Library]] and [[Huntington Library]]. The whereabouts of other material remains unknown.
 ==Major published works==
-*''A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from September 1678 to April 1714'', 6 volumes (Oxford: At the University Press, 1857)
+* {{cite book | title=A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs: from September 1678 to April 1714 |date=1974 |publisher=Scholarly Resources |location=Wilmington, DE |isbn=978-0842014236|oclc=1675354|edition=reprint of the 6 volume University Press, Oxford, 1857}}
-*''The Compleat Catalogue of Stitch’d Books and Single Sheets, &c. Printed Since the First Discovery of the Popish Plot'' (London, 1680)
+* ''The Compleat Catalogue of Stitch’d Books and Single Sheets, &c. Printed Since the First Discovery of the Popish Plot'' (London, 1680).
-*''The Parliamentary Diary of Narcissus Luttrell, 1691-1693''; ed. Henry Horwitz (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, ISBN 0-19-822367-6)
+* ''The Parliamentary Diary of Narcissus Luttrell, 1691–1693''; ed. Henry Horwitz (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, {{ISBN|0-19-822367-6}}).
-*''Narcissus Luttrell's Popish Plot Catalogues'' (Oxford: Blackwell for the Luttrell Society, 1956)
+* ''Narcissus Luttrell's Popish Plot Catalogues'' (Oxford: Blackwell for the Luttrell Society, 1956).
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}
-*Beckett, J. V. (1985)'"Land Tax or Excise: The Levying of Taxation in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century England." ''The English Historical Review,'' Vol. 100, No. 395 (Apr., 1985), pp.&nbsp;285–308
+==Further reading==
-*Rayment, Leigh, "House of Commons," [http://www.leighrayment.com/commons.htm].
+* Horwitz, H. (2008). "Luttrell, Narcissus (1657–1732)". ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.  Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, Jan 2008. [https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.013.17226 DOI]
+* Osborn, J. (1957). "Reflections on Narcissus Lutrell, 1657–1732". ''The Book Collector'' 6 pp.&nbsp;15–23.
+* Parks, S., and Havens, E. eds. (1999). "The Luttrell file: Narcissus Luttrell's dates on contemporary pamphlets, 1678–1730", ''Yale University Library Gazette'': ''Occasional Supplement'' 3. [whole issue]
+==External links==
+{{Commonscatinline}}
 {{s-start}}
 {{s-par|en}}
-{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Bossiney (UK Parliament constituency)|Bossiney]]<br /><small>with [[Charles Bodvile Robartes, 2nd Earl of Radnor|Charles Robartes]]</small> | before=[[William Coryton]]<br />[[John Tregagle (junior)|John Tregagle]] | after=[[Charles Bodvile Robartes, 2nd Earl of Radnor|Charles Robartes]]<br />[[Peter Colleton|Sir Peter Colleton, Bt]] | years=1679–1681}}
+{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Bossiney (UK Parliament constituency)|Bossiney]]
+ | with = [[Charles Bodvile Robartes, 2nd Earl of Radnor|Charles Robartes]] | before=[[William Coryton]]<br />[[John Tregagle (junior)|John Tregagle]] | after=[[Charles Bodvile Robartes, 2nd Earl of Radnor|Charles Robartes]]<br />[[Peter Colleton|Sir Peter Colleton, Bt]] | years=1679–1681}}
-{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Saltash (UK Parliament constituency)|Saltash]]<br /><small>with [[Sir John Carew, 3rd Baronet|Sir John Carew]] 1691–1692<br />[[Michael Hill (MP)|Michael Hill]] 1692–1695</small> | before=[[Sir John Carew, 3rd Baronet|Sir John Carew]]<br />[[Richard Carew (1641–1691)|Richard Carew]] | after=[[Francis Buller (died 1698)|Francis Buller]]<br />[[Walter Moyle]] | years=1691–1695}}
+{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Saltash (UK Parliament constituency)|Saltash]]
+ | with = [[Sir John Carew, 3rd Baronet|Sir John Carew]] 1691–1692<br />[[Michael Hill (MP)|Michael Hill]] 1692–1695 | before=[[Sir John Carew, 3rd Baronet|Sir John Carew]]<br />[[Richard Carew (1641–1691)|Richard Carew]] | after=[[Francis Buller (died 1698)|Francis Buller]]<br />[[Walter Moyle]] | years=1691–1695}}
 {{s-end}}
@@ Line 26: / Line 43: @@
 [[Category:1657 births]]
 [[Category:1732 deaths]]
-[[Category:English diarists]]
+[[Category:17th-century English diarists]]
-[[Category:Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall]]
+[[Category:18th-century English diarists]]
+[[Category:18th-century English historians]]
 [[Category:English bibliographers]]
-[[Category:English historians]]
+[[Category:People associated with the British Library]]
-[[Category:British Library]]
 [[Category:English MPs 1679]]
-[[Category:English MPs 1680–81]]
+[[Category:English MPs 1680–1681]]
-[[Category:English MPs 1690–95]]
+[[Category:English MPs 1690–1695]]
+[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England for Bossiney]]
+[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England for Saltash]]
+[[Category:Historians of England]]

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