Issues of the exchequer; being payments made out of His Majesty's revenue during the reign of King James I / Extracted from the original records ... By Frederick Devon.

  • Great Britain. Treasury
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Issues of the exchequer; being payments made out of His Majesty's revenue during the reign of King James I / Extracted from the original records ... By Frederick Devon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    article at these two periods. The insecurity of property during the usurpation doubtless was the cause of many works of art being taken out of the country. Amongst the payments for jewels herein noticed is 1,000/. for a diamond with the arms of the King engraved* thereon: this entry excited the anxiety of the Editor to discover the name of the sculptor who had carried the art to such perfection as to be able to engrave on diamond. From the above entry he hoped to be enabled to trace the remarkable history of the diamond seal, with the arms of England engraved upon it, which Herbert, in his ac- count of the last days of Charles the First, states was found in the court of Persia, in possession of the Sophi. This seal had been offered for sale by Tavernier, who described it as a most extraordinary rarity: how Ta- vernier became possessed of it has never yet been ascer- tained, though DTsraelif (who gives the whole story) sur- mises that it may yet be discovered in the treasures of the Persian monarch. Probably some account of it may be traced amongst the payments for the jewels entered in these Records. That both King James and King Charles were patrons of the arts, sciences, and literature in general, abundance of proof may be adduced from the payments contained in the Pell Records, but more particularly in the reign of the latter monarch. The Editor is, however, compelled to confine his observations to the period of the former sovereign only; and selects from the following pages the names of some few eminent persons who were constantly in the service of the King, and receiving from him that * Page 180. f Curiosities of Literature, vol. iii. p. 382 (First Series).