The Egerton Papers: official and private documents of Elizabeth and James I

What it is

The Egerton Papers is an 1840 printed collection of public and private documents, mostly from the times of Elizabeth I and James I. The editor, J. Payne Collier, worked from original manuscripts owned by Lord Francis Egerton, President of the Camden Society. The printed volume has viii and 509 pages and was printed for the Camden Society in London.

Why it matters

The book brings together letters and papers that show how government business and private affairs were carried on under Elizabeth. Because it is an edition, the choice of which papers to print and how to present them was made by the editor and the society that published it. Students should still treat it as a window into the documents themselves.

Look closer

• Who chose these documents for the collection, and what might they have included or left out?
• What do the documents reveal about how Elizabeth's government worked day to day?
• How does reading a printed edition differ from reading the original manuscript?