GREVILLE, Fulke (1554-1628). Courtier, poet and author.
Document Signed, ½-page folio (small portion nibbled from upper left hand corner removing probably one word), 1 August 1619. A privy council order, signed also by Sir Robert Naunton (1563-1634, politician) and Sir Julius Caesar (ca 1558-1636). Ordering the payment of the sums of three and four thousand pounds, perhaps to Lady Digby (the missing word).

'It is ordered this first of August 1619: That the (?Lady - missing) Digby shall receive the Som'e of three thousand pounds out of the first payment from the petty farmes and the som'e of four thousand poundes out of their second payment not w[i]thstanding any other Assignement whatsoever according to the lordes former resolution.'

A faint pencil note on the lower part of the document suggests that the grant was to Sir John Digby (1580-1653), first Earl of Bristol, diplomat and ambassador. A more likely candidate, however, is Lettice Digby (ca 1580-1658), who had successfully pursued a claim with her husband for the restitution of their forfeited estates, and had been rewarded with land in Ireland following his death in 1618. The date of the grant from James I is 11 July 1619, i.e. shortly before the present document was drawn up. The wording of this document suggests that the missing word could well be 'Lady'.
 Documents signed by Greville, poet and friend of Sir Philip Sidney, are rarely seen on the market.
Between 1619 and 1625 he supervised the preparation of manuscript fair copies of his literary works, excluding the 'Dedication'. These are now known as the Warwick manuscripts in the British Library. He indicated in a note the order in which the poems were to be placed: '1. Religion. 2. Humane learning. 3. Fame and Honor. 4. War' (BL, Add. MS 54567, folio 3). [See Oxford DNB Fulke Greville, by John Gouws]
[No: 24187]