SKELTON, Sir Bevil.

£45,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington

A catalogue of the Dukes, Marqueses, & Earles, with their Armes, Wives and Ishue since the Conquest untill this present year 1678. An imposing heraldic manuscript, one of four known works commissioned or very likely executed by Sir Bevil Skelton (1641-1696), the English diplomat, fervent loyalist, and envoy for Charles II and James II. Beautifully illuminated, the work is noteworthy for the comments, in the biographical sections, of the political behaviour of the subjects, often from a legitimist standpoint.Skelton began his career as a page of honour to the exiled Charles II in 1657. After a few years of military service, he was sent on a secret mission to France in 1674, followed by service as envoy-extraordinary at the imperial court of Leopold I in Vienna (1675-1681). From 1681 he operated among the lesser German courts, then became ambassador at The Hague in 1685 and envoy to France in 1686. He remained largely sidelined at Versailles until his recall and brief imprisonment by James II in 1688. After escaping England with the king in late 1688, he undertook a new mission to the imperial diet at Regensburg, then travelled to Venice and Turin, and returned to Versailles as James's envoy in 1690. He spent his last years in Jacobite exile at St Germain-en-Laye, where he worked as commissioner of James's household until his death. The four heraldic manuscripts attributed to him, dated between 1667 and 1694, cover overlapping time periods and are similar in content. A note in

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.