Political broadside.- A Prophesie, which hath been in a Manuscript, in the Lord Powis's family sixty years, c1680.

£150 · At auction with Forum Auctions

Political broadside.- A Prophesie, which hath been in a Manuscript, in the Lord Powis's family sixty years, single sheet, foxed, chipped to edges, a few minor tears (not affecting text), central fold line, pencil inscriptions, otherwise a clean and clear copy, [ESTC R31933], 285 x 190mm, c.1680. *** A fascinating and rare broadside ballad concerning political events between 1646 and 1685 regarding the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Stuart Revolution. Arithmetic riddles and cryptic codes hint to the years of political events, i.e., "About the time that 1 shall be / Joyned unto 2 times 3. [16] / And 4 times 10 with 4 times 2" [48]: together these make 1648, the climax of the English Civil War leading up to the execution of King Charles I, symbolised by the "Eagle's Head" falling. Other clues reference of the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell, The Pope and Whitehall, anti-Catholic sentiment, and more.

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