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Notes
The following files were searched. The effort was limited in general to the files of governments addressed in the State Letters. In some instances an examination of the Catalogue (Cat) or the Calendar (Cal) was sufficient to determine that there are no documents present from the period. SP 71/1 & 13 (Cat), 75/16 (Cat), 77/31 & 32 (Cat), 78/113 & 114, 81/54, 82/7 & 8, 84/160-62, 85/7, 88/10, 89/4 (Cat), 91/3 (Cat), 92/24, 94/43 (Cat), 95/5B, 96/6, 98/3 & 4, 99/45, 103/3, 103/5, 103/24, 103/46, 103/57, 103/65, 103/69, 104 (Cat), 104/151, 105/98 & 99, 108 (Cat), 110/11 (Cat), 110/55. PRO 30/24/33 & 34 (Cat, Cal), 30/25 (Cat, Cal), 31/1, 2, 4-11, 14-16, 18 (Cat), 31/3/98-103, 31/12/32, 31/13, 31/17. It was necessary to examine Bodleian Library, Nalson MS, Vols. X & XVIII in reference to several documents.
There are numerous excellent studies and collections available. The following (listed in order of publication) are referred to in this report: a. Literae Pseudo-Senatus Anglicani Cromwelii, Reliquorumque Perduellium Nomine ac Jussu Conscriptae A Joanne Miltono (London: Moses Pitt, 1676)—cited as Literae. b. A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq., 7 vols., ed. Thomas Birch (London, 1742)—cited as Thurloe. c. Original Papers Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Milton, ed. W. Douglas Hamilton (Westminster: Printed for the Camden Society, 1859)—cited as Hamilton. d. David Masson, The Life of John Milton, 6 vols. (Gloucester: Peter Smith, 1965)—cited as Masson. e. The Works of John Milton, 18 vols., ed. Frank A. Patterson et al (New York: Columbia University Press, 1931-38)—cited as Works. All page references are from Vol. XIII, eds. Thomas Ollive Mabbott and J. Milton French, unless otherwise indicated. f. J. Milton French, The Life Records of John Milton, 5 vols. (New Brunswick: Rutgers University, 1949-59)—cited as French. g. The Complete Prose Works of John Milton, ed. Don M. Wolfe et al (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1953-)—cited as Prose. All page references are from Vol. V, Part II, ed. J. Max Patrick.
Other documents of interest surfaced during the search, two of which seem worthy of note, as they are not mentioned in any published editions or biographies. a. PRO 31/13, Transcripts of Swedish Archives. This file contains a lengthy extract from Christer Carlson Bonde's Diarum, September 28, 1654—September 30, 1658, the original of which is in the Royal Stockholm Museum. Bonde negotiated the Anglo-Swedish Treaty of 1656, Milton's involvement in which is the subject of some controversy (Works, 170; Prose, 96). b. PRO 31/17/33 is a 439-page typewritten transcript of the minutes of Richard Cromwell's Council of State from September 3, 1658, to January 18, 1659. The original is in the possession of the Marquess of Bath, Longleat, Warminster, Wilts. This document was not available to Mary Anne Evans Green, editor of The Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, Commonwealth, 13 vols. (Vaduz: Kraus Reprints, 1965), as noted in Vol. XII, p. xviii; nor can I find any modern scholars who refer to it. Indeed, it adds little specific information to our knowledge of Milton's Letters of State. In the entire document I could find reference to only one of them, Mitto ad Majestatem, Richard Cromwell to the King of Sweden, October 26 [?] 1658 (Works, 128; Prose, 162). The Council considered the matter on Sept. 24 (p. 53 of the Order Book, p. 69 of the Transcript), Sept. 30 (p. 64, p. 83), Oct. 14 (pp. 89-90, p. 117), Oct. 15 (p. 92, p. 121), and Oct. 26 (p. 108, p. 140). It is a fascinating historical document, however. In the margins appear the names of individuals and agencies, "action officers" to whom each matter is referred for disposition. There is occasional mention of Marvell, but none of Milton. J. Max Patrick informs me that he has a microfilm of this transcript.
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