what a saga ...

It’s the first week in September and still the book buying goes on, so much I want to own! 4 volumes of the Paston Letters are here, letters written by members of the Paston family to one another or letters written to the Pastons in the 15th century. They are invaluable for historians. I have 500 letters in 4 volumes, and today ordered a book from Amazon of the letters in modern English. That means I can go back to the originals when I need to quote them. These will do for many of the upcoming books, as will the books on the Battle of Towton and several others which have arrived. Trouble is, they all need to be read and I do need to sleep occasionally…

The timeline is coming together. I have several dates on which the Earl was ‘excused Court’ which gives me questions, where would he have gone not to be at a St George’s celebration, which home was he at or was he off on a pilgrimage? I need to check all this out, but first, a timeline. I have a timeline of years, and then finally a timeline of days which I have marked ‘countdown to disaster’ but that is for me alone. That kind of comment would not go well in a biography.

8th September. I sent my agent the actual synopsis and outline for the biography, detailing work done and work I want to do. He sent a note back saying he had been off line all day as the lines were down and they have to move from their lovely old offices – as they are falling down! News on Monday, he promises me. I wait…
A print arrived from the British Museum. Very expensive but then they had to photograph it specially, transfer it to CD and post it. It’s really lovely. The antique print I have of the Earl shows him clean shaven, this one, ‘Earl Rivers with William Caxton’, shows him with a heavy moustache. The psychic portrait I have of him shows him with a moustache and beard, not a usual thing in that time. All a part of his ‘being different’, I think.
I wrote to the Vatican to ask if there is a record of his visit there. No address, took a chance on addressing it to The Vatican Library, The Holy See, Rome, Italy and today, 15th Sept, received an email response from the Reference Librarian, directing me to the Vatican Archives and giving me their email address. I have emailed. Meantime, there is a response from Lambeth Palace Library, everyone is being so helpful. The curator of Pontefract Museum was charming, even if he couldn’t help. It gets more interesting as it goes. I am getting impatient to begin work but there is still a way to go with research. Many books are arriving, heavy historical tomes. They need going through, carefully. I’ve brought home a pack of Post It notelets, small ones, so I can mark the pages. The Paston Letters have a few from him, I will need to Post It mark those so I can find them quickly when I need them. Preparation.

Later: the Vatican can’t help. I can go there as a researcher if I fit their ‘Rules’ but that’s out of the question. I will take it as read he went there and had an audience with Pope Sixtus V, otherwise he would not have been given the title of Defender of Papal Causes in England.