The Folger Shakespeare Library

L.b.534: Letter from John Donne to Sir Thomas Egerton, 1602 February: autograph manuscript signed

Catalog record:http://hamnet.folger.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=244741
Collection:Papers of the More family of Loseley Park, Surrey
Preferred Citation:Letter from John Donne to Sir Thomas Egerton, 1602 February: autograph manuscript signed, Papers of the More family of Loseley Park, Surrey. Transcription by Early Modern Manuscripts Online (EMMO). MS L.b.534, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC.
Terms of Use:Transcriptions are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This allows you to use our transcriptions without additional permission provided that you cite the Early Modern Manuscripts Online (EMMO) Project at the Folger Shakespeare Library as the source and that you license anything you create using the transcriptions under the same or equivalent license. EMMO and the Folger waive permission fees for non-commercial publication by registered non-profits, including university presses, regardless of the license they use. For information about using the images that correspond to the transcriptions, see Image Permissions.
...more
READING: DIPLOMATIC | SEMI-DIPLOMATIC | REGULARIZED
DOWNLOAD: PDF | XML

leaf 1 recto

The honorable fauor that yr lp hath afforded me,
in allowinge me the liberty of myne own Chamber,
hath giuen me leaue so much to respect and loue
my self, that now I can desire to be well. And
therfore, for health, not pleasure, (of wch yr lps
displeasure hath dulld in me all tast and ap=
prehension) I humbly beseeche yr lp, so much more
to slacken my fetters, that as I ame by yr lps fa=
uor, myne own keeper, and Surety, so I may be myne
owne phisician and Apothecary: wch yr lp shall
worke, yf yow graunt me Liberty to take the
Ayre, about this Towne. The whole world ys a
streight Imprisonmt to me, whilst I ame barrd
yr lps sight. But this fauor may lengthen
and better my lyfe, wch I desire to prserve, onely
in hope to redeeme by my sorrowe, and desire to do
yr lp Seruice, my Offence past. Allmighty god
dwell euer in yr ls hart, and fill yt wth good
desires, and graunt them.

Yor lps
poorest seruant
I: Donne


leaf 1 verso || leaf 2 recto

leaf 2 verso

To the right honorable
my very good Lord and
Master, Sr Thomas Eger-
ton knight, L: keeper of
the great seale of
England.