Elgin, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Memorandum on the Subject of the Earl of Elgin's Pursuits in London: printed for William Miller, by James Moyes, 1811. 8vo, [2], 77; inscribed "a presentation Lord Elgin in May 1811" (not in Elgin's hand), 1 engraved plate and 2 engravings in the text by Henry Moses, original boards, uncut, paper label on spine, spine worn at head and foot, pencil ticks in the margin and pencil underlining of some passages

Footnote: Note: First published in Edinburgh, 1810. Anonymous. By Elgin or someone in his circle. The text is sometimes attributed to W.R. Hamilton, but BAL casts doubt on this attribution. The plates and illustrations were engraved by Henry Moses (1782?--1870). Elgin's Memorandum was published in connection with his proposal to transfer his collection to the public, expressed in a letter of 6th May 1811 to the Hon. Charles Long, MP. The sum of £30,000 offered by Parliament was rejected as inadequate. Towards the end of 1812 approximately 80 more cases of architecture and sculpture arrived in England. The entire collection was exhibited in Burlington House until June 1815 when Elgin petitioned the House of Commons again to purchase his collection for £73,600. His second petition was preceded by the publication of a second edition of his Memorandum. A Select Committee of the House of Commons sat in February 1816 and recommended in its Report (q.v.) that the collection should be bought for £35,000, an offer which Elgin could not refuse. Provenance: From the Library of the Late William St Clair