Of Plymouth Plantation. William Bradford

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      Introduction

       Table of Contents

      To many people the return of the Bradford Manuscript is a fresh discovery of colonial history. By very many it has been called, incorrectly, the log of the "Mayflower." Indeed, that is the title by which it is described in the decree of the Consistorial Court of London. The fact is, however, that Governor Bradford undertook its preparation long after the arrival of the Pilgrims, and it cannot be properly considered as in any sense a log or daily journal of the voyage of the "Mayflower." It is, in point of fact, a history of the Plymouth Colony, chiefly in the form of annals, extending from the inception of the colony down to the year 1647. The matter has been in print since 1856, put forth through the public spirit of the Massachusetts Historical Society, which secured a transcript of the document from London, and printed it in the society's proceedings of the above-named year. As thus presented, it had copious notes, prepared with great care by the late Charles Deane; but these are not given in the present volume, wherein only such comments as seem indispensable to a proper understanding of the story have been made, leaving whatever elaboration may seem desirable to some future private enterprise.

      It is a matter of regret that no picture of Governor Bradford exists. Only Edward Winslow of the Mayflower Company left an authenticated portrait of himself, and that, painted in England, is reproduced in this volume. In those early days Plymouth would have been a poor field for portrait painters. The people were struggling for their daily bread rather than for to-morrow's fame through the transmission of their features to posterity.

      The volume of the original manuscript, as it was presented to the Governor of the Commonwealth and is now deposited in the State Library, is a folio measuring eleven and one-half inches in length, seven and seven-eighths inches in width and one and one-half inches in thickness. It is bound in parchment, once white, but now grimy and much the worse for wear, being somewhat cracked and considerably scaled. Much scribbling, evidently by the Bradford family, is to be seen upon its surface, and out of the confusion may be read the name of Mercy Bradford, a daughter of the governor. On the inside of the front cover is pasted a sheet of manilla paper, on which is written the following:—

      "Consistory Court of the Diocese of London

      In the matter of the application of The Honorable Thomas Francis Bayard, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in London of the United States of America, for the delivery to him, on behalf of the President and Citizens of the said States, of the original manuscript book entitled and known as The Log of the Mayflower.

      Produced in Court this 25th day of March, 1897, and marked with the letter A.

      HARRY W. LEE

      Registrar.

      1 Deans Court

      Doctors Commons"

      Then come two manilla leaves, on both sides of which is written the decree of the Consistorial Court. These leaves and the manilla sheet pasted on the inside of the front cover were evidently inserted after the decree was passed.

      Next comes a leaf (apparently the original first leaf of the book), and on it are verses, signed "A. M.," on the death of Mrs. Bradford. The next is evidently one of the leaves of the original book. At the top of the page is written the following:—

      This book was rit by govener William bradford and given to his son mager William Bradford and by him to his son mager John Bradford. rit by me Samuel bradford mach 20, 1705.

      At the bottom of the same page the name John Bradford appears in different handwriting, evidently written with the book turned wrong side up.

      The next is a leaf bearing the following, in the handwriting of Thomas Prince:—

      Tuesday, June 4—1728

      Calling at Major John Bradford's at Kingston near Plimouth, son of Major Wm. Bradford formerly Dep Gov'r of Plimouth Colony, who was eldest son of Wm. Bradford Esq their 2nd Gov'r, & author of this History; ye sd Major John Bradford gave me several manuscript octavoes wh he assured me were written with his said Grandfather Gov'r Bradford's own hand. He also gave me a little Pencil Book wrote with a Blew lead Pencil by his sd Father ye Dep Gov'r. And He also told me yt He had lent & only lent his sd Grandfather Gov'r Bradford's History of Plimouth Colony wrote by his own Hand also, to judg Sewall; and desired me to get it of Him or find it out, & take out of it what I thought proper for my New-England Chronology: wh I accordingly obtained, and This is ye sd History: wh I found wrote in ye same Handwriting as ye Octavo manuscripts above sd.

      Thomas Prince.

      N.B. I also mentioned to him my Desire of lodging this History in ye New England Library of Prints & manuscripts, wh I had been then collecting for 23 years, to wh He signified his willingness—only yt He might have the Perusal of it while He lived.

      T. Prince.

      Following this, on the same page, is Thomas Prince's printed book-mark, as follows:—

      This Book belongs to

       The New-England-Library,

       Begun to be collected by Thomas Prince, upon

       his entring Harvard-College, July 6

       1703; and was given by

      On the lower part of a blank space which follows the word "by" is written:—

      It now belongs to the Bishop of London's Library at Fulham.

      There are evidences that this leaf did not belong to the original book, but was inserted by Mr. Prince.

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