[Commonplace book], [early 17th century]

Autograph manuscript of a collection of didactic material. The manuscript begins with specimens of calligraphy, labeled Courte hande, Chancerie hande, Secretarie hande, cloven hande, curled hand, chayned hand, and Roman hande, as well as examples of writing in reverse and recipes for making ink, red wax, and white letters on black paper. This section is followed by arithmetic tables; measurements and conversions for dry goods as well as salmon, eels, wine, and oil; a sample genealogical chart drawn as a tree; instructions on how to use counters for counting; and a chart of the names of English kings and the years of their reigns up to James I, dated 1607. The bulk of the collection, however, consists of several hundred Latin proverbs on such topics as error, excellence, faith, honor, and ingratitude, followed by English proverbs and admonitions, and then several English proverbs translated into Latin. This section includes excerpts from King James' Basilikon Doron and How to live and that well by William Perkins. These proverbs are followed by "prettie and necessary rules for such as use to deale in merchandize, easy to be had in memorye," and, at the end of the manuscript, genealogical information for the Hill family, beginning in 1568.