1666 Charles II Vellum Land Indenture – Great Fire of London Year – Original Pendant Seal
A visually commanding original English vellum indenture dated December 14, 1666, during the reign of King Charles II and the same historic year as the Great Fire of London.
Handwritten across an exceptionally large sheet of animal-skin vellum, the document records a complex property conveyance or mortgage settlement involving Edward and Anne Catesby and several additional parties. The lands described include a farmhouse or messuage, houses, barns, stables, gardens, orchards, meadow, pasture, arable ground and the accompanying rights and privileges.
The manuscript opens with a dramatic calligraphic initial and the words “This Indenture,” displaying the bold penmanship characteristic of Restoration-period legal instruments. The original parchment seal tag remains attached at the lower edge and retains a substantial dark wax pendant seal. Contemporary endorsements and docketing appear on the reverse.
Created only six years after the restoration of Charles II to the throne, the document is a tangible survival from one of the most eventful periods in English history. Its date places it in 1666—the year of the Great Fire of London—although the deed records a private provincial property transaction and is not connected to the fire or signed by the king.
The vellum exhibits extensive evidence of its more than 350-year history, including heavy folds, wrinkling, staining, scattered holes, edge losses, splitting at fold intersections and numerous early reinforcements. Portions of the text are affected, but much of the densely written manuscript remains legible. The pendant seal is worn and chipped but substantially present.
An evocative Restoration-era legal manuscript with an exceptionally desirable 1666 date and surviving original wax seal.
A visually commanding original English vellum indenture dated December 14, 1666, during the reign of King Charles II and the same historic year as the Great Fire of London.
Handwritten across an exceptionally large sheet of animal-skin vellum, the document records a complex property conveyance or mortgage settlement involving Edward and Anne Catesby and several additional parties. The lands described include a farmhouse or messuage, houses, barns, stables, gardens, orchards, meadow, pasture, arable ground and the accompanying rights and privileges.
The manuscript opens with a dramatic calligraphic initial and the words “This Indenture,” displaying the bold penmanship characteristic of Restoration-period legal instruments. The original parchment seal tag remains attached at the lower edge and retains a substantial dark wax pendant seal. Contemporary endorsements and docketing appear on the reverse.
Created only six years after the restoration of Charles II to the throne, the document is a tangible survival from one of the most eventful periods in English history. Its date places it in 1666—the year of the Great Fire of London—although the deed records a private provincial property transaction and is not connected to the fire or signed by the king.
The vellum exhibits extensive evidence of its more than 350-year history, including heavy folds, wrinkling, staining, scattered holes, edge losses, splitting at fold intersections and numerous early reinforcements. Portions of the text are affected, but much of the densely written manuscript remains legible. The pendant seal is worn and chipped but substantially present.
An evocative Restoration-era legal manuscript with an exceptionally desirable 1666 date and surviving original wax seal.
