THE FIRST KING TO SIGN HIS NAME

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 26

THE FIRST KING TO SIGN HIS NAME

Who was'the first King of England to write his own name^ What was the subject of the' first printed document .issued in England? How did George Washington address George III? You can find the answers to these and many other questions by spending a half-hour in the museum of the Public Records Office in Chancery Lane, London, says the ''Daily Mail." . The courteous attendants will do all in their power to see-that you miss nothing of interest. - ■'- -Here' you see the origins and groundwork of British history. From the first year of King John to the 23rd year of George V all manner'of precious official documents are stored in the Records Office. They begin in 1199-1200 and end with those of 1933-34. . \ Here we find the answers to the above questions. The first King known to have signed his name, as: distinct from making his mark, was-Richard II —it is just a coincidence-that Richard :on July,::26;r 1386, Richard signed "an order for the .issue of letters patent granting to the prioress of. St/ Mary Magdalene's a tvn1 of red wine of; Gasconyi every .Christmas. The, order is in French, then still the official language of England, and the ..signature'is curiously written. Each letter: is' written- separately: and. halfprinted, in the style of a child just learning to write.. . Hichard was little'more than a boy then. But as early as'l3Bo there is some scribbling on a writ of privy seal-which ; '"may present, ari- early, attempt by Richard to sign his name. " ' " ,-The- earlier known piece of English printing is an'indulgence by John, Abbott: of Abingdon, a Papal Nuncio, to" Henry La'nley,' of London, and Katherine, his wife. It grants, in respect of. contributions to fitting out a fleet' against the Turks,, plenary indulgence as-if they had- visited Rome.

This is dated December 3, 1476. Cax- ■ ton's- "Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophers" was not printed until 1477. '■■■■ „ . In a letter written when he was President of the United States, in 1795, George Washington addresses King George as "my great and good friend.' It is signed G. Washington. . Those who offend the purists by. spelling the Christian name "Philip" with two l's had a co-offender in Captain Cook. On July 8, 1768, Captain Cook addressed a letter to Phillip' Stephens, Secretary of the Admiralty. It is in Cook's writing throughout, and sets out that "in order to make surveys of such parts as H.M.S. Bark En- &■ avour under my command may touch at it will be necessary to provide a set of instruments." Cook sets them out, beginning: "Theodolite one, plane table one."

Here you may see the actual "scrap of paper," the treaty of 1839, guaranteeing the independence of Belgium. The first signature on it is that of Lord Palmerston, British Prime Minister. Queen Elizabeth signs in a large, flourishing hand, a warrant, dated 1577, for the delivery to Martin Frobisher of 11 prisoners who had been condemned to death. They were to make a voyage beyond the seas for the discovery of new countries. In 1570 Mary Queen of Scots wrote in very broad Scots- a letter to William Cecil, in which she prays God to "Mouve the Quin's (Queen Elizabeth's) heart to consider off me or wors com." It is- signed "Marie R."

The signature of Guido-Fawkes (his own spelling), to a declaration about the Gunpowder Plot made soon after his . arrest is in a very firm hand, showing a great deal of character. A later declaration or confession, supposed to have been made after torture, has the signature Guido only,, in a shaky handwriting.