| Description | In the Catalogue of Papers compiled by William D. Brown about 1791 is listed a file under the following title:
Jas Watt. Letters 1768 to 1790
The file was probably at that time in the form of a bundle. Later its contents were divided between several portfolios, and the present file corresponds to the third of these, the title of which was, according to the Inventory compiled by the Assay Office in 1921:
Jas. Watt Jas. Watt jun. 1782 to 1784
Unfortunately the portfolio was subsequently discarded. Under M. R. Boulton's arrangement, the file was placed in Box K. I, though it arrived at the Assay Office in Box K II.
The title cited in the Inventory is curious, as there are no surviving letters from James Watt Jr. to Matthew Boulton earlier than 1789-and, indeed, one would not expect there to have been much correspondence between Boulton and one who by the end of the period in question was still a mere lad of 15 years of age. Possibly, if the label was untidily written, the second name may have been misread for Ann Watt or some other person, but in the absence of the original portfolio this is impossible to ascertain.
The file includes-besides Boulton's correspondence with James Watt and his wife-several letters by James Watt to other persons, which were evidently passed on to Boulton by the recipients. Similarly, there is a letter from Boulton to Watt, which was received and docketed by Watt, but must have been returned to the writer at some time.
The documents are arranged in two chronological sequences, as follows:
Letters. [1-143]
Copies. [144-169]
The sequence of Copies does not begin till 30 Jun. 1784.
In the following List, the copy documents are all press-copies, unless stated otherwise. Note that the place now known as Cusgarne was in the 18th century normally spelled Cosgarne. |