''Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII'' (full title: ''Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII: preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and elsewhere in England''; often abbreviated in citations as ''L&P'') is a multi-volume edition of documents from the reign of

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. The series was edited by J. S. Brewer,

James Gairdner James Gairdner (22 March 1828 – 4 November 1912) was a British historian. He specialised in 15th-century and early Tudor history, and among other tasks edited the '' Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII'' series. Son of John Gairdn ...

and R. H. Brodie, and originally published between 1862 and 1932. It remains a key resource for historians of the period, and is now freely available online as part of

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universi ...

. Surviving documents from the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

(now

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

), the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

(now the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

), other archives, and reliable older publications, are presented in date order. The texts are calendared: that is to say, they are slightly summarised and edited, the language modernised, and some explanatory footnotes added; but all substantive content is retained. Undated documents are printed at the end of the assumed month or year. Grants and payments from accounts are also inserted at the end of their respective months. The earlier ''State Papers of Henry VIII'', published by the Royal Commission for State Papers in 11 volumes between 1830 and 1852, is not wholly superseded because the editors of that series sought to reproduce the original phrasing and orthography of the selected letters.

Publication history

The first volume, edited by Brewer and covering the years 1509 to 1514, was published in 1862. Brewer also edited the next three volumes, covering the years 1515 to 1530, published in a total of eight parts between 1864 and 1876. Following Brewer's death in 1879, Gairdner edited the next nine volumes (5–13), covering the years 1531 to 1538, which appeared in a total of eleven parts between 1880 and 1893. Gairdner and Brodie jointly edited the next eight volumes (14–21), covering the years 1539 to 1547, published in a total of thirteen parts between 1894 and 1910. This brought the series down to the end of the reign of Henry VIII, but by this date a number of new documents had been discovered, and the first volume in particular was felt to be defective. A second, greatly expanded, edition of Volume 1 was therefore published in three parts (two volumes of text and an index) in 1920. Two further volumes of ''Addenda'' were published in 1929 and 1932. A full set of the series therefore amounts to 21 nominal volumes, plus two volumes of ''Addenda''; but in physical terms (with Volume 1 represented by the second edition) it amounts to a total of 37 volumes. A full reprint of the series was issued by the Kraus Reprint Co. in 1965. The full text is also available online as part of

External links

* History books about the United Kingdom Henry VIII History books about the 16th century {{England-hist-book-stub