The Dr Jerome J. Platt Collection of 17th-Century Medals

Retained Copy of a Letter from Thomas Fairfax to His Highness Prince Rupert, as from Bristol, 4 September 1645, calling on Rupert to surrender the city of Bristol to the service of Parliament (Platt I, p.76, this item). Good clean condition and entire, very important; conserved by Etherington Conservation Services in January 2013, with appropriate certification and accompanied by a modern typescript, all contained in a red purpose-built cloth holder £400-£600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Dr Jerome J. Platt Collection of 17th-Century Medals.

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Bloomsbury Auctions, 28 October 2010, lot 17

After the fall of Bridgwater on 23 July 1645, Royalist resistance in the West Country was crumbling. The only port that the King still possessed was Bristol, then racked with an outbreak of plague but held by Prince Rupert with a garrison of 2,000 men. Fairfax and his Parliamentarians laid siege to the city in late August and called on Rupert to surrender by the terms of this letter, but Rupert refused the summons, instead seeking permission to delay matters by requesting time to contact the King. Fairfax in turn broke off negotiations five days later and his force of 12,000 men breached the city walls on the evening of 9 September. Although the Royalist horsemen counterattacked, they were quickly defeated and Rupert surrendered the city the following day, withdrawing with his troops to Oxford under safe passage.

This is a retained copy letter. Provenance: Bloomsbury Auctions, 28 October 2010, lot 17