| Description | Large leatherbound hardcover scrapbook, approx. 27 x 25 x 7 cm, with 600 thick brown pages (300 leaves).The cover bears the handwritten inscription 'Letters to and concerning the late Rev'd Dr. Cumming and acknowledgements from recipients of the "In Memoriam" of him - also sundry other interesting communications collected by his son and inserted herein.'
Contents are described below by page number.
P. 3: Pen-and-ink drawing of Dr. Cumming in his prime, next to a brief obituary. Both the drawing and the obituary are from the Illustrated News of 16 July 1881.
Pp. 4-253: Dozens of brief letters from various acquaintances of the late Rev. Cumming, addressed to the latter's son John to acknowledge receipt of, or to request copies of, the limited-run 'In Memoriam' which was written after Rev. Cumming's death to provide a brief account of his life. Almost all are formulaic and polite. Correspondants include many nobles of varying degrees of importance, administrative figures, clerics, personal friends, and members of Cumming's extended family. Most are identified only by their signatures, which are frequently illegible.
Pp. 254-291: Blank, with the exception of a single letter to Rev. Cumming from a Dr. A. Tweedie on p. 285.
P. 292: A brief newspaper extract from the London Gazette of Friday 16 May 1845, detailing the registration of Crown Court Church as a legal venue for the solemnization of marriages.
Pp. 294-297: Small selection of material relating to the establishment of the new Scottish National Church at Pont Street, Belgravia, in 1883. The church was to replace the one at Crown Court in Drury Lane over which Rev. Cumming had presided for the whole of his ministerial career.
Pp. 298-466: Largely blank, with the exception of four unrelated items of correspondence from Rev. Cumming and other members of his family and of one obituary for the Rev. Cumming from the Standard of 8th July, 1881.
Pp. 467-600: Various items of correspondence to and from the Rev. Cumming over the course of his life, with subject matter ranging from theology and Cumming's charitable efforts to personal letters to and from friends and polite invitations to the homes of nobles. Correspondants include many nobles, clerical figures, and intellectuals. Among them are Abbot Lawrence, the American Minister; Joseph Leycester Lyle (a.k.a. Father Ignatius), prominent Englash Catholic; Hugh McNeile, famous Anglican churchman; George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll; George Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen; William Drogo Montagu, Duke of Manchester; and the Bishops of London, Norwich, and Peterboro. |