Queen Mary I

instructing him, as keeper of the Privy Seal, to prepare writs to be sent to named indivuduals ordering them “with all celeritie to repaire into this our Realme of England, But also to make your personall apparance the laste of october next coming before us and our privie counsaille … nat failing hereof uppon the faithe and allegience ye owe and beare unto us”, with a list of nine names subscribed, Sir Thomas Wroth, [erased name], Sir William Stafford, Sir Henry Neville, William Fiennes ("Fyenenes"), Roger Whetnall, John Hales, Anthony Meres, Jane Wilkinson, and Edward Isaac, one vellum membrane (195 x 355mm), integral address panel, dispatch slips, papered seal, docketed, St James's Palace, 7 June 1556, dust staining on verso

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A SET OF INSTRUCTIONS TO RECALL MARIAN EXILES TO ENGLAND. This list of names includes some of the most committed leading English Protestants, most of whom had been established at court in the two decades before Mary's accession. They include Sir Thomas Wroth, who had been with Edward VI when he died and was later entangled in the Duke of Suffolk's plot (see lot 4), Sir William Stafford, who had been the husband of Anne Boleyn's sister Mary (d.1543), and Jane Wilkinson, who had been a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn. This order to return was made at the height of the Marian policy of executing recusants who refused to recant - 123 people had been burnt at the stake in the previous 16 months, most recently just the day before this letter was written - so it is perhaps unsurprising that none of those listed returned to England by the given date.