Adam Matthew Publications very recently produced a digital version of the  
Ferrar Papers held at Magdalene College in the University of Cambridge. 
These  papers, which cover the period from c.1590 to c.1790, contain a great 
deal of  information on the early history of English colonization in Virginia 
and  Bermuda. Much of this early material has been transcribed by David 
Ransome,  probably for a supplement to S.M.Kingsbury's edition of the Virginia 
Company  Records but which has, alas, not found a publisher in a conventional 
form. He is  certainly to be thanked for his work which I found to be 
extremely useful when  viewing this digital edition on-line in the University of 
Cambridge's Library  last Wednesday afternoon. I was, however, struck by the 
relative absence of  correspondence from English people in the two colonies 
- perhaps as a result of  the examination of the Virginia and Bermuda 
companies' records by the Commission  that recommended the dissolution of the 
former or as a consequence of deliberate  weeding of the archive. Access to this 
digital archive can be purchased for  $15,000 (US) or £7,500 sterling, 
prices which are likely to deter private  individuals in my view. 

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