(1) Huzzah for digitizing this important set of documents. (2) Bummer for charging $15,000. That is inexecusable. Ordinary mortals will not have any way to get access to that. When is some champaion going to come forth and lead us to a Promised Land of Information. Hmmmmm Maybe Google has already done it, and raised the ire of the Protectionists. Randy Cabell Digital Heritage of Virginia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Thompson" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 2:28 AM Subject: [VA-HIST] The digital version of the Ferrar Papers 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. ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html