Collection K/PP146 - STONE, Sir (John) Leonard (1896-1978)

Key Information

Reference code

K/PP146

Title

STONE, Sir (John) Leonard (1896-1978)

Date(s)

  • 19th century (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent

1 volume

Scope and content

Bound manuscript classical dictionary, [19th century]. Compiler unknown.

General Information

Name of creator

Biographical history

The manuscript presumably relates to Port Royal des Champs near Versailles (from 1626 Port Royal de Paris), a French Cistercian abbey which under its abbess from 1602, Angelique Arnauld (d 1661), was a centre of Jansenist reform. The source from which this copy has presumably been translated, and its author and exact date, are not known.

Born, 1896; educated at Malvern College; called to the Bar, Gray's Inn, 1923; joined Lincoln's Inn, 1931; Bencher, Gray's Inn, 1942; knighted, 1943; OBE, 1943; Chief Justice, High Court, Bombay, 1943-1947; President, Commission of Inquiry, Bombay Explosions, 1944; Queen's Counsel, 1948; Vice-Chancellor, County Palatine of Lancaster, 1948-1963; Treasurer, Gray's Inn, 1956; Chairman of Departmental Committee on Hallmarking, 1956-1958; died, 1978.

Mattia Vento was born in Naples, 1735; studied at the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto, Naples; first operatic successes in Italy; Le deluse accortezze (1756) and La finta semplice (1759) produced at Rome; L'egiziana in Venice and Milan, 1763; went to England, 1763; active there as a composer and harpsichord teacher until his death; for the London opera, first produced the pasticcio Leucippo e Zenocrita , repeated in a command performance for the wedding of Princess Augusta (sister of George III), 1764; in succeeding seasons produced Demofoonte , 1765; Sofonisba , 1766; La conquista del Messico , 1767; also contributions to pasticcios; his aria Caro amor was successfully inserted in London performances of Piccinni's La buona figliuola , 1766; after a lapse of some years, produced Artaserse for the Harmonical Meeting, Soho Square, 1771; listed as a director at the King's Theatre, producing comic and serious operas ( Il bacio , La vestale and further pasticcios), 1775-1776; also served as conductor at public concerts including those at the Pantheon; listed among the major composers in London by a visitor from Germany, 1776; criticisms included simplicity and a lack of novelty, but individual songs from the operas and the published sets were widely performed and reprinted in anthologies; other work included 11 collections of keyboard sonatas, most with subordinate violin accompaniments, criticised for their sameness, but which were retained in publishers' catalogues for half a century; the 65 sonatas date from 1764-1776; Vento brought to London from Naples the latest operatic style but changes in the sonatas suggest that he also responded to the contemporary pre-Classical synthesis of German, Italian and English elements; died in London, 1776. His oeuvre included the following instrumental works: 6 Sonatas (London, 1764); 6 Sonatas (London, c1764); 6 Sonatas (London, 1765); A Third (-Tenth) Book (Sett) of 6 Sonatas (London, 1766-76); 6 Overtures in 8 Parts (London, c1774); A Last Sett of 5 Sonatas (London, 1777).

Archival history

The book was in the family of Sir Leonard Stone, c1906-1976, but no further information about its provenance is known.

Custodial history

Given to King's College Library via Professor R H Graveson, Faculty of Laws, by Sir Leonard Stone in 1976.

Conditions governing access

Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only.

Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archives.

Language of material

  • English
  • Greek
  • Latin

Script of material

Finding aids

Collection level description available in reading room at King's College London Archives.

Existence and location of originals

Off-campus collection

Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›

Related descriptions

Alternative identifier(s)

Place access points

People and Organisations

Genre access points

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.

Script(s)

Archivist's note

Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Sources: brief description in King's College London Manuscripts and Private Papers: A Select Guide (1982); Who's Who.

Accession area