The manuscript riches of the Forster and Dyce Collections represent one of the most substantial compilations of major literary works available from one source. This collection contains the original manuscripts, papers, letters and ephemera of some of the greatest literary figures of all time. The material in this collection comes from the private libraries of John Forster, biographer, editor and scholar; and the Rev. Alexander Dyce, Shakespeare scholar and editor of Elizabethan dramatists.

Part One: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Manuscripts is extremely well documented, as both Forster and Dyce were active scholars and editors. Sixteenth and 17th century literary works include Beaumont and Fletcher's "The Faithful Friends;" Philip Massinger's "Parliament of Love"; a part-autograph copy of Marlowe's "Edward II;" and Thomas Heywood's "Rape of Lucrece."

Part Two: Eighteenth-Century Manuscripts provides a wealth of source material on a range of major writers. John Forster owned the largest collection of Samuel Richardson manuscripts in existence.

Parts Three and Four: 19th-Century Manuscripts represent the strongest section of the collection.

John Forster was a close friend of many of the major literary figures of the age, including Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Walter Savage Landor, Leigh Hunt, Edward, Lord Lytton, James Sheridan Knowles and Thomas Carlyle; Alexander Dyce was a friend of William Wordsworth and more than 40 of their letters from the 1820s and 1830s are included.

Part One: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Manuscripts
15 reels Part Two: Eighteenth Century Manuscripts
16 reels Part Three: Nineteenth Century Manuscripts, Section A
16 reels Part Four: Nineteenth Century Manuscripts, Section B
14 reels Part Five: The Charles Dickens Manuscripts
16 reels