Catalogue description Secretaries of State: State Papers Foreign, Poland and Saxony

Mainly in-letters to the Secretary of State from the English (later British) ambassadors, envoys, and ministers to the Kingdom of Poland and Duchy of Saxony. The records for Saxony are for the period 1697-1764 (when the Elector also ruled as King of Poland - the earlier papers are mostly in SP 81)

The majority of the letters are from Warsaw and Dresden, the capitals of Poland and Saxony respectively, but a series of despatches from the consulate at Danzig (Gdansk) in Poland supplements other letters from that city where there was a British 'factory' or trading settlement. Many draft replies by the Secretary of State are also in the series, and a number of petitions and royal letters. The series includes a few maps and plans of a military nature. Some printed papers are also in the volumes.

Selected documents dated before August 1589 are described in the Calendar of State Papers Foreign Series of the Reign of Elizabeth I ed A J Butler S C Lomas and R B Wernham (London 1901-1950). For references to the more important papers for the period August 1589 to December 1595 see the List and Analysis of State Papers Foreign Series Elizabeth I I-VI ed by Richard Bruce Wernham (London 1964-1993). Please speak to staff at the Map and Large Document Room enquiry desk for the precise location.