Aubrey (John, antiquary and biographer, 1626-97) [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, in the professional secretarial hand of Belshazar Gotfried Cramer, scribe to the Royal Society, 3 parts in 1, 216pp. (excluding blank p. 146) only of ?218pp. (pagination [3]-80, 83-94, 97-223, text starts at “In the Infancy of Christian Religion…” and ends at “Painting of Ale-house doures with a Checquer” and then with mostly illegible notes, “… the Church-yard hedge… of Badlesmere…. and… of Oswestry…” with reference to page 174 which is largely in Greek), lacks title and dedication, written on thick paper, parts II & III in red and brown ink, headings in red ink, the text in light brown ink, ruled in pencil throughout, c. 12 small watercolour illustrations in the text, browned throughout, last 17pp. affected by water-staining with the loss of some text in a few places and with the last 4pp. rendered largely illegible, p. 192 ink smudge, a few other smaller smudges, many edges chipped and creased (first and last pp. some edges torn with small loss not affecting text), original stitching, unbound, folio, [c. 1693].*** Apart from BL Lansdowne MSS. 231, this is the only known manuscript in existence of Aubrey's seminal work on folk-lore and customs, in the hand of B.G. Cramer, his collaborator.This transcription of Aubrey’s Remaines is in the hand of the scribe to the Royal Society, B.G. Cramer, a German from Anhalt. He also made the transcript of Aubrey’s Natural History of Wiltshire which is now Royal Society, London, MS 92, and was paid 3 pence a sheet for copying it. His annotations and comments are part of MS Lansdowne 231, and he seems to have copied his observations into this new transcription. The transcript is almost certainly derived from the BL copy and is probably an early copy in that it is without some of its material, such as John Evelyn’s notes. However, it does have some details which are not in the BL copy and may mean that Cramer asked Aubrey for clarification: he was not merely a scribe, more of a collaborator in the research. It is possible that this is the copy made for the earl of Abingdon in 1693 who proposed to have a professional transcript made of the Remaines as “it wants methodizing”, for which Cramer was paid £3. This manuscript is stitched, but has never been bound and with the notes at end ordered in some fashion by Cramer, was probably produced for contemporary publication.This manuscript with the notes by Cramer but not those of White Kennett, e.g. Cramer’s note on p. 151, The Musick at Funeralls. “In Zerbst in Anhalt in Germany there is at Gentlemens Funeralls almost always a very good Funerall Musique. Cramer.” [Missing note] “This the reason of ringing out the Bells in most Churches as soon as ever the body is in-laid. W. K.”“Aubrey's fieldwork yielded new findings not only in archaeology and natural history but also in folklore. His seminal 'Remaines of gentilisme and Judaisme' (BL, Lansdowne MS 231) contains a mass of gleanings on customs and ceremonies, folk traditions and popular beliefs, old wives' tales and children's rhymes, many of which he considered to be ancient survivals and compared with references in classical authors. He finally wrote up his treatise in three parts between February 1687 and March 1689 and thereafter lent it out to Edward Lhwyd, John Toland, White Kennett, and John Evelyn, the last two of whom added notes to it, as did B. G. Cramer, a German scholar and secretary to the Royal Society. On his death it was in the hands of Kennett and it was to go with the rest of his papers into the Lansdowne manuscripts at the British Museum.” – Oxford DNB.Belshazar Gotfried Cramer (or Kramer), was from Zerbst-Anhalt in Germany and educated at Frankfurt and Basel and took his doctorate in 1671; he has signed several of the notes in this manuscript; Cramer was appointed Clerk at the Royal Society on 27 November 1683 (with a salary of £30 a year), succeeding Michael Weeks (or Wicks), however the appointment was cancelled as it had to be approved by the whole fellowship and not just the council, so instead he acted as scribe to the society, including transcribing a manuscript copy of Aubrey’s “Memoires of Naturall Remarques in the County of Wilts”, 1690-91, RS MS 92.Provenance: The Eyre family and by descent in the Matcham family of Newhouse, Redlynch, Wiltshire.With thanks to Dr. Kate Bennett, Magdalen College, University of Oxford, for her help in cataloguing this item.