Quarto volume from the library of the antiquary Robert Bigsby (1806-1873) entitled 'Letters relating to King William the Fourth's Acceptance of Sir Francis Drake's Astrolabe, and to His Majesty's Command that it should be deposited at Greenwich Hospital'. Two letters from Major General Sir Herbert Taylor, private secretary to King William IV, dated 14 and 29 April 1831, discuss Bigsby's presentation of a compendium dial reputed to have belonged to Sir Francis Drake. A descriptive label for the artefact and a relevant cutting from 14 June 1856 issue of 'The Illustrated London News' are also enclosed. Three letters from the British Museum, dated 29 April and 29 May 1861, discuss Bigsby's presentation of a horn snuff box commemorating Drake's circumnavigation of the globe. See AST0172 for the compendium dial in the Greenwich Hospital Collection referred to in the letters.