Autograph letter signed by explorer Charles Beke about Thomas Cramner dated 1862

BEKE, Charles Tilstone (1800-1874). Autograph letter signed to Richard Thomson concerning Tudor Archbishop, Thomas Cranmer and Bekesbourne Palace, with manuscript reproduction of Cranmer's mark. The Gatehouse of St Augustine's, Bekesbourne Palace, 19 August 1862.
 
Autograph letter signed, Single sheet folded, written on 3 sides with sketch and inscription on third side. Old folds and a couple of curled corner edges, otherwise in very good condition.
 
An unusual letter from the explorer, geographer and scholar Charles Tilstone Beke, written from his residence at the Gatehouse, Bekesbourne Palace, Kent. Addressed to the antiquary Richard Thomson, Beke thanks him for a commemorative gift and says "the good men whom this intended to commemorate, and who built the house from which this acknowledgment is sent."
 
Of particular interest is Beke's manuscript reproduction of "Thomas Cranmer his mark", accompanied by the inscription: NOSCE TE IPSUM ET DEUM ("Know thyself and God.") and dated 1552. The letter relates to Bekesbourne Palace's historical association with Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury.
 
Charles Tilstone Beke is remembered for his explorations in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), geographical researches in north-east Africa, and numerous contributions to nineteenth-century scholarship. An uncommon letter with Beke's sketch bearing Thomas Cramner's initials.