"The King Chindasuindo [Chindasuinth (ca. 563-653)] in his great christianity and zeal and the great diligence which he used in searching the books of the Santos Doctores or learned saints, having received notice that the morals which St. Gregory had written at the intercession of his great friend St. Leandro and of which this saint having brought a copy to Spain and lost it through the fault of negligence & carelessness of those who guarded it: spoke of them in the council . . . ."
Complete transcription available upon request.
With--Typed letter from the Library of Congress's Acting Chief in the General Reference and Bibliography Division Leslie W. Dunlap to Dr. Noël J. Cortés, describing the first section of the Irving manuscript in the present lot: ". . . The extract translated from the Spanish by Washington Irving, 'The Finding of the Books of St. Gregory,' is not included in the collected works of this writer, nor do we find that it has ever been published separately. . . ." 1 page, 4to, "Reference Department" stationery. With the original envelope. Washington, 27 October 1947.