the Inventory of the Jewels in the Tower of London, March
22nd, 1605, thus describes the " Mirror of Great Britain," a famous
Crown Jewel, composed soon after the accession of James I. " A greate
and ryche jewell of golde, called the ' Myrror of Greate Brytayne,'
conteyninge one verie fayre table dyamonde, one verie fayre table
rubye, twoe other lardge dyamondes, cut lozengewyse, the one of them
called the ' Stone of the letter H. (It?) of Scotlande,' garnyshed wyth
smalle dyamondes, twoe rounde pedes, fixed, and one fayre dyamonde, cutt in
FAWCETTIS, BOUGHT OF SAUNCEY." *
This
important extract, strangely overlooked by all who have hitherto
endeavoured to unravel the tangled history of the " Sancy," shows
beyond all doubt, that this gem never permanently left the hands of its
original purchaser until disposed of by him to the Crown of England,
somewhere between the years 1590 and 1600. The words "cutt in
faw-cettes" clearly identify the stone here referred to with that still
known as the " Sancy."
If possible, still more important is the following passage, which occurs at p. 11 of Robert de Berquem's well-known Merveilles des Indes, published
in 1669. Speaking of the diamonds, at that time famous for their size
and beauty, the writer observes : " There are some of extraordinary
size and perfection. The present Queen of England has the one brought
by the late M. de Sancy, from his embassy in the Levant,
