First published in 1924, at the time, this was the first detailed study which attempted to investigate the workings and character of the powerful West Indian interest in London in the eighteenth century. At the centre of this interest stood the Colonial Agent, an office which had come into existence when the West Indian interest was born. Dr. Penson traces its growth from the Restoration era, through the Peace of Paris, when its importance began to decline, to the nineteenth century when the office finally disappeared. It is based on exhaustive research in public and private archives.

English Historical Documents is the most ambitious, impressive and comprehensive collection of documents on English history ever published. An authoritative work of primary evidence, each volume presents material with exemplary scholarly accuracy. Editorial comment is directed towards making sources intelligible rather than drawing conclusions from them. Full account has been taken of modern textual criticism. A general introduction to each volume portrays the character of the period under review and critical bibliographies have been added to assist further investigation. Documents collected include treaties, personal letters, statutes, military dispatches, diaries, declarations, newspaper articles, government and cabinet proceedings, orders, acts, sermons, pamphlets, agricultural instructions, charters, grants, guild regulations and voting records. Volumes are furnished with lavish extra apparatus including genealogical tables, lists of officials, chronologies, diagrams, graphs and maps.

Including periodicals, American and English; essays, book-chapters, etc.; bibliographies, necrology, index to dates of principal events.