Holograph commonplace book containing excerpts from books, magazines and newspapers on a variety of subjects, including antiquities; recent history and politics; voyages of discovery; agriculture and agricultural improvement; natural history; methods of selecting books; and medical and household recipes. Bailye’s reading included Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burney’s History of Music, Gibbons’ Decline and Fall, and Boswell’s Life of Johnson, from which he extracted two pages of "Dr. Johnson’s Remarks and Observations." There are five pages of quotations from Rousseau’s Emile. A number of entries concern Lichfield antiquities and monuments, including descriptions of Lichfield Cathedral and information on the cost of James Wyatt’s repairs to the choir. Bailye also copied documents related to the administration of the estate of David Garrick, with which he was involved. Pages 98-100 contain "Mr. Wallis’s Acct. of the Effects of the late D. Garrick Esq. 1783," which includes statements of revenue from properties and investments as well as payments on legacies and annuities and is followed by a quotation from a 1785 letter by Wallis apologizing for the partial distributions. A more detailed account of Garrick’s Hendon property is found on page 114.
Books and reading --Great Britain, Distribution of decedents’ estates --Great Britain, Learning and scholarship --Great Britain, and Recipes --Great Britain