Letter 2 is the only example of a letter transcribed and published by Deane Swift that still exists in manuscript. It was acquired by the British Library in 1995. It has until now only ever been printed from the 1768 Deane Swift text. On the verso of the manuscript, the contents have been deleted with two intersecting diagonal lines. This deletion, along with that on the recto, may have been done by Swift some time afterwards, as he reviewed the letters in relation to his later publications on the period: unlike the obliterations of the salutations and little language in later letters, Letter 2 shows the striking out of material that is not related to the political or historical content. It could also have been done by Deane Swift, although the deletions and markings on the folio do not precisely correspond to his removal of material. The only significant omission of text in Deane Swift's version is the editing out of repeated information about the arrival of a letter from Chester. The manuscript has a small additional piece of paper pasted on to it at the end, a facsimile of the end of Letter 64 of the Journal to Stella.

Transcription of Letter 2

BL Add. 72710 fol. 1, recto and verso.