Full Description
The library of Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631) is arguably the most important collection of manuscripts ever assembled in Britain by a private individual. Amongst its many treasures are the Lindisfarne Gospels, two of the contemporary copies of Magna Carter and the only surviving manuscript of "Beowulf". It was bequeathed to the nation by Sir Robert's granson in 1701. The British Library is currently engaged in laying the groundwork for a new and definitive catalogue of the manuscripts. In this collection of essays, nine of which have appeared in "The British Library Journal" but eight of which are published here for the first time, an international team of scholars seek to advance Cotton studies by setting his activities as a collector not only of manuscripts but also of coins and Roman antiquities in the wider context of his involvement in the worlds of international scholarship and Stuart politics. The introduction is contributed by Collin Sharpe, whose 1979 monograph on Sir Robert Cotton helped reawaken the interest in this significant but curiously elusive figure.
Contents
Editorial forword, C.J. Wright; introduction - rewriting Sir Robert Cotton, Kevin Sharpe; Sir Robert Cotton and "The Commemoration of Famous Men", David Howarth; Cotton's "Counsels" - the context of Cotton posthuma, Graham Parry; Sir Robert Cotton - antiquarianism and estate administration - a Chancery decree of 1627, Roger B. Manning; a Cotton document in Smith MS 28, Nigel Ramsay; Arthur Argade and the Domesday Book, Elizabeth M. Hallam; Sir Robert Cotton's collection of Roman stones - a catalogue with commentary, Glenys Davies; From Camden to Cambridge - Sir Robert Cotton's Roman inscriptions and their subsequent treatment, David McKitterick; an early 17th-century inventory of Cotton's Anglo-Saxon coins, Gay van de Meer; a catalogue of Sir Robert Cotton's printed books, Colin Tite; post-medieval British verse in the Cotton collection - a survey and handlist, Hilton Kelliher; Camden, Cotton and the chronicles of Norman-Conquest England, Elizabeth MC van Houts; Sir Robert Cotton's record of a royal bookshelf, Janet Backhouse; the Royal Library as a source of Sir Robert Cotton's collection - a preliminary list of acquisitions, James P. carley; some classified catalogues of the Cottonian library, E.C. Teviotdale; "lost or stolen or strayed" - a survey of manuscripts formerly in the Cotton library, Colin Tite; the restoration of the Cotton library - a preliminary survey, Andrew Prescott.
