Creator
Smith, Thomas
Title
Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum bibliothecae Cottonianae.
Coverage
Oxford
Publisher
E Theatro Sheldoniano
Date
1696.
Description
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571–1631), a founding member of the Antiquarian Society, began collecting manuscripts while still in his teens. His collection eventually included the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bede’s Historia ecclesiastica, and King Alfred’s translation of Orosius’ Historia universalis. A fire destroyed or damaged a large portion of the manuscripts in 1731, but the remaining items were acquired by the newly formed British Museum in 1753.
Source
Purchased from the Jaffray Fund, 1932.