Robert Bruce Cotton

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Robert Bruce Cotton

Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet (22 January 1570/1 – 6 May 1631) was an English

England

Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
, founder of the famous Cotton library

Cotton library

The Cotton or Cottonian library was the library compiled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton , an antiquarian and bibliophile. Cotton's library included his collection of books, manuscripts, coins and medallions in his personal estate....
.

He was of a Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire is a Non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Historic counties of England it was a Counties of England in its own right....
parentage and educated at Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxbridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college....
, where he became interested in antiquarian studies under William Camden

William Camden

William Camden was an England antiquarian and historian. He wrote the first topographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England....
, and Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College in the University of Cambridge was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock , then Bishop of Ely. It has been traditionally believed that the nunnery was turned into a college because the nunnery had gained a reputation for promiscuity....
(B.A.

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Encyclopedia

Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet (22 January 1570/1 – 6 May 1631) was an English

England

Politician

Cotton library

Huntingdonshire

Westminster School

William Camden

Jesus College, Cambridge

Antiquarian

An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado of antiquities or things of the past. Also, and most often in modern usage, an antiquarian is a person who deals with or collects rare and ancient "Antiquarian book trade in the United States"....
notes on the local history of Huntingdonshire, he began to amass a library, in which the documents rivalled, then surpassed the official Public Record Office

Public Record Office

The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives . The name is no longer used officially, though many scholars prefer to continue to use it since there is the possibility of confusion with the National Archives of several other countries....
collections. He entered the Parliament of England

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
as a member for Huntingdon

Huntingdon

Huntingdon is a town in the county of Cambridgeshire in East Anglia, England. The town was town charter in 1205. It was formerly the county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire non-metropolitan district....
in 1601. He helped devise the institution of the title baronet
Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown known as a baronetcy....
as a means for King James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
to raise funds. Despite his early period of goodwill with James I, during which he was made a baronet, Cotton's politics, based on his immersion in the documents, was essentially that "sacred obligation of the king to put his trust in parliaments" expressed in his published The Dangers wherein the Kingdom now standeth, and the Remedye (1628), which from the Court party's point-of-view was anti-royalist in nature; the authorities began to fear the uses being made of his library to support parliamentarian arguments: it was confiscated in 1630 and returned only after his death to his heirs.

The Cottonian Library was the richest private collection of manuscripts ever amassed; of secular libraries it outranked the Royal library, the collections of the Inns of Court

Inns of Court

The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations to one of which every Barristers in England and Wales must belong. They have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members....
and the College of Arms

College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
; Cotton's house near the Palace of Westminster

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, in London, is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom meet....
became the meeting-place of the Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries can refer to:*Society of Antiquaries of London*Society of Antiquaries of Scotland*Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne...
and of all the eminent scholars of England (DNB
DNB

DNB is short for:* Dun & Bradstreet The business information company* Drum and bass, an electronic music style* The Dictionary of National Biography, notable figures from British history...
); it was eventually donated to the nation by Cotton's grandson and now resides at the British Library

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is one of the world's largest List of Research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, Sound recording, patents, databases, maps, stamps, Printmaking, drawings and much mor...
.

The physical arrangement of Cotton's Library continues to be reflected in citations to manuscripts once in his possession. His library was housed in a room long by six feet wide filled with bookpress

Bookpress

A bookpress is either:* a screw press used in the bookbinding or rebinding of books.* an early form of bookcase, used in medieval cloisters, to which books were attached using a chain....
es, each with the bust of a figure from classical antiquity

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
on top. Counterclockwise, these are catalogued as Julius

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
(i.e., Julius Caesar), Augustus, Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII of Egypt

Cleopatra VII Philopator was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, originally sharing power with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV; eventually gaining sole rule of Egypt....
, Faustina

Faustina the Younger

Annia Galeria Faustina Minor , Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger was a daughter of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and Roman Empress Faustina the Elder....
, Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, Caligula

Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
, Claudius

Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
, Nero

Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
, Galba

Galba

Servius Sulpicius Galba , also called Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperor from June 8, 68 until his death. He was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors....
, Otho

Otho

For other uses, see Otho .Marcus Salvius Otho , also called Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperors from 15 January to 16 April 69, the second emperor of the Year of the four emperors....
, Vitellius

Vitellius

Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, born Aulus Vitellius and commonly known as Vitellius , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 16 April 69 to 22 December of the same year....
, Vespasian

Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
, Titus

Titus

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81. Titus was the second emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Titus's father Vespasian , Titus himself and his younger brother Domitian ....
, and Domitian

Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
. (Domitian had only one shelf, perhaps because it was over the door.) Manuscripts are now designated by library, bookpress, and number: for example, the manuscript of Beowulf
Beowulf

Beowulf is an Old English language heroic Epic poetry of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th to the early 11th century, and relates events described as having occurred in what is now Denmark and Sweden....
is designated Cotton Vitellius A.xv, and the manuscript of Pearl
Pearl (poem)

'Pearl' is a Middle English alliteration poem written in the late 14th century. Its unknown author, designated the "Pearl poet" or "Gawain poet", is generally assumed, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience , and Cleanness and may have composed St....
is Cotton Nero A.x.

Selected manuscripts

Cotton Julius A.x Old English Martyrology
Cotton Augustus II.106 Magna Carta
Magna Carta

Magna Carta , also called Magna Carta Libertatum , is an Kingdom of England legal charter, originally issued in the year 1215. It was written in Latin....
: Exemplification of 1215
Cotton Cleopatra A.ii Life of St Modwenna
Cotton Faustina A.x Additional Glosses to the Glossary in Ælfric's Grammar
Cotton Tiberius B.v Labour of the Months
Cotton Caligula A.ii "A Pistil of Susan" (frag.)
Cotton Claudius B.iv Genesis
Cotton Nero A.x. Pearl
Pearl (poem)

'Pearl' is a Middle English alliteration poem written in the late 14th century. Its unknown author, designated the "Pearl poet" or "Gawain poet", is generally assumed, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience , and Cleanness and may have composed St....
, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' is a late 14th-century Middle English Alliterative verse chivalric romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table ....
Cotton Nero D.iv Lindisfarne Gospels
Lindisfarne Gospels

The Lindisfarne Gospels is an Illuminated manuscript Latin manuscript of the gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John....
Cotton Galba A.xviii Athelstan Psalter
Cotton Otho C.i Ælfric's De creatore et creatura
Cotton Vitellius A.xv Beowulf
Beowulf

Beowulf is an Old English language heroic Epic poetry of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th to the early 11th century, and relates events described as having occurred in what is now Denmark and Sweden....
, Judith
Judith (homily)

Judith is a homily written by abbot Aelfric of Eynsham around the year 1000. It is extant in two manuscripts, a fairly complete version being found in Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS 303, and fragments in British Library MS Cotton Otho B.x....
Cotton Vespasian D.xiv Ælfric's De duodecim abusivis
Cotton Titus D.xxvi Ælfwine's Prayerbook
Cotton Domitian A.viii Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English language chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The annals were created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great....
(version E)

Robert Bruce Cotton

Selected manuscripts

See also

Further reading

External links