The Trophies of Time: English Antiquarians of the Seventeenth Century

In Britain throughout the period there was a persistent curiosity about the origins of the nation and its institutions, inspired initially by the publication in 1586 of Camden's Britannia. A remarkable campaign of scholarship developed, which attempted to imagine the vanished societies that had once flourished there. What could be known of prehistoric Britain from its monuments and language? Could the lay-out of Roman Britain be recovered? Was it possible somehow to retrieve the language, religion, and laws of Saxon England? The answers to these questions often had a bearing on contemporary issues of church and state and also enabled citizens to gain a new insight into the character and identity of their nation. Many of the most learned men of the age addressed themselves to antiquarian enquiry and this book presents lively and fascinating portraits of Camden, Cotton, Selden, Spelman, Ussher, Dugdale, Aubrey, and many other lesser-known scholars.

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Introduction i
1. William Camden 22
2. Richard Verstegan 49
3. Sir Robert Cotton 70
4. John Selden 95
5. James Ussher 130
6. Sir Henry Spelman and William Somner 157
7. John Weever 190
8. Sir William Dugdale 117
9. A Mid-century Miscellany: Thomas Browne,
William Burton, and Thomas Fuller 249
10. John Aubrey 275
11. Phoenicia Britannica 308
1 2. Britannia Revised 331
Conclusion 358
Select Bibliography 367
Index 375