Burnet Manuscripts

Scope and Content

Manuscripts of Gilbert Burnet, including:

  • Copies of 'The History of my own Time', by Burnet
  • Parts of Burnet's 'History of the Reformation'
  • Letters and papers, written by or relating to Burnet and his works

Administrative / Biographical History

Gilbert Burnet (1643-1715) was Bishop of Salisbury and a historian. Details are given in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Access Information

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/specialcollections).

Acquisition Information

The manuscripts were purchased from Mr Laycock for 200 guineas in 1835.

Note

Collection level description created by Emily Tarrant, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.

Other Finding Aids

Falconer Madan, et al., A summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford which have not hitherto been catalogued in the Quarto series (7 vols. in 8 [vol. II in 2 parts], Oxford, 1895-1953; reprinted, with corrections in vols. I and VII, Munich, 1980), vol. V, nos. 28386-95.

Custodial History

The manuscripts passed from Burnet into the possession of his third son, Sir Thomas Burnet (1694-1753), and afterwards were owned by a family descended from the Bishop.