Wood

Antiquarian and other manuscripts from the collection of Anthony à Wood (1632-95).

Anthony à Wood (1632-1695) received his BA (1652) and MA (1655) from Merton College, Oxford. His 'History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford' was published in Latin translation by Oxford University Press in 1674, and in a longer form in English by John Gutch in 1786-1790.

Apart from diaries and letters, there are three collections of Wood manuscripts. The first consists of 126 MSS. (MSS. Wood, and MS. Wood Rolls 1) bequeathed in November 1695 with 970 printed books. They were housed in the Ashmolean Museum until their transfer to the Bodleian in 1860, and are chiefly Wood's own collections for the history of the university and the city of Oxford. The second comprises medieval manuscripts bought from Wood (MSS. Wood empt.). The third collection is a bequest of Dr. Gerard Langbaine's Adversaria (MSS. Wood donat., all post-medieval).