The Library Lists of Francis Lodwick FRS (1619-1694): An Introduction to Sloane MSS. 855 and 859, and a Searchable Transcript

Abstract

• Francis Lodwick FRS (1619-1694) was a merchant of Flemish and French extraction, and an early linguist. Among his manuscripts now in the Sloane collection are two catalogues of books, Sloane MS. 859 and Sloane MS. 855. Together they total well over 5000 titles. Both lists can be securely linked with Lodwick, and provide evidence of serious book-buying. The two catalogues are not, however, merely two iterations of the same collection. Instead, they depict two distinct libraries, with different characteristics. The edition presented here is a transcription of both catalogues, and is intended to make their contents available to a wider scholarly audience.