Archive Item of the Month – July 2012
19th July 2012
Sir Robert Atkyns (1647–1711) was a topographer, antiquary, and Member of Parliament. He was educated at St Edmund’s Hall, Oxford, and at Lincoln’s Inn. He held various powerful positions including that of Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucestershire. He was knighted by Charles II in 1663 and was an MP firstly for Cirencester and then for Gloucester.
His work The Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire was the first complete county history of its kind to be published, and had a great influence on successive volumes charting the history of Gloucestershire. The work includes coats of arms of prominent local families, a detailed map of the county and illustrated plates, as well as detailing various parish histories around the county.
The work is in excellent condition and extremely rare. An inscription written c. 1800 by an anonymous scribe in the front of the volume tells us why:
If you would like to come along and see this treasure please consider coming to our open day, part of the Council for British Archaeology’s Festival of Archaeology fortnight. We will be open on Saturday 21st July from 10am – 4pm.