Thomas Andrews d.1585

Thomas ANDREWS d.1585

Biographical Note

Son of Thomas Andrews of Bury St Edmunds; after spending time at Oxford 1535-38, he migrated to Cambridge, where he graduated LL.B in 1542, before going on to enter the Middle Temple. He followed a legal career thereafter, and was a JP for Suffolk from ca.1573, and solicitor to the University of Cambridge 1578-81. He was a steward for Sir Nicholas Bacon and for the Duke of Norfolk in the 1560s, and was MP for Sudbury in 1563.

Books

Andrews gave ca.60 books to Bury St Edmunds Grammar School in 1565, of which 16 survive today in the School Library (now deposited in Cambridge University Library); they were all listed retrospectively in the School Donors' Book (Cambridge UL Add MS 7930). They covered a mixture of subjects, including classics, medicine and theology, and were printed between 1497 and 1565 (including 4 English imprints). Several survive in contemporary Cambridge bindings, while others were bound in London and elsewhere. His will, leaving most of his property to his wife, has no mention of books, but a number of specific legacies were included in an annex to the will, now lost; we do not know the extent of his library when he died.

Characteristic Markings

Andrews often inscribed his name or initials on his titlepages. His books are particularly interesting for the survival, among the Bury School books, of four examples of an early bookplate, comprising the Andrews arms handpainted on paper labels pasted into the front of the books.

Sources

• History of Parliament.
• Will of Thomas Andrews, The National Archives PROB 11/68/206.
• Pearson, D., What is the first English bookplate?, The Library 7th ser 20 (2019), 527-32.