Anthony Wood 1632-1695

Anthony WOOD 1632-95

Biographical Note

Born in Oxford, a younger son of Thomas Wood, a relatively prosperous man of gentry status. After witnessing the disruption of the Civil War in Oxford he graduated BA at Merton College in 1652 (MA 1655). He became keenly interested in antiquarian pursuits, inspired by county histories that were then appearing, and resolved to work on the history of Oxford. He devoted most of the rest of this life to this end, living on a small private income in two rooms of the family home opposite Merton; he had many connections within the University, but no fellowship or other official post.

Wood undertook extensive research in libraries and record collections in Oxford and London, and he developed a wide circle of acquaintance, friendship or patronage with contemporary scholars and antiquaries. With the support of John Fell, he published his Historia et antiquitates Universitas Oxoniensis in 1674, which significantly enhanced his reputation, while also fuelling some of the disagreements and personal animosities which ran through his whole career. He spent the next 15 years compiling the biographical directory of Oxford writers which became his Athenae Oxonienses (1691-2), financed with help from Ralph Sheldon. Although the momumental value of this work has been recognised by posterity, its immediate reward was a successful libel action by Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, leading to Wood’s expulsion from the University in 1693. His importance as a historian of Oxford was further enhanced, long after his death, through the publication of his Survey of the antiquities of the city (1889-99) and his autobiography (first published by Hearne in 1730, more substantially edited in 1891-1900).

Books

Bequeathed his library to the Ashmolean Museum (transferred to the Bodleian, 1860); over 6500 vols are in the Bodleian today. Some books and manuscripts were also sold by him during his lifetime.

Sources

• Baron, S. Anthony a Wood in W. Baker (ed), Pre-19th century British book collectors, 1999, 401-6.
• Hoare P. (gen.ed.), The Cambridge history of libraries in Britain and Ireland. 3 vols. Cambridge, 2006. 40-1.
• Kiessling, N. The library of Anthony Wood (2002).
• Kiessling, N. The life of Anthony Wood in his own words, 2009.
• Parry, Graham. "Wood, Anthony [Anthony à Wood] (1632–1695), antiquary." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.