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Collections of Nathaniel Johnston and Richard Frank

 Collection

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Collections of Nathaniel Johnston and Richard Frank. Johnston's collections are divided into sections relating to Yorkshire, genealogy and English history; Frank's into Yorkshire, and legal and miscellaneous.

Dates

  • Creation: 16th-18th century

Extent

10.33 Linear metres (101 boxes)

Language of Materials

  • English
  • French
  • Latin

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MSS. Top. Yorks. b. 18, fols. 1-2].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Full range of shelfmarks:

MSS. Top. Yorks. b. 18-20, c. 13-70, c. 90, d. 9-11, e. 31; Eng. hist. c. 283-90; Eng. misc. c. 275, c. 341, d. 289-90, e. 252-4; Eng. poet. c. 25; Eng. th. c. 59; French e. 21; Lat. misc. c. 67, d. 75, f. 41; Lat. th. c. 18; Top. Derbyshire c. 3; Top. eccles. c. 9; Top. gen. c. 49-57; Top. Oxon. c. 378

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 13057

Abstract

Collections of Nathaniel Johnston and Richard Frank, 16th-18th century.

Biographical / Historical

Nathaniel Johnston (1627-1705), physician and antiquary, spent thirty years transcribing materials for a history of Yorkshire. The first account of his manuscripts appeared in Edward Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae (Oxford, 1697), ii, 99-102. A biography of Johnston and a detailed description of his volumes in this collection are given in Janet D. Martin, 'The antiquarian collections of Nathaniel Johnston', Oxford B.Litt. thesis, 1956. Details are also given in the Dictionary of National Biography. Richard Frank (1698-1762) was an antiquary. He transcribed materials on Yorkshire antiquities.

Other Finding Aids

M. Clapinson and T.D. Rogers, Summary Catalogue of Post-Medieval Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Oxford. Acquisitions 1916-1975. (Oxford, 1991), vol. II, nos. 55290-55390.

A more detailed description and index are available in the Library and at the National Register of Archives.

Custodial History

Many of Johnston's manuscripts were bought by Richard Frank in 1756. Frank added lists of contents to many of the volumes and had them indexed by his servant John Coe. His collections, including many Johnston manuscripts, descended to F. Bacon Frank of Campsall Hall, Yorkshire, and are listed in Historical Manuscript Commission, Reports 5: 6th report (1877) app., 448-465. Much of the Campsall Hall library was sold at Sotheby's in 1942.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was bought at Sotheby's in 1942.

Title
Collections of Nathaniel Johnston and Richard Frank
Status
Published
Author
Collection Level Description by Emily Tarrant; EAD version 2020 by Pauline Soum-Paris
Date
EAD version 2020
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom