BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY; CONTAINING An Historical and Critical) ACCOUNT OF THE LIVES and WRITINGS OF THE Moft Eminent Perfons In every NATION; Particularly the BRITISH and IRISH; From the earliest Accounts of Time to the present Period. WHEREIN Their remarkable ACTIONS or SUFFERINGS, LITERARY PRODUCTIONS. VOL. XI. LONDON: Printed for T. OSBORNE, J. WHISTON and B. WHITE, MDCCLXII. AN Univerfal, Hiftorical, and Literary DICTIONARY. S S. Strype's Stow, prefixed to Life of Stow's Survey of printed in 1720. TOW (JOHN) an eminent English antiquarian, was born in London about the year 1525; and very probably in Cornhill, fince it is certain, that both his father and grandfather dwelt there, and were perfons of good fubftance and credit. There is no account of any cir- London, cumftances relating to his youth, except that he was bred to his father's bufinefs, which, there is reafon to suppose, was that of a taylor. When he quitted Cornhill is uncertain; but in 1549, we find him dwelling within Aldgate, from whence he afterwards removed to Lime-ftreet ward, where he continued till his death. He began early to apply himself to the study of the hiftory and antiquities of England, even fo as to neglect his calling, and hurt his circumftances. It was about the year 1560, that he conceived thoughts of compiling an English chronicle; and he spent the remaining part of a long life, in collecting fuch things relating to this kingdom, as he esteemed worthy to be tranfmitted to pofterity. He had purfued thefe ftudies fome time, and had acquired a name by his fkill in them, when perceiving how little profit he was likely to gain from his industry, A 2 See art. dustry, he was upon the point of deserting them, in order to apply himself more diligently to the bufinefs of his profeffion; and the expensiveness of purchafing manufcripts was an additional motive to this refolution. But dr. Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, who was an excellent antiquarian, and a generous encourager of those studies, perfuaded him to continue his purfuits, and affifted him during his life by feveral benefactions. The firft work which he publifhed was, A fummary of the chronicles of England, from the coming in of Brute unto his own time. He began this work at the defire of the lord Robert Dudley, afterwards earl of Leicester; and the occafion of it was this: in the year 1562, mr. Stow, in his search after curious and uncommon tracts, met with an ingenious one written by Edmund Dudley, his lordship's grandfather, during his imprisonment in the Tower, intitled, The tree of the commonwealth, which he dedicated to king Henry VIII. though it never came to his majesty's hand. Mr. Stow kept the original himself, and transcribed a fair copy of it, which he prefented to lord Dudley, who upon this requested him to draw up fome work of the fame nature. Our antiquarian therefore collected this fummary, and dedicated it to his lordship: it was reprinted in 1573, 8vo, with additions. This fame year came out the laborious and voluminous collections of Reiner Wolfe, printer to the queen; being a chronicle of Britain, and the kings and queens of that kingdom, printed and reprinted by Raphael Hollinshead, and going commonly under his name. The laft and largest edition of that work in 1587, contains many confiderable additions by mr. Stow; indeed the main part of the continuation of that history from 1573, to 1587. In 1598, he published his Survey of London, containing the original, antiquity, increase, modern eftate, and description of that city, in 4to, This ufeful and valuable work has been reprinted feveral times, with additions and improvements by the author, and after his death by others; and in 1720, the fifth and last edition was published in two volumes folio, by mr. Strype, with the author's life, and additions by himself. In 1600, mr. Stow fet forth his Flores hiftoriarum; that is, his annals of this kingdom from the time of the ancient Bri tons |