The Layton Collection

THE THOMAS LAYTON TRUST & LAYTON'S COLLECTION

The History of the Popes

The History of the Popes, from the Foundation of the See of Rome to the present time. Vol I of 7

Bower January 1686 – 1766) was a Scottish historian, with a complicated and varying religious faith. The accounts he gave of it are now thought to lack credibility. He was educated in Douia, became a Jesuit in Rome but joined the Church of England in London in 1726. This History of the Popes (1748–66, 7 volumes) drew him into a damaging controversy concerning his apparent return to the Jesuit or Catholic fold.

Archibald Bower, 1798. Layton Collection 1376

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The Collection

Thomas Layton collected books, coins, and archaeological items (usually described as ‘antiquities’) for 70 years. In that time he had accumulated what has been described as “probably the largest collection of London antiquities ever amassed by a single individual”.

The vast majority of items are believed to have been bought at auctions. Some came to him from his men working on the river. His businesses provided opportunities for finds from dredging, building of bridges and embankments along the banks of the Thames, for which Layton paid good money. Even by the standards of the day Layton kept poor records of where items were found. Despite this, the collection is considered highly important particularly to archaeologists and pre-historians.