The Layton Collection

THE THOMAS LAYTON TRUST & LAYTON'S COLLECTION

The Fables of Aesop paraphrased in verse : adorn’d with sculpture, and illustrated with annotations

Aesop’s Fables or the Aesopica is a collection of moralistic tales credited to the slave and storyteller, Aesop; believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC. The first English translations were dedicated to rich and powerful patrons. They were often published in large formats that only the well-to-do could afford, as in the case of this elegant version by Scottish translator, Ogilby.

John Ogilby, 1668. Layton Collection 16512

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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.