te papers and the
miscellaneous correspondence of Lord Burghley, together with his private
note-book and journals, passed from Sir Michael Hickes, one of the
statesman's secretaries, to a descendant, Sir William Hickes, by whom
they were sold to Chiswell, the bookseller, and by him to Strype, the
historian. On Strype's death they came into the hands of James West, and
from his executors they were acquired by William Petty, first Marquis of
Lansdowne, whose manuscripts were purchased by the Trustees of the
British Museum in 1807.[16]

[Illustration: LORD BURGHLEY'S BOOK-STAMP.]

THOMAS WOTTON, 1521-1587

Thomas Wotton was born in 1521 at Bocton or Boughton Place, in the
parish of Boughton Malherbe, in the county of Kent, and succeeded his
father, Sir Edward Wotton, in that estate in 1550. He was appointed
sheriff of the county of Kent in the last year of Queen Mary, and in
July 1573 he entertained Elizabeth and her court at his residence,
Bocton Place, when she offered him knighthood, which he declined. Wotton
was twice married. By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John
Rudstone, he had three sons: Edward, knighted by Elizabeth, and
afterwards raised to the peerage as Baron Wotton by James I.; and James
and John, who were also made knights by Elizabeth. His second wife was
Eleanora, daughter of Sir William Finch of Eastwell in Kent, and widow
of Robert Morton, Esq., of the same county, by whom he had a son, Henry,
the poet and statesman, who was knighted by James I. He died in London
on the 11th of January 1587, and was buried in the parish church of
Boughton Malherbe, where a monument was erected to his memory.

[Illustration: ARMS OF THOMAS WOTTON.]

Wotton was celebrated for his hospitality, and was much beloved and
respected by all who knew him. He was also a patron of learning, and
possessed a fine and extensive collection of books, remarkable for their
handsome bindings. They are generally ornamented in a style similar to
that used on the volumes bound for Grolier, whose motto he adopted.
Although the majority of the bindings executed for him bear the legend
THOMAE WOTTONI ET AMICORVM as the only mark of their ownership, they are
sometimes impressed with his arms.

Izaak Walton, in his _Life of Sir Henry Wotton_, states that Thomas
Wotton 'was a gentleman excellently educated, and studious in all the
liberal arts, in the knowledge whereof he attained unto great
perfection; who though he had-