Was a distinguished antiquary and collector of manuscripts. He assisted Camden in his labours on the “Britannia.” On the accession of James I. he was knighted, and frequently consulted by the Privy Council on constitutional points. He was one of those who suggested to James I. the idea of creating baronets, and was himself raised to this rank in 1611. Sir Robert wrote numerous antiquarian tracts and pamphlets. But his chief title to remembrance is due to the magnificent manuscript library he collected, which passed to his heir intact, and was acquired by the nation in 1706. After being partly destroyed by fire in 1731, it was placed in the British Museum in 1757.

  Sir Robert Cotton was the author of various historical, political, and antiquarian works, which are now of little interest, except to men of kindred tastes. His name is remembered chiefly for the benefit which he conferred upon literature, by saving his valuable library of manuscripts from dispersion. After being considerably augmented by his son and grandson, it became, in 1706, the property of the public, and in 1757 was deposited in the British Museum. One hundred and eleven of the manuscripts, many of them highly valuable, had before this time been unfortunately destroyed by fire.

  His collection of coins and medals was one of the earliest. Very many languages were represented in his library. His rich collection of Saxon charters proved the foundation of the scholarly study of pre-Norman-English history, and his Hebrew and Greek manuscripts greatly advanced biblical criticism. Original authorities for every period of English history were in his possession. His reputation was European. De Thou was one of his warmest admirers, and Gruterus, in his edition of Cicero, describes him as one of the most learned men of the age. Duchesne, Bourdelet, Puteanus all acknowledged obligations to him. Bishop Montague calls him “the magazine of history,” and among his own countrymen, besides Camden, Speed, Selden, and Raleigh,… Spelman, Dugdale, Sir Henry Savile, Knolles, Gale, Burnet, Strype, and Rymer, the compiler of the “Fœdera,” all drew largely on his collections. Cotton wrote nothing that adequately represented his learning, and it is to be regretted that he did not concentrate his attention on some great historical work. His English style is readable, although not distinctive, and his power of research was inexhaustible.