1535-43 (1710)  LELAND, John

 

John Leland or Leyland (c.1503 –1552) was an English poet and antiquary, who has been described as "the father of English local history and bibliography". He is probably best remembered for his Itinerary, which provided a unique source of observations and materials for many subsequent antiquaries, and introduced the county as the basic unit for studying the local history of England, an idea that was reflected in all atlases of the UK until the mid-1800s.
This untitled Itinerary theoretically should be dated 1710 as it remained in manuscript[3] until published by Hearne, the librarian of the Bodleian Library, in 1710-11: However, the existence of the work was well known by antiquaries and provided much information for works which appeared before actual publication. (BL and 15 UK libraries incl. DEI and ExU and Yale).
The Second and Third editions were published in Oxford, 1744-5 (SocA, Mich, Ohio, Cal) & 1769-1770 (Yale, Col illustrated).[4]
The work was published again in London in 1907, George Bell & Son, Lucy Tulmin Smith (Tor).              
 

    

 
Leland´s Itinerary: title page of Third Edition published in Oxford 1770 (left); page 25 Vol. III. 1770 (right) noting entry into Cornwall. Both illustrations courtesy of Colombia University (via google books).

Most evidence for Leland's life and career comes from his own writings, especially his poetry and his antiquarian writings. Having lost both his parents at an early age, he and his brother were raised by Thomas Myles. Leland was educated at St Paul's School, London, and was subsequently sent to Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1522 (BA).     

Remembered as a poet. Leland and Nicholas Udall composed verses to be read or recited at the pageant of Anne Boleyn's arrival in London in 1533, which was staged for the occasion of her coronation. As an antiquarian, Leland was provided with "a moste gratius commission", which authorized him to examine and use the libraries of all religious houses in England and Leland spent the next few years travelling from religious house to house, compiling lists of significant or unusual books in their libraries.

By about 1538, Leland had turned his attention to English and Welsh topography and antiquities, embarking on a series of journeys which lasted six years. Probably over the summer of 1538 he made an extended excursion through Wales. He subsequently made some five journeys in England although the exact sequence and their dates are uncertain, over the summers of the years 1539 to 1543. His one firmly dated itinerary is that of 1542, which took him to the West Country.

Leland kept notebooks on his travels, in which he entered and assessed information from personal observation, and from books, charters and oral sources. It is this material which we now know as his 'Itinerary' which contained written description only, no maps. [1] Following Leland's death, King Edward VI arranged for Leland's library to be placed in the custody of Sir John Cheke. However, Cheke fell from favour on the accession of Queen Mary, and departed for mainland Europe in 1554 and the library was dispersed.[2] Leland's own manuscript notebooks were inherited by Cheke's son, Henry, and in 1576 they were borrowed and transcribed by John Stow, allowing their contents to begin to circulate in antiquarian circles.

 

Part III describes his journeys through Devon & Cornwall.

     

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[1] See the much longer article in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Leland_(antiquary).
[2] Books were acquired first by collectors including Sir William Cecil, William, Lord Paget, John Dee and Archbishop Matthew Parker.
[3] The manuscripts were consulted before publication by leading antiquaries such as Stow in 1576, Burton 1628, Dugdale 1657, Gale 1702 and Willis 1704.
[4] Note: nearly all the USA holdings are available online at Hathi Trust.