CAMDEN, WILLIAM 0551-1623). An anti quarian and historian, surnamed 'The British Pausanias.' Ile was born in London, where his father was a house-painter, May 2, 1551. his education began at Christ's Hospital, was com pleted at Saint Paul's School and at I txford, where he obtained a B.A. degree in 1573. In 1575 lie was appointed second master of West minster School, and while discharging the duties of this office he undertook the work which made his name famous. Ilis Britannia, written in ele gant Latin, and giving an account of the British Isles from the earliest ages, was first published in I586. and it at once brought him into com munication with the learned men of his time. Before 1607 the work had passed through six editions, being enlarged and improved by the industry of the author. At first a comparatively small volume, it received much additional mat ter from other writers. The best-known edition is that of Edmund Gibson, in English, 2 vols.,
folio (1722). The latest translation is that of Gough and Nichols (2d ed., 1806). Bishop Nicholson said of this work that it was "the common sun whereat our modern writers have all lighted their little torches." In 1593 Camden was appointed head master of Westminster School; and in 1597 Clarencieux King-at-Arms, an appointment which gave him more time for the pursuit of his favorite studies. His other important works are: Annals of the Reign of Elizabeth (latest ed., 1717); A Collection of Ancient English Historians (Rh ed.. 1607) : Account of the Monuments and inscriptions in Thestminstir Abbey (MOO): and a Narratire of the Gunpowder Plot (1607). He died November 9, 1623. at Chiselhurst. in the house which after wards belonged to Napoleon III.. and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Before his death he en dowed a professorship of history at Oxford.