Catalogue of the Thomason Tracts. 2 vols. (British Museum.) —The
sub-title of these volumes runs thus: "Catalogue of the Pamphlets, Books, Newspapers, and Manuscripts Relating to the Civil War, the Commonwealth and Restoration, Collected by George Thomason, 1640-1651." George Thomason was a book- seller (and, in a small way, a publisher) who had his place of business first, in partnership with Pullen, at the 'Rose' in St. Paul's Churchyard (North Side), and afterwards at the 'Rose and Crown' in the same quarter. He was a Presbyterian, and was out of sympathy with the later proceedings of the Commonwealth leaders, and he had a great dislike of the Quakers. He had, it seems, something to do with the Love conspiracy, but suffered nothing beyond arrest. For the two decades 1640-60 he busied himself with collecting everything that came from the press con- cerning the great Civil War controversy, bringing his work to an end with the Restoration. He seems to have survived this event by five years. If so, he had reached the age of sixty-three. Nearly a hundred years later the collection was bought by George III. and presented to the British Museum. It consists of 22,255 pieces, bound in 2,008 volumes. The pamphlets number 14,942, the manuscripts 97, single newspapers 7,216.
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