Chapter The Writing of County Histories in Early Modern England

Abstract

The writing of county history in England experienced its first boom from the 1570s to the 1650s, during which time a series of outstanding county histories were written, including William Lambarde’s Perambulation of Kent, William Burton’s Description of Leicestershire and William Dugdale’s Antiquities of Warwickshire. All these works are manifestations of the phenomenon of ‘county history writing by the gentry’. County histories are primarily about local place names and famous persons, but also give accounts related to rivers, mountains, land, architecture, real estate, family clans, regional customs and histories. This essay illustrates the sociocultural phenomenon of ‘county history writing by the gentry’ in the view of the formation of the nation state, and aims to demonstrate the significance and value of the writing of county histories by gentlemen, from the perspective of the ‘community of county gentry’.