Person

Collins, Arthur, 1682?-1760

1682?-1760

Arthur Collins, Esq., was likely born in 1682 in England, the son of William Collins, Esq., a Gentleman Usher to Queen Catherine and Elizabeth Blythe.

He was an English antiquarian, genealogist, historian, and author. After receiving a liberal education, he worked as a bookseller across from St. Dunstan's Church on Fleet Street for at least some of his life. He is best known for his work “Peerage of England” (1709, 1712). Subsequent editions included an increasing number of added volumes, with the fifth edition, published in 1778, containing eight volumes. Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges (1762-1837) released the nine-volume sixth edition in 1812, bringing all of the book's contents up to date and describing Collins as "a most industrious, faithful, and excellent genealogist" whose only failing was a habit of regarding rank and titles with "too indiscriminate respect and flattery." Collins also published “Cases of Baronies” (1734); “Baronetage” (5 vols., 1741), and “Letters &c. of the Sidneys” (1746). He also published two biographies: “Life of Lord Burleigh” (1732) and “Life of Edward the Black Prince” (1750).

He got married around 1708 and died in March 1760 in England.