degree, which was granted, but he failed to complete it by determination. In fact it seems doubtful whether Camden ever actually fulfilled the requirements for the first degree, although in June 1588, describing himself as B.A. of Christ Church, he supplicated for that of master of arts, and that ‘whereas he had spent sixteen years, from the time he had taken the degree of bachelor, in the study of philosophy and other liberal arts, he might be dispensed with for the reading of three solemn lectures’ (Wood). He did not, however, obtain the master's degree on this occasion; but it was afterwards offered to him in 1613, when he visited Oxford to attend Sir Thomas Bodley's funeral, and then, according to Wood, he refused it as an unprofitable honour at that advanced period of his life.
In 1571 Camden left Oxford and returned to London. He had no regular employment, and for the next few years he was free to pursue his antiquarian studies. He now began to amass the materials which laid the foundation for his future work, the ‘Britannia.’ In the address ‘ad Lectorem,’ which he added to the fifth edition of that work, Camden has himself given us an interesting sketch of the way in which his studies were directed to antiquarian subjects, and how the ‘Britannia’ grew under his hand. From his earliest days, we are told, his natural inclination led him to investigate antiquity; as a boy at school, and afterwards as a young man at Oxford, all his spare time was given to this favourite pursuit. He specially mentions the encouragement he had from his fellow-student at Christ Church, Sir Philip Sidney. Much of his leisure after leaving the university was passed in travelling through the kingdom and noting its antiquities. But his collections at this time were not made with any view to publication.
Camden's patrons at this period were Dr. Gabriel Goodman, dean of Westminster, and his brother Godfrey; and it was by the dean's interest that he was appointed in 1575 to the second mastership in Westminster School under Dr. Edward Grant. A schoolmaster's life still left him free in holiday time to make occasional journeys of inquiry. In 1578 he surveyed the country of the Iceni in Norfolk and Suffolk (Corresp. of Ortelius, ed. J. H. Hessels, ep. 78). He has noted in his biographical ‘Memorabilia’ in 1582 a journey through Suffolk into Yorkshire, returning by way of Lancashire. His reputation as an antiquary and topographer was now established, and he became known to scholars of other nations. He notes under the year 1581, the commencement of his friendship with Brisson, the distinguished French jurist, who, being on an embassy in England, singled out the poor Westminster master, the ‘umbraticus vir et pulvere scholastico obsitus’ (Smith), for special attention; and still earlier, in 1577, a visit of Abraham Ortelius, the ‘universæ geographiæ vindex et instaurator,’ to England brought the two men together. Camden, urged and encouraged by his new friend, undertook the systematic preparation of the ‘Britannia.’ For this work Camden's labours were enormous. Among other things, he tells us that he had to get some knowledge of the Welsh and Anglo-Saxon languages, to read and read again both native and other historians, many of whose works still remained in manuscript, and to ransack and select from the public records; and to all this, be it remembered, was added the ‘laboriosissimum munus’ of teaching (see some of the original collections for the work in Cotton MSS. Titus F. vii–ix, and Cleopatra A. iv).
After ten years' toil the ‘Britannia’ was completed, and appeared with a dedication to Lord-treasurer Burghley, dated 2 May 1586, the day on which Camden completed his thirty-fifth year. Its success was great; nothing of the kind had been attempted since the days of Leland, and by him only in briefer outline. In the space of four years it passed through three London editions, besides a reprint at Frankfort in 1590; a fourth edition came out in 1594. All these editions had the supervision of the author, and the last was more fully illustrated with genealogical matter. In 1589 Camden travelled into Devonshire, where he had been presented early in the year (6 Feb.) by Dr. Piers, bishop of Salisbury, with the prebend of Ilfracombe, a preferment which he held for life, although a layman. In the next year he was in Wales in company with Dr. Francis Godwin, soon afterwards bishop of Llandaff (1601), and then of Hereford (1617). The expenses of these journeys are said to have been defrayed by his old friend Godfrey Goodman. In October 1592 a quartan ague fastened upon him, and clung to him persistently for months. It was not till June 1594 that he could write down ‘febre liberatus.’
Meanwhile Dr. Grant, the head-master of Westminster, resigned his post in February 1593, and in the following month he was succeeded by Camden. In 1596 Camden visited Salisbury and Wells, returning by way of Oxford, ‘where he visited most, if not all, of the churches and chapels for the copying out of the several monuments and arms in them, which were reduced by him into a book written with his own hand’ (Wood). But the next year he fell seriously ill again, and removed to the house of one Cuthbert Line,
