of Joseph Lister of Bradford in Yorkshire’ (1842, 8vo); ‘St. Patrick's Purgatory: an Essay on the Legends of Purgatory, Hell, and Paradise current during the Middle Ages’ (1844, 8vo; partly written when he was an undergraduate); an edition of ‘The Vision and the Creed of Piers Ploughman,’ edited with notes and a glossary (1842, 2 vols. 500 copies; 2nd edit., with additions to the notes and glossary, in J. R. Smith's ‘Library of Old Authors,’ 1855, 2 vols.); ‘Anecdota Literaria: a Collection of Short Poems in English, Latin, and French, illustrative of the Literature and History of England in the Thirteenth Century, and more especially of the Condition and Manners of the different Classes of Society; edited from Manuscripts at Oxford, London, Paris, and Berne,’ London, 1844, 8vo, 250 copies; ‘The Archæological Album: or Museum of National Antiquities, with Illustrations by F. W. Fairholt’ (1845, 4to); and a collection of contributions to periodicals, ‘Essays on Subjects connected with the Literature, Popular Superstitions, and History of England in the Middle Ages’ (1846, 2 vols. 8vo).
Wright's industry gave him a wide reputation. His friend and neighbour at Brompton, François Guizot, recommended him for election as a corresponding member of the French Institut des Arts et Sciences, and he was admitted in 1842, in succession to the Earl of Munster. In 1843 he joined Pettigrew, T. Crofton Croker, and Charles Roach Smith in founding the British Archæological Association, and continued to advance its interests until he seceded in 1849 with Lord Albert Conyngham-Denison, afterwards first Baron Londesborough [q. v.], and others. Thenceforth he devoted much attention to archæological exploration, and one of his most successful works was ‘The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon: a History of the Early Inhabitants of Britain down to the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity: illustrated by the Ancient Remains brought to light by recent Research’ (1852, 8vo; revised with additions, 1861, 8vo, 1875, 1885). Wright was an enthusiastic pedestrian, and he combined his walks with archæological exploration. Entertaining and valuable sketches of both appeared in 1852–3 in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ and were collected into a volume under the title ‘Wanderings of an Antiquary: chiefly upon the Traces of the Romans in Britain’ (1854, 8vo). It was largely at Wright's persuasion that Beriah Botfield [q. v.] undertook the expense of excavating the site of the Roman city at Wroxeter. The work was conducted under Wright's direction in 1859, and he published in that year an interesting account of ‘The Ruins of the Roman City of Uriconium at Wroxeter, near Shrewsbury’ (1859, 12mo); republished as a ‘Guide to Uriconium,’ 1859; a fuller work on the subject followed in 1872.
Wright's labours were not remunerative, and much of his antiquarian work in middle life was undertaken at the expense of wealthy patrons. For James Heywood [q. v.] he translated ‘Statutes of King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College,’ 1850, 8vo; and he edited ‘Cambridge University Transactions during the Puritan Controversies of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries’ (1854, 2 vols. 8vo), for which Heywood wrote the preface. At the expense of Joseph Mayer [q. v.] he produced ‘A Volume of Vocabularies illustrating the Condition and Manners of our Forefathers, as well as the History of the Forms of Elementary Education, and of the Languages spoken in this Island, from the Tenth Century to the Fifteenth; edited from MSS. in Public and Private Collections’ (Liverpool, 1857, imp. 8vo, privately printed). A second volume under the same auspices appeared in 1873. A new edition, edited by Professor Richard Wülcker, was issued at Leipzig in 1884 (2 vols.). For his friend Lord Londesborough he compiled ‘Miscellanea Graphica: Representations of Ancient, Mediæval, and Renaissance Remains in the possession of Lord Londesborough; the Historical Introduction by Thomas Wright,’ London, 1857, 4to.
For various members of the Roxburghe Club he edited ‘Joannes de Garlandia de Triumphis Ecclesiæ Libri Octo: a Latin Poem of the Thirteenth Century,’ 1856, 4to; ‘Songs and Ballads, with other Short Poems, chiefly of the Reign of Philip and Mary: edited from a Manuscript in the Ashmolean Museum,’ 1860, 4to; and the ‘De Regimine Principum: a Poem by Thomas Occleve, written in the Reign of Henry IV; edited for the first time,’ 1860, 4to. On the recommendation of his friend Guizot, and at the request of the author, Wright translated very rapidly in 1865–6 the Emperor Napoleon's ‘Vie de Jules César,’ 1865–6, 2 vols. 8vo.
The more important of Wright's latest philological or antiquarian publications were: ‘Essays on Archæological Subjects, and on Various Questions connected with the History of Art, Science, and Literature in the Middle Ages,’ with 120 engravings, 1861, 2 vols. 8vo; and ‘A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England during the Middle Ages,’ illustrated by upwards of three hundred engravings on wood by Fair-
