John Wilson (84)

The heart of this little book is a reprint of a 1616 broadside ballad in the Pepys Library called “The Araignement of John Flodder and his wife”, originally printed by John Trundle, a man who can also be blamed for the first quarto of Hamlet. Around this is given everything known about the fire. Not an event of world-shaking significance but the book does afford a little glimpse into a world now gone.

Wymondham is beautiful town and well worth a visit if you're in the area and want a glimpse of some Englishness. The book has photos of the buildings that survived the fire so you can use it as a tour guide.

It also has a table of the claims made for damages and it's nice to see, by comparing the claims vs the payments that on average people have exaggerated their losses by a factor of seven; but William Horsnell, one of the men who collected the money for the town had two thirds of his claim paid. Some things never change.… (mais)