Editing Paston Letters (section)

== History of the collection ==
The large collection of letters and papers was acquired in 1735 from the executors of the estate of [[William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth]], the last in the Paston line, by the antiquary [[Francis Blomefield]]. On Blomefield's death in 1752 they came into the possession of [[Thomas Martin of Palgrave|Thomas Martin]] of [[Palgrave, Suffolk]]. On his death in 1771 some letters passed into the hands of John Ives, while many others were purchased by John Worth, a chemist at [[Diss, Norfolk|Diss]], whose executors sold them in 1774 to Sir [[John Fenn (antiquarian)|John Fenn]] of [[East Dereham]].