George Thomason was a bookseller and publisher who is remembered almost entirely because of the famous collection he made of tracts, newspapers, and other ephemeral materials during the civil war period. In the words of a descendant, Gordon Thomasson, this famous bookseller "both made and preserved history, having a significant personal role in religion and politics in London throughout the period, while conscientiously documenting and preserving its history at great effort, risk, and expense to himself." Relatively few details of his personal life are known, and no works by him survive; yet, his name is held in gratitude and esteem by all historians of those turbulent years.

The exact date of George Thomason's birth is not known. He was probably born in or before the year 1602, apparently the son of George Thomason, a farmer. Different sources for his life suggest different birth places--either at Sudlow in Cheshire or...