Cottonian UK /kɒˈtəʊ.ni.ən/US /kɑˈtoʊ.ni.ən/ adjective2 •Of or relating to Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington (1571–1631), antiquarian and bibliophile whose Cotton library became the basis of the British Library. •Of or relating to the Cotton Library or texts originally of that library.Twenty-six years later occurred the disastrous fire in which so many of the Cottonian MSS. were either destroyed or, as the Beowulf MS., damaged. — 1914
