Arthur Collins (1682–1760) was an English antiquarian, genealogist, and historian.
His father managed to spend his way through his fortune of some £30,000, but despite this he was able to give his son a liberal education, after which Arthur worked for at least some of his life as a bookseller across from St Dunstan's Church on Fleet Street.
[1] The first two editions of Collins's Peerage were published as single volumes in 1709 and 1712.
Samuel Egerton Brydges released the nine-volume sixth edition in 1812, bringing all of the book's contents up to date and describing Collins as "a most industrious, faithful, and excellent genealogist" whose only failing was a habit of regarding rank and titles with "too indiscriminate respect and flattery.
"[1] Collins published Cases of Baronies in 1734; a five-volume Baronetage in 1741; Letters &c. of the Sidneys in 1746; Letters and Memorials of State, the letters of the Sidneys' business manager Rowland Whyte; and the noble Families of Cavendish, &c. in 1752.