John Bagford

John Bagford FSA (1650/51, Fetter Lane, London – 5 May 1716, Islington) was an English antiquarian, writer, bibliographer, ballad-collector, bookseller, and biblioclast.

Bagford, together with Humfrey Wanley and John Talman, was one of three founder members of the reconstituted Society of Antiquaries, which first met at the Bear Tavern on the Strand on 5 December 1707.

[2] Likewise, a twentieth-century commentator has said how Bagford is mostly remembered today for "his ability to mangle any book he laid his hands on".

Bagford also collected material for Robert Harley, and found ballads on request for other customers including Samuel Pepys.

[4] In 1715 Bagford wrote about the Gray's Inn Lane hand axe and the elephant tooth which had been found together by John Conyers opposite "Black Mary's".