Richard Arnold

Richard Arnold (died c. 1521), was an English antiquary and chronicler.

Arnold was a citizen of London, dwelling in the parish of St Magnus, London Bridge. It would appear from his own book, originally untitled and now generally known as Arnold's Chronicle or The Customs of London, that he was a merchant trading with Flanders. He was an executor of the will of John Amell the elder, citizen and cutler of London, which was drawn up in 1473, and he is there described as a haberdasher. He was in the habit, for purposes of business, of paying visits to Flanders, and was in 1488 confined in the Castle of Sluys on suspicion of being a spy. He was apparently hard pressed by creditors at one period of his life, and sought shelter in the sanctuary at Westminster. He had a wife named Alice and a son Nicholas. The date of his death is uncertain. Francis Douce, who fully investigated the matter, concluded that he died shortly after the publication of the last edition of his book, in 1520–1521.

Work Arnold's Customs of London is a book dealing with London antiquities. where it was first seen by Matthew Prior, who paraphrased it in his 'Henry and Emma' about 1718.

From typographical evidence it is clear that Arnold's book was first published at Antwerp in 1502 by John Doesborowe, who published other English books. This edition is without date, place, or printer's name. A second edition, in which the list of the mayors and sheriffs is brought down to 1520—doubtless the date of publication—is ascribed by typographical experts to Peter Treveris, the first printer who set up a press at Southwark. It is also without date, place, or printer's name. A third edition, with introduction by Francis Douce, appeared in 1811. Copies of the two original editions, which are now very rare, are in the British Library, and other copies may be found at the Huntington Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and other archives.