Works
Nasmith devoted his leisure to antiquarian research, and he was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 30 November 1769. He was occupied in arranging and cataloguing the manuscripts which Archbishop Matthew Parker gave to his college. The catalogue was finished in February 1775, and presented by him to the Master and Fellows, who directed that it should be printed under his direction, and that the profits of the sale should be given to him.
Nasmith edited:
- ‘Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum quos collegio Corporis Christi in Acad. Cantabrigiensi legavit Matthæus Parker, archiepiscopus Cantuariensis,’ 1777.
- ‘Itineraria Symonis Simeonis et Willelmi de Worcestre, quibus accedit tractatus de Metro,’ 1778.
- ‘Notitia Monastica, or an Account of all the Abbies, Priories, and Houses of Friers formerly in England and Wales,’ by Thomas Tanner. Additions consisted mainly of references to books and manuscripts. Many copies of this edition were consumed by fire on 8 February 1808.
Nasmith was also author of:
- ‘The Duties of Overseers of the Poor and the Sufficiency of the present system of Poor Laws considered. A charge to the Grand Jury at Ely Quarter Sessions, 2 April. With remarks on a late publication on the Poor Laws by Robert Saunders,’ 1799.
- ‘An Examination of the Statutes now in force relating to the Assize of Bread,’ 1800.
Saunders, a critic from Lewisham of corruption in the oversight of the existing Poor Law system, replied to these pamphlets in ‘An Abstract of Observations on the Poor Laws, with a Reply to the Remarks of the Rev. James Nasmith,’ 1802. He is felt to have got the better of the debate.
The assistance of Nasmith is acknowledged in the preface to Henry Swinden's ‘History of Great Yarmouth,’ which was edited by John Ives in 1772.
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