A 17th-century historian, responsible for writing one of the most comprehensive books on the history of Oxford, is to be honoured with a blue plaque.

Anthony Wood (1632-1695) gathered massive amounts of information on Oxford in his lifetime, making it one of the best documented cities in England before 1695.

A plaque will be unveiled at his former home, Postmaster's Hall in Merton Street, where he was born, lived and died, on Monday at noon.

Eda Forbes, secretary of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaque Board, said: "As always with the people we honour, Anthony Wood is a very special individual.

"Though he may not be as well known as others, the work he carried out in his lifetime makes him one of the essential figures in the history of Oxford.

"The amount of information he managed to collect is the sort of material people would now use the Internet for.

"But he would have spent his time trawling through bookshops, libraries in London, in record offices and travelling around the country to find it.

"He amassed huge quantities of information, without which we wouldn't know a lot of the things we do about Oxford today."

A graduate of Merton, Mr Wood did not become a Fellow.