Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (born 1570)

Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet of Conington Hall in the parish of Conington in Huntingdonshire, England, was a Member of Parliament and an antiquarian who founded the Cotton library.

The Cotton or Cottonian library is a collection of manuscripts that came into the hands of the antiquarian and bibliophile Sir Robert Bruce Cotton MP (1571–1631). The collection of books and materials Sir Robert held was one of the three "foundation collections" of the British Museum in 1753. It is now one of the major collections of the Department of Manuscripts of the British Library. Cotton was of a Shropshire family who originated near Wem and were based in Alkington and employed by the Geneva Bible publisher, statesman and polymath Sir Rowland Hill in the mid 16th century.