A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Peterhouse / by Montague Rhodes James ; with an essay on the history of the library by J.W. Clark.
- Peterhouse College (University of Cambridge). Library.
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Peterhouse / by Montague Rhodes James ; with an essay on the history of the library by J.W. Clark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
34/434 page 30
![It is not intended that any book which has been given to the library on condition of being kept perpetually chained therein shall, by virtue of this statute, be on any pretence removed from it, except only when it needs repair. Every book in the library which is to be selected and distributed shall have a certain value set upon it by the Master and the two Deans, and indentures shall be dr.awn up recording the same. Once in every two years, in the Michaelmas Term, a fresh selection and distribution shall be held of every book which is not chained in the library—the precise day to be fixed by the Master and the Senior Dean. No book so selected and distributed shall pass the night out of College, except by permission of the Master and the President and the other Dean who is not President; provided always that the said book be not kept out of the College for six months in succession. If it should happen that a given book be not brought in and produced on the aforesaid day of fresh selection and distribution, then the person who is responsible for it shall pay to the Master, or in his absence to the Senior Dean, the full value of the said absent book, under pain of being put out of commons until it be restored. Every Fellow who is not present on the aforesaid day shall appoint a deputy, who shall be prepared to bring in any books which may have been lent to him, on the day when a fresh distribution is to take place, under pain of being put out of commons. In this statute the old practice of distribution is maintained ; but some new and rather remarkable features are introduced. The audit of books is to be biennial, not annual*. Further, it would appear that “ every book which is not chained in the Library ” was intended to be distributed, if anybody wanted it; and that, practically, the use of the books was not limited to members of the College; for though it is provided that “ no book so selected and distributed shall pass the night out of College, except by per- mission of the Master [etc.]”; the next clause allows a book, for which such permission has been obtained, to remain out of College for a period not exceeding six months. It should be noted, before leaving Dr Warkworth, that he gave to the Library an Astrolabe (p. 26). This reminds us of the practice, common in later times, of placing globes in Libraries^; and when books could not be taken out, their usefulness is obvious. The Library on the west side of the principal court remained in use until 1594, when the new Library, sixty feet long, on the south side of the entrance-court, due to the liberality of Dr Feme * Item quod semel in biennio fiat nova electio et distributio singulorum librorum dicti Collegii existentium extra librariam. 2 See the print of the library of the University of Leiden, by Woudanus, 1610.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29003507_0034.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
