Register of books borrowed (King’s Hall)
Cambridge, 1386–1387

Trinity College, King’s Hall Accounts II (UC33), f. 18v

There is no better witness to the life of a library than a register of books borrowed, and Cambridge collections have managed to preserve many of them. There are four early ones extant for King’s Hall alone, a college later merged with Michaelhouse to form Trinity College. King’s Hall was one of the major University centres for the study of civil law, so it is not surprising that law treatises are by far the most cited items. The four registers cover a relatively short chronological span (1385 to 1393) and allow us to describe concretely the preferences of some of the Fellows.

In this one, probably the oldest, there are at least two hands at work. The first recorded the names of the borrowers and described the books already on loan. The second added the new loans and the formula exhibet et habet or rehabet: ‘displays and borrows again’. The inventory notes the dicta probatoria (‘words of proof’), usually recorded after the formula cuius secondum folium incipit (‘the second folio which begins with…’). It was the best known way to univocally identify a manuscript copy.

Another remarkable feature of this register (absent from other borrowing lists) is the indication of the monetary value of many of the books listed. It is not unlikely that Fellows who failed to return the items borrowed had to reimburse the college for the loss. These indications of what appear to be a tightening of controls on borrowings at King’s Hall occur shortly after Simon Neylon’s wardenship (1377–1385), and contemporary documents tell us that Neylon had allowed college valuables, documents and goods to be sold. Finally, as a result of an investigation carried out by Thomas Arundel, bishop of Ely, Neylon was removed from office in 1385.