By the statutes of University
College (1292) one book of every kind that the college had
was to be put in some common and safe place, so that
the Fellows, and others with the consent of the Fellows,
might have the use of it. Sometimes, especially in the
colleges of early foundation, this common collection was
kept in chests; usually the books were securely chained to
desks. The common books were chained at New College
(statutes, 1400) and at Lincoln College (1429). At Peterhouse,
soon after 1418, some 220 volumes were preserved for
reference, and 160 were distributed among the Fellows.[1] At
All Souls College a number of books selected by the warden,
vice-wardens, and deans, were chained, together with the
books given on the express condition that they should be
chained (statutes, 1443). This collection, then, was the
college reference library; corresponding with the common
aumbry of the monastery, but also indicative of the principle
of all library organisation that, while it is desirable to lend
books, it is also necessary to keep a number of them all
together in one fixed place for reference.
[1] Clark, 140.
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