The inspection having been made, after the Fellows have deliberated, let him distribute them to each Fellow in proportion to his requirements. And let the said Keeper have ready large pieces of board (tabulas magnas), covered with wax and parchment, that the titles of the books may be written on the parchment, and the names of the Fellows who hold them on the wax beside it. When they have brought their books back, their names shall be erased, and their responsibility for the books shall come to an end, the keeper remaining liable. So shall he never be in ignorance about any book or its borrower.
No book is to be taken away or lent out of the House on any pretext whatever, except upon some occasion which may appear justifiable to the major part of the community; and then, if any book be lent, let a proper pledge be taken for it which shall be honourably exhibited to the Keeper[274].
Let us consider, in the next place, what points of library-management have been brought into the most prominent relief by the above analysis of College statutes. We find that the "Common Books" of the House—by which phrase the books intended for the common use of the inmates are meant—are placed on the same footing as the charters, muniments, and valuables (jocalia). They are to be kept in a chest or chests secured by two or three locks requiring the presence of the same number of officials to open them. These volumes may not be borrowed indiscriminately, but each Scholar (Fellow) may choose the book he wants, and write a formal acknowledgment that he has received it, and that he is bound to restore it or pay the value of it, under a severe penalty. Once a year the whole collection is to be audited in the presence of the Master of the College and all the Fellows, when a fresh distribution is to be made. The books not so borrowed are to be put in "some common and secure place"; an arrangement which was subsequently developed into a selection of books required for reference, and the chaining of them in "the Library Chamber for the common use of the Fellows."
The Register of Merton College, Oxford, contains many interesting entries which shew that these directions respecting the choice and loan of books were faithfully observed. I will translate a few of them[275]:
On the twenty-fourth day of October [1483] choice was made of the books on philosophy by the Fellows studying philosophy.
On the eleventh day of November [1483], in the Warden's lodging, choice was made of the books on theology by the Fellows studying theology[276].
On the eighteenth day of March [1497] choice of books on logic was held in the Common Hall[277].
The next entry is particularly valuable, as it proves that all the books on a given subject, no matter how numerous, were occasionally distributed:
On the twenty-sixth day of the same month [August, 1500] choice was made of the books on philosophy. It was found that there were in all 349 books, which were then distributed among the Fellows studying philosophy[278].
In 1498 (14 December) the Warden wished to borrow a book from the library, whereupon a record of the following formalities was drawn up[279]: