catalogue of the library of leicester abbey - University of Leicester

PREFACE
THE present instalment of William Charite's catalogue of the
library of Leicester Abbey contains the list of books numbered
in Dr. James' transcript from 184 to 511. As it is possible that
certain features in that portion of the catalogue which has already
been printed may have perplexed readers, and as no detailed
explanation of them is given in Dr. James' introduction, it may
be well to add some explanatory notes at this point.
The text of this portion occupies pp. 131-159 of the present
volume of Transactions. Of these pp. 131-137 contain the pre­
liminary matter, viz., the compiler's preface and his index of
authors. The preface consists of a list of the various subjects
which are the main headings under which the books are arranged
in the catalogue, followed by an indication of the three supple­
mentary lists which are appended to the general catalogue. These
are (1) a list of the books contained in nine "stalls" in the library
and the adjoining scriptorium; (2) a list of service-books kept in
the church, the infirmary and at Ingarsby; (3) a list of books and
rolls containing the "evidences", i.e., charters, title-deeds and
other similar matter relating to the monastery. On these lists
notes will be found in Dr. James' introduction, and they will be
printed under the headings Sections II, III and IV.
The index of authors, arranged roughly as they occur in the
course of the catalogue, completes the first two leaves of the
original MS. The numbers attached to the names are not in the
original, but refer to the numeration of the volumes in the
general catalogue, as adopted by Dr. James.
In the original MS., fo. 3 is a blank leaf, and the general
catalogue of volumes begins on fo. 4. The heading Section I
was added by Dr. James, to whom also the numeration in the
left-hand margin is due. The foliation of the MS. is indicated
in the same column thus: [f .4a.], etc. The number of each book
is followed by the title of the treatise or the several treatises which
it contained, to which is usually appended a summary description
of its binding, and occasionally the name of the donor, while in
the right-hand column is added the dictio probatoria of each
volume, i.e., the opening words of its second leaf by which it
could be identified. This is the general arrangement, but the
notes on bindings and the dictio probatoria are sometimes
omitted.