Cambridge University Archives : Inventories of books, records and other movable property of the University

Cambridge University Archives

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This is a volume of <i>Inventories of books, records and other movable property of the University</i>. From around 1300, the University's portable possessions were the responsibility of the University Chaplain. After c. 1400 they were housed in the 'new chapel' in the newly completed north range of the Schools buildings. These lists were compiled by a range of University Officers including perhaps the Chaplain and certainly the Proctors and Registrary. The two Proctors were appointed annually from early in the University's existence to represent the interests of the regent masters, keep accounts and to maintain discipline. The office of Registrary was created in 1504 to compile and maintain the records of the University. The lists date mainly from the fifteenth century and include the earliest surviving catalogues of the archives, 1420, and <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(47);return false;'>the library, 1424-40</a>. They were bound up by the Proctors in 1473. Matthew Wren (1585-1667), Fellow of Pembroke College, added a further catalogue of the archives to the blank leaves at the back in 1622.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Jacqueline Cox, Keeper of the University Archives</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>This item was included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://exhibitions.lib.cam.ac.uk/linesofthought/artifacts/earliest-donation/'><i>Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world</i></a>.</p>