Bookcase I, Shelf 5, In A Catalogue of Books From Llanthony

Medieval monks kept inventories or lists of the books in their libraries. These lists represent important evidence for determining where a manuscript was held during the middle ages. The lists also suggest what the intellectual interests of a community may have been, as well as the sources available to an author who worked in a particular location. This list of books was once part of a larger book containing theological writings and sermons which belonged to the Augustinian canons of Llanthony, in Wales, as we know from an inscription on a scrap of vellum which is bound in it. Llanthony was dissolved in 1539, this book and others kept by Richard Hart, the monastery's last prior, who passed them on to his nephew John Theyer. The books are listed case by case, shelf by shelf. On this page, Shelf 5 of Bookcase (Armarum) I, identified by the red title, include psalters of various types, copies of other parts of the Bible, and books of sermons and commentaries on the Bible. Sometimes the list would be amended, as seen in the darker writing near the end of the page.