Ely there is a charter of Bishof Nigellus, granting to the
Scriptorium of the monastery the tythes of Wythessey and Impitor, two
parts of the tythes of the Lordship of Pampesward, with 2s. 2d., and a
messuage in Ely _ad faciendos et emandandos libros_.[48]

The abbot superintended the management of the Scriptorium, and decided
upon the hours for their labor, during which time they were ordered to
work with unremitting diligence, "not leaving to go and wander in
idleness," but to attend solely to the business of transcribing. To
prevent detraction or interruption, no one was allowed to enter except
the abbot, the prior, the sub-prior, and the armarian,[49] as the latter
took charge of all the materials and implements used by the transcribers,
it was his duty to prepare and give them out when required; he made the
ink and cut the parchment ready for use. He was strictly enjoined,
however, to exercise the greatest economy in supplying these precious
materials, and not to give more copies "nec artavos, nec cultellos, nec
scarpellae, nec membranes," than was actually necessary, or than he had
computed as sufficient for the work; and what the armarian gave them the
monks were to receive without contradiction or contention.[50]

The utmost silence prevailed in the Scriptorium; rules were framed, and
written admonitions hung on the walls, to enforce the greatest care and
diligence in copying exactly from the originals. In Alcuin's works we
find one of these preserved; it is a piece inscribed "_Ad Musaeum libros
scribentium_;" the lines are as follows:

"Hic sideant sacrae scribentes famina legis,
Nec non sanctorum dicta sacrata Patrum,
Haec interserere caveant sua frivola verbis,
Frivola nec propter erret et ipsa manus:

Correctosque sibi quaerant studiose libellos,
Tramite quo recto penna volantis eat.
Per cola distinquant proprios, et commata sensus,
Et punctos ponant ordine quosque suo.

Ne vel falsa legat, taceat vel forte repente,
Ante pios fratres, lector in Ecclesia.
Est opus egregium sacros jam scribete libros,
Nec mercede sua scriptor et ipse caret.

Fodere quam vites, melius est scribere libros,
Ille suo ventri serviet, iste animae.
Vel nova, vel vetera poterit proferre magister
Plurima, quisque legit dicta sacrata Patrum."[51]

Other means were resorted to besides these to preserve the text of their
books immaculate, it was a co