ers of the old catalogues
mention several works without being able to say by whom they were
presented, and as many of these were printed in the 16th century it is
not impossible that some of them constituted a primary stock. On the
other hand many books whose donors are unknown were issued after the
library was inaugurated, so of these it is certain that they were
presented later." The number of works whose donors are not stated in the
first printed catalogue of 1706 is 51, but in the second printed
catalogue of 1732 the donors of 36 of these are stated, so there remain
only 15 works in the first printed catalogue of which the donors are
unknown. Of these fifteen one was printed after the establishment of the
Library, and so the primary stock suggested by Mr. Tingey could not have
consisted of more than 14 works.

There is a hiatus in the records of the Library proceedings from its
establishment to 1656. Possibly the books presented to the Library from
1608 to 1656 were simply allowed to accumulate in the Library rooms,
without any regulations in regard to their use and safe-keeping. That
the books were sadly neglected is very evident from a codicil to the will
dated September 18th, 1655, of John Carter, Rector of St. Laurence's
Church, Norwich, giving to the Library "divers books, etc." He revoked
his bequest by the following codicil, and "instead thereof gave 5 pounds
to each of the three united parishes of St. Laurence, St. Swithin, and
St. Margaret, for a stock of coals for ever": "nowe seeinge (to my no
small grief) that that library is locked up, ministers shut out of it,
and that it is never like to be of publique use againe, but that the
books are devoted to the wormes, dust, and rotteness, to the dishonour of
God, the damage of the ministry, and the wrong of the benefactors, the
dead, and the living, &c." {5b}

[Picture: Autographs of early members of the City Library 2]

By 1656, the year of Carter's death, the Assembly had evidently realised
the necessity for making regulations for the use of the Library, and had
drawn them up before the 16th January in that year, when it was "ordered
that the Articles moved touching the ordering of the Library be
continued."

On the ninth day of the following month eight ministers met at the
Library, when they received the "Orders" of the Council for the
regulation of the Library, and having subscribed to them, they were
admitted to the use of the Library.