ry] in England
still belongs to Bristol. This library was that of the Kalendars or
Kalendaries, a brotherhood of clergy and laity who were attached to the
Church of All-Hallowen or All Saints, still existing in Corn Street"
("Library Association Record," vol. 2, 1900, p. 642). In some notes
regarding this Gild of Kalendars in Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith's
Introduction to "Ricart's Calendar" {3} it is stated that "In 1464
provision was made as to a library, lately erected in the house of the
Kalendars," and reference is made to a deed of that date by which it was
"appointed that all who wish to enter for the sake of instruction shall
have 'free access and recess' at certain times, and that, lest the books
should be lost, three inventories shall be made, to be yearly collated
with the books, which books shall be chained in a room, and for the loss
of which heavy penalties are imposed on the prior. The prior to be
appointed by the Mayor." Mr. John Taylor in his article on "The earliest
English free libraries" ("Library Chronicle," vol. 3, 1886, p. 156),
stated that these regulations were made by an ordinance of John, Bishop
of Worcester, A.D. 1464. From the foregoing quotations it is obvious
that the Library was under the control of the Gild, and not of the
municipality, and therefore while, as a semi-monastic library, it may be
regarded as a prototype of the modern public library, it cannot be justly
claimed as the first public town library.

The following account of the first provincial town library and its
successor is in two parts: part I. deals with the Library established in
1608 and now known as the City Library, and part II. deals with the
Public Library, established under the Public Library Act of 1850.

PART I. THE CITY LIBRARY.

FOUNDATION AND HISTORY.

According to the judicious Norfolk antiquary John Kirkpatrick, who
accumulated vast collections of material relating to Norwich, "There was
a design of erecting a Public Library in this City, in the reign of
Edward the Fourth, as appears by this legacy, in the will of John
Leystofte, vicar of St. Stephen's church, here, A.D. 1461,
namely,--"Item. I will that, if a library be begun in Norwich, within
two years after my decease, I bequeath to the same, my book called
Repyngton." {4} Kirkpatrick was unable to say whether the legacy was
effected, and no record remains.

The first City Library of which there is any record was founded on the
3rd May