Likewise at Eton--which may be referred to appropriately here--the king desired to have a good library. “Item the Est pane in lengthe within the walles .ccxxx. fete in the myddel whereof directly agayns the entre of the cloistre a librarie conteynyng in lengthe .lij. fete and in brede .xxiiij. fete with .iij. chambres aboue on the oon side and .iiij. on the other side and benethe .ix. chambres euery of them in lengthe .xxvj. fete and in brede .xviij. fete with .v. utter toures and .v. ynner toures.”[416]
A library room is referred to in 1445 or 1446; then “floryshid” glass was bought for the windows of it.[417] In 1484-85 it is again mentioned in connexion with repairs. A year later a lock and twelve keys for the library were paid for.[418] Then in 1517, we are told, “the fyrst stone was layd yn the fundacyon off the weste parte off the College, whereon ys bylded Mr. Provost’s logyn, the Gate, and the Lyberary.”[419] It would seem that these several references are to the vestry of the Chapel, in which the books were first kept, and then to the Election Hall, to which they were subsequently removed.[420] Henry VI seems to have given £200 “for to purvey them books to the pleasure of God.”[421]
St. Catharine’s Hall, founded in 1473-75, in a few years enjoyed the use of 104 volumes, of which 85 were given by the founder, Dr. Robert Wodelarke. At Queens’ College a library was included in the first buildings; and some twenty-five years after the foundation in 1448, no fewer than 224 volumes were on the desks.[422]