nion over the kingdom
of Scotland. The pope's messengers on this occasion were received by
abbot Godfrey; Walter says that "He honorably received two cardinals at
Peterborough with their retinues, who were sent by the pope to make peace
between the English and the Scotch, and besides cheerfully entertaining
them with food and drink, gave them divers presents; to one of the
cardinals, named Gaucelin, he gave a certain psalter, beautifully written
in letters of gold and purple, and marvellously illuminated, _literis
aureis et assuris scriptum et mirabiliter luminatum_.[232] I give this
anecdote to show how splendidly the monks inscribed those volumes
designed for the service of the holy church. I ought to have mentioned
before that Wulstan, archbishop of York, gave many rare and precious
ornaments to Peterborough, nor should I omit a curious little book
anecdote related of him. He was born at Jceritune in Warwickshire, and
was sent by his parents to Evesham, and afterwards to Peterborough, where
he gave great indications of learning. His schoolmaster, who was an
Anglo-Saxon named Erventus, was a clever calligraphist, and is said to
have been highly proficient in the art of illuminating; he instructed
Wulstan in these accomplishments, who wrote under his direction a
sacramentary and a psalter, and illuminated the capitals with many
pictures painted in gold and colors; they were executed with so much
taste that his master presented the sacramentary to Canute, and the
psalter to his queen."[233]

From these few facts relative to Peterborough Monastery, the reader will
readily perceive how earnestly books were collected by the monks there,
and will be somewhat prepared to learn that a catalogue of 1,680 volumes
is preserved, which formerly constituted the library of that fraternity
of bibliophiles. This fine old catalogue, printed by Gunton in his
history of the abbey, covers fifty folio pages; it presents a faithful
mirror of the literature of its day, and speaks well for the
bibliomanical spirit of the monks of Peterborough. Volumes of patristic
eloquence and pious erudition crowd the list; chronicles, poetry, and
philosophical treatises are mingled with the titles of an abundant
collection of classic works, full of the lore of the ancient world.
Although the names may be similar to those which I have extracted from
other catalogues, I must not omit to give a few of them; I find works
of--

Augustine.
Ambrose.
Albinus.