s part, it should happen
that any one of them be missing; is to be deprived of
all right of selecting books for that year; and any
person who wittingly defers the aforesaid production or
restitution till Christmas next ensuing, shall, _ipso
facto_, cease to be a Fellow.

Further, any scholar who has pawned or alienated,
contrary to the common consent of the college, any book
or object of value (_jocale_) belonging to the college;
or who has even suggested, helped, or favoured, such
pawning or alienation, shall, _ipso facto_, cease to be
a member of the Society[264].

The statutes of Peterhouse, Cambridge, dated 1344, class the books of the
Society with the charters and the muniments, and prescribe the following
rules for their safe custody:

In order that the books which are the common property of
the House (_communes libri_), the charters, and the
muniments, may be kept in safe custody, we appoint and
ordain that an indenture be drawn up of the whole of
them in the presence of at least the major part of the
scholars, expressing what the books are, and to what
faculty they belong; of which indenture one part is to
be deposited with the Master, the other with the Deans,
as a record of the transaction.

The aforesaid books, charters, and muniments are to be
placed in one or more common chests, each having two
locks, one key of which shall for greater security be
deposited with the Master, the other with the Senior
Dean, who shall cause the books to be distributed to
those scholars who have need of them, in the manner
which has been more fully set forth in the section which
treats of the office of the Deans[265].

The section referred to prescribes that the Deans

are to distribute them [the books] to the scholars in
such manner as shall appear to them expedient; and
further, they shall, if they think proper, make each
scholar take an oath that he will not alienate any book
so borrowed, but will take all possible care of it, and
restore it to the Master and Dean, at the expiration of
the appointed time[266].

In 1473 Dr John Warkworth became Master. He was evidently a lover of
books, for he gave to the Library fifty-five volumes, which he protected,
after the fashion of an earlier age, by invoking a curse upon him who
should alienate them. Moreover, during his Mastership,