SOURCE: Selwyn, David G. “Thomas Cranmer and the Dispersal of Medieval Libraries.” In Books and Collectors 1200-1700, edited by James P. Carley and Colin G. C. Tite, pp. 281-94. London: The British Library, 1997.

In the following essay, Selwyn discusses the books with monastic provenances found in Cranmer's extensive library, arguing that a determination of when and where Cranmer obtained these manuscripts would offer insight into to the archbishop's evolving theological thought.

In comparison with his successor, Matthew Parker, Thomas Cranmer is not remembered as a notable collector and bibliophile. His extensive library was for the most part a working collection, serving his needs first at Cambridge (1503-29) and later as archbishop of Canterbury (1532-53), and many of his printed books in theology and church history are annotated in his hand, or those of his staff, on matters of controversy in his day.¹ But what survives of his library...