_b_ 230. _makynge of biblis._ Wiclif in his _Office of Curates_ (ed. Matthew, p. 145) complains of the scarcity of bibles. _But fewe curatis han þe Bible and exposiciouns of þe Gospelis, and litel studien on hem, and lesse donne after hem. But wolde God þat euery parische chirche in þis lond hadde a good Bible!_ &c. _b_ 234. At this time books, especially illuminated books, were very dear. The Missal of Westminster Abbey, which is now shown in the Chapter-house, was written in 1382-4 at a cost of £34 14_s._ 7_d._—a great sum in those days, for the scribe, Thomas Preston, who took two years to write it, received only £4 for his labour, 20_s._ for his livery, and board at the rate of 21_s._ 8_d._ the half year. The inscription in British Museum MS. Royal 19 D. II, a magnificently illustrated Bible with commentary, shows that it was captured at Poitiers with King John of France, and bought by the Earl of Salisbury for 100 marks (about £66). Edward III gave the same sum to a nun of Amesbury for a rich book of romance. In France John, Duke of Berry, paid as much as £200 for a breviary, and the appraisement of his library in 1416 shows a surprisingly high level of values (L. Delisle, _Le Cabinet des Manuscrits_, vol. iii, pp. 171 ff.). These were luxurious books. The books from the chapel of Archbishop Bowet of York (d. 1423) sold more reasonably: £8 for a great antiphonar and £6 13_s._ 4_d._ _pro uno libro vocato 'Bibill'_, were the highest prices paid; and from his library there were some fascinating bargains: 4_s._ for a small copy of Gregory's _Cura Pastoralis_; 5_s._ _pro uno libro vocato 'Johannes Andrewe', vetere et debili_, which would probably turn out to be a dry work on the Decretals; and 3_s._ 4_d._ for a nameless codex, _vetere et caduco_, 'old and falling to pieces'. (_Historians of the Church of York_, ed. J. Raine, vol. iii, pp. 311, 315.) But the failing activity of the monastic scriptoria, and the formation of libraries by the friars and by rich private collectors, made study difficult for students at the universities, where at this time a shilling per week—a third of the price of Bowet's most dilapidated volume—was reckoned enough to cover the expenses of a scholar living plainly. The college libraries were scantily supplied: books were lent only in exchange for a valuable pledge; or even pawned, in hard times, by the colleges themselves. These conditions were not greatly improved until printing gave an easy means of duplication, and for a time caused the humble manuscripts in which most of the mediaeval vernacular literature was preserved to be treated as waste paper. As late as the eighteenth century Martène found the superb illuminated manuscripts left by John, Duke of Berry, to the Sainte Chapelle at Bourges serving as roosting places to their keeper's hens (_Voyage Littéraire_, Paris 1717, pt. i, p. 29). _b_ 261-3. The reference is to Acts vi. 2, 'It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.'