But it cannot be said, with due regard to truth, that London was in any sense a seat of learning, or a popular resort for learned men, until well on into the thirteenth century. Doubtless many consignments of books passed through the city on the way to their respective destinations. Edward I. may be regarded as the first English monarch who took any interest in collecting books; most of his, however, were service books. They are mentioned in the Wardrobe Accounts (1299-1300) of this King, and are only eleven in number. These he may have purchased in 1273 in France, through which he passed on his way home from Palestine. But it is much more probable that he had no thought of books when hurrying home to claim the crown of his father. Contemporary with Edward was another book-collector of a very different type, an abbot of Peterborough, Richard of London, who had a 'private library' of ten books, including the 'Consolation of Philosophy,' which he may have formed in London. But quite the most interesting book-collector (so far as we are concerned just now) of this period is Richard de Gravesend, Bishop of London. A minute catalogue of this collection is among the treasures of St. Paul's Cathedral, and has been privately printed. In this case, the price of each book is affixed to its entry; the total number of volumes is one hundred, their aggregate value being L116 14s. 6d., representing, according to Milman's estimate, L1,760 of our present money. Twenty-one Bibles and parts of Bibles were valued at L19 5s. Twenty-two volumes in this collection deal with canon and civil law, four with ecclesiastical history, and about an equal number with what may be designated science and arts, the rest being of a theological character. The entries run thus: 'Tractatus fr'is Dertti'i de proprietatibus rerum. Libellus instructionum. Liber Avicennae. Liber naturalis.' The two last-named are respectively the highest and lowest priced items in the list--for books of a single volume only--the 'Liber Avicennae' being valued at the very high figure of L5, and the 'Liber Naturalis' at 3s. A Bible in thirteen volumes is valued at L10; and a 'little Bible' at L1. The total value of the property of this Bishop was scheduled at about L3,000.