Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 5 Mar 1655-24 Oct 1679 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 volume
Context area
Repository
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Entries are in chronological order; dates are predominantly in Latin from Jul 1662; location of court meetings is rarely given except during the rebuilding of Stationers' Hall following the Great Fire of London (folios 124r-140v); minutes are divided into paragraphs with headings written in the margin; type of court meeting is not always stated until 7 Aug 1666; minutes for some committee meetings are included; layout of record is not consistent throughout volume.
Spine reads 'Court Book 1654 to 1679' and 'D'
Entries in volume mention the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London, including:
folio 112v: '...and likewise such other small sumes to ye poore from time to time (during this tyme of Infection) as shall be thought fitt...', 26 Sep 1665.
folio 124r: 'Co[u]rt 2 October 1666 Att Cookes Hall, being the first co[u]rt after the ffire in ye City...Ordered, That the Wardens provide laborers for the digging upp, and searching the ruins, and rubbish, at Stationers Hall; and that the same be watched, day and night, at the doing thereof'.
Entry for 3 Jan 1678 (folios 294v-310r) includes the texts of company by-laws passed forthwith, titled 'Orders Rules & Ordinances ordained devised & made by the Ma[ste]r & Keepers or Wardens & Com[m]alty of the Mistery or Art of Stac[i]oners of the Citty of Lond[o]n for the well governing of that Society', and texts of the Master's, Wardens', freeman's, Clerk's, Beadle's and Assistants' oaths.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
English
Script of material
Latin
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Raylee P Johnston, 'The Court Books of the Stationers' Company 1641-1679: A Complete Index and Selected Entries', MA Dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington (1983)
John Noorthouck, Abstract of the Orders of Court, And other Proceedings, of The Worshipful Company of Stationers: Serving as an Index to the Court Books, From the earliest entries. Compiled under the Inspection of the Clerk of the Company By John Noorthouck MDCCLXXX [TSC/1/B/xx/xx]
John Lilly and others, Index to the Court Books to 1775 [TSC/1/B/xx/xx]
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
A microfilm copy is on reel 56, 'Records of the Stationers' Company 1554-1920: 115 Reels of Microfilm with Printed Guide', published by Chadwyck-Healy Ltd (1989)
Related units of description
Drafts of these minutes are contained in TSC/B/01/01, TSC/B/01/02 and TSC/B/02/03 [Court Book E]
Notes area
Note
Catalogued
Note
Open