#37 Catalogue of John Hall

For #400things today, we’re going to be looking at an incredibly generous gift to the library from over 300 years ago.

1. This is the catalogue of books given to the College by John Hall, the Master of the College.

2. They were given to the College in Hall’s will.

3. We actually have several copies of this catalogue, which are not identical, so we are not entirely sure how many books he left us.

4. At that point in time, Pembroke did not have a dedicated library building – we wouldn’t get one until the current building was built in 1974 – and so a second floor was built above the dining area of Broadgates Hall to house the books.

5. At some point in history, all of Hall’s books were given bookplates, although it is not clear which records they used to identify them.

6. John Hall was Pembroke’s longest serving Master, being in post from 1664 to his death in 1710.*

7. He had also been a scholar at Pembroke, graduating BA in 1651 and MA in 1653. In 1676, he became the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity.

8. He was a domestic chaplain to King Charles II

9. Although he was Bishop of Bristol, he was allowed to also remain Master of Pembroke. Known as one of the last Puritan Bishops, he gave an inflamatory sermon at the University Church in 1678, around the time of the Popish Plot.

10. He was very active in building projects around college. Under his supervision, Old Quad was finished, including the tower, and he built what is now the Samuel Johnson Building as his personal lodgings. If you stand in the Lodge looking out into Pembroke Square, you can see where the cobbles are flatter in a section. This was to give Hall an easier passage to church from his front door!

*Note on dates: In the Julian Calendar, used in Great Britain until 1752, the year began on 25 March. As Hall died in February, contemporary documents record his year of death as 1709, while under our present Gregorian calendar, we would regard this as 1710.