Laurence Maptyt d.1557

From Book Owners Online

Laurence MAPTYT or MAPTID d.1557

Biographical Note

Son of John Maptyt of Foulden, Norfolk. BA Gonville Hall, Cambridge 1530, fellow there from 1532, MA 1533, BD 1549, president of Gonville Hall 1546, master of Corpus Christi College 1553 (replacing the ejected Matthew Parker). He was a chantry priest at Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire from 1547, and rector of Teversham from 1554. He founded a scholarship at Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Books

In his will, Maptyt left books to Clare Hall and to Gonville Hall. A defective probate inventory in the University Archives is thought to be his, listing ca.85 books, valued at nearly £2 (from a total estate valued at just over £44); this does not include his whole library. The books are mostly in Latin, with some Greek, Hebrew, Italian and English ones, with a predominance of theology alongside some philosophy, classics, law, and other topics. The full inventory is edited as Leedham-Green no.84 (see full citation below). The book he left to Gonville Hall survives today in Gonville and Caius College Library (G.8.11), and some books remain in Clare College.

Characteristic Markings

Maptyt's books at Clare include some examples of early Cambridge gilt-tooled bindings of the mid-16th century, stamped with his name; an example is illustrated in the Forbes book (see below).

Sources

  • Forbes, M., Clare College 1326-1926, Cambridge, 1928-30.
  • Leedham-Green, E. S., Books in Cambridge inventories, Cambridge, 1986, no.84/p.182-5.
  • Venn, J. and J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge, 1922.