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This commentary on the Old Testament was once owned by William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was executed in 1645. Owners have not always placed their books on shelves with their spines facing outwards, as they do today. Books were often stored with the fore-edge facing outwards, either lying flat or upright, and it was very common for Medieval and Renaissance readers to write the name of the author or the title of the book on the fore-edge. Here, an early owner has written the author’s name and the names of the relevant books of the Old Testament on the fore-edge, faded but still legible as ‘Cajetan / Josu: Iudic: Ruth: Regu[m] Paral: Ezra: Nehe[m]; Ester:’.

Citation:
Thomas Cajetan, In omnes authenticos veteris testamenti historiales libros, commentarii (Paris, 1546),
Marsh's Library Exhibits,
accessed December 6, 2025,
https://www.marshlibrary.ie/digi/items/show/583