J. C. T. Oates began work at Cambridge University Library in 1936. During his long, scholarly career, which included serving as president of the Bibliographical Societies of London and Cambridge, he did much to further research at the University Library. In 1954 he published this catalogue of the fifteenth-century printed books, which were not included in the main library catalogues. The catalogue lists over 4250 items, with detailed information for those not already described in other publications, and gives references to such information where it already existed. The fifteenth-century material is listed by place of publication, and is indexed by author, title if anonymous, printer, and former owners and autographs. Although modern catalogues of incunabula are now available online, Oates' catalogue is the only one allowing readers to locate items held by the Library from the earliest days of printing, and is still an important tool for researchers.
