The signature of Thomas Shadwell appears here written next to the name of John Dryden at the end of the preface to one of his plays The kind keeper, or, Mr. Limberham (1680). Shadwell was poet laureate from 1688 to 1692, and also wrote dramatic works.

Sir Thomas Hoby matriculated at St John's in 1545, but left two years later, without taking a degree, in order to travel. A convinced protestant, he spent some time with the reformer Martin Bucer and avoided returning to England under Mary I. His most notable achievement was his English translation of Castiglione's Il cortegiano (The courtier), which proved highly influential both in terms of standards of etiquette and literary style.

Gold-stamped bookplate of John Drinkwater, poet and playwright, as well as founder member of the Birmingham Repertory Company. From J. Cleaveland revived, a work by the 17th century English humorist (1660).

St John's holds three volumes (including a 17th-century edition of Aristotle, and the works of Juan Luis Vives, printed 1555) which bear

Almost lost among a riot of other scribbles and flourishes the autograph of John Donne, the metaphysical poet, appears in the bottom right-hand corner of the title-page to this edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Cambridge, 1584).

A sequence of sixty-three sonnets by William Alabaster from the initial fly-leaves of a beautifully bound copy of a French book of hours (1558). This is the most important manuscript source for these sonnets which were never published in his lifetime, and of which only two other substantial manuscripts remain. The text appears to have been transcribed from another source. For more information see The sonnets of William Alabaster, edited by G.M.

Gold-tooled vellum binding to Johann Kaspar Suicer's Thesaurus ecclesiasticus (Utrecht, 1746), incorporating two sets of arms: one on the front cover with two mottoes, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (the motto of the British Royal family) and "Je maintiendrai" (the motto of the House of Orange); and another without a motto.

An inscription of Philip IV, the Fair or Handsome, Duke of Burgundy (1478-1506) at the end of a 15th-century edition of Virgil. Son of the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, Philip succeeded to his mother's dominions in the Low Countries before marrying Joan, the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.

An edition of Cicero's De natura deorum edited with a commentary by Pierre Lescalopier, with a decorated binding produced for Louis XIV of France. Note the French Royal badge in the centre, and the repeating crowned 'L' motif surrounding it.

Two gilt bookstamps bearing the arms of James I & VI, the first from a Geneva Bible (1582) and the second from three volumes of Boissard's