In 1482 Jakob Lauber, the librarian at the time, began to compile a
loans register for the holdings of the library of the Carthusian
Monastery of Basel. This register was continued after Lauber’s
tenure until 1527. The loans register was set up according to the
shelfmark letters A to I, and it even was possible to record
volumes on loan that had no shelfmark. Borrowed books were listed
with the exact shelfmark under the corresponding letter; after the
book’s return, the entry was crossed out.
