The lists of books compiled by the English antiquary John Leland (ca. 1503-1552) from monastery libraries testify both to lost exemplars of known texts and to otherwise unattested writings from the pre-conquest period.
In his « Commentarii de scriptoribus Britannicis » (ed. A. Hall, Oxford, 1709, p. 100-101), Leland claimed to have seen a copy of Tertullian 's book « On the spectacles » and « On fasting » in Malmesbury.
A recently discovered letter (Sélestat, Bibl. humaniste, Corr. B. Rh. 223) written by Leland to Beatus Rhenanus (1485-1547) concerns this manuscript of Tertullian and sheds further light on Leland 's activities at Malmesbury Abbey in 1533.
