In March 1916 a short entry in the magazine of Magdalene College Cambridge announced the discovery of ‘a set of five manuscript part books containing English instrumental music of the late seventeenth century’. These had been held in the Old Library of the college and their origin was something of a mystery; for there was no other holding of the library with which they could positively be linked. They were deposited by the Master of the college in the Fitzwilliam Museum where they remained until they were returned to the Old Library in 1969. In 1974 Dr Richard Luckett was asked to catalogue some loose sheet music which was thought to belong to the Pepys Library. It soon became clear to him that the printed music in question could not have been part of Pepys' collection, since the majority of the pieces dated from, and had been printed well after, Pepys' death in 1703, when the library had been closed. However, like the set of manuscript partbooks, this music could not at that time be connected to other music or books belonging to the college.