The most widely consulted thesis in the Bodleian Library for most of the twentieth century was that of R.W. Hunt: ‘Alexander Neckam’, completed in 1936 for his D.Phil. at Oxford under F.M. Powicke. He was later its Keeper of Western Manuscripts, from 1945 until 1975. The list of those who have consulted the thesis, pasted in the front of the volume, stretches for many pages. Hunt had made a leap forward in the knowledge of this author’s life and works, but never published more than a few notes on Alexander before his death in 1979. The thesis finally appeared as a book in 1984 as The Schools and the Cloister, lightly revised by Margaret Gibson. Published statements imply that Hunt never made a serious effort to publish it himself. But a rare letter from Beryl Smalley, who destroyed her papers shortly before her death, shows that Hunt had in fact made efforts to publish his work in 1960. The letter also offers her own insight into Alexander’s widely misunderstood biblical commentaries.