Catherine Atkinson's work considers the content and methodology of Polydore Vergil's De inventoribus rerum. Vergil (c. 1470–1555), a native of Urbino, in Italy, lived from 1502 to 1553 in England where he served until 1514 as deputy papal collector and from 1508 as archdeacon of Wells. His humanist interests and command of Latin gained him a warm reception at Henry vii's court, and from 1506, at Henry vii's instigation, he was writing a history of England (published as Anglica historia in Basle in 1533), later an important source for Gilbert Burnet. Falling foul of Wolsey, Vergil was imprisoned in the Tower for several months in 1515–16, continuing as archdeacon of Wells on his release. Thereafter he lived through England's religious turmoil, in 1536 signing Henry viii's articles of religion, and in 1547 acceding under Edward vi to convocation's declaration that the eucharist be received in both kinds. Vergil left England for Urbino in 1553, having been granted a life income from his archdeaconry and other benefices in absentia. The first three books ‘On the inventors of all things’ were published in 1499, with five further books on the beginnings of Christian institutions following in 1521. Vergil continued to modify De inventoribus rerum in response to events and theological developments: around forty editions were published before his death, and many more afterwards. Atkinson's study of De inventoribus rerum begins by considering the term ‘invention’, which in the sixteenth century included modern understandings of invention, discovery and foundation. The humanist attempt to trace ideas back to their (preferably ancient) origin was intended to establish their validity. Vergil's work shows how inconclusive this enterprise could be, but also how central to his thought was the exploration of the human origins of culture and tradition (as opposed to the divine origins of the natural world). Book i of De inventoribus rerum establishes the framework for his work, considering the creation of the world and the divine origins of marriage and language, before turning to the human inventions that have shaped post-lapsarian culture. Chief amongst these is the alphabet, the means of transmission of knowledge. The seven liberal arts, together with music and medicine – the artes theoreticae – are the focus of the rest of book i. Thereafter Vergil turns in books ii and iii to the practical and the mechanical arts. Books iv–viii, probably of more particular interest to historians of the Reformation, trace the origins of ecclesiastical practices, including monasticism, celibacy, the calendar and the hours, preaching, the sacraments, indulgences and the eucharist. Atkinson notes that Vergil seeks to exclude theological and doctrinal issues, but comments also that he frequently rewrote his text in the view of Reformation controversies; however she does not give more detail. Four case studies – on litanies, prayer and sneezing (that is, on appeals to God), on the mass and sacrifice, on cardinals, and on monks, demonstrate that Vergil was critical of church structures, and especially of the college of cardinals and of monasteries, but that he maintained that the mass must be understood in terms of the history of sacrifice. Atkinson acknowledges that she is no theologian and church historian. It is apparent from her initial study that a theological consideration of Vergil's work could offer some intriguing insights into the position of one who held significant position in the Church, was interested in and aware of its history, but who seems to have been an ardent proponent neither of Reform nor of Counter-Reform.