James Bass Mullinger (1834-1917) was a University Lecturer in History and Librarian at St. John’s College, Cambridge. His monumental History of the University was the standard history of the University at the turn of the twentieth century. For most of his career Mullinger worked on the project, alongside his academic duties and his many articles, the first volume appearing in 1873 and the last in 1911. His extraordinary range of knowledge and the ambition of the work make this an important landmark in the history of universities in Britain.