London administrators, like those in other medieval towns, often compiled miscellanies containing copies or records (such as charters, customs, ordinances, and court decisions) that they considered important for remembering and defending the privileges of the town. As the largest city in Britain, London had a particularly large number of these miscellanies. Especially important were the custumals, which recorded the customs and traditions regarding tolls, trading regulations, the privileges of freemen or burgesses, court procedures, inheritance, and many other aspects of London civic life. A helpful assessment of these compilations as a genre (and from a literary point of view) is: Arthur Bahr, Fragments and Assemblages: Forming Compilations of Medieval London (Chicago, 2013).
Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis, 3 vols. In 4, ed. H. T. Riley, Rolls Series (London, 1859-61). Includes several of London’s custumals: (1) ‘Liber Custumarum’ (in vol. II, part I and part ii), compiled in the fourteenth century, includes documents relating to trade, court procedure, and a survey or ‘view’ of the lanes leading to the Thames river dating from 1343, among many other items; (2) ‘Liber Albus’ (in vol. I) compiled before 1419 (in vol. I), also contains charters and ordinances about trade and the procedures to be following in the city courts. See also the English translation in Liber Albus: The White Book of the City of London, ed. H. T. Riley (London, 1861). (3) Liber Horn. Vol. III contains an English translation of the Anglo-Norman passages in the Liber Albus, glossaries, appendices, and an index. Vol. I is on Gallica; vol. II, part I and vol. iii are on the Internet Archive, and vol. II, part ii and the translation of Liber Albus are free ebooks on Google.