ALBUM (albus, white), originally denoted a tablet on which decrees, edicts, and other public notices were inscribed in ancient Rome. It was so called probably because the tablet was made of white or whitened material, though some authorities say that the inscription was in white characters. The Pontifex Maximus wrote his annals (Annales Maximi) upon an album. In course of time the term came to be restricted almost exclusively to lists of official names. Such were the Album Judicum, Album Senatorum, Album Decurionum, Album Centurice. In modern times album denotes a book in which verses, autographs, sketches, photographs, &c., are collected. It is also applied to the official list of matriculated students in a university, and to the roll in which a bishop inscribes the names of his clergy.