Regarding the paper gatherings from which Thompson was able to determine different origins for the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and Mus. 510-514A as compared to Egerton 3665 and Drexel 4302, Smith states "The way in which individual gatherings have been combined to form a larger work suggests that, initially, the genesis of these sources was a far more haphazard affair: they seem more the work of a committed individual pursuing a passion, collecting together materials from sources which came his way, than the product of a grand design." When later he does mention the paper types revealed by Thompson he again resorts to scribal issues.