sometimes intimately, and this carries with it, no doubt, a certain sort
of convenience, because the two rooms can be thrown together
occasionally; but it is a question whether, in a good house, and looking
at such a question broadly, it is not, on the whole, a serious loss to
both rooms as regards their more proper purposes. A door to the
dining-room is not formally advisable, nor even one to the gentleman's
room, although both these arrangements are to be met with, and are
occasionally convenient. A communication with the billiard-room,
sometimes made, may give the library too completely the character of a
lounge, so as to render it somewhat unfit for its better purposes. When
the library of a small house is used as a study, by a clergyman, for
instance, or as the business room, a door to the dining-room may be so
useful as to be specially admissible, the dining-room being thus brought
to serve as a waiting-room for the occasion. The interposition, if
possible, of a lobby or small ante-room will, however, be an aid to
propriety in almost all these cases.
'It is to be observed that we have been hitherto dealing with the
ordinary library of an average house and no more; but when the owner is
a man of learning we must either add a _study_ or constitute the library
itself one. In the latter case, in order to prevent disturbance, the
door will be more conveniently placed, not in the main corridor, but
indirectly connected therewith. No door of intercommunication ought to
connect it with any other room (except possibly the gentleman's room),
and the position externally ought to be more than ordinarily secluded.
Double doors also may be required. In short, the library, which has
hitherto been a public room and somewhat of a lounge, becomes now
essentially a private retreat.
'When the books form a _large collection_, and strangers, perhaps, are
occasionally admitted for reading or reference, the library necessarily
assumes more extensive proportions, and its arrangements become more
complicated. For example, heating apparatus becomes very possibly
indispensable; the question comes up of ceiling lights; the apartments
are probably carried up to the height of two storeys, and galleries
formed around. Seclusion becomes again still more a point to be
considered.
'The library of the house should also be as comfortable as possible,
with broad easy chairs, low centre table for books and periodicals, a
large pedestal desk with circular revolving top, to shut up all papers
and keep them free from dust. This kind of desk I consider invaluable to
any man who really uses his library as a work-room, whether it be for
real literary work and study, or for the ordinary examination and
arrangement of household accounts; for it is quite impossible, on an
ordinary writing table, to keep papers clean or tidy, and this
circular-headed desk shuts down at once papers as they lie, which then
cannot be "tidied" by the housemaid, who would seem to take a pleasure
in putting away papers and notes in all kinds of out-of-the-way corners;
the desk should have plenty of drawers and pigeon-holes; these latter,
not as many of them are, an inch too narrow or two inches too wide for
ordinary letters, but all made for the objects for which they are
intended. It may seem absurd to say--think carefully of the use to which
the drawers are to be put--but how often are they practically useless or
wasteful of precious room, by being made shallower or deeper than is
required. The room should be surrounded with bookcases, the lower
portion made to take large books, and with some part of it covered in
with cupboard fronts, with shelving inside to file away periodicals and
papers; the shelf which this lower projection forms will do admirably
for the arrangement of ornaments, small busts, or other personal things,
with which a man crowds the room he really lives in; of course, I am
speaking to those who make a den or working-room of their library, and
not to those who fit a back room up with various tiers of shelving, on
which are arranged a library of books which are seldom looked at, and
where the room is only occasionally used, and that only for the purpose
of a cloak-room on grand occasions. Above this lower nest of cupboards
and shelving should be shelving arranged for various sizes of books,
part carried up all round the room, so as to be within easy reach; the
top of these will be found useful for china or busts, or other objects
of art, while the centre portions may be carried up to the ceiling to
give greater accommodation; all these breaks will take away from the
stiffness of the room, and, if properly arranged, will all assist in
making the library a room pleasant to work or play in. All this kind of
work can be made of plain deal, stained and polished, and is infinitely
cheaper than the elaborate movable cases of wainscot or walnut, in
which the aim of the designer seems often to make the frame-work as
expensive as possible, whereas, in truth, the books within are really
what should be thought of and cared for.
'The floor should be painted or stained and varnished all over, so as to
be easily cleaned and dusted, and everything that is likely to
permanently hold dust should be avoided. On the floor, thus painted, a
few cheap Indian or other rugs may be laid about in places where most
necessary and useful.
'Too much trouble cannot be taken to make the library a pleasant room to
live in; it should have everything arranged and adapted for use and
comfort, and not be stiff and dreary with any set arrangement. The
panels of the cupboard doors may be filled in with Japanese lacquer-work
or painted decoration, and here and there, in the recesses, nests of
shelves may be fitted with projecting brackets, designed as part of
them, for pieces of china, vases of flowers, or busts, and not looking
like bats stuck on to a barn door.
'I must not omit to say that in the lower portion of the bookcase
should be arranged drawers--not carried down to the floor, for these are
inconvenient--for use for prints and valuable photographs and sketches.
'The library should be essentially home-like, with the wall-space fitted
up as conveniently as possible; on the top of the bookcases or nests of
shelves, spring roller-blinds might be easily arranged in the cornices
to draw down at night or other times, and fasten with clips to protect
and preserve the books, &c., within them.
'I might offer many other suggestions for the decoration and furniture
of the rooms I have specially referred to. I trust those I have made
will be of some practical use, and that, above all, you will believe
that my aim throughout has been to avoid all dogmatic and set rules of
fashion or design, and to insist only that truth and beauty of form and
colour, combined with fitness and common sense, are the main elements of
all true artistic treatment in decoration and furniture of modern
houses.'[58]
FOOTNOTES:
[57] Willis and Clark, _History of Cambridge University_, vol. iii., p.
416.
[58] Edis, _Decoration and Furniture of Town Houses_, pp. 188-191.
_Munificent Book-buying._
Nordau has estimated that, in England alone, there are from eight
hundred to a thousand millionaires, and in Europe altogether, there are
at least a hundred thousand persons with fortunes of a million and even
more. One could hope that it might be considered a kindness now and then
to remind some of these millionaires of certain openings for their money
which do not, so far, seem to have occurred to them. Mr. Bernard Shaw
not long since pointed out in the _Contemporary Review_ an opening
whereby an Economic Library might be established, and do great lasting
honour to a possible founder. Rich men can always be found to vie with
one another in lavish expenditure over a ball or a wedding. Thousands of
pounds go for a racehorse and for stable management generally, and the
amount we spend upon sports annually is 38,000,000_l._, or about a pound
per head of the population. One hardly likes to say that any sum spent
upon sport and outdoor life is too much, but yet this sum is out of
proportion. One is jealous of horses and sport, not so much perhaps for
the amount spent upon them as much as because one sees that the man who
hunts and has racehorses, cares and knows about these things to the
extermination of all other interests. Life becomes ill balanced, whereas
it is necessary to touch life at many points. 'The strenuous scholar
pure and simple,' is becoming more rare, though the type of which the
late Mark Pattison was one will never quite die out. But it is not the
strenuous _scholar_ that one is so anxious to perpetuate, as it is the
strenuous and scholarly man of affairs and men of trained ability who
have mental muscle for parliamentary work and social problems. Such a
class ought to have many recruits from among the wealthier families.
It would assist very much towards this end if men of aptitude were
properly trained to act as custodians of books in private houses. The
art of knowing how to use books is one which must be learnt, and when
properly learnt there is very little indeed that may not be readily
found to hand in a library of but small dimensions.
There are, I believe, in England twenty-two packs of staghounds, and 182
packs of foxhounds. As every one of the masters of these packs must be a
rich man, I should like to know that he at any rate had a sound copy of
the _History_ of the county where he hunts; that he had in his smoking
room a good Encyclopædia, with fifty other good reference books, and a
hundred good novels.
The rich men of old combined patronage of learning with the pomp and
splendour of their lives. Lucullus distinguished himself by his vast
collection of books, and the liberal access he allowed to lovers of
books. 'It was a library,' says Plutarch, 'whose walls, galleries and
cabinets were open to all visitors; and the ingenious youths, when at
leisure, resorted to this abode of the Muses, to hold literary
conversations, in which Lucullus himself loved to join.' The Emperor
Augustus was himself an author and a book lover, and called one of his
libraries by the name of his sister, Octavia, and the other the temple
of Apollo. Tiberius had a library, and Trajan also, and these spent
constantly upon their books and the housing of them.
I have taken from Renaissance history pictures of several men who might
be taken as types which should exist in every highly civilised country.
They have been vividly and admirably pictured by biographers, and one
can only hope that the rich men of to-day may in five hundred years'
time have as lasting reputations as that of Cosimo, the princely patron
of learning, and Niccolo, the man of scholarship and refinement of
life.
_PASSAGES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE FOREGOING._
_The Medici and their Friends._
'The chief benefit conferred by Cosimo de' Medici on learning was the
accumulation and the housing of large libraries. During his exile he
built the library of S. Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, and after his return
to Florence he formed three separate collections of MSS. While the hall
of the Library of S. Marco was in process of construction, Niccolo de'
Niccoli died, in 1437, bequeathing his 800 MSS., valued at 6000 golden
florins, to sixteen trustees. Among these were Cosimo and Lorenzo de'
Medici, Ambrogio Traversari, Lionardo Bruni, Carlo Marsuppini, Poggio
Bracciolini, Giannozzo Manetti, and Franco Sachetti. At the same time
the estate of Niccolo was compromised by heavy debts. These debts Cosimo
cancelled, obtaining in exchange the right to dispose of the library. In
1441 the hall of the convent was finished. Four hundred of Niccolo's
MSS. were placed there, with this inscription upon each: _Ex hereditate
doctissimi viri Nicola de Nicolis de Florentiâ_. Tommasso Parentucelli
made a catalogue at Cosimo's request, in which he not only noted the
titles of Niccoli's books, but also marked the names of others wanting
to complete the collection. This catalogue afterwards served as a guide
to the founders of the libraries of Fiesole, Urbino, and Pesaro, and
was, says Vespasiano, indispensable to book-collectors. Of the remaining
400 volumes Cosimo kept some for his own (the Medicean) library, and
some he gave to his friends. At the same time he spared no pains to buy
codices, while Vespasiano and Fra Giuliano Lapaccini were employed in
copying rare MSS. As soon as Cosimo had finished building the Abbey of
Fiesole, he set about providing this also with a library suited to the
wants of learned ecclesiastics. Of the method he pursued, Vespasiano,
who acted as his agent, has transmitted the following account:--"One day
when I was in his room, he said to me, 'What plan can you recommend for
the formation of this library?' I answered that to buy the books would
be impossible, since they could not be purchased. 'What, then, do you
propose?' he added. I told him that they must be copied. He then asked
if I would undertake the business. I replied that I was willing. He bade
me begin at my leisure, saying that he left all to me; and for the
monies wanted day by day, he ordered that Don Arcangelo, at that time
prior of the monastery, should draw cheques upon his bank, which should
be honoured. After beginning the collection, since it was his will that
it should be finished with all speed possible, and money was not
lacking, I soon engaged forty-five copyists, and in twenty-two months
provided two hundred volumes, following the admirable list furnished by
Pope Nicholas V."'[59]
* * * * *
'Cosimo's zeal for learning was not confined to the building of
libraries or to book collecting. His palace formed the centre of a
literary and philosophical Society, which united all the wits of
Florence and the visitors who crowded to the capital of culture.
Vespasiano states that "he was always the father and benefactor of those
who showed any excellence." Distinguished by versatility of tastes and
comprehensive intellect, he formed his own opinion of the men of
eminence with whom he came in contact, and conversed with each upon his
special subject. When giving audience to the scholars, he discoursed
concerning letters; in the company of theologians he showed his
acquaintance with theology, a branch of learning always studied by him
with delight. So also with regard to philosophy. Astrologers found him
well versed in their science, for he somewhat lent faith to astrology,
and employed it on certain private occasions. Musicians in like manner
perceived his mastery of music, wherein he much delighted. The same was
true about sculpture and painting: both of these arts he understood
completely, and showed great favour to all worthy craftsmen. In
architecture he was a consummate judge, for without his opinion and
advice no building was begun or carried to completion.'[60]
* * * * *
'Never was there a time in the world's history when money was spent
more freely upon the collection and preservation of MSS. and when a more
complete machinery was put in motion for the sake of securing literary
treasures. Prince vied with prince, and eminent burgher with burgher, in
buying books. The commercial correspondents of the Medici and other
great Florentine houses, whose banks and discount offices extended over
Europe and the Levant, were instructed to purchase relics of antiquity
without regard for cost, and to forward them to Florence. The most
acceptable present that could be sent to a king was a copy of a Roman
Historian.'[61]
* * * * *
'Among the friends of Cosimo, to whose personal influences at Florence
the Revival of Learning owed a vigorous impulse, Niccolo de' Niccoli
claims our attention. . . . . His judgment in matters of style was so
highly valued that it was usual for scholars to submit their essays to
his eyes before they ventured upon publication. . . . . Notwithstanding
his fine sense of language, Niccolo never appeared before the world of
letters as an author. . . . Certainly his reserve in an age noteworthy
for display has tended to confer on him distinction. The position he
occupied at Florence was that of a literary dictator. All who needed his
assistance and advice were received with urbanity. He threw his house
open to young men of parts, engaged in disputations with the curious,
and provided the ill-educated with teachers. Foreigners from all parts
of Europe paid him visits. The strangers who came to Florence at that
time, if they missed the opportunity of seeing him at home, thought they
had not been in Florence. The house where he lived was worthy of his
refined taste and cultivated judgment, for he had formed a museum of
antiquities--inscriptions, marbles, coins, vases, and engraved gems.
There he not only received students and strangers, but conversed with
sculptors and painters, discussing their inventions as freely as he
criticised the essays of the scholars. . . . . Vespasiano's account of
his personal habits presents so vivid a picture that I cannot refrain
from translating it at length:--"First of all, he was of a most fair
presence; lively, for a smile was ever on his lips, and very pleasant in
his talk. He wore clothes of the fairest crimson cloth, down to the
ground. He never married, in order that he might not be impeded in his
studies. A housekeeper provided for his daily needs. He was, above all
men, the most cleanly in eating, as also in all other things. When he
sat at table, he ate from fair antique vases, and, in like manner, all
his table was covered with porcelain and other vessels of great beauty.
The cup from which he drank was of crystal, or of some other precious
stone. To see him at table--a perfect model of the men of old--was of a
truth a charming sight. He always willed that the napkins set before him
should be of the whitest, as well as all the linen." . . . . What
distinguished Niccolo was the combination of refinement and humane
breeding with open-handed generosity and devotion to the cause of
culture. He knew how to bring forward men of promise and place them in
positions of eminence.'[62]
* * * * *
'Lorenzo attracted to his villa the greatest scholars and most brilliant
men of the time, a circle which included Poliziano, Landino, Ficino,
Pico della Mirandola, Alberti, Pulci, and Michael Angelo. The interests
of this circle, as of all similar Italian circles of the time, were
largely absorbed in the philosophy and literature of Greece, and special
attention was devoted to the teachings of Plato. Plato's writings were
translated into Latin by Ficino, and the translation was printed in
1482, at the cost of Filippo Valvio. Ficino was too poor himself to
undertake the publication of his works, and this was the case with not a
few of the distinguished authors of the age. The presentation of books
to the public required at this time what might be called the endowment
of literature, and endowment which was supplied by the liberality of
wealthy patrons possessed of literary appreciation or public-spirited
ambition, or of both. As Symonds expresses it, "Great literary
undertakings involved in that century the substantial assistance of
wealthy men, whose liberality was rewarded by a notice in the colophon
or in the title-page." The formal dedication was an invention of a
somewhat later date.'[63]
* * * * *
'Of Palla degli Strozzi's services in the cause of Greek learning I have
already spoken. Beside the invitation which he caused to be sent to
Manuel Chrysoloras, he employed his wealth and influence in providing
books necessary for the prosecution of Hellenic studies. "Messer Palla,"
says Vespasiano, "sent to Greece for countless volumes, all at his own
cost. The _Cosmography_ of Ptolemy, together with the picture made to
illustrate it, the _Lives_ of Plutarch, the works of Plato, and very
many other writings of philosophers, he got from Constantinople. The
_Politics_ of Aristotle were not in Italy until Messer Palla sent for
them; and when Messer Lionardo of Arezzo translated them, he had the
copy from his hands." In the same spirit of practical generosity Palla
degli Strozzi devoted his leisure and his energies to the improvement of
the _studio pubblico_ at Florence, giving it that character of humane
culture which it retained throughout the age of the Renaissance. To him,
again, belongs the glory of having first collected books for the express
purpose of founding a public library. This project had occupied the mind
of Petrarch, and its utility had been recognised by Coluccio de'
Salutati, but no one had as yet arisen to accomplish it. "Being
passionately fond of literature, Messer Palla always kept copyists in
his own house and outside it, of the best who were in Florence, both for
Greek and Latin books; and all the books he could find he purchased, on
all subjects, being minded to found a most noble library in Santa
Trinità, and to erect there a most beautiful building for the purpose.
He wished that it should be open to the public, and he chose Santa
Trinità because it was in the centre of Florence, a site of great
convenience to everybody. His disasters supervened and what he had
designed he could not execute."'[64]
* * * * *
'Cosimo used to regret that "he had not begun to spend money upon public
works ten years earlier than he did." Every costly building that bore
his name, each library he opened to the public, and all the donations
lavished upon scholars, served the double purpose of cementing the
despotism of his house and of gratifying his personal enthusiasm for
culture. . . . . Of his generosity to men of letters, the most striking
details are recorded. When Niccolo de' Niccoli ruined himself, Cosimo
opened for him an unlimited credit with the Medicean bank.'[65]
FOOTNOTES:
[59] Symonds, _The Revival of Learning_, pp. 174, 175.
[60] _Ibid._, pp. 172-7.
[61] Symonds, _Revival of Learning_, pp. 139, 140.
[62] Symonds, _Revival of Learning_, pp. 180-2.
[63] Putnam, _Books and their Makers_, vol. i., p. 338.
[64] Symonds, _Revival of Learning_, p. 167.
[65] _Ibid._, pp. 172-3.
_The Dukes of Urbino._
'Mr. Roscoe has observed that "by no circumstance in the character of an
individual is the love of literature so strongly evinced as by the
propensity for collecting together the writings of illustrious scholars,
and compressing the 'soul of ages past' within the narrow limits of a
library." But it is not easy now to appreciate the obstacles attending
such a pursuit in the age of Federigo. The science of bibliography can
scarcely be said to have existed before the invention of printing, in
consequence of the extreme difficulty of becoming acquainted with works
of which there were but few copies, and these widely scattered, perhaps
scarcely known. Great outlay was required, either to search out or
transcribe manuscripts, and even the laborious habits which then
accompanied learning shrank from a task so beset by obstructions. Yet
there was a bright exception in Thomas of Saranza, whose learning
supplied the knowledge, and whose elevation to the triple tiara as
Nicholas V. procured him the opportunities necessary for amassing a
library. Not only did he found that of the Vatican, but he prepared for
Cosimo, _Pater patrie_, a list of authors for the infant collection of
S. Marco, at Florence, which, being recognised as a standard catalogue,
was adopted by Count Federigo. The longer life allowed to the latter
enabled him to outstrip these bibliomaniacs, and all contemporary
accumulators, until the fame of his library stood unrivalled.
Accordingly Ruscelli, in his _Imprese Illustri_, avers it to be
"notorious that the earliest and most famous collection formed out of
the ruins of antiquity was that of Urbino, from whence many excellent
authors were edited, and copies supplied."'[66]
* * * * *
'In no respect did he look to expense; and whenever he learned the
existence of any desirable book in Italy, or abroad, he sent for it
without heeding the cost. His librarian, Vespasiano, wrote, "It is now
above fourteen years since he began to make this collection, and he has
ever since at Urbino, Florence, and elsewhere, thirty-four transcribers,
and has resorted to every means requisite for amassing a famous and
excellent library."'[67]
* * * * *