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THE ANTIQUARY’S BOOKS
GENERAL EDITOR: J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A.
OLD ENGLISH LIBRARIES
[Illustration: ABBOT WHETHAMSTEDE]
OLD ENGLISH
LIBRARIES
THE MAKING, COLLECTION, AND USE OF BOOKS
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES
BY
ERNEST A. SAVAGE
WITH FIFTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
_First Published in 1911_
PREFACE
With the arrangement and equipment of libraries this essay has little to
do: the ground being already covered adequately by Dr. Clark in his
admirable monograph on _The Care of Books_. Herein is described the
making, use, and circulation of books considered as a means of literary
culture. It seemed possible to throw a useful sidelight on literary
history, and to introduce some human interest into the study of
bibliography, if the place held by books in the life of the Middle Ages
could be indicated. Such, at all events, was my aim, but I am far from
sure of my success in carrying it out; and I offer this book merely as a
discursive and popular treatment of a subject which seems to me of great
interest.
The book has suffered from one unhappy circumstance. It was planned in
collaboration with my friend Mr. James Hutt, M.A., but unfortunately,
owing to a breakdown of health, Mr. Hutt was only able to help me in the
composition of the chapter on the Libraries of Oxford, which is chiefly
his work. Had it been possible for Mr. Hutt to share all the labour with
me, this book would have been put before the public with more
confidence.
More footnote references appear in this volume than in most of the
series of “Antiquary’s Books.” One consideration specially urged me to
take this course. The subject has been treated briefly, and it seemed
essential to cite as many authorities as possible, so that readers who
were in the mood might obtain further information by following them up.
In a book covering a long period and touching national and local history
at many points, I cannot hope to have escaped errors; and I shall be
grateful if readers will bring them to my notice.
I need hardly say I am especially indebted to the splendid work
accomplished by Dr. Montague Rhodes James, the Provost of King’s
College, in editing _The Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and Dover_, and
in compiling the great series of descriptive catalogues of manuscripts
in Cambridge and other colleges. I have long marvelled at Dr. James’
patient research; at his steady perseverance in an aim which, even when
attained--as it now has been--could only win him the admiration and
esteem of a few scholars and lovers of old books.
I have to thank Mr. Hutt for much general help, and for reading all the
proof slips. To Canon C. M. Church, M.A., of Wells, I am indebted for
his kindness in answering inquiries, for lending me the illustration of
the exterior of Wells Cathedral Library, and for permitting me to
reproduce a plan from his book entitled _Chapters in the Early History
of the Church of Wells_. The Historic Society of Lancashire and
Cheshire have kindly allowed me to reproduce a part of their plan of
Birkenhead Priory. Illustrations were also kindly lent by the Clarendon
Press, the Cambridge University Press, Mr. John Murray, Mr. Fisher
Unwin, the Editor of _The Connoisseur_, and Mr. G. Coffey, of the Royal
Irish Academy. A small portion of the first chapter has appeared in _The
Library_, and is reprinted by kind permission of the editors. Mr. C. W.
Sutton, M.A., City Librarian of Manchester, has been in every way kind
and patient in helping me. So too has Mr. Strickland Gibson, M.A., of
the Bodleian Library, especially in connexion with the chapter on Oxford
Libraries. Thanks are due also to the Deans of Hereford, Lincoln, and
Durham, to Mr. Tapley-Soper, City Librarian of Exeter, and to Mr. W. T.
Carter, Public Librarian of Warwick; also to my brother, V. M. Savage,
for his drawings. The general editor of this series, the Rev. J. Charles
Cox, LL.D., F.S.A., gave me much help by reading the manuscript and
proofs; and I am grateful to him for many courtesies and suggestions.
ERNEST A. SAVAGE
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. THE USE OF BOOKS IN EARLY IRISH MONASTERIES 1
II. THE ENGLISH MONKS AND THEIR BOOKS 23
III. LIBRARIES OF THE GREAT ABBEYS--BOOK-LOVERS AMONG
THE MENDICANTS--DISPERSAL OF MONKISH LIBRARIES 45
IV. BOOK MAKING AND COLLECTING IN THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES 73
V. CATHEDRAL AND CHURCH LIBRARIES 109
VI. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: OXFORD 133
VII. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: CAMBRIDGE 155
VIII. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: THEIR ECONOMY 165
IX. THE USE OF BOOKS TOWARDS THE END OF THE MANUSCRIPT PERIOD 173
X. THE BOOK TRADE 199
XI. THE CHARACTER OF THE MEDIEVAL LIBRARY, AND
THE EXTENT OF CIRCULATION OF BOOKS 209
APPENDIX A. PRICES OF BOOKS AND MATERIALS FOR BOOK-MAKING 243
APPENDIX B. LIST OF CERTAIN CLASSIC AUTHORS FOUND IN
MEDIEVAL CATALOGUES 258
APPENDIX C. LIST OF MEDIEVAL COLLECTIONS OF BOOKS 263
APPENDIX D. LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL REFERENCE WORKS 286
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
PAGE
WRITING IN THE BOOK OF KELLS 14
From THOMPSON’S _Greek and Latin Palæography_
WRITING IN BOOK OF ARMAGH 15
From THOMPSON’S _Greek and Latin Palæography_
WRITING IN GRÆCO-LATIN ACTS, PROBABLY USED BY BEDE 27
From MS. Bodl. Laud. Gr. 35, f. 63
WRITING IN BENEDICTIONAL OF ST. ETHELWOLD 43
From _Archæologia_, xxiv.
PLAN OF SCRIPTORIUM, BIRKENHEAD PRIORY 74
Redrawn from _Trans. of the Lancashire and Cheshire Historic
Society_
ANCIENT STALL, OR CARRELL, IN BISHOP’S CANNINGS CHURCH,
WILTS 77
From COX AND HARVEY’S _English Church Furniture_
TABLET CASE AND WAXED TABLET 84
From COFFEY’S _Celtic Antiquities in the Museum of the R.I.A._
PLAN SHOWING DISPOSITION OF BOOKS IN CISTERCIAN
HOUSES 93
Redrawn from GASQUET’S _English Monastic Life_
PLAN SHOWING PROBABLE SITUATION OF LIBRARY OF WELLS
CATHEDRAL IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 122
Redrawn from Canon CHURCH’S _Chapters in the History of
Wells Cathedral_
BEREBLOCK VIEW OF DUKE HUMFREY’S LIBRARY 140
From MS. Bodl. 13
AUTOGRAPH OF DUKE HUMFREY OF GLOUCESTER 191
From MS. Harl. 1705. f. 96_a_
RECORD OF SALE OF BOOK CAPTURED AT POITIERS 234
From MS. Reg. 19, D ii. opposite f. 1
LIST OF PLATES
ABBOT WHETHAMSTEDE _Frontispiece_
From MS. Cott. Nero, D vii. f. 27_a_
PLATE FACING PAGE
I. (_a_) ANCIENT SATCHEL OF IRISH MISSAL, CORPUS CHRISTI
COLLEGE, OXFORD 12
By permission of the Governing Body
(_b_) COVER OF STOWE MISSAL 12
Museum of Royal Irish Academy, Dublin (A.D. 1023-1052)
II. ILLUMINATED PAGE OF BOOK OF KELLS 14
From WESTWOOD’S _Facsimiles_
III. THE SHRINE OF THE CATHACH PSALTER, ELEVENTH
CENTURY 16
From _The Connoisseur_, by permission of the Editor
IV. CUMDACH OF ST. MOLAISE’S GOSPELS: FRONT AND
BOTTOM 20
From COFFEY’S _Celtic Antiquities in Museum of Royal Irish
Academy_, by permission of the Council
V. BENEDICTIONAL OF ST. ETHELWOLD: NATIVITY OF
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST 42
From _Archæologia_, xxiv.
VI. BENEDICTIONAL OF ST. ETHELWOLD: THE ASCENSION 44
From _Archæologia_, xxiv.
VII. (_a_) ABBOT ROGER DE NORTHONE WITH HIS BOOKS 48
From MS. Cott. Nero, D vii. f. 18_b_
(_b_) ABBOT GARIN WITH HIS BOOKS 48
From MS. Cott. Claud., E iv. pt. i., f. 125_a_
VIII. ABBOT SIMON OF ST. ALBANS AT HIS BOOK-CHEST 50
From MS. Cott. Claud., E iv. pt. i. f. 124
IX. GREY FRIARS, LONDON (CHRIST’S HOSPITAL): OLD
HALL AND WHITTINGTON’S LIBRARY 54
From Trollope’s _History of Christ’s Hospital_
X. GREY FRIARS CATALOGUE OF CONVENTUAL LIBRARIES 58
From MS. Bodl. Tanner, 165, f. 119
XI. TWELFTH CENTURY ILLUMINATION FROM BURY ST.
EDMUND’S ABBEY 64
From MS. 2, f. 281_b_, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
by permission of the Master and Fellows
XII. WESTMINSTER ILLUMINATION, THIRTEENTH CENTURY 68
From MS. Reg. 2 A xii. f. 14, Brit. Mus.
XIII. THE CLOISTERS, GLOUCESTER, SHOWING CARRELLS 76
From MURRAY’S _Cathedrals_
XIV. A SCRIBE AND HIS TOOLS, FROM A VERY ANCIENT MS. 82
From MS. Harl. 2820, f. 120
XV. FURNESS ABBEY: CLOISTERS AND CHAPTER HOUSE 94
XVI. FACSIMILE OF LIBRARY CATALOGUE OF SYON MONASTERY 104
From BATESON’S _Catalogue of Syon Monastery_
XVII. MEDIEVAL BINDING: MR. YATES THOMPSON’S HEGESIPPUS 108
From BATESON’S _Mediæval England_
XVIII. ANCIENT BOOK-BOX IN EXETER CATHEDRAL 110
Photo by HEATH & BRADNEE, Exeter
XIX. CHAINED BOOKS, HEREFORD CATHEDRAL LIBRARY 116
By permission of the Dean of Hereford
XX. OLD LIBRARY, LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 118
Photo by G. HADLEIGH, Lincoln. By permission of the
Dean of Lincoln
XXI. WELLS CATHEDRAL: LIBRARY OVER CLOISTER 122
Photo by T. W. PHILLIPS, Wells
XXII. ST. MARY’S CHURCH, OXFORD: FIRST HOME OF
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 132
Photo by H. W. TAUNT, Oxford
XXIII. (_a_) ILLUMINATOR OF ST. ALBANS 134
From MS. Cott. Nero, D iii. f. 105
(_b_) DOCUMENT BEARING THE NAMES OF MEMBERS
OF THE BOOK-TRADE, _c._ 1180 134
From BARNARD’S _Companion to English History_
XXIV. (_a_) DUKE HUMFREY AND ELEANOR OF GLOUCESTER
JOINING THE CONFRATERNITY OF ST. ALBANS 138
From MS. Cott. Nero, D vii. f. 154_a_
(_b_) ANCIENT ROOF OF DUKE HUMFREY’S LIBRARY 138
Photo by JAS. HUTT, M.A.
XXV. DUKE HUMFREY’S LIBRARY, OXFORD 142
Photo by H. W. TAUNT
XXVI. LIBRARY OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD 144
Photo by H. W. TAUNT
XXVII. MERTON COLLEGE LIBRARY, OXFORD 152
Photo by H. W. TAUNT
XXVIII. PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY,
CAMBRIDGE 156
From LOGGAN’S _Cantab. Illus._
XXIX. LIBRARY OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD,
FROM MASTER’S GARDEN 170
Photo by H. W. TAUNT
XXX. CARMELITE IN HIS STUDY 184
From MS. Reg. 14 E i. f. 3, Brit. Mus.
XXXI. A SCRIBE (ST. MARK WRITING HIS GOSPEL), FROM
THE BEDFORD HOURS 196
From Add. MS. 18850, f. 24, Brit. Mus.
XXXII. A SCRIBE AT WORK, FROM EADWINE’S PSALTER,
_c._ 1150 202
From BATESON’S _Mediæval England_
XXXIII. ENGLISH ILLUMINATED WORK UNDER FRENCH INFLUENCE,
FROM TENISON PSALTER 214
From MS. Add. 24686, f. 12, Brit. Mus.
XXXIV. FRESCO OF THE SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS, BY T. GADDI,
CHURCH OF S. M. NOVELLA, FLORENCE 222
Photo by ALINARI
XXXV. ANCIENT VELLUM BOOK-MARKER 230
From MS. 49, Corpus Christi College, Camb., by permission
of the Master and Fellows
OLD ENGLISH LIBRARIES
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY--THE USE OF BOOKS IN EARLY IRISH MONASTERIES
“What tyme þat abbeies were first ordeyned
and monkis were first gadered to gydre.”
--Inscribed in MS. of _Life of Barlaam and Josaphat_,
Peterhouse, Camb.
§ I
To people of modern times early monachism must seem an unbeautiful and
even offensive life. True piety was exceptional, fanaticism the rule.
Ideals which were surely false impelled men to lead a life of idleness
and savage austerity,--to sink very near the level of beasts, as did the
Nitrian hermits when they murdered Hypatia in Alexandria. But this view
does not give the whole truth. To shut out a wicked and sensual world,
with its manifold temptations, seemed the only possible way to live
purely. To get far beyond the influence of a barbaric society, utterly
antagonistic to peaceful religious observance, was clearly the surest
means of achieving personal holiness. Monachism was a system designed
for these ends. Throughout the Middle Ages it was the refuge--the only
refuge--for the man who desired to flee from sin. Such, at any rate, was
the truly religious man’s view. And if monkish retreats sheltered some
ignorant fanatics, they also attracted many representatives of the
culture and learning of the time. This was bound to be so. At all times
solitude has been pleasant to the student and thinker, or to the moody
lover of books.
By great good fortune, then, the studious occupations which did so much
to soften monkish austerities in the Middle Ages, were recognised early
as needful to the system. Even the ascetics by the Red Sea and in Nitria
did not deprive themselves of all literary solace, although the more
fanatical would abjure it, and many would be too poor to have it. The
Rule of Pachomius, founder of the settlements of Tabenna, required the
brethren’s books to be kept in a cupboard and regulated lending them.
These libraries are referred to in Benedict’s own Rule. We hear of St.
Pachomius destroying a copy of Origen, because the teaching in it was
obnoxious; of Abba Bischoi writing an ascetic work, a copy of which is
extant; of anchorites under St. Macarius of Alexandria transcribing
books; and of St. Jerome collecting a library _summo studio et labore_,
copying manuscripts and studying Hebrew at his hermitage even after a
formal renunciation of the classics, and then again, at the end of his
life, bringing together another library at Bethlehem monastery, and
instructing boys in grammar and in classic authors. Basil the Great,
when founding eremitical settlements on the river Iris in Pontus, spent
some time in making selections from Origen. St. Melania the younger
wrote books which were noted for their beauty and accuracy. And when
Athanasius introduced Eastern monachism into Italy, and St. Martin of
Tours and John Cassian carried it farther afield into Gaul, the same
work went on. In the cells and caves of Martin’s community at Marmoutier
the younger monks occupied their time in writing and sacred study, and
the older monks in prayer.[1] Sulpicius Severus (_c._ 353-425), the
ecclesiastical historian, preferred retirement, literary study, and the
friendship and teaching of St. Martin to worldly pursuits. At the famous
island community of Lérins, in South Gaul, were instructed some of the
most celebrated scholars of the West, among them St. Hilary. “Such were
their piety and learning that all the cities round about strove
emulously to have monks from Lérins for their bishops.”[2] Another
centre of studious occupation was the monastery of Germanus of Auxerre;
while near Vienne was a community where St. Avitus (_c._ 525) could earn
the high reputation for holiness and learning which won him a
metropolitan see. Many other facts and incidents prove the literary
pursuits of the Gallic ascetics; as, for example, the reputation the
nuns of Arles in the sixth century won for their writing; and the
curious story of Apollinaris Sidonius driving after a monk who was
carrying a manuscript to Britain, stopping him, and there and then
dictating to secretaries a copy of the precious book which had so nearly
escaped him.[3]
§ II
Monachism of this Eastern type came from Gaul to Ireland.[4] St. Patrick
received his sacred education at Marmoutier; under Germanus at Auxerre;
and possibly at Lérins. His companions on his mission to Ireland, and
the missionaries who followed him, nearly all came from the same
centres. Naturally, therefore, the same practices would be observed, not
only in regard to religious discipline and organisation, but in regard
to instruction and study. Even the mysterious Palladius, Patrick’s
forerunner, is said to have left books in Ireland.[5] But the earliest
important references to that use of books which distinguishes the
educated missionary from the mere fanatical recluse are in connexion
with Patrick. Pope Sixtus is said to have given him books in plenty to
take with him to Ireland. Later he is supposed to have visited Rome,
whence he brought books home to Armagh.[6] He gave copies of parts of
the Scriptures to Irish chieftains. To one Fiacc he gave a case
containing a bell, a crosier, tablets, and a meinister, which, according
to Dr. Lanigan, may have been a cumdach enclosing the Gospels and the
vessels for the sacred ministry, or, according to Dr. Whitley Stokes,
simply a credence-table.[7] He sometimes gave a missal (_lebar nuird_).
He had books at Tara. On one occasion his books were dropped into the
water and were “drowned.” Presumably the books he distributed came from
the Gallic schools, although his followers no doubt began transcribing
as opportunity offered and as material came to hand. Patrick himself
wrote alphabets, sometimes called the “elements”; most likely the
elements or the A B C of the Christian doctrine, corresponding with the
“primer.”[8]
This was the dawn of letters for Ireland. By disseminating the
Scriptures and these primers, Patrick and his followers, and the train
of missionaries who came afterwards,[9] secured the knowledge and use of
the Roman alphabet. The way was clear for the free introduction of
schools and books and learning. “St. Patrick did not do for the Scots
what Wulfilas did for the Goths, and the Slavonic apostles for the
Slavs; he did not translate the sacred books of his religion into Irish
and found a national church literature.... What Patrick, on the other
hand, and his fellow-workers did was to diffuse a knowledge of Latin in
Ireland. To the circumstance that he adopted this line of policy, and
did not attempt to create a national ecclesiastical language, must be
ascribed the rise of the schools of learning which distinguished Ireland
in the sixth and seventh centuries.”[10]
Mainly owing to the labours of Dr. John Healy, we now know a good deal
about the somewhat slow growth of the Irish schools to fame; but for our
purpose it will do to learn something of them in their heyday, when at
last we hear certainly of that free use of books which must have been
common for some time. From the sixth to the eighth century Ireland
enjoyed an eminent place in the world of learning; and the lives and
works of her scholars imply book-culture of good character. St. Columba
was famed for his studious occupations. Educated first by Finnian of
Moville, then by another tutor of the same name at the famous school of
Clonard, he journeyed to other centres for further instruction after his
ordination. From youth he loved books and studies. He is represented as
reading out of doors at the moment when the murderer of a young girl is
struck dead. In later life he realized the importance of monastic
records. He had annals compiled, and bards preserved and arranged them
in the monastic chests. At Iona the brethren of his settlement passed
their time in reading and transcribing, as well as in manual labour.
Very careful were they to copy correctly. Baithen, a monk on Iona, got
one of his fellows to look over a Psalter which he had just finished
writing, but only a single error was discovered.[11] Columba himself
became proficient in copying and illuminating. He could not spend an
hour without study, or prayer, or writing, or some other holy
occupation.[12] He transcribed, we are told, over three hundred copies
of the Gospels or the Psalter--a magnification of a saint’s powers by a
devout biographer, but significant as it testifies to Columba’s love of
studious labours, and shows how highly these ascetics thought of work of
this kind. On two occasions, being a man as well as a saint, he broke
into violence when crossed in his love of books. One story tells how he
visited a holy and learned recluse named Longarad, whose much-prized
books he wished to see. Being denied, he became wroth and cursed
Longarad. “May the books be of no use to you,” he cried, “nor to any one
after you, since you withhold them.” So far the tale is not improbable,
but a little embroidery completes a legend. The books became
unintelligible, so the story continues, the moment Longarad died. At the
same instant the satchels in all the Irish schools and in Columba’s cell
slipped off their hooks on to the ground.
A quarrel about a book, we are told, changed his career. He borrowed a
Psalter from Finnian of Moville, and made a copy of it, working secretly
at night. Finnian heard of the piracy, and, as owner of the original,
claimed the copy. Columba refused to let him have it. Then Diarmid, King
of Meath, was asked to arbitrate. Arguing that as every calf belonged to
its cow, so every copy of a book belonged to the owner of the original,
he decided in Finnian’s favour. Columba thought the award unjust, and
said so. A little later, after another dispute with Diarmid on a
question of monastic immunity, he called together his tribesmen and
partisans, and offered battle. Diarmid was defeated. For some reason,
not quite clear, these quarrels led to Columba’s voluntary exile (_c._
563). He sailed from Ireland, and landed upon the silver strand of
Iona, and to the end of his days his work lay almost entirely amid the
heather-covered uplands and plains of this little island home.[13] Iona
became a renowned centre of missionary work, quite over-shadowing in
importance the earlier “Scottish” settlement of Whitherne or Candida
Casa. Pilgrims went thither from Ireland and England to receive
instruction, and returned to carry on pioneer work in their own
homeland. Thence went forth missionaries to carry the Christian message
throughout Scotland and northern England. Perhaps, too, here was planned
the expedition to far-off Iceland. “Before Iceland was peopled by the
Northmen there were in the country those men whom the Northmen called
Papar. They were Christian men, and the people believed that they came
from the West, because Irish books and bells and crosiers were found
after them, and still more things by which one might know that they were
west-men, _i.e._ Irish.”[14]
Not only to the far north, but to the Continent, did the Irish press
their energetic way. In Gaul their chief missionary was Columban (_c._
543-615), who had been educated at Bangor, then famous for the learning
of its brethren. His works display an extensive acquaintance with
Christian and Latin literature. Both the Greek and Hebrew languages may
have been known to him, though this seems improbable and
inconceivable.[15] In his Rule he provides for teaching in schools,
copying manuscripts, and for daily reading.[16]
The monasteries of Luxeuil, Bobio, and St. Gall, founded by him and his
companions on their mission in Gaul and Italy, became the homes of the
most famous conventual libraries in the world--a result surely traceable
to the example set by the Irish ascetics, and to the tradition they
established.[17]
Other Irish monks are better known for their literary attainments than
for missionary enterprise. St. Cummian, in a letter written about 634,
displays much knowledge of theological literature, and a good deal of
knowledge of a general kind.[18] Another monk named Augustine (_c._ 650)
quotes from Eusebius and Jerome in a work affording many other evidences
of learning.[19] Aileran (_c._ 660), abbot of Clonard, wrote a religious
work which proves his acquaintance with Jerome, Philo, Cassian, Origen,
and Augustine.[20]
An Englishman supplies valuable evidence of the state of Irish learning.
Aldhelm’s (_c._ 656-709) works prove him to have had access in England
to a good library; while in one learned letter he compares English
schools favourably with the Irish, and declares Theodore and Hadrian
would put Irish scholars in the shade. Yet he is on his mettle when
communicating with Irish friends or pupils; he clearly reserves for them
the flowers of his eloquence.[21] The Irish schools were indeed
successful rivals of the English schools, and Irish scholars could use
libraries as good, or nearly as good, as that at Aldhelm’s disposal. At
this time the attraction which Ireland and Iona had for English students
was extraordinary. English crowded the Irish schools, although the
Canterbury school was not full.[22] The city of Armagh was divided into
three sections, one being called Trian-Saxon, the Saxon’s third, from
the great number of Saxon students living there.[23]
In 664 many English, both high and low in rank, left their native land
for Ireland, where they sought instruction in sacred studies, or an
opportunity to lead a more ascetic life. Some devoted themselves
faithfully to a monkish career. Others applied themselves to study only,
and for that purpose journeyed from one master’s cell to another. The
Irish welcomed all comers. All received without charge daily food:
barley or oaten bread and water, or sometimes milk--_cibus sit vilis et
vespertinus_--a plain meal, once a day, in the afternoon. Books were
supplied, or what is more likely, waxed tablets folded in book form.
Teaching was as free as the open air in which it was carried on.[24]
Among the English at one time or another taking advantage of Irish
hospitality were Gildas (_c._ 540), first native historian of
England;[25] Ecgberht, presbyter, a Northumbrian of noble birth;
Ethelhun, brother of Ethelwin, bishop of Lindsay; Oswald, king of
Northumbria; Aldfrith, another Northumbrian king, who was educated
either in Ireland or Iona; Alcuin, who received instruction at
Clonmacnoise;[26] one named Wictberht, “notable ... for his learning and
knowledge, for he had lived many years as a stranger and pilgrim in
Ireland”; and St. Willibrord, who at the age of twenty journeyed to
Ireland for purposes of study, because he had heard that learning
flourished in that country.[27]
§ III
Most of the references we have made above belong to the sixth and
seventh centuries, usually regarded as the best age of Irish monachism.
But the Irish enjoyed their reputation unimpaired for a long time. Just
before and after the Northmen descended on their land in 795, we find
them making their mark abroad, not so much as missionaries but as
scholars and teachers.[28]
A few instances will suffice. “_The Acts of Charles_, written by a monk
of St. Gallen late in the ninth century, tells us of ‘two Scots from
Ireland,’ who ‘lighted with the British merchants on the coast of Gaul,’
and cried to the crowd, ‘If any man desireth wisdom, let him come unto
us and receive it, for we have it for sale.’ They were soon invited to
the court of Charles. One of them, Clement, partly filled the place of
Alcuin as head of the palace school.”[29] His reputation soon became
widespread, and the abbot of Fulda sent several of his most capable
monks to him to learn grammar.[30] His companion, Dungal, went on to
Italy. He enjoyed a full share of the learning of his time; was a
student of Cicero and Macrobius; knew Virgil well; and had some
Greek.[31] A few fine books were bequeathed by him to the Irish
monastery of Bobio, where copies were written and distributed through
Italy. According to the learned Muratori, in one of these manuscripts is
an inscription proving Dungal’s ownership.[32] One of the books so
bequeathed was the famous Antiphonary of Bangor, now in the Ambrosian
library at Milan.
Clement and Dungal were not the only Irishmen of note on the Continent.
One, Dicuil, was an exponent of geography. He founded his treatise (_c._
825) on Cæsar, Pliny, and Solinus; he quotes and names many other
writers, including fourteen Greek; and generally impresses us with his
earnest studentship. An Irish monk named Donatus wandered to Italy and
became bishop of Fiesole (_c._ 829); he, too, was a scholar acquainted
with Virgil, a teacher of grammar and prosody, and a lecturer on the
saints.[33] Sedulius, the commentator, an Irish monk of Liége, copied
Greek psalters, wrote Latin verses, knew Cicero’s letters, the works of
Valerius Maximus, Vegetius, Origen, and Jerome; was well acquainted with
mythology and history, and perhaps had some Hebrew.[34] Another
Irishman, John the Scot (Joannes Scotus Erigena), became the most
eminent scholar of his time: he alone, among all the learned men Charles
the Bald had about him, was able to translate from Greek (_c._ 858-860).
Well might Eric of Auxerre, writing to Charles, express his astonishment
at this train of philosophers from Ireland, that barbarous land on the
confines of the world.[35] All these wanderers, and many more, must have
been responsible for the dissemination of the books produced by Irish
hands; and, in fact, many manuscripts of Celtic origin and early in
date, are still on the Continent, or have been found there and brought
to Ireland.[36]
In some respects the evidence of book-culture in Ireland in these early
centuries is inconsistent. The jealous guard Longarad kept over his
books, the quarrel over Columba’s Psalter, and the great esteem in which
scribes were held,[37] suggest a scarcity of books. The practice of
enshrining them in cumdachs, or book-covers, points to a like
conclusion. On the other hand, Bede tells us the Irish could lend
foreign students books, so plentiful were they. His statement is
corroborated by the number of scribes whose deaths have been recorded by
the annalists; the _Four Masters_, for example, note sixty-one eminent
scribes before the year 900, forty of whom belong to the eighth
century.[38] In some of the monasteries a special room for books was
provided. The _Annals of Tigernach_ refer to the house of
manuscripts.[39] An apartment of this kind is particularly mentioned as
being saved from the flames when Armagh monastery was burned (1020).
Another fact suggesting an abundance of books was the appointment of a
librarian, which sometimes took place.[40] Although a special book-room
and officer are only to be met with much later than the best age of
Irish monachism, yet we may reasonably assume them to be the natural
culmination of an old and established practice of making and using
books.
Such statements, however, are not necessarily contradictory. Manuscripts
over which the cleverest scribes and illuminators had spent much time
and pains would be jealously preserved in cases or shrines; still, when
we remember how many precious fruits of the past must have
[Illustration: _PLATE I_
ANCIENT SATCHEL OF IRISH MISSAL
COVER OF THE STOWE MISSAL]
perished, the number of beautiful Irish manuscripts extant goes to prove
that books even of this character could not have been extraordinarily
rare. “Workaday” copies of books would be made as well, in comparatively
large numbers, and would no doubt be used very freely. Besides books
properly so called, the religious used waxed tablets of wood, which were
sometimes called books. St. Ciaran, for example, wrote on staves, which
are called in one place his tablets, and in two other places the whole
collection of his staves is called a book.[41] Such tablets were indeed
books in which the fugitive pieces of the time were written.[42]
Considering all things, Bede was without doubt quite correct in saying
the Irish had enough books to lend to foreign students.
§ IV
Our account of the work accomplished by the Irish monks would be
incomplete without reference to their writing, illuminating, and
book-economy, the relics of which are so finely rare.
The old Irish runes gave place slowly to the Roman alphabet, which came
into use, as we have already observed, after St. Patrick’s mission. This
new writing was in two forms--round and pointed--but both were derived
from the Roman half-uncial style. The clear and beautifully-shaped
Irish round hand is closely akin to the half-uncial character of fifth
and sixth century Latin writings found on the Continent. The Book of
Kells, written probably at the end of the seventh century, is the finest
example of the ornamental Irish round hand. St. Chad’s Gospels, now at
Lichfield, written about the same time, is a manuscript of like
character, but not so good. A later manuscript, the Gospels of MacRegol,
which dates from the beginning of the ninth century, shows marked
deterioration in the writing.
[Illustration: BOOK OF KELLS, SEVENTH CENTURY]
The Irish pointed style, used for quicker writing, is but a modified,
pointed variety of the round hand, the letters being laterally
compressed. This hand appears in some pages of the Book of Kells, but
the best example is in the Book of Armagh.[43]
Although the Roman alphabet was introduced by Augustine at the
Canterbury school, it wholly failed to have any effect on the native
hand from that source. On the other hand, when, in the seventh century,
Northumbria
[Illustration: _PLATE II_
ILLUMINATED PAGE OF THE BOOK OF KELLS]
was converted by Irish missionaries, the new Christians copied the Irish
writing, so well, indeed, that the earliest specimens extant can hardly
be distinguished from the beautiful penmanship of the Irish. The Book of
Durham, generally called the Lindisfarne Gospels, of about 700, is an
exquisite Northumbrian example of the Irish round hand, in the
characteristic broad, heavy-stroke letters. Another good specimen of
this style is the eighth century manuscript of Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History, in Cambridge University Library.
[Illustration: BOOK OF ARMAGH, BEFORE A.D. 844]
Irish illumination is as characteristic as the writing. Pictures and
drawings of the human figure are not so common as in the work of other
schools, and when they do appear are not often good. Still, some of
them, as the scenes from the life of Christ in the Book of Kells, are
quite unlike the illuminations of any other school; while the portraits
of the Evangelists in the same book, in the Book of MacRegol, and in the
Lindisfarne Gospels, are singularly interesting. Floral work is also
rare. But in geometrical ornament, beautifully symmetrical--diagonal
patterns, zigzags, waves, lozenges, divergent spirals, intertwisted and
interwoven ribbon and cord work--and in grotesque zoological
forms,--lizards, snakes, hounds, birds, and dragons’ heads,--the Irish
school attained their highest artistic development. Their art is
striking, not for originality, not for its beauty, which is nevertheless
great, but for painstaking. Knowing but one style of making a book
beautiful, they lavished much time and loving care to achieve their end.
The detail is extraordinarily minute and complicated. “I have counted,”
writes Professor Westwood, “[with a magnifying glass] in a small space
scarcely three-quarters of an inch in length by less than half an inch
in width, in the Book of Armagh, no less than 158 interlacements of a
slender ribbon pattern formed of white lines edged with black ones.”
But, this intricacy notwithstanding, the designs as a whole are usually
bold and effective. In the best kind of Irish illumination gold and
silver are not used, but the colours are varied and brilliant, and are
employed with taste and discretion; while the occasional staining of a
leaf of vellum with a fine purple sometimes adds beauty and much
distinction to an excellent design.
Of intricate geometrical ornament and grotesque figures, the
illumination representing the symbols of the Four Evangelists (fo. 290)
of the Book of Kells is perhaps the best example. Of divergent spirals
and interlaced ribbon work the frontispiece of St. Jerome’s Epistle in
the Book of Durrow affords notable examples. Two of the peculiar
features of Irish decoration--the rows of red dots round a design and
the dragon’s head--appear in the earliest, or nearly the earliest, Irish
manuscript extant, namely, the Cathach Psalter, now in the Museum of the
Royal Irish Academy. Whether the essential and peculiar features of this
ornamentation are purely indigenous, as Professor Westwood contends, or
whether they are of Gallo-Roman origin, as Fleury argues, is a moot
point, calling for complicated discussion which would be out of place
here.
The amount of illumination in the existing manuscripts varies, but the
pages chosen for illuminating are nearly always the same. In the Book of
Kells the illuminations consist of three portraits of the Evangelists,
three scenes from the life of Christ, three combined symbols of the four
Evangelists, eight pages of the Eusebian canons, and many
[Illustration: _PLATE III_
THE SHRINE OF THE CATHACH PSALTER
ELEVENTH CENTURY]
initials. The Book of Durham contains four portraits of the Evangelists,
six initial pages, one ornamental page before each Gospel, and before
St. Jerome’s Epistle, and eight pages of the Eusebian canons. The Book
of Durrow has sixteen illuminated pages: four of the symbols of the
Evangelists, six pages of initials, one ornamental page at the
frontispiece, one before the letter of St. Jerome, and one before each
Gospel.
The oldest Irish manuscript in existence is probably the Domnach
Airgrid, or manuscript of the Silver Shrine, also called St. Patrick’s
Gospels. Dr. Petrie believed the Domnach to be the identical reliquary
given by St. Patrick to St. Mac Cairthinn, when the latter was put in
charge of the see of Clogher, in the fifth century. “As a manuscript
copy of the Gospels apparently of that early age is found with it, there
is every reason to believe it to be that identical one for which the box
was originally made.”[44] But both case and manuscript are now held to
be somewhat later in date. Another very early manuscript is the sixth
century fragment of fifty-eight leaves of a Latin Psalter, styled the
Cathach or “Battler.” For centuries this fragment has been preserved in
a beautiful case as a relic of Columba; as, indeed, the actual cause of
the dispute between Columba and Finnian of Moville.
§ V
Two features of book-economy, although not peculiar to Ireland, are
rarely met with outside that country. The religious used satchels or
wallets to carry their books about with them. We are told Patrick once
met a party of clerics and gillies with books in their girdles; and he
gave them the hide he had sat and slept on for twenty years to make a
wallet.[45] Columba is said to have made satchels, and to have blessed
them. When these satchels were not carried they were hung upon pegs set
in the wall of the cell or the church or the tower where they were
preserved.[46] We have already noted the legend which tells how all the
satchels in Ireland slipped off their pegs when Longarad died. A modern
writer visiting the Abyssinian convent of Souriani has seen a room
which, when we remember the connection between Egyptian and Celtic
monachism, we cannot help thinking must closely resemble an ancient
Irish cell.[47] In the room the disposition of the manuscripts was very
original. “A wooden shelf was carried in the Egyptian style round the
walls, at the height of the top of the door.... Underneath the shelf
various long wooden pegs projected from the wall; they were each about a
foot and a half long, and on them hung the Abyssinian manuscripts, of
which this curious library was entirely composed. The books of Abyssinia
are ... enclosed in a case tied up with leathern thongs; to this case is
attached a strap for the convenience of carrying the volume over the
shoulders, and by these straps the books were hung to the wooden pegs,
three or four on a peg, or more if the books were small; their usual
size was that of a small, very thick quarto. The appearance of the room,
fitted up in this style, together with the presence of long staves, such
as the monks of all the Oriental churches lean upon at the time of
prayer, resembled less a library than a barrack or guardroom, where the
soldiers had hung their knapsacks and cartridge boxes against the wall.”
The few old Irish satchels remaining are black with age, and the
characteristic decoration of diagonal lines and interlaced markings is
nearly worn away. Two of them are preserved in England and Ireland:
those of the Book of Armagh, in Trinity College, Dublin, and of the
Irish Missal in Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The wallet at Oxford
looks much like a modern schoolboy’s satchel; leather straps are fixed
to it, by which it was slung round the neck. The Armagh wallet is made
of one piece of leather, folded to form a case a foot long, a little
more than a foot broad, and two and a half inches thick. The Book of
Armagh does not fit it properly. Interlaced work and zoömorphs decorate
the leather. Remains of rough straps are still attached to the sides.
The second special feature of Irish book-economy was the preservation of
manuscripts in cumdachs or rectangular boxes, made just large enough for
the books they were intended to enshrine. As in the case of the wallet,
the cumdach was not peculiar to Ireland, although the finest examples
which have come down to us were made in that country.[48] They are
referred to several times in early Irish annals. Bishop Assicus is said
to have made quadrangular book-covers in honour of Patrick.[49] In the
_Annals of the Four Masters_ is recorded, under the year 937, a
reference to the cumdach of the Book of Armagh, or the Canon of Patrick.
“Canoin Phadraig was covered by Donchadh, son of Flann, king of
Ireland.” In 1006 the _Annals_ note that the Book of Kells--“the Great
Gospel of Columb Cille was stolen at night from the western erdomh of
the Great Church of Ceannanus. This was the principal relic of the
western world, on account of its singular cover; and it was found after
twenty nights and two months, its gold having been stolen off it, and a
sod over it.”[50] These cumdachs are now lost; so also is the jewelled
case of the Gospels of St. Arnoul at Metz, and that belonging to the
Book of Durrow.
By good hap, several cumdachs of the greatest interest are still
preserved for our inspection. One of them, the Silver Shrine of the
so-called St. Patrick’s Gospels, is a very peculiar case. It consists of
three covers. The first, or inner, is of yew, and was perhaps made in
the sixth or seventh century. The second, of copper, silver-plated, is
of later make. The third, or outermost, is of silver, and was probably
made in the fourteenth century. The cumdach of the Stowe Missal (1023)
is a much more beautiful example. It is of oak, covered with plates of
silver. The lower or more ancient side bears a cross within a
rectangular frame. In the centre of the cross is a crystal set in an
oval mount. The decoration of the four panels consists of metal plates,
the ornament being a chequer-work of squares and triangles. The lid has
a similar cross and frame, but the cross is set with pearls and
[Illustration: _PLATE IV_
CUMDACH OF ST. MOLAISE’S GOSPELS: BOTTOM
CUMDACH OF ST. MOLAISE’S GOSPELS: FRONT]
metal bosses, a crystal in the centre, and a large jewel at the end of
each arm. The panels consist of silver-gilt plates embellished with
figures of saints. The sides, which are decorated with enamelled bosses
and open-work designs, are imperfect. On the box are inscriptions in
Irish, such as the following: “Pray for Dunchad, descendant of Taccan,
of the family of Cluain, who made this”; “A blessing of God on every
soul according to its merit”; “Pray for Donchadh, son of Brian, for the
king of Ireland”; “And for Macc Raith, descendant of Donnchad, for the
king of Cashel.”[51] Other cumdachs are those in the Royal Irish Academy
for Molaise’s Gospels (_c._ 1001-25), for Columba’s Psalter (1084), and
those in Trinity College, Dublin, for Dimma’s book (1150) and for the
Book of St. Moling. There are also the cumdachs for Cairnech’s Calendar
and that of Caillen; both of late date. The library of St. Gall
possesses still another silver cumdach, which is probably Irish.
These are the earliest relics we have of what was undoubtedly an old and
established method of enshrining books, going back as far as Patrick’s
time, if it be correct that Bishop Assicus made them, or if the first
case of the Silver Shrine is as old as it is believed to be. The
beautiful lower cover of the Gospels of Lindau, now in Mr. Pierpont
Morgan’s treasure-house, proves that at least as early as the seventh
century the Irish lavished as much art on the outside of their
manuscripts as upon the inside.[52] It is natural to make a beautiful
covering for a book which is both beautiful and sacred. All the volumes
upon which the Irish artist exercised his talent were invested with
sacred attributes. Chroniclers would have us believe they were sometimes
miraculously produced. In the life of Cronan[53] is a story telling how
an expert scribe named Dimma copied the four Gospels. Dimma could only
devote a day to the task, whereupon Cronan bade him begin at once and
continue until sunset. But the sun did not set for forty days, and by
that time the copy was finished. The manuscript written for Cronan is
possibly the book of Dimma, which bears the inscription: “It is
finished. A prayer for Dimma, who wrote it for God, and a blessing.”[54]
It was believed such books could not be injured. St. Ciaran’s copy of
the Gospels fell into a lake, but was uninjured. St. Cronan’s copy fell
into Loch Cre, and remained under water forty days without injury. Even
fire could not harm St. Cainnech’s case of books.[55] Nor is it
surprising they should be looked upon as sacred. The scribes and
illuminators who took such loving care to make their work perfect, and
the craftsmen who wrought beautiful shrines for the books so made, were
animated with the feeling and spirit which impels men to erect beautiful
churches to testify to the glory of their Creator. As Dimma says, they
“wrote them for God.”