[176] See _Dictionnaire du Mobilier_, par Henri Havard, S. V. _Armoire_,
and the passages there quoted.
[177] See above, p. 71.
[178] The Cistercian Customs prescribe the possession of nine volumes at
least, chiefly service-books, before a house can be founded. _Documents_,
p. 253.
[179] _Origines Francaises de l'Architecture Gothique en Italie_, par G.
Enlart, 8vo. Paris, 1894. p. 9. This valuable work contains a full and
accurate description, copiously illustrated, of Fossa Nuova and other
abbeys in remote parts of Italy.
[180] _The Monastery and Cathedral of Worcester_, by John Noake, Lond.,
1866, p. 414.
[181] _Chronica monasterii de Melsa._ Rolls Series, Vol. III. App. p.
lxxxiii.
[182] The word _theca_ signified in classical Latin a case or receptacle
in which any object was kept. In medieval Latin it was specially used
(_fide_ Ducange) for the chest in which the bodies or bones or relics of
saints, were kept. In this catalogue it is obvious that it may mean either
a shelf or a cupboard.
[183] Sunt enim in libraria de Tychefeld quatuor columpnae pro libris
imponendis, unde in orientali fronte due sunt videlicet prima et secunda.
In latere vero australi est tercia. Et in latere boreali est quarta. Et
earum singule octo habent gradus [etc.].
[184] _Trans. Cumb. and West. Antiq. and Archaeol. Soc._ Vol. XVI. p. 259.
I take this opportunity of thanking my friend Mr Hope for allowing me to
use his plan of Furness Abbey, and also for pointing out to me the
evolution of the Cistercian book-rooms which I have done my best to
describe in the text.
[185] _Calder Abbey: its Ruins and its History._ By A. G. Loftie, M.A.
[186] Mr Hope tells me that he has lately re-examined these recesses, and
failed to discover traces of furniture or fittings of any kind within
them.
[187] _Voyage Litteraire_, Paris, 1717, Vol. I. p. 101.
[188] _Cat. des Manuscrits des Bibliotheques Publiques de France._
Departements, Tom. V. Catalogue des Manuscrits de Citeaux, No. 635 (p.
405). Parvus liber incathenatus ad analogium cathedre ex opposito
capituli.
[189] _The Rites of Durham_, ed. Surtees Soc. 1844, p. 70.
[190] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. XXXIII.
pp. 15-49.
[191] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. XXXIII.
pp. 21, 22.
[192] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. XXXIII.
p. 16.
[193] MSS, Mus. Brit. MSS. Cotton, Otho. c. XI. fol. 84.
[194] See a paper by myself in _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm._ IX. pp.
47-56.
[195] _Voyage Litteraire_, ed. 1717. Part I. 297.
[196] _Dictionnaire du Mobilier_, s. v. _Armoire_.
[197] Viollet-le-Duc, _ut supra_, p. 4, where full details of the press at
Obazine are given. The photograph from which my illustration has been made
was specially taken for my use through the kind help of my friend Dr
James, who had seen the press in 1899.
[198] Viollet-le-Duc, _ut supra_, p. 14. I have myself examined this
press. My friend Mr Hope informs me that there is a press of this
character in the nether vestry at S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, described by
him in _Inventories of the parish church of S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich_,
Norf. and Norw. Archaeol. Soc, XIV. p. 29.
[199] See Mr Hope's _Notes on the Benedictine Abbey of S. Peter at
Gloucester_, in _Records of Gloucester Cathedral_, 1897, p. 23.
[200] See above, p. 93.
[201] _Memorials of S. Edmund's Abbey_, Rolls Series, II. 327. The writer
is describing the mischief done by the rioters of 1327: Deinde claustrum
ingressi, cistulas, id est caroles, et armariola fregerunt, et libros et
omnia in eis inventa similiter asportaverunt. I owe this quotation to Dr
James, _On the Abbey of S. Edmund at Bury_, Camb. Ant. Soc. Octav. Publ.
No. XXVIII. p. 158.
[202] _Liber Evesham_, Hen. Bradshaw Soc. 1893, p. 196. Abbat Ombresleye
(1367-79) built "paginam illam claustri contiguam ecclesie ubi carolae
fratrum consistunt."
[203] _Accounts of the Obedientiaries of Abingdon Abbey_, ed. Camden
Society, 1892, p. 47. "Expense circa sedilia claustri" is the heading of
an account for wood bought and for carpenter's work. The sum spent was L2.
15_s._ 3_d._
[204] _Arch. Hist. of the Conventual Buildings of the Monastery of Christ
Church, Canterbury_. By R. Willis. 8vo, Lond. 1869, p. 45.
[205] MSS. Mus. Brit. MSS. Cotton, Faustina, c. XII., fol. 149. De karulis
in claustro habendis hanc consideracionem habere debent quibus committitur
claustri tutela ut videlicet celerarius seu alii fratres qui raro in
claustro resident suas karulas in claustro non habeant, set nec aliqui
fratres nisi in scribendo vel illuminando aut tantum notando communitati
aut et sibimet ipsis proficere sciant.
[206] MSS. Mus. Brit. MSS. Cotton, Faustina, c. XII., fol. 145. ...
precentorem et succentorem quibus committitur armariorum custodia. Cantor
habebit cathedram suam ante armarium in claustro stantem et carulam suam
iuxta desuper lapidem inter columpnas. Succentor vero super scannum iuxta
armarium carulam et sedem suam habebit, ut hii duo vel saltem unus eorum
possint semper esse parati ad respondendum fratribus seruicium petentibus.
[207] _History of the Church of Peterburgh._ By Symon Gunton: fol. 1686,
p. 103. The author gives the subjects and legends of nine windows. I owe
this quotation to the kindness of Mr Hope.
CHAPTER III.
INCREASE OF MONASTIC COLLECTIONS. S. RIQUIER, BOBBIO, DURHAM, CANTERBURY.
BOOKS KEPT IN OTHER PLACES THAN THE CLOISTER. EXPEDIENTS FOR HOUSING THEM
AT DURHAM, CITEAUX, AND ELSEWHERE. SEPARATE LIBRARIES BUILT IN FIFTEENTH
CENTURY AT DURHAM, S. ALBANS, CITEAUX, CLAIRVAUX, ETC. GRADUAL EXTENSION
OF LIBRARY AT S. GERMAIN DES PRES. LIBRARIES ATTACHED TO CATHEDRALS.
LINCOLN, SALISBURY, WELLS, NOYON, ROUEN, ETC.
In the last chapter I attempted to describe the way in which the Monastic
Orders provided for the safe keeping of their books, so long as their
collections were not larger than could be accommodated in a press or
presses in the cloister, or in the small rooms used by the Cistercians for
the same purpose. I have now to carry the investigation a step farther,
and to shew how books were treated when a separate library was built.
It must not be supposed that an extensive collection of books was regarded
as indispensable in all monastic establishments. In many Houses, partly
from lack of funds, partly from an indisposition to study, the books were
probably limited to those required for the services and for the daily life
of the brethren. In other places, on the contrary, where the fashion of
book-collecting had been set from very early days, by some abbat or prior
more learned or more active than his fellows; and where brethren in
consequence had learnt to take a pride in their books, whether they read
them or not, a large collection was got together at a date when even a
royal library could be contained in a single chest of very modest
dimensions. For instance, when an inventory of the possessions of the
Benedictine House of S. Riquier near Abbeville was made at the request of
Louis le Debonnaire in 831 A.D., it was found that the library contained
250 volumes; and a note at the end of the catalogue informs us that if the
different treatises had been entered separately, the number of entries
would have exceeded five hundred, as many books were frequently bound in a
single volume. The works in this library are roughly sorted under the
headings Divinity, Grammar, History and Geography, Sermons,
Service-books[208]. A similar collection existed at S. Gall at the same
period[209]. In the next century we find nearly seven hundred manuscripts
in a Benedictine monastery at Bobbio in north Italy[210]; and nearly six
hundred in a House belonging to the same order at Lorsch in Germany[211].
At Durham, also a Benedictine House, a catalogue made early in the twelfth
century contains three hundred and sixty-six titles[212]; but, as at S.
Riquier, the number of works probably exceeded six or seven hundred.
These instances, which I have purposely selected from different parts of
Europe, and which could easily have been increased, are sufficient to
indicate the rapidity with which books could be, and in fact were
accumulated, when the taste for such collections had once been set. Year
by year, slowly yet surely, by purchase, by gift, by bequest, by the zeal
of the staff of writers whom the precentor drilled and kept at work, the
number grew, till in certain Houses it reached dimensions which must have
embarrassed those responsible for its bestowal. At Christ Church,
Canterbury, for instance, the catalogue made by Henry de Estria, Prior
1285-1331, enumerates about 1850 manuscripts[213].
It must gradually have become impossible to accommodate such collections
as these according to the old method, even supposing it was desirable to
do so. There were doubtless many duplicates, and manuscripts of value
requiring special care. Consequently we find that places other than the
cloister were used to keep books in. At Durham, for instance, the
catalogues made at the end of the fourteenth century enumerate (1) "the
books in the common press at Durham in sundry places in the cloister" (386
volumes)[214]; (2) "the books in the common press at Durham in the
Spendment" (408 volumes)[215]; (3) "the inner library at Durham called
Spendment" (87 volumes)[216]; (4) "the books for reading in the frater
which lie in the press near the entrance to the farmery" (17
volumes)[217]; (5) "the books in the common press of the novices at Durham
in the cloister" (23 volumes)[218]. Of the above catalogues the first
obviously deals with the contents of the great "almeries of wainscot"
which stood in the cloister; the second and third with the books for which
no room could be found there, and which in consequence had been
transferred to a room on the west side of the cloister, where wages were
paid and accounts settled. In the _Rites of Durham_ it is termed the
treasure-house or chancery. It was divided into two by a grate of iron,
behind which sat the officer who made the payments. The books seem to have
been kept partly in the outer half of the room, partly within this grate.
At Citeaux, the parent-house of the Cistercian order, a large and wealthy
monastery in Burgundy, the books were still more scattered, as appears
from the catalogue[219] drawn up by John de Cirey, abbat at the end of the
fifteenth century, now preserved, with 312 of the manuscripts enumerated
in it, in the public library of Dijon.
This catalogue, written on vellum, in double columns, with initial letters
in red and blue alternately, records the titles of 1200 MSS and printed
books; but the number of the latter is not great. It is headed:
Inventory of the books at Citeaux, in the diocese of
Chalons, made by us, brother John, abbat of the said
House, in the year of our Lord 1480, after we had caused
the said books to be set to rights, bound, and covered,
at a vast expense, by the labour of two and often three
binders, employed continuously during two years[220].
This heading is succeeded by the following statement:
And first of the books now standing (_existencium_) in
the library of the dorter, which we have arranged as it
is, because the room had been for a long time useless,
and formerly served as a tailory and vestry, ... but for
two years or nearly so nothing or very little had been
put there[221].
A bird's-eye view of Citeaux, dated 1674, preserved in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris, shews a small building between the Frater and the
Dorter, which M. Viollet-le-Duc, who has reproduced[222] part of it,
letters "staircase to the dorter." The room in question was probably at
the top of this staircase, and the arrangements which I am about to
discuss shew beyond all question that the Dorter was at one end of it and
the Frater at the other.
There were six bookcases, called benches (_banche_), evidently
corresponding to the _sedilia_ or "seats" mentioned in many English
medieval catalogues. The writer takes the bookcases in order, beginning as
follows:
De prima banca inferius versus refectorium (13 vols.).
In 2^a linea prime banche superius (17 vols.).
In 2^a banca inferius de latere dormitorii (18 vols.).
" " superius " " (14 vols.).
In 2^a banca inferius de latere refectorii (15 vols.).
" " superius " " (18 vols.).
The third and fifth _banche_, containing respectively 75 volumes and 68
volumes, are described in identical language; but the descriptions of the
4th and 6th differ sufficiently to make quotation necessary:
In quarta banca de latere dormitorii (24 vols.).
" " " refectorii (16 vols.).
In sexta banca de latere dormitorii (25 vols.).
Libri sequentes sunt in dicta sexta banca de latere dormitorii inferius
sub analogio (38 vols.).
It seems to me that the first _banca_ was set against the Dorter wall, so
that it faced the Frater; and that it consisted of two shelves only, the
second of which is spoken of as a line (_linea_)[223]. The second, third,
and fifth _banche_ were detached pieces of furniture, with two shelves on
each side. I cannot explain why the fourth is described in such different
language. It is just possible that only one shelf on each side may have
been occupied by books when the catalogue was compiled. I conjecture that
the sixth stood against the Frater wall, thus facing the Dorter, and that
it consisted of a shelf, with a desk below it, and a second shelf of books
below that again.
Besides these cases there were other receptacles for books called
cupboards (_armaria_) and also some chests. These are noted in the
following terms:
Secuntur libri existentes in armariis librarie.
In primo armario de latere versus refectorium (36 vols.).
In secundo armario (53 vols.).
In tertio armario (24 vols.).
Sequuntur libri existentes in cofro seu archa juxta gradus ascensus ad
vestiarium in libraria (46 vols.).
In quadam cista juxta analogium de latere refectorii (9 vols.).
The total of the MSS. stored in this room amounts to 509. In addition to
these the catalogue next enumerates "Books of the choir, church, and
cloister (53 vols.); Books taken out of the library for the daily use of
the convent (29 vols.); Books chained on desks (_super analogiis_) before
the Chapter-House (5 vols.); on the second desk (5 vols.); on the third
desk (4 vols.); on the fifth desk (4 vols.); Books taken out of the
library partly to be placed in the cloister, partly to be divided among
the brethren (27 vols.); Books on the small desks in the cloister (5
vols.); Books to be read publicly in convent or to be divided among the
brethren for private reading (99 vols.)." These different collections of
MSS., added together, make a total of 740 volumes, which seem to have been
scattered over the House, wherever a spare corner could be found for them.
The inconvenience of such an arrangement, or want of arrangement, is
obvious; and it must have caused much friction in the House. We can
imagine the officer in charge of the finances resenting the intrusion of
his brother of the library with an asperity not wholly in accordance with
fraternal charity. And yet, so strong is the tendency of human nature to
put up with whatever exists, rather than be at the trouble of changing it,
no effectual steps in the way of remedy were taken until the fifteenth
century. In that century, however, we find that in most of the large
monasteries a special room was constructed to hold books. Reading went
forward, as heretofore, in the cloister, and I conceive that the books
stored in the new library were mainly intended for loan or for reference.
As at Durham, the monks could go there when they chose.
These conventual libraries were usually built over some existing building,
or over the cloister. Sometimes, especially in France, the library appears
as an additional storey added to any building with walls strong enough to
bear it; sometimes again as a detached building. I will cite a few
examples of libraries in these different positions.
At Christ Church, Canterbury, a library, about 60 ft. long by 22 ft.
broad, was built by Archbishop Chichele between 1414 and 1443, over the
Prior's Chapel[224], and William Sellyng (Prior 1472-1494) "adorned [it]
with beautiful wainscot, and also furnished it with certain volumes
chiefly for the use of those addicted to study, whom he zealously and
generously encouraged and patronised[225]."
At Durham Prior Wessyngton, about 1446, either built or thoroughly
repaired and refitted a room over the old sacristy, between the
Chapter-House and the south Transept, or, as the _Rites_ say, "betwixt the
Chapter House and the Te Deum wyndowe, being well replenished with ould
written Docters and other histories and ecclesiasticall writers[226]."
Wessyngton's work must have been extensive and thorough, for it cost,
including the repairs of the books, L90. 16_s._ 0_d._[227]--at least L1100
or L1200 at the present value of money. The position of this library will
be understood from the illustration (fig. 31). The room is 44 ft. 10 in.
long, by 18 ft. wide, with a window at each end, 13 ft. wide, of five
lights, and a very rough roof of oak, resting on plain stone corbels.
[Illustration: Fig. 31. Library at Durham, built by Prior Wessyngton about
1446.]
At Gloucester the library is in a similar position, but the date of its
construction is uncertain. It has been described as follows by Mr Hope:
The library is an interesting room of fourteenth century
date, retaining much of its original open roof. The
north side has eleven windows, each of two square-headed
lights and perfectly plain.... [There are no windows on
the south side.] The large end windows are late
perpendicular, each of seven lights with a transom.
There are other alterations, such as the beautiful
wooden corbels from which the roof springs, which are
probably contemporary with the work of the cloister when
the western stair to the library was built, and the room
altered.
At Winchester a precisely similar position was selected between the
Chapter-House and the south transept, above a passage leading from the
cloister to the ground at the south-east end of the church.
At the Benedictine House of S. Albans the library was begun in 1452 by
John Whethamstede, Prior, and completed in the following year at the cost
of L150[228]--a sum which represents about L2000 at the present day--but
the position has not been recorded.
At Worcester, also Benedictine, it seems probable that the library
occupied from very early times the long, narrow room over the south aisle
of the nave to which it was restored in 1866. This room, which extends
from the transept to the west end of the church, is 130 ft. 7 in. long, 19
ft. 6 in. wide, and 8 ft. 6 in. high on the south side. It is lighted by
twelve windows, eleven of which are of two lights each, and that nearest
to the transept of three lights. The room is approached by a circular
stone staircase at the south-west angle of the cathedral, access to which
is from the outside only[229].
At Bury S. Edmund's abbat William Curteys (1429-45) built a library, on an
unknown site: but his work is worth commemorating, as another instance of
the great fifteenth century movement in monasteries for providing special
rooms to contain books.
At S. Victor, Paris, an Augustinian House, the library was built between
1501 and 1508, I believe over the sacristy; at Groenendaal, near Brussels,
also Augustinian, it was built over the whole length of the north cloister
(a distance of 175 feet), so that its windows faced the south.
[Illustration: Fig. 32. Library of the Grey Friars House, London, commonly
called Christ's Hospital.
From Trollope's History.]
The Franciscan House in London, commonly called Christ's Hospital, had a
noble library, founded 21 October, 1421, by Sir Richard Whittington,
mercer and Lord Mayor of London. By Christmas Day in the following year
the building was roofed in; and before three years were over it was
floored, plastered, glazed, furnished with desks and wainscot, and stocked
with books. The cost was L556. 16_s._ 8_d._; of which L400 was paid by
Whittington, and the rest by Thomas Wynchelsey, one of the brethren, and
his friends[230]. It extended over the whole of one alley of the cloister
(fig. 32). Stow tells us that it was 129 ft. long, by 31 ft. broad[231];
and, according to the letters patent of Henry VIII., dated 13 January,
1547, by which the site was conveyed to the City of London, it contained
"28 Desks and 28 Double Settles of Wainscot[232]."
I have recounted the expedients to which the monks of Citeaux were reduced
when their books had become too numerous for the cloister. I will now
describe their permanent library. This is shewn in the bird's-eye view
dated 1674 to which I have already referred, and also in a second similar
view, dated 1718, preserved in the archives of the town of Dijon[233],
where I had the good fortune to discover it in 1894. It is accompanied by
a plan of the whole monastery, and also by a special plan[234] of the
library (fig. 35). The buildings had by this time been a good deal
altered, and partly rebuilt in the classical style of the late
renaissance; but in these changes the library had been respected. I
reproduce (fig. 33) the portion of the view containing it and the
adjoining structures, together with the corresponding ground-plan (fig.
34).
The authors of the _Voyage Litteraire_, Fathers Martene and Durand, who
visited Citeaux in 1710, thus describe this library:
Citeaux sent sa grande maison et son chef d'ordre. Tout
y est grand, beau et magnifique, mais d'une magnificence
qui ne blesse point la simplicite religieuse....
[Illustration: Fig. 33. Bird's-eye view of part of the Monastery of
Citeaux. From a drawing dated 1718. A, library; B, farmery.]
Les trois cloitres sont proportionnez au reste des
batimens. Dans l'un de ces cloitres on voit de petites
cellules comme a Clervaux, qu'on appelle les ecritoires,
parce que les anciens moines y ecrivoient des livres. La
bibliotheque est au dessus; le vaisseau est grand,
voute, et bien perce. Il y a bon fonds de livres
imprimez sur toutes sortes de matieres, et sept ou huit
cent manuscrits, dont la plupart sont des ouvrages des
peres de l'eglise[235].
The ground-plan (fig. 34) shews the writing-rooms or _scriptoria_,
apparently six in number, eastward of the church; and the bird's-eye view
(fig. 33) the library built over them. Unfortunately we know nothing of
the date of its construction. It occupied the greater part of the north
side of a cloister called "petit cloitre" or Farmery Cloister, from the
large building on the east side originally built as a Farmery (fig. 33,
B). It was approached by a newel-stair at its south-west corner (fig. 35).
This stair gave access to a vestibule, in which, on the west, was a door
leading into a room called small library (_petite bibliotheque_),
apparently built over one of the chapels at the east end of the church
(fig. 34). The destination of this room is not known. The library proper
was about 83 feet long by 25 feet broad[236], vaulted, and lighted by six
windows in the north and south walls. There was probably an east window
also, but as explained above, it was intended, when this plan was drawn,
to build a new gallery for books at this end of the older structure.
[Illustration: Fig. 34, Ground-plan of part of the Monastery of Citeaux.
From a plan dated 1718.]
[Illustration: Fig. 35, Ground-plan of the Library at Citeaux.]
I proceed next to the library at Clairvaux, a House which may be called
the eldest daughter of Citeaux, having been founded by S. Bernard in 1115.
This library was built in a position precisely similar to that at Citeaux,
namely, eastward of the church, on the north side of the second cloister,
over the _Scriptoria_. Begun in 1495, it was completed in 1503; and was
evidently regarded as a work of singular beauty, over which the House
ought to rejoice, for the building of it is commemorated in the following
stanzas written on the first leaf of a catalogue made between 1496 and
1509, and now preserved in the library at Troyes[237]:
La construction de cette librairie.
Jadis se fist cette construction
Par bons ouvriers subtilz et plains de sens
L'an qu'on disoit de l'incarnation
Nonante cinq avec mil quatre cens.
Et tant y fut besongnie de courage
En pierre, en bois, et autre fourniture
Qu'apres peu d'ans acheve fut louvrage
Murs et piliers et voulte et couverture.
Puis en apres l'an mil v^c et trois
Y furent mis les livres des docteurs:
Le doux Jesus qui pendit en la croix
Doint paradis aux devotz fondateurs.
Amen.
We fortunately possess a minute description of Clairvaux, written, soon
after the completion of the new library, by the secretary to the Queen of
Sicily, who came there 13 July, 1517, and was taken, apparently, through
every part of the monastery[238]. The account of the library is as
follows:
Et de ce meme coste [dudit cloistre] sont xiiii estudes
ou les religieulx escripvent et estudient, lesquelles
sont tres belles, et au dessus d'icelles estudes est la
neufve librairerie, a laquelle l'on va par une vis large
et haulte estant audict cloistre, laquelle librairie
contient de longeur lxiii passees, et de largeur xvii
passees.
En icelle y a quarante huic banctz, et en chacun banc
quatre poulpitres fournys de livres de touttes sciences,
et principallement en theologie, dont la pluspart
desdicts livres sont en parchemin et escript a la main,
richement historiez et enluminez.
L'ediffice de ladicte librairie est magnificque et
massonnee, et bien esclaire de deux costez de belles
grandes fenestres, bien vitres, ayant regard sur ledict
cloistre et cimitiere des Abbez. La couverture est de
plomb et semblablement de ladite eglise et cloistre, et
tous les pilliers bouttans d'iceulx ediffices couverts
de plomb.
Le devant d'icelle librairie est moult richement orne et
entaille par le bas de collunnes d'estranges facons, et
par le hault de riches feuillaiges, pinacles et
tabernacles, garnis de grandes ymaiges, qui decorent et
embelissent ledict edifice. La vis, par laquelle on y
monte, est a six pans, larges pour y monter trois hommes
de front, et couronne a l'entour de cleres voyes de
massonerie. Ladicte librairerie est toute pavee de
petits carreaulx a diverses figures.
It will be interesting to place by the side of this description a second,
written nearly two hundred years later, by the authors of the _Voyage
Litteraire_, who visited Clairvaux in the spring of 1709:
Le grand cloitre ... est voute et vitre. Les religieux y
doivent garder un perpetuel silence. Dans le cote du
chapitre il y a des livres enchainez sur des pupitres de
bois, dans lesquels les religieux peuvent venir faire
des lectures lorsqu'ils veulent....
Du grand cloitre on entre dans le cloitre du colloque,
ainsi appelle, parce qu'il est permis aux religieux d'y
parler. Il y a dans ce cloitre douze ou quinze petites
cellules tout d'un rang, ou les religieux ecrivoient
autrefois des livres: c'est pourquoy on les appelle
encore aujourd'hui les ecritoires. Au-dessus de ces
cellules est la bibliotheque, dont le vaisseau est
grand, voute, bien perce, et rempli d'un grand nombre de
manuscrits, attachez avec des chaines sur des pupitres,
mais il y a peu de livres imprimez[239].
The plan of the substruction of this new library, as shewn on the
ground-plan of Clairvaux given by Viollet Le Duc[240], is exactly the same
as that of Citeaux (fig. 33) but on a larger scale. The library itself, as
there, was approached by a newel stair at its south-west corner. This
stair was hexagonal, and of a diameter sufficient to allow three men to
ascend at the same time. The library was of great extent--being about 206
feet long by 56 feet broad--if the dimensions given in the above account
be correct, and if I am right in supposing a pace (_passee_) to be
equivalent to a modern _metre_; vaulted, and well lighted. The Queen's
secretary seems to have been specially struck by the beauty, the size, and
the decoration of the windows. The floor was paved with encaustic tiles.
It will be interesting to note how, in some Houses, the library slowly
expanded itself, occupying, one after another, every coign of
vantage-ground. An excellent example of this growth is to be found in the
abbey of Saint Germain des Pres, Paris; and fortunately there are several
views, taken at different periods before the Revolution, on which the
gradual extension of the library can be readily traced. I append a portion
of two of these. The first (fig. 36), dated 1687, shews the library over
the south walk of the cloister, where it was placed in 1555. It must not,
however, be supposed that no library existed before this. On the contrary,
the House seems to have had one from the first foundation, and so early as
the thirteenth century it could be consulted by strangers, and books
borrowed from it. The second view (fig. 37), dated 1724, shews a still
further extension of the library. It has now invaded the west side of the
cloister, which has received an upper storey; and even the external
appearance of the venerable Frater, which was respected when nearly all
the rest of the buildings were rebuilt in a classical style, has been
sacrificed to a similar gallery. The united lengths of these three rooms
must have been little short of 384 feet. This library was at the disposal
of all scholars who desired to use it. When the Revolution came it
contained more than 49,000 printed books, and 7000 manuscripts[241].
[Illustration: Fig. 36. Part of the Abbey of S. Germain des Pres, Paris.
From a print dated 1687; reproduced in _Les Anciennes Bibliotheques de
Paris_, par Alf. Franklin, Vol. I. p 126.]
1 Porta major monasterii.
2 Atrium ecclesie.
3 Regalis basilica.
4 Sacrarium.
5 Claustrum parvum B. M.
7 Dormitorium.
8 Bibliotheca.
9 Dormitoria R. Patrum Congregationis.
10 Aulae Hospitum.
12 Refectorium.
[Illustration: Fig. 37. Part of the Abbey of S. Germain des Pres, Paris.
From a print in _Histoire de l'Abbaye Royale de Saint Germain des Prez_,
par Dom Jacques Bouillart, fol. Paris, 1724, lettered "l'Abbaye ... telle
qu'elle est presentement."]
A. Porte Exterieure.
B. Maisons de l'enclos.
C. Parvis de l'Eglise.
D. L'Eglise.
F. Saciristie.
G. Petit Cloitre.
H. Grand Cloitre.
I. Bibliotheque.
K. Dortoir.
L. Refectoire.
M. Cuisine.
Z. Dortoir des Hotes.
I now pass to Cathedrals, which vied with monasteries in the possession of
a library; and, as might be expected, the two sets of buildings throw
light on each other. I regret that it has now become impossible to
discover the site or the extent of such a library as that of York, which
was well stocked with books so early as the middle of the eighth century;
or of that of Notre Dame de Paris, which was a centre of instruction as
well as of learning; but some good examples of capitular libraries can be
found in other places; and, like those of the monasteries, they were for
the most part built in the fifteenth century. I will begin with the
library of Lincoln Cathedral, part of which is still in existence[242].
The Cathedral of Lincoln was founded at the close of the eleventh century,
and in the middle of the twelfth we find the books belonging to it kept in
a press (_armarium_). We learn this from the heading of a list[243] of
them when placed in the charge of Hamo, Chancellor 1150-1182, written on
the first page of a copy of the Vulgate, the first volume in the
collection:
Quando Hamoni cancellario cancellaria data fuit et
librorum cura commissa, hos in armario invenit libros et
sub custodia sua recepit, scilicet:
Bibliothecam in duobus voluminibus [etc.].
The list which follows enumerates 42 volumes, together with a map of the
world. To this small collection there were added in Hamo's time, either by
his own gift or by that of other benefactors, 31 volumes more; so that
before his death the press contained 73 volumes, probably a large
collection for that period. Besides these, there were service-books in the
charge of the bursar (_thesaurarius_), and song-books in that of the
precentor. The three collections were probably kept in the church.
The first indication of a separate room to contain books is afforded by
the gift of a volume by Philip Repyndon, Bishop 1405-1419, in which year
he resigned. It is given after his resignation, "to the new library to be
built within the Church of Lincoln." Again, Thomas Duffield, formerly
Chancellor, who died in 1426, bequeathed another book "to the new library
of the aforesaid church." The erection of the new library may therefore be
placed between 1419 and 1426.
A catalogue, now in the muniment room at Lincoln, which, on internal
evidence, may be dated about 1450, enumerates 107 works, of which 77
(more or less) have been identified as still in the library. The heading,
which I will translate, refers to a chaining of the books which had
recently taken place, possibly after the construction of the cases which I
shall describe in a subsequent chapter.
It is to be noted that in this indenture are enumerated
all the books in the library of the church of blessed
Mary of Lincoln which have lately been secured with
locks and chains; of which indenture one part is
stitched into the end of the black book of the aforesaid
church, and the other part remains in ...[244].
The library--a timber structure--was placed over the northern half of the
east walk of the cloister. At present only three bays at the north end
remain; but there were originally two bays more, at the south end, between
the existing structure and the Chapter-House. These were destroyed in
1789, when the following Chapter Order was made (7 May):
That the old Library adjoining to the Chapter House
shall be taken down, and the part of the Cloysters under
it new leaded and the walls compleated, and the Stair
case therto removed, and a new Stair Case made, agreable
to a plan and estimate of the Expence thereof.
I will now briefly describe the room, with the assistance of the plan
(fig. 38)[245], and the view of the interior (fig. 39).
[Illustration: Fig. 39. Interior of the Old Library, Lincoln Cathedral.
The open door leads into Dean Honywood's Library, as described in Chapter
VIII.]
The walls are 9 ft. 8 in. high, from the floor to the top of the
wall-plate. They are divided into bays, each 7 ft. 9 in. wide, by vertical
shafts, from which, at a height of 5 ft. 9 in. from the ground, spring the
braces which support the tiebeams of the roof. These are massive beams of
oak, slightly arched, and molded on their under-surface. Their position is
indicated by dotted lines on the plan (fig. 38). The whole roof is a
splendid specimen of fifteenth century work, enriched with carving in the
finest style of execution. There is a bold ornament in the centre of each
tiebeam; and at the foot of the central joist in each bay, which is wider
than the rest, and molded, while the others are plain, there is an angel,
projecting horizontally from the wall. The purlin, again, is molded, and
where it intersects the central joist a subject is carved: an angel
playing on a musical instrument--a bird--a rose--a grotesque figure--and
the like. Below the wall-plate is a cornice, 12 in. deep, ornamented with
a row of quatrefoils above a row of battlements. Beneath these there is a
groove, which seems to indicate that the walls were once panelled or
plastered.
[Illustration: Fig. 38. Plan of the Old Library, Lincoln Cathedral.]
It is probable that there was originally a row of equidistant windows in
the east and west walls, one to each bay on each side; but of these, if
they ever existed, no trace remains. There must also have been a window at
the north end, and probably one at the south end also. The present windows
are plainly modern. The room is known to have suffered from a fire, which
tradition assigns to 1609; and probably the original windows were changed
during the repairs rendered necessary at that time.
[Illustration: Fig. 40. Plan of the Cloister, etc., Lincoln Cathedral.]
It is not easy to decide how this library was approached. It has been
suggested that the stone newel stair at the north-west corner of the
Chapter-House was used for this purpose; but, if that be the case, how are
we to explain the words in the above order "the Stair Case thereto
removed"; and an item which occurs in the Cathedral Accounts for 1789,
"taking down the old stairs, strings, and banisters, 14_s._"? It appeared
to me, when examining the building, that there had been originally a door
on the east side, now replaced by a window, as shewn on the plan (fig.
38). Possibly the staircase destroyed in 1789 led to this door, which was
conveniently situated in the centre of a bay. The staircase built in 1789
is the one still existing at the north-east corner of the old library
(fig. 40, A).
At Salisbury Bishop Osmund (1078-99) is stated to have "got together a
quantity of books, for he himself did not disdain either to write books or
to bind them after they had been written"[246]; but the library, as
elsewhere, was a work of the fifteenth century. The foundation is very
clearly recorded in an act of the Chapter, dated 15 January, 1444-45. The
members present decide that as it is desirable, "for divers reasons, to
have certain schools suitable for lectures, together with a library for
the safe keeping of books and the convenience of those who wish to study
therein--which library up to the present time they have been without--such
schools and library shall be built as soon as possible over one side of
the cloister of the church, at the cost of William [Ayscough] now Bishop
of Salisbury, the Dean, and the Canons of the aforesaid church[247]."
Accordingly, a building was erected, extending over the whole length of
the east cloister, conveniently approached by the staircase at the
south-west corner of the south transept, which originally led only to the
roof. This library was curtailed to its present dimensions, and otherwise
altered, in consequence of a Chapter Order dated 25 November, 1758, part
of which I proceed to quote:
That the southern part of the library be taken down as
far as the partitions within which the manuscripts are
placed, the whole being found much too heavy to be
properly supported by the Cloysters, which were never
designed originally to bear so great a weight.
That the roof of the northern part of the library (where
the Theological lecture antiently used to be given by
the Chancellor of the Church) be taken down; the walls
lowered, and a new and lighter roof be placed in its
room; and that the same be fitted up in a neat and
convenient manner for the reception of the present books
and any others which shall hereafter be added to them.
The appearance of the library, as the execution of the above order left
it, will be understood from the view (fig. 41), taken from the roof of an
adjoining alley of the cloister. Internally the room is 66 feet long, 20
feet wide, and 12 ft. 9 in. high. It has a flat plaster ceiling, part of
the "new and lighter roof" imposed on the lowered walls in 1758. The
fittings are wholly modern.
The library attached to S. Paul's Cathedral, London, by which I mean the
medieval cathedral commonly called Old S. Paul's, was in a similar
position. Its history is succinctly recorded by Dugdale. After describing
the cemetery called Pardon Church Hawgh, with the cloister that surrounded
it, he proceeds:
_The Library._
Over the East quadrant of the before mentioned Cloyster,
was a fair _Library_ built, at the costs of _Walter
Shiryngton_, Chancelour of the Duchy of Lancaster in
King Henry the 6th's time: But in the year MDXLIX. 10.
_Apr._ both Chapell, Cloyster, and Monuments, excepting
onely that side where the _Library_ was, were pulled
down to the ground, by the appointment of _Edward_ Duke
of Somerset, then Lord Protector to King _Edward_ 6. and
the materialls carried into the Strand, towards the
building of that stately fabrick called Somerset-House,
which he then erected; the ground where they stood being
afterwards converted into a Garden, for the Pettie
Canons[248].
[Illustration: Fig. 42. Plan of the Library in Wells Cathedral.
Scale 1/10 inch=1 foot.]
[Illustration: Fig. 41. Exterior of the Library at Salisbury Cathedral,
looking north-east.]
Nothing is known of the dimensions or arrangement of the above room; but,
as it was over a cloister, it must have been long and narrow, like that
which still exists in a similar position at Wells Cathedral, which I will
briefly mention next.
The Chapter Library at Wells Cathedral occupies the south end of a long,
narrow room over the east pane of the cloister, approached by a spiral
staircase from the south transept. This room is about 162 feet long by 12
feet wide; the portion assigned to the library is about 106 feet long
(fig. 42). The roof was originally divided into 13 spaces by oak
principals, very slightly arched, resting on stone corbels. There were two
windows on each side to each space. In the part fitted up as a library the
principals have been plastered over to imitate stone, and the joists
between them concealed by a ceiling. There is a tradition that this room
was fitted up as a library in 1472. The present fittings, which I shall
have occasion to mention in a subsequent chapter, were put up when the
library was refitted and stocked with books after the Restoration[249].
These four examples--at Lincoln, Salisbury, S. Paul's, and Wells--are
typical of Cathedral libraries built over a cloister. I will next notice
some that were detached.
[Illustration: Fig. 43. Plan of the Library at Lichfield Cathedral.
From _History and Antiquities of Staffordshire_, by Stebbing Shaw, fol.
Lond. 1798, Vol. 11. p. 244.]
The library of Lichfield Cathedral[250] stood on the north side of the
cathedral, west of the north door, at some little distance from the church
(fig. 43). It was begun in 1489, when Thomas Heywood, dean, "gave L40
towards building a library of brick," and completed in 1493. It was about
60 feet long by 15 feet wide, approached by a flight of stairs. As the
Chapter Order (9 December, 1757) which authorised its destruction speaks
of the "Library, Chapter Clerk's House, and Cloisters," I suspect that it
stood on a colonnade, after the manner of the beautiful structure at
Noyon, a cathedral town in eastern France, at no great distance from
Amiens.
This library--which I have carefully examined on two occasions--was built
in pursuance of the following Order of the Chapter, 16 November, 1506.
Le 16. iour de Nouembre audit an, l'affaire de la
Librairie se remet sus. Le sieur Doyen offre cent francs
pour cet oeuure. Et le 20. iour de Nouembre, ouy le
Maistre de Fabrique et Commissaires a ce deputez, fut
arrestee le long de l'allee qui meine de l'Eglise a la
porte Corbaut; et a cet effect sera tire le bois a ce
necessaire de nos forests, et se fera ladite Librairie
suiuant le pourtrait ou patron exhibe au Chapitre le
sixiesme iour de Mars 1506. Le Bailly de Chapitre donne
cent sols pour ce bastiment, a condition qu'il en aura
une clef[251].
This library (fig. 44) is, so far as I know, an unique specimen of a
library built wholly of wood, supported on wooden pillars with stone
bases, so that it is raised about 10 feet above the stone floor on which
they rest, probably for the sake of dryness. There is a legend that a
market used to be held there; but at present the spaces between the
pillars have been filled in on the south side. The one here represented
(fig. 45) stands on the north side, in a small yard between the library
and the cathedral.
[Illustration: Fig. 44. Chapter-Library at Noyon, France.]
The site selected for the building is on the south side of the choir of
the cathedral, with its longest axis north and south. It measures 72 feet
in length by 17 feet in width between walls, but was originally longer, a
piece having been cut off at the south end, where the entrance now is, and
where the library is now terminated by a stone wall of classical
character. Tradition places the entrance at the opposite end, by means of
an external staircase; an arrangement which would have been more
convenient for the members of the Chapter, as they could have approached
it through their vestry, which is on the south side of the choir. There
are now nine windows on the east side--originally there were at least ten;
but none on the west side, and it is doubtful if there ever were any, as
they would be rendered useless by the proximity of other structures. The
fittings are modern and without interest.
[Illustration: Fig. 45. A single pillar of the cloister beneath the
Chapter Library at Noyon.]
At Bayeux also the Chapter-library is a detached building--of stone, in
two floors, about 40 feet long by 26 feet wide, but I have not been able
to discover the date at which it was built; and at York a detached library
was built 1421-22 at the south-west corner of the south transept. This
building, in two floors, the upper of which appears to have held the
books, is still in existence.
The Cathedral library at Troyes, built by Bishop Louis Raguier between
1477 and 1479, to replace an older structure, was in an unusual position,
and arranged in an unusual manner. It abutted against the south-east angle
of the south transept, from which it could be entered. It was nearly
square, being 30 feet long by 24 feet broad; and the vault was supported
on a central pillar, from which radiated the six desks which contained the
books (fig. 46). It was called _La Theologale_, because lectures on
theology were given in it, as in the library at Salisbury. The desks were
taken down in 1706, and the whole structure swept away in 1841-42, by the
Departmental Architect, in the course of "a thorough restoration[252]."
[Illustration: Fig. 46. Plan of the Library at the south-east angle of the
south transept of the Cathedral at Troyes.
A, B, C, D, Library; E, Entrance from vestibule in front of south transept
door. The room on the east side of this passage was used to keep records
in.]
At this point I cannot refrain from mentioning a somewhat anomalous
library-foundation at Worcester, due to the zeal of Bishop Carpenter
(1444-76), though both structure and foundation have been long since swept
away[253]. In 1464 he built and endowed a library in connexion with the
charnel-house or chapel of S. Thomas, martyr, a detached building on the
north side of the cathedral. The deed in which this foundation is recorded
contains so many interesting particulars that I will state briefly the
most important points insisted upon[254].
The Bishop begins by stating that by ancient arrangement the sacrist of
the cathedral, assisted by a chaplain, is bound to celebrate mass daily in
the charnel-house or chapel aforesaid, to keep it in repair, and to supply
it with ornaments and vestments. For this purpose an annual endowment of
15 marks has been provided. He then describes his own foundation.
In accordance with the intention of his predecessors, and actuated by a
desire to increase the knowledge of our holy faith, he has built a library
in the aforesaid charnel-house, and caused certain books to be chained
therein. Further, lest these volumes should be left uncared for, and so be
damaged or abstracted, he has caused a dwelling-house for a master or
keeper of the said books to be erected at the end of the said library; and
he has conferred on the said keeper a new stipend, in addition to the old
stipend of 15 marks.
This keeper must be a graduate in theology, and a good preacher. He is to
live in the said chantry, and say mass daily in the chapel thereof. He is
to take care of all the books in the library, which he is to open on every
week-day for two hours before None, and for two hours after None, to all
who wish to enter for the purpose of study. He is to explain hard and
doubtful passages of scripture when asked to do so, and once in every week
to deliver a public lecture in the library. Moreover on Holy Thursday he
is to preach in the cathedral, or at the cross in the burial-ground.
Further, in order to prevent any book being alienated, or carried away, or
stolen from the library, a tripartite list of all the books is to be made,
wherein the true value of each is to be set down. One of these lists is
to be retained by the Bishop, another by the sacrist, and a third by the
keeper. Whenever a book is bequeathed or given to the library it is to be
at once set down in this list together with its true value.
On the Friday after the feast of Relics (27 January) in each year, the
sacrist and the keeper are carefully to compare the books with the list;
and should any book have disappeared from the library through the
carelessness of the keeper, he is to replace it or the value of it within
one month, under a penalty of forty shillings, whereof twenty shillings is
to be paid to the Bishop, and twenty shillings to the sacrist. When the
aforesaid month has fully expired, the sacrist is to set apart out of his
own salary a sum sufficient to pay the above fine, and to purchase and
chain in the library as soon as possible another book of the same value
and material.
The keeper is to receive from the sacrist an annual salary of ten pounds,
and four yards of woollen cloth to make him a gown and hood.
The sacrist is to keep the chapel, library, books, and chains, together
with the house built for the use of the keeper, in good repair; and he is,
moreover, to find and maintain the vestments and lights required for the
chapel. All these duties he is to swear on the Holy Gospels that he will
faithfully perform.
My enumeration of Cathedral libraries would be sadly incomplete if I did
not say a few words about the splendid structure which is attached to the
Cathedral of Rouen[255]. The Chapter possessed a respectable collection of
books at so early a date as 1120; this grew, and, 29 July, 1424, it was
decided to build "a study or library (_quoddam studium seu vnam
librariam_)," which was completed in 1428. Fifty years afterwards--in
1477--it was decided that the library should be extended. The first
thought of the Chapter was that it should be built of wood, and the
purchase of good stout timber (_bona et grossa ligna_) is ordered. This
plan, however, was evidently abandoned almost as soon as it was formed,
for two years afterwards (20 April 1479) "the library lately erected" is
mentioned. These words can only refer to the existing structure which is
built wholly of stone. A week later (28 April) William Pontis,
master-mason, was asked to prepare a design for a staircase up to the
library. This he supplied on the following day. In June of the same year
the Chapter had a serious difference of opinion with him on the ground
that he had altered the design and exceeded the estimate. They came,
however, to the wise conclusion that he should go on with the work and be
requested to finish it with all dispatch.
In the following spring (20 March 1480) it was decided to prolong the
library as far as the street; and in 1481 (18 September) to build the
beautiful stone gate surmounted by a screen in open-work through which the
court is now entered. This was completed by the end of 1482. The whole
structure had therefore occupied about five years in building.
The library, together with a building of older date next to the Cathedral
which serves as a sort of vestibule to it, occupies the west side of what
is still called, from the booksellers' shops which used to stand there,
_La Cour des Libraires_. The whole building measures 105 ft. in length, by
25 ft. in breadth. The library proper is lighted by six windows in the
east wall, and by two windows in the north wall. The masonry of the wall
under these windows and the two lancets by which it is pierced indicate
that advantage had been taken of an earlier building to form the
substructure of the library. The west wall must always have been blank.
Access to the library was obtained directly from the transept by means of
the beautiful stone staircase in two flights which Pontis built in 1479.
This staircase leads up to a door marked BIBLIOTHECA which opens into the
vestibule above mentioned. In 1788 a room was built over the library to
contain the archives of the church, and the staircase was then ingeniously
prolonged so as to reach the new second-floor.
Unfortunately the minutes of the Chapter tell us nothing about the
original fittings of this room[256]. In 1718 the books were kept in
cupboards protected by wire-work, over which were the portraits of
benefactors to the library[257].
At present the archives have disappeared; the few books that remain have
replaced them in the upper storey, and the library is used as a second
vestry. The illustration (fig. 47) shews the interior of the _Cour des
Libraires_, with the beautiful gate of entrance from the street. The
library occupies the first floor. Beneath are the arches under which the
shops used to be arranged; and above is the library of 1788.
[Illustration: Fig. 47. Interior of the _Cour des Libraires_, Rouen,
shewing the gate of entrance from the street, and the Library.]
FOOTNOTES:
[208] _Catalogi Bibliothecarum antiqui_; ed. G. Bekker, 8vo. 1885, pp.
24-28.
[209] _Ibid._, pp. 43-53.
[210] _Ibid._, pp. 64-73.
[211] _Ibid._ p. 82-120.
[212] _Catalogi Veteres Librorum Eccl. Cath. Dunelm._, ed. Surtees Soc.
1838, pp. 1-10.
[213] See a letter by Dr M. R. James in _The Guardian_, 18 May, 1898.
[214] _Catalogi Veteres Librorum Eccl. Cath. Dunelm._ Ed. Surtees Soc,
1838, pp. 46-79. This catalogue is dated Easter, 1395.
[215] _Ibid._ pp. 10-34. This catalogue is dated 1391.
[216] _Ibid._ pp. 34-38. Of the same date.
[217] _Ibid._ pp. 80, 81. These volumes are recorded in the first of the
above catalogues.
[218] _Ibid._ pp. 81-84. The date is 1395. For a description of the
Spendment see _Rites of Durham_, _ut supra_, p. 71.
[219] Printed in _Catalogue general des manuscrits des Bibliotheques
Publiques de France_, V. 339-452.
[220] Inventarium librorum monasterii Cistercii, Cabilonensis diocesis,
factum per nos, fratrem Johannem, abbatem eiusdem loci, anno Domini
millesimo CCCC octuagesimo, postquam per duos annos continuos labore
duorum et sepius trium ligatorum eosdem libros aptari, ligari, et
cooperiri, cum magnis sumptibus et expensis fecimus.
[221] Et primo librorum existencium in libraria dormitorii, quam ut est
disposuimus, cum locus ipse prius diu fuisset inutilis et dudum arti
sutorie et vestiario serviebat, sicut per aliquas annexas armariorumque
dispositiones apparebat, sed a II^o annis vel circa nichil aut parum ibi
fuerat.
[222] _Dictionnaire raisonne de l'Architecture_, I. 271. He does not give
the date, but, when I examined the original in the _Bibliotheque
Nationale_, I found it plainly dated 1674. It is a most valuable record,
as it shews the monastic buildings, which were greatly altered at the
beginning of the last century, in their primitive state.
[223] With this use of the word _linea_ may be compared the word _rayon_,
now usually used in France for a shelf, especially a book-shelf.
[224] Godwin, _De Praesulibus Angliae_, ed. Richardson, I. 126.
[225] _Anglia Sacra_, I. 145. Librariam etiam supra Capellam Prioris
situatam perpulcra caelatura adornavit, quam etiam nonnullis libris
instaurari fecit, ad usum maxime literarum studiis deditorum, quos miro
studio et benevolentia nutrivit et fovit.
[226] _Rites of Durham_, p. 26.
[227] Item structura ij fenestrarum in Libraria tam in opere lapideo,
ferrario et vitriario, ac in reparacione tecti descorum et ij ostiorum,
necnon reparacione librorum se extendit ad iiij^{oo}x^i. xvj^o. et ultra.
_Hist. Dunelm. Scriptores tres._ Ed. Surtees Soc. p. cclxxiii.
[228] _Regist. Abbatiae Johannis Whethamstede Abbatis monasterii sancti
Albani iterum susceptae_: ed. II. T. Riley, Rolls Ser. Vol. I. p. 423.
[229] _Hist. and Ant. of Worcester._ By V. Green, 4to. Lond. 1796. Vol. I.
p. 79. The measurements in the text were taken by myself in 1895.
[230] _Monumenta Franciscana_, ed. J. S. Brewer, Rolls Ser. Vol. I. p.
319, from a document called "Prima fundatio fratrum minorum Londoniae,"
MSS. Cotton, Vitellius, F. xii.
[231] Stow's _Survey_, ed. Strype, fol. Lond. 1720, Book 3, p. 130.
[232] _History of Christ's Hospital_, by Rev. W. Trollope, 4to. Lond.
1834, App. p. xxiii. The view of the library (fig. 32) is borrowed from
this work.
[233] I have to thank M. Joseph Garnier, Archiviste du Departement, for
his great kindness, not only in allowing me to examine these precious
relics, but in having them conveyed to a photographer, and personally
superintending a reproduction of them for my use.
[234] This plan is not dated, but, from internal evidence, it forms part
of the set to which the bird's-eye view and the general ground-plan
belong. They were taken when "des projets," as the heading calls them,
were being discussed. One of these was an increase of the library by the
addition of a long gallery at the east end at right angles to the original
construction.
[235] _Voyage Litteraire de deux Religieux Benedictins_, 4to. Paris, 1717,
I. 198, 221.
[236] I have taken 1 _toise_=6.39 feet.
[237] I have to thank M. Leon Dorez, of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris,
for kindly lending me his transcript of this catalogue, and for continual
help in all my researches.
[238] Printed in Didron, _Annales Archeologiques_, 1845, III. 228. The
article is entitled: _Un grand monastere au XVI^{me} siecle_. I owe this
reference to my friend Mr W. H. St John Hope, Assistant Secretary to the
Society of Antiquaries.
[239] _Voy. Litt._ I. 101, 102.
[240] _Dictionnaire de l'Architecture_, I. 267.
[241] For the history of this library see Bouillart's work cited at the
foot of Fig. 37; and Franklin, _Anciennes Bibliotheques de Paris_, Vol. I.
pp. 107-134.
[242] For the historical information contained in this narrative, which
originally appeared as a paper in the _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm._
IX. 37 for 18 February, 1895, I am indebted to an article in _The
Builder_, 2 April, 1892, pp. 259-263, by my friend the late Rev. E.
Venables, Canon and Precentor of Lincoln.
[243] This list has been printed in the Appendix to _Giraldus Cambrensis_
(Rolls Series), VII. 165-171.
[244] Memorandum quod in ista indentura continentur omnes libri existentes
in libraria ecclesie beate Marie Lincoln de novo sub seruris cathenati,
cuius quidem indenture una pars consuitur in fine nigri libri dicte
ecclesie et altera pars remanet in.... The rest of the line is illegible.
I have to thank the Rev. A. R. Maddison for kindly lending me his
transcript of this valuable MS.
[245] For this plan I have to thank my friend T. D. Atkinson, Esq., of
Cambridge, architect.
[246] William of Malmesbury, _Gesta Pontificum_, Rolls Ser. p. 183.
[247] Ex eo quod visum est eis vtile et necessarium diuersis causis eos
moventibus habere quasdam scolas competentes pro lecturis suis vna cum
libraria ad conseruacionem librorum et vtilitatem inibi studere volencium
qua hactenus caruerunt statuerunt ... quod super vna parte claustri
eiusdem ecclesie huiusmodi scole edificentur ... cum libraria [etc.].
Chapter Act Book. I have to thank A. R. Malden, Esq., Chapter Clerk, for
his kind assistance.
[248] Dugdale, _History of S. Paul's Cathedral_, fol. 1658, p. 132.
[249] I have fully described this library and its fittings in _Camb. Ant.
Soc. Proc. and Comm._ 1891. Vol. viii., pp. 6-10.
[250] My account of the library at Lichfield is derived from the _History
and Antiquities of the Church and City of Lichfield_, by Rev. Th. Harwood,
4to. Gloucester, 1806, p. 180; and the Chapter Act Book, which I was
allowed to examine through the kindness of my friend the Very Rev. H. M.
Luckock, D.D., Dean.
[251] Levasseur, _Annales de L'Eglise Cathedrale de Noyon_, 4to. Paris,
1633, p. IIII. A marginal note tells us that the gift of the Bailly de
Chapitre was accepted 14 June, 1507.
[252] _Voyage archeologique ... dans le Departement de l'Aube._ A. F.
Arnaud. 4to. Troyes 1837, pp. 161-163.
[253] For the library belonging to the monastery see p. 108.
[254] The deed is copied in _MSS. Prattinton_ (Soc. Ant. Lond.), Vol.
VIII. p. 379. For this reference I have to thank the Rev. J. K. Floyer,
M.A., librarian of Worcester Cathedral. See his _Thousand Years of a
Cathedral Library_ in the _Reliquary_ for Jan. 1901, p. 7.
[255] My principal authority for the history of the Chapter Library is the
Minute-Book of the Dean and Chapter of Rouen Cathedral, now preserved in
the Archives de la Ville at Rouen, where I had the pleasure of studying it
in September, 1896. A summary of it is given in _Inventaire-Sommaire des
Archives Departementales_ (Seine Inferieure), 4to. Paris, 1874, Vol. II. I
have also consulted _Recherches sur les Bibliotheques ... de Rouen_, 8vo.,
1853.
[256] The Canons held a long debate, 28 May, 1479, "de ambonibus seu
lutrinis in nova libraria fiendis et collocandis"; but finally decided to
use the furniture of the old library for the present.
[257] _Voyage Liturgique de la France_, par Le Sieur de Moleon, 1718, p.
268. I have to thank Dr James for this quotation.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FITTINGS OF MONASTIC LIBRARIES AND OF COLLEGIATE LIBRARIES PROBABLY
IDENTICAL. ANALYSIS OF SOME LIBRARY-STATUTES. MONASTIC INFLUENCE AT THE
UNIVERSITIES. NUMBER OF BOOKS OWNED BY COLLEGES. THE COLLEGIATE LIBRARY.
BISHOP COBHAM'S LIBRARY AT OXFORD. LIBRARY AT QUEENS' COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
AT ZUTPHEN. THE LECTERN SYSTEM. CHAINING OF BOOKS. FURTHER EXAMPLES AND
ILLUSTRATIONS.
How were the libraries mentioned in the preceding chapter fitted up? For
instance, what manner of bookcases did Archbishop Chichele put into his
library at Canterbury in 1414, or the "bons ouvriers subtilz et plains de
sens" supply to the Abbat of Clairvaux in 1496? The primitive book-presses
have long ago been broken up; and the medieval devices that succeeded them
have had no better fate. This dearth of material need not, however,
discourage us. We have, I think, the means of discovering with tolerable
certainty what monastic fittings must have been, by comparing the
bookcases which still exist in a more or less perfect form in the
libraries of Oxford and Cambridge with such monastic catalogues as give
particulars of arrangement and not merely lists of books.
The collegiate system was in no sense monastic, indeed it was to a certain
extent established to counteract monastic influence; but it is absurd to
suppose that the younger communities would borrow nothing from the
elder--especially when we reflect that the monastic system, as inaugurated
by S. Benedict, had completed at least seven centuries of successful
existence before Walter de Merton was moved to found a college, and that
many of the subsequent founders of colleges were more or less closely
connected with monasteries. Further, as we have seen that study was
specially enjoined upon monks by S. Benedict, it is precisely in the
direction of study that we might expect to find features common to the two
sets of communities. And, in fact, an examination of the statutes
affecting the library in the codes imposed upon some of the earlier
colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, leads us irresistibly to the conclusion
that they were derived from monastic Customs, using the word in its
technical sense, and monastic practice. The resemblances are too striking
to be accidental.
I shall therefore, in the next place, review, as briefly as I can, the
statutes of some of the above colleges, taking them in chronological
order[258]; and I shall translate some passages from them.
But first let me mention that the principle of lending books to students
under a pledge was accepted by the University of Oxford many years before
colleges were founded. It is recorded that Roger L'Isle, Dean of York, in
the early part of the thirteenth century, "bestowed several exemplars of
the holy Bible to be used by the Scholars of Oxford under a pledge"; that
the said books, with others, were "locked up in chests, or chained upon
desks in S. Mary's Chancel and Church to be used by the Masters upon leave
first obtained"; that certain officers were appointed to keep the keys of
these chests, and to receive the pledges from those that borrowed the
books; and that the books were so kept "till the library over the
Congregation House was built, and then being taken out, were set up in
pews or studies digested according to Faculties, chained, and had a keeper
appointed over them[259]."
In the statutes of Merton College, Oxford, 1274, the teacher of grammar
(_grammaticus_) is to be supplied with a sufficient number of books out of
the funds of the House, but no other mention of books occurs therein[260].
The explanatory ordinances, however, given in 1276 by Robert Kilwardby
(Archbishop of Canterbury 1273-79), direct that the books of the community
are to be kept under three locks, and to be assigned by the warden and
sub-warden to the use of the Fellows under sufficient pledge[261]. In the
second statutes of University College (1292), it is provided, "that no
Fellow shall alienate, sell, pawn, hire, lett, or grant, any House, Rent,
Money, Book, or other Thing, without the Consent of all the Fellows"; and
further, with special reference to the Library:
Every Book of the House, now given, or hereafter to be
given, shall have a high value set upon it when it is
borrowed, in order that he that has it may be more
fearful lest he lose it; and let it be lent by an
Indenture, whereof one part is to be kept in the common
Chest, and the other with him that has the Book: And let
no Book, belonging to the House, be lent out of the
College, without a Pawn better (than the Book), and this
with the Consent of all the Fellows.
Let there be put one Book of every Sort that the House
has, in some common and secure Place; that the Fellows,
and others with the Consent of a Fellow, may for the
Future have the Benefit of it.
Every Opponent in Theology, or Reader of the Sentences,
or a Regent that commonly reads (_regens et legens
communiter_), when he wants it, shall have any necessary
Book, that the House has, lent to him Gratis; and when
he has done with it, let him restore it to that Fellow,
who had formerly made choice of it[262].
The statutes of Oriel College, dated 1329, lay down the following rules
for the management of books:
The common books (_communes libri_) of the House are to
be brought out and inspected once a year, on the feast
of the Commemoration of Souls [2 November], in presence
of the Provost or his deputy, and of the Scholars
[Fellows].
Every one of them in turn, in order of seniority, may
select a single book which either treats of the science
to which he is devoting himself, or which he requires
for his use. This he may keep, if he please, until the
same festival in the succeeding year, when a similar
selection of books is to take place, and so on, from
year to year.
If there should happen to be more books than persons,
those that remain are to be selected in the same
manner[263].
The last clause plainly shews how small the number of the books must have
been when the statute was written. Their safety was subsequently secured
by an ordinance of the Provost and Scholars, which, by decree of the
Visitor, dated 13 May, 1441, received the authority of a statute. The high
value set upon the books is shewn by the extreme stringency of the
penalties imposed for wilful loss or failure of restitution. After
describing the annual assemblage of the Provost and Fellows, as directed
in the former statute, the new enactment proceeds as follows:
Any person who absents himself on that day, so that the
books selected by him are neither produced nor restored;
or who, being present, refuses to produce or to restore
them; or who refuses to pay the full value, if, without
any fraud or deception on his part, it should happen
that any one of them be missing; is to be deprived of
all right of selecting books for that year; and any
person who wittingly defers the aforesaid production or
restitution till Christmas next ensuing, shall, _ipso
facto_, cease to be a Fellow.
Further, any scholar who has pawned or alienated,
contrary to the common consent of the college, any book
or object of value (_jocale_) belonging to the college;
or who has even suggested, helped, or favoured, such
pawning or alienation, shall, _ipso facto_, cease to be
a member of the Society[264].
The statutes of Peterhouse, Cambridge, dated 1344, class the books of the
Society with the charters and the muniments, and prescribe the following
rules for their safe custody:
In order that the books which are the common property of
the House (_communes libri_), the charters, and the
muniments, may be kept in safe custody, we appoint and
ordain that an indenture be drawn up of the whole of
them in the presence of at least the major part of the
scholars, expressing what the books are, and to what
faculty they belong; of which indenture one part is to
be deposited with the Master, the other with the Deans,
as a record of the transaction.
The aforesaid books, charters, and muniments are to be
placed in one or more common chests, each having two
locks, one key of which shall for greater security be
deposited with the Master, the other with the Senior
Dean, who shall cause the books to be distributed to
those scholars who have need of them, in the manner
which has been more fully set forth in the section which
treats of the office of the Deans[265].
The section referred to prescribes that the Deans
are to distribute them [the books] to the scholars in
such manner as shall appear to them expedient; and
further, they shall, if they think proper, make each
scholar take an oath that he will not alienate any book
so borrowed, but will take all possible care of it, and
restore it to the Master and Dean, at the expiration of
the appointed time[266].
In 1473 Dr John Warkworth became Master. He was evidently a lover of
books, for he gave to the Library fifty-five volumes, which he protected,
after the fashion of an earlier age, by invoking a curse upon him who
should alienate them. Moreover, during his Mastership, in 1480, the
College enacted or adopted a special statute headed, _De libris Collegii_,
which may be thus translated:
In the name of God, Amen. As books are the most precious
treasure of scholars, concerning which there ought to be
the most diligent care and forethought, lest, as
heretofore, they fall to decay or be lost, it is hereby
appointed, settled, and ordained, by the Master and
Fellows of the House or College of S. Peter in
Cambridge, that no book which has been chained in the
library there shall be taken away from, or removed out
of, the library, except by special assent and consent of
the Master and all the resident Fellows of the aforesaid
College--it being understood that by resident Fellows a
majority of the whole Society is meant.
Provided always that no book which has been given to the
library on condition of being kept perpetually chained
therein shall, by virtue of this statute, be on any
pretence removed from it, except only when it needs
repair.
Provided also that every book in the library which is to
be selected and distributed shall have a certain value
set upon it by the Master and the two Deans, and that
indentures shall be drawn up recording the same.
Once in every two years, in the Michaelmas Term, a fresh
selection and distribution shall be held of every book
which is not chained in the Library--the precise day to
be fixed by the Master and the Senior Dean.
No book so selected and distributed shall pass the night
out of College, except by permission of the Master and
the President and the other Dean who is not President;
provided always that the said book be not kept out of
the College for six months in succession.
If it should happen that a given book be not brought in
and produced on the aforesaid day of fresh selection and
distribution, then the person who is responsible for it
shall pay to the Master, or in his absence to the Senior
Dean, the full value of the said absent book, under pain
of being put out of commons until it be restored.
Every Fellow who is not present on the aforesaid day
shall appoint a deputy, who shall be prepared to bring
in any books which may have been lent to him, on the day
when a fresh distribution is to take place, under pain
of being put out of commons[267].
The statutes given in 1350 to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, by the Founder
William Bateman (Bishop of Norwich 1344-56), contain rules which are more
stringent than those already quoted, and were evidently written in
contemplation of a more considerable collection of volumes. A list of the
books which he himself presented to Trinity Hall is appended to his
statutes, and a special chapter (_De libris collegii_) is allotted to the
Library. This may be translated as follows:
On the days appointed for the general audit of accounts
[in the Michaelmas and Easter Terms] all the books which
have been received, or shall be received in future,
either from our own liberality, or from the pious
largess of others, are to be laid out separately before
the Master and all the resident Fellows in such manner
that each volume may be clearly seen; by which
arrangement it will become evident twice in each year
whether any book has been lost or taken away.
No book belonging to the aforesaid College may ever at
any time be sold, given away, exchanged, or alienated,
under any excuse or pretext; nor may it be lent to
anybody except a member of the College; nor may it be
entrusted in quires, for the purpose of making a copy,
to any member of the College, or to any stranger, either
within the precincts of the Hall or beyond them; nor may
it be carried by the Master, or any one else, out of the
Town of Cambridge, or out of the aforesaid Hall or
Hostel, either whole or in quires, except to the
Schools; provided always that no book pass the night out
of College, unless it be necessary to bind it or to
repair it; and when this happens, it is to be brought
back to College as soon as possible after the completion
of the binding or the repair.
Moreover, all the books of the College are to be kept in
some safe room, to be assigned for the College Library,
so that all the Scholars of the College may have common
access to them. We give leave, however, that the poor
scholars of the college may have the loan of books
containing the texts of Canon and Civil Law for their
private use for a certain time, to be fixed at the
discretion of the Master and the three Senior Fellows,
provided they be not taken out of College; but the books
of the Doctors of Civil and Canon Law are to remain
continuously in the said Library Chamber, fastened with
iron chains for the common use of the Fellows[268].
It is evident that this statute was regarded as a full and satisfactory
expression of what was required, for it is repeated, with additions or
omissions to suit the taste of the respective founders, in the statutes of
New College (1400), All Souls' (1443), Magdalen (1479), Corpus Christi
(1517), Brasenose (1521), Cardinal College (1527) and S. John's College
(1555), at Oxford; and in those of King's College, Cambridge.
Among these changes a few are sufficiently important to require special
notice. At New College William of Wykeham allows students in civil law and
canon law to keep two text-books "for their own special use during the
whole time they devote themselves to those faculties in our College,
provided they do not possess such books of their own"; the "remaining
text-books, should any be left over, and also the glosses or commentaries
of the Doctors of civil and canon law, may be lent to the persons
belonging to those faculties by the method of annual selection, as in the
other faculties"; the "books which remain unassigned after the Fellows
have made their selection are to be fastened with iron chains, and remain
in the Common Library for the use of the Fellows[269]"; the wishes of
donors, whether expressed by will or during their lifetime, are to be
respected; and, lastly, the safety of the Library is to be secured by
three locks, two large, and one small, of the kind called "a clickett."
The keys of the two former are to be kept by the Senior Dean and the
Bursar respectively; of the clickett each Fellow is to have a separate
key. At night the door is to be carefully locked with all three keys[270].
At All Souls' College, the founder, Henry Chichele (Archbishop of
Canterbury 1414-43), makes the books to be chained the subjects of
definite choice. The principle of an annual selection is maintained,
except for "those books which, in obedience to the will of the donors, or
the injunction of the Warden, the Vice-Warden, and the Deans, are to be
chained for the common use of the Fellows and Scholars." Further, the
preparation of a catalogue is specially enjoined. Every book is to be
entered in a register by the first word of the second leaf, and every book
given to the Library is to bear the name of the donor on the second leaf,
or in some other convenient position. The books are to be inspected once
in every year, after which the distribution, as provided for by Bateman
and Wykeham, is to take place. Each Fellow who borrows a book is to have a
small indenture drawn up containing the title according to the first word
of the second leaf, and an acknowledgment that he has received it. These
small indentures are to be left in charge of the Warden, or, in his
absence, of the Vice-Warden[271].
In the statutes of Magdalen College, the founder, William Waynflete
(Bishop of Winchester 1447-87), maintains the provisions of Wykeham and
Chichele, but introduces an injunction of his own, to the effect that
every Fellow or Scholar who uses the Library is to shut the book he has
consulted before he leaves and also the windows; and the last to use the
Library at night is to go through the whole room and see that all the
windows are shut and not to leave the door open--under a severe
penalty[272].
At Corpus Christi College, the founder, Richard Fox (Bishop of Winchester
1501-28), insists upon safeguards against the indiscriminate chaining, of
books:
No book is to be brought into the Library or chained
there, unless it be of suitable value and utility, or
unless the will of the donor have so directed; and none
is to be taken out of it, unless it so happen that there
be there already a considerable number on the same
subject, or that another copy in better condition and of
greater value, to take its place, have been presented by
some benefactor.
By this means those books which are of greater value, or
which contain material of greater utility to students in
each Faculty, will be stored up in the Library; while
those which are not fit for the Library, or of which a
sufficient number of copies already exist in it, may be
distributed to the Fellows of the College, according to
the system of indentures between the borrower and the
President, or in his absence the Vice-President, or one
of the Deans[273].
The Bishop was evidently afraid that the Library should be overcrowded,
for he even allows books to be sold, in the event of their becoming so
numerous as to be no longer of use to the Fellows for the purpose of being
borrowed.
Lastly I will translate the following College Order or Statute which was
in force at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Unfortunately it is without date,
but from internal evidence may take rank with some of the earliest
enactments already quoted.
Let there be in the aforesaid House a Keeper of the
Books, who shall take under his charge all the books
belonging to the community, and once in each year,
namely on the feast of the Translation of S. Thomas the
Martyr [7 July], or at the latest within the eight days
immediately following, let him render to the community
an account of the same, by exhibiting each book in order
to the Master and Fellows.
The inspection having been made, after the Fellows have
deliberated, let him distribute them to each Fellow in
proportion to his requirements. And let the said Keeper
have ready large pieces of board (_tabulas magnas_),
covered with wax and parchment, that the titles of the
books may be written on the parchment, and the names of
the Fellows who hold them on the wax beside it. When
they have brought their books back, their names shall be
erased, and their responsibility for the books shall
come to an end, the keeper remaining liable. So shall he
never be in ignorance about any book or its borrower.
No book is to be taken away or lent out of the House on
any pretext whatever, except upon some occasion which
may appear justifiable to the major part of the
community; and then, if any book be lent, let a proper
pledge be taken for it which shall be honourably
exhibited to the Keeper[274].
Let us consider, in the next place, what points of library-management have
been brought into the most prominent relief by the above analysis of
College statutes. We find that the "Common Books" of the House--by which
phrase the books intended for the common use of the inmates are meant--are
placed on the same footing as the charters, muniments, and valuables
(_jocalia_). They are to be kept in a chest or chests secured by two or
three locks requiring the presence of the same number of officials to open
them. These volumes may not be borrowed indiscriminately, but each Scholar
(Fellow) may choose the book he wants, and write a formal acknowledgment
that he has received it, and that he is bound to restore it or pay the
value of it, under a severe penalty. Once a year the whole collection is
to be audited in the presence of the Master of the College and all the
Fellows, when a fresh distribution is to be made. The books not so
borrowed are to be put in "some common and secure place"; an arrangement
which was subsequently developed into a selection of books required for
reference, and the chaining of them in "the Library Chamber for the common
use of the Fellows."
The Register of Merton College, Oxford, contains many interesting entries
which shew that these directions respecting the choice and loan of books
were faithfully observed. I will translate a few of them[275]:
On the twenty-fourth day of October [1483] choice was
made of the books on philosophy by the Fellows studying
philosophy.
On the eleventh day of November [1483], in the Warden's
lodging, choice was made of the books on theology by the
Fellows studying theology[276].
On the eighteenth day of March [1497] choice of books on
logic was held in the Common Hall[277].
The next entry is particularly valuable, as it proves that all the books
on a given subject, no matter how numerous, were occasionally distributed:
On the twenty-sixth day of the same month [August, 1500]
choice was made of the books on philosophy. It was found
that there were in all 349 books, which were then
distributed among the Fellows studying philosophy[278].
In 1498 (14 December) the Warden wished to borrow a book from the
library, whereupon a record of the following formalities was drawn
up[279]:
On the same day a book of College Orders (on the second
leaf _ter posita_) was taken out of the library with the
consent of all the Fellows. And leave was given to the
Warden, in the presence of the four senior Fellows, to
make use of it for a season. As a caution for this book
the aforesaid Warden deposited a certain other book,
viz. S. Jerome's commentary on Matthew and the Epistles
of Paul (on the second leaf _sunt_). This book lay in
our possession as caution for the other book of College
Orders[280]; but, because this book was an insufficient
caution, there was deposited with it as a supplementary
caution another book, namely: Jerome on Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
The Warden kept the book for a year, at the expiration of which we find
the following entry[281]:
On the last day but one of the same month [1499] the
Warden returned to the Vice-Warden the book of College
Orders (on the second leaf _ter posita_) which he had
had out of the library for his own use for a season on
depositing a sufficient caution.
Whereupon the Vice-Warden returned to him his cautions,
namely, the commentary of S. Jerome on Matthew (second
leaf _sunt_), and another, namely, S. Jerome's
exposition of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel (second
leaf, _Audi cela_).
Lastly, I will quote a record of the solemn reception of a gift to the
library:
On the same day [2 August, 1493] a handsome book was
given to the College through John Godehew, Bachelor, by
two venerable men, Robert Aubrey and Robert Feyld, to be
chained in the common library of the House for the
perpetual use of those studying in it. It is Hugh of
Vienne on the Apocalypse, on the second leaf _quod
possessio eius_. Let us therefore pray for them[282].
These provisions savour of the cloister. The "common books" represent the
"common press (_armarium commune_)" with which we are so familiar there;
the double or triple locks with which the book-chests are secured recall
the rules for safeguarding the said press; the annual audit and
distribution of books is directed in Lanfranc's statutes for English
Benedictines; the borrowing under a pledge, or at least after an entry
made by the Librarian on his roll of the name of the book and the name of
the brother who borrowed it, was universal in monasteries; and the setting
apart of certain books in a separate room to which access was readily
permitted became a necessity in the larger and more literary Houses.
Lastly, the commemoration of donors of books is specially enjoined by the
Augustinians[283].
This close similarity between monastic and secular rules need not surprise
us. I have shewn in the preceding chapter how faithfully the Benedictine
rules for study were obeyed by all the Monastic Orders; and I know not
from what other source directions for library-management could have been
obtained. Besides, in some cases the authors of the rules which I have
been considering must themselves have had experience of monastic
libraries. Walter de Merton is said to have been educated in an
Augustinian Priory at Merton; Hugh de Balsham, founder of Peterhouse, was
Bishop of Ely; William Bateman, whose library-statute was so widely
applied, had been educated in the Benedictine Priory at Norwich, and his
brother was an abbat; Henry Chichele was Archbishop of Canterbury, where,
as I have shewn, a very extensive collection of books had been got
together, to contain which worthily he himself built a library.
Secondly, monastic influence was brought directly to bear on both
Universities through student-monks; and at Oxford, which was specially
selected as the University for monastic colleges, the Benedictines founded
Gloucester House, now Worcester College, so early as 1283. This college
had a library, on the south side of the chapel, which was built and
stocked with books at the sole charge of John Whethamstede, Abbat of S.
Albans[284]--whose work in connexion with the library of that House has
been already recorded[285]. Durham College, maintained by the Benedictines
of Durham, was supplied with books from the mother-house, lists of which
have been preserved[286]; and subsequently a library was built there to
contain the collection bequeathed in 1345 by Richard de Bury (Bishop of
Durham 1333-45)[287]. Lastly, Leland tells us that at Canterbury College
in the same University the whole furniture of the library (_tota
bibliothecae supellex_) was transferred from the House of Christ Church,
Canterbury[288]. It is, I submit, quite inconceivable that the fittings
supplied to these libraries could have been different from those commonly
used in the monasteries of S. Albans, Durham, and Canterbury.
Further, it should be noted that the erection of a library proper was an
afterthought in many of the older colleges, as it had been in the
monasteries. For instance, at Merton College, Oxford, founded 1264, the
library was not begun till 1377; at University College, founded 1280, in
1440; at Balliol College, founded 1282, in 1431; at Oriel College, founded
1324, in 1444; at Pembroke College, Cambridge, founded 1347, in 1452.
William of Wykeham, who founded New College, Oxford, in 1380, was the
first to include a library in his quadrangle; and, after the example had
been set by him, the plan of every subsequent college includes a library
of sufficient dimensions to last till the Reformation, if not till the
present day.
The above dates, covering as they do at least two-thirds of the fifteenth
century, shew that the collegiate libraries were being built at the same
time as the monastic. This coincidence of date, taken in conjunction with
the coincidences in enactment which I have already pointed out, seems to
me to supply an additional argument in support of my theory that the
internal fittings of collegiate and monastic libraries would be identical.
Besides, no forms are so persistent as those of pieces of furniture. A
workman, once instructed to make a thing in a particular way, carries out
his instructions to the letter, and transmits them to his descendants.
Before we consider what these fittings were, I will briefly deal with some
other questions affecting collegiate libraries, as, for instance, their
size, position, and general arrangement. And first, as regards the number
of books to be accommodated.
It happens, unfortunately, that very few catalogues have been preserved
of the libraries referred to in the above statutes; but, if we may
estimate the extent of the remainder from those of which we have some
account, we shall see that the number of volumes contained in a collegiate
library must have been extremely small. For instance, the catalogue[289]
appended to Bishop Bateman's statutes, dated 1350, enumerates eighty-four
volumes, classed under the following subjects, in two divisions[290], viz.
those presented to the College for the immediate use of the Fellows (_A_);
and those reserved for the Bishop's own use during his life (_B_):
_A_ _B_
Books on Civil Law 7 3
Books on Canon Law 19 13
Books on Theology 3 25
Books for the Chapel 7 7
-- --
36 48
At King's Hall, in 1394, eighty-seven volumes only are enumerated[291];
and even in the University Library not more than 122 volumes were recorded
in 1424[292]. They were distributed as follows:
[Books on General Theology][293] 54
Books on Scholastic Theology (_Theologia disputata_) 15
Books on Moral Philosophy 5
Books on Natural Philosophy 12
Books on Medicine (_medicinalis philosophia_) 5
Books on Logic 1
Books on Poetry 0
_Libri sophisticales_ 1
Books on Grammar 6
Books on History (_Libri cronicales_) 0
Books on Canon Law 23
----
Total 122
The catalogue of the Library of Queens' College, dated 1472, enumerates
one hundred and ninety-nine volumes[294]; the second catalogue of the
University Library, dated 1473, three hundred and thirty volumes[295]; an
early catalogue of the library of S. Catharine's Hall, one hundred and
four volumes, of which eighty-five were given by the Founder[296]; and a
catalogue of the old library of King's College, dated 1453, one hundred
and seventy-four volumes. In these catalogues the books are not directly
classed under heads, but arranged roughly, according to subject, in their
respective cases[297].
At Peterhouse in 1418 we find a somewhat larger collection, namely, three
hundred and eighty volumes, divided among seventeen subjects. The general
heading of the catalogue[298] states that it contains "all the books
belonging to the house of S. Peter in Cambridge, both those which are
chained in the library, those which are divided among the Fellows, and
those of which some are intended to be sold, while certain others are laid
up in chests within the aforesaid house." This language shews that by the
time the catalogue was made the collection had been divided into books for
the use of the Fellows (_libri distribuendi_) and books chained in the
library (_libri cathenati in libraria_); in other words, into a lending
library and a library of reference. We are not told how this division had
been made, or at what time; but it is evident that by 1418 it had become
permanent, and no longer depended on the tastes or studies of the Fellows.
There was one set of books for them to select from, and another for them
to refer to; but the two were quite distinct[299].
In the next place I will analyse the catalogue in order to shew what
subjects were represented, and how many volumes there were in each. And
first of the contents of the library of reference:
Libri theologie cathenati 61
Isti sunt libri Naturalis Philosophie cathenati in librario 26
Libri Metaphisice 3
" Moralis Philosophie 5
" Astronomie 13
" Alkenemie 1
" Arsmetrice 1
" Musice 1
" Geometrie 1
" Rethorice 1
" Logice 5
" Gramatice 6
" Poetrie cathenati 4
" De Cronicis cathenati 4
" Medicine cathenati 15
" Iuris Ciuilis cathenati 9
" Iuris Canonici cathenati 18
Ex dono ducis exonie 1
" M. Joh. Sauage 2
Libros subscriptos donavit Mag. Edm. Kyrketon 7
" contulit M. W. Lichfeld 2
Ex dono M. W. Redyct 4
Libros subscriptos contulit M. Joh. Fayre 3
" contulit M. Will. More 13
" " M. John Ledes 14
----
220
The books that were to be divided among the Fellows are classed as
follows:
Libri theologie assignati sociis 63
" Philosophie Naturalis Metaphisice et Moralis
diuisi inter socios 19
" Logice diuisi inter socios 15
" Poetrie et Gramatice assignati sociis 13
" Medicine 3
" Iuris Ciuilis diusi inter socios 20
" " Canonici diuidendi inter socios 19
" empti ad usum ... sociorum collegii cum pecuniis
eiusdem collegii 8
----
160
In framing these tables I have included among the _Libri cathenati_ those
specially presented to the College, 46 in number; but I have not attempted
to sort them according to subject. I have also assumed that any book or
books representing a given class, if not represented in the lending
library, as Astronomy, Arithmetic, Music, etc., would be chained for
reference. The number of this class, 220, if added to the 160 of the other
class, gives the required total, 380.
In addition to these tables it will be interesting to construct a third,
containing the subject and number of the books represented in both
collections:
Chained Lent
Theology 61 63
Natural Philosophy 26 }
Metaphysics 3 } 19
Moral Philosophy 5 }
Logic 5 15
Grammar 6 }
} 13
Poetry 4 }
Medicine 15 3
Civil Law 9 20
Canon Law 18 19
----------------
152 152
The subjects of the books included in this latter table represent, in a
very clear and interesting way, the studies pursued at Peterhouse in the
14th and 15th centuries. It is prescribed by the statutes, dated 1344,
that the scholars are to study Arts, Aristotelian Philosophy, or Theology;
but that they are to apply themselves to the course in Arts until, in the
judgment of the Master and Fellows, or at least of the larger and wiser
portion of that body, they are sufficiently instructed to proceed to the
study of Theology[300]. Two may study Civil Law or Canon Law, but no more
at the same time; and one may study Medicine[301]. For both these lines of
study special leave is required.
The course of Arts comprised Grammar, Logic, Aristotle, Arithmetic, Music,
Geometry, and Astronomy. In the first of these, including Poetry, the
lending library contained more volumes than the reference library; in
Logic it had three times as many; in Philosophy (Aristotle and his
commentators) it was well supplied; but, on the other hand, Music,
Geometry and Astronomy were wholly wanting. Theology is represented by 63
volumes as against 61 in the reference library; Civil Law by 20 volumes
against 9 in the reference library; and Canon Law by 19 against 18. In
Medicine, however, there were only 3 against 15. By a curious coincidence
the number of volumes in the two collections dealing with the subjects
represented in both is the same. The subject most in request, as might
have been expected, was Theology. Next to this come Civil Law and Canon
Law. Medicine was evidently unpopular. I have no explanation to offer for
the curious fact that Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Rhetoric are
represented by only a single volume apiece in the library of
reference[302].
These examples, which there is no reason to regard as exceptional, are
sufficient to shew that an ordinary chamber would be large enough to
contain all the volumes possessed by a college, even after some of the
more generally useful books of reference had been chained to desks for the
resort of students.
It has been already shewn that what Professor Willis calls "a real
library--that is to say, a room expressly contrived for the purpose of
containing books[303]"--was not introduced into the plan of colleges for
more than a century after their first foundation. He points out that such
rooms can be at once recognised by their equidistant windows, which do
not, as a rule, differ from those of the ordinary chambers, except that
they are separated by much smaller intervals. Examples of this arrangement
are still to be seen at S. John's College, Jesus College, and Queens'
College, Cambridge; but perhaps the most characteristic specimen of all is
that which was built over the Hall at Pembroke College in the same
University, by Laurence Booth (Master 1450-1480), the aspect of which has
been preserved in Loggan's print, here reproduced (fig. 48)[304].
[Illustration: Fig. 48. Pembroke College, Cambridge, reduced from Loggan's
print, taken about 1688.
A, Chapel; B, Library; C, Hall; D, Master's Lodge; E, Kitchen; F, Master's
Garden; G, Fellows' Garden.]
The upper chamber (_solarium_) which Thomas Cobham (Bishop of Worcester
1317-27) began to build over the old Congregation House on the north
side of S. Mary's Church, Oxford, about 1320, for the reception of the
books which he intended to present to the University, is the earliest of
these libraries in existence. It still retains on the south side part of a
range of equidistant single-light windows of the simplest character,
which, as just stated, mark the destination of the apartment. This room
is about forty-five feet long by eighteen feet broad, and, in its original
state, had probably seven single-light windows on each side, and a window
of two lights at the east end[305] (fig. 49). A long controversy between
the University and Oriel College rendered the benefaction useless for more
than forty years; and it was not until 1367 that the University passed a
statute directing that Bishop Cobham's books are to be chained, in proper
order; and that the Scholars who wish to use them are to have free access
to them at convenient hours (_temporibus opportunis_). Lastly, certain
volumes, of greater value, are to be sold, to the value of forty pounds,
or more, if a larger sum can be obtained for them, for the purpose of
purchasing an annual rent-charge of sixty shillings, to be paid to a
chaplain, who is to pray for the soul of the aforesaid Thomas Cobham, and
other benefactors; and who is to take charge of the books given by him and
them, and of all other books heretofore given, or hereafter to be given,
to the University[306]. The passing of this statute may probably be
regarded as the first institution of the office of University Librarian.
Notwithstanding this statute, however, the University did not obtain
peaceful possession of their library until 1410, when the controversy was
finally extinguished by the good offices of their Chancellor, Richard
Courtenay[307].
[Illustration: Fig. 49. Long Section of Old Congregation House and
Library, Oxford, looking south.
From _The Church of S. Mary the Virgin, Oxford_, by T. G. Jackson,
Architect.]
As a type of a collegiate library I will select the old library of Queens'
College, Cambridge. This room, on the first floor of the north side of the
quadrangle, forms part of the buildings erected in 1448. It is 44 ft. long
by 20 ft. wide (fig. 50), and is lighted by eleven windows, each of two
lights, six of which are in the south wall and five in the north wall. The
windows in the south wall have lost their cusps, but they are retained in
those in the north wall--and the library has in all points suffered less
from modern interference than almost any other with which I am acquainted.
The bookcases have been altered and patched more than once, in order to
provide additional shelf-room; but at the bottom of the more modern
superstructure part at least of the original medieval desk may be
detected. If this fragment be carefully examined it will be found that
there is on the inside of each end of the bookcase a groove which
evidently once supported a desk 6 ft. 6 in. long, and of a height
convenient for a seated reader to use[308] (fig. 51). The books lay on
their sides on this desk, to which they were chained in a way that I shall
explain directly, and a bench for the reader was placed between each pair
of desks. In the plan (fig. 50) I have added the half-desk which once
stood against the west wall; and I have lettered all the desks according
to the catalogue made in 1472 by Andrew Docket, the first President.
[Illustration: Fig. 50. Ground-plan of the Library at Queens' College,
Cambridge.]
[Illustration: Fig. 51. Elevation of book-desk in Library of Queens'
College, Cambridge.][309]
It should be carefully noted, when studying this plan, that the distance
between each pair of windows is not more than 2 feet, and that the end of
the desk covers the whole of this space. If this fact be borne in mind
when examining libraries that are now fitted up in a different way, it
becomes possible to detect what the original method was.
I propose to name this system of fittings the lectern-system; and I shall
shew, as we proceed, that it was adopted, with various modifications, in
England, France, Holland, Germany and Italy.
Fortunately, one example of such fittings still exists, at Zutphen in
Holland, which I visited in April, 1894. Shortly afterwards I wrote the
following description of what is probably a unique survival of an ancient
fashion[310].
The library in which these fittings occur is attached to the church of SS.
Peter and Walburga, the principal church of the town. A library of some
kind is said to have existed there from very early times[311]; but the
place where the books were kept is not known. In 1555 a suggestion was
made that it would be well to get together a really good collection of
books for the use of the public. The first stone of the present building
was laid in 1561, and it was completed in 1563. The author of the
_Theatrum Urbium Belgicae_, John Blaeu, whose work was completed in 1649,
describes it as "the public library poorly furnished with books, but being
daily increased by the liberality of the Senate and Deputies[312]."
The room is built against the south choir-aisle of the church, out of
which a door opens into it. In consequence of this position the shape is
irregular, for the church is apsidal, and the choir-aisle is continued
round part of the apse. It is about 60 feet long, by 26 feet broad at the
west end. In the centre are four octagonal columns on square bases,
supporting a plain quadripartite vault. The room is thus divided
longitudinally into two aisles, with a small irregular space at the east
end.
The diagrammatic ground-plan, here subjoined (fig. 52), will help to make
this description clear. It makes no pretensions to accuracy, having been
drawn from notes only[313].
[Illustration: Fig. 52. Ground-plan of the Library at Zutphen.]
There are two windows, each of three lights, at the west end of the room,
and four similar windows on the south side, one to each bay. There is a
fifth window, now blocked, at the south-east corner. Some of these windows
contain fragments of richly coloured stained glass--among which the figure
of a large green parrot is conspicuous; but whether these fragments were
brought from the church, or are part of the glass originally supplied to
the library, there is no evidence to shew. Most of these windows are
partially blocked, having been damaged, it is said, in one of the numerous
sieges from which Zutphen has suffered. The position of the church, close
to the fortifications, as Blaeu's bird's-eye view shews, makes this story
probable. The floor is paved with red tiles. The general appearance of the
room will be understood from the view of the north aisle reduced from a
photograph (fig. 53)[314].
[Illustration: Fig. 53. General view of the north side of the Library
attached to the church of S. Walburga at Zutphen.]
[Illustration: Fig. 54. Desk and reader on the south side of the Library
at Zutphen.
From a photograph.]
[Illustration: Fig. 55. Elevation of (A) one of the bookcases in the
Library at Zutphen: (B) one of those in the Library at Queens' College,
Cambridge[315].]
There are eighteen bookcases, or desks; namely, ten on the south side of
the room, and eight on the north side (fig. 52). The material is oak; the
workmanship very rude and rough. I will describe those on the south side
first. Each is 9 feet long by 5 feet 5 1/4 inches high, measured from the
floor to the top of the finial on the end; and the lower edge of the desk
on which the books lie is 2 feet 6 1/4 inches above the floor; but the
general plan, and the relative dimensions of the different parts, will be
best understood from the photograph of a single desk at which a reader is
seated (fig. 54), and from the elevation of one of the ends (fig. 55, A),
beside which I have placed the elevation of one of the desks at Queens'
College (B). The photograph shews that in fixing the height of the desk
above the ground the convenience of readers has been carefully considered.
The iron bar that carries the chains is locked into the ornamental
upright, passes through a staple in the middle of the desk, and into the
upright at the opposite end, which is left plain. This bar is half an inch
in diameter, and one inch above the level of the top of the desk. It is
prevented from bending by passing through a staple fixed in the centre of
the desk. A piece of ornamental iron-work is fixed to the upright. It is
made to represent a lock, but is in reality a mere plate of metal, and the
tongue, which looks as though it were intended to move, is only an
ornament, and is pierced by the keyhole. The lock is sunk in the thickness
of the wood, behind this plate, and the bar, which terminates in a knob,
is provided with two nicks, into which the bolts of the lock are shot
when the key is turned (fig. 56). Between each pair of desks there is a
seat for the reader.
[Illustration: Fig. 56. End of iron bar, Zutphen.]
[Illustration: Fig. 57. End of one of the desks on the north side of the
Library, Zutphen.]
The desks on the north side of the room differ slightly from those on the
south side. They are rather larger, the ends are of a different shape and
devoid of ornament (fig. 57), and there is a wider interval between the
bar and the top of the desk. It seems to me probable that the more highly
ornamented desks are those which were put in when the room was first
fitted up, and that the others were added from time to time as new books
had to be accommodated.
The books are attached to the desk by the following process. A chain was
taken about 12 inches long, more or less, consisting of long narrow links
of hammered iron. These links exactly resemble, both in shape and size,
those of a chain which may still be seen in the library of the Grammar
School at Guildford, Surrey[316]. This chain, of which a piece is here
figured (fig. 58), was probably made in 1586, or only 23 years after the
building of the library at Zutphen. It terminates, like those at Zutphen
(fig. 59), in a swivel (to prevent entanglement), attached to the ring
which is strung upon the bar. The attachment of the chain to the book was
effected by means of a piece of metal bent round so as to form a loop
through which the last link of the chain was passed. The ends of the loop,
flattened out, were attached by nail or rivet to the edge of the stout
wooden board which formed the side of the book. This mode of attachment
will be best seen in the volume which I figure next (fig. 60)--a
collection of sermons printed at Nuremberg in 1487. It is believed to have
once belonged to a Dominican House at Bamberg, in the library of which it
was chained[317].
[Illustration: Fig. 58. Piece of chain, shewing the ring attached to the
bar, the swivel, and one of the links, actual size. Guildford.]
The iron loop in this specimen (fig. 60) is fastened to what I call the
right-hand board of the book; by which I mean the board which is to the
right hand of a reader when the book lies open before him; but the
selection of the right-hand or the left-hand board depended on individual
taste. Further the mode of attachment is never the same in two examples.
The iron and rivets are often clumsy, and do considerable damage to the
leaves, by forcing them out of shape and staining them with rust.
In this method of chaining no provision is made for removing any book
from the desk when not wanted, and placing it on a shelf beneath the desk,
as was done in some Italian modifications of the system. Each volume must
lie on the desk, attached by its chain, like a Bible on a church-lectern.
The smallest number of volumes on any desk at Zutphen is six; the largest,
eleven; the total, 316. Most of those on the south side of the room were
printed during the first half of the sixteenth century; those on the north
side are much later, some as late as 1630. I did not see any manuscripts.
[Illustration: Fig. 59. Piece of the iron bar, with chain, Zutphen.]
[Illustration: Fig. 60. Chained book, from a Dominican House at Bamberg,
South Germany.]
If we now reconsider the indications preserved at Queens' College, it
will, I feel sure, be recognised that the desks at Zutphen explain them,
and enable us to realise the aspect of what I conceive to have been the
most ancient method of fitting up a collegiate or a monastic library. When
such a room first became necessary in a monastery, and furniture suitable
for it was debated, a lectern would surely suggest itself, as being used
in the numerous daily services, and proving itself singularly convenient
for the support of books while they were being read.
Another example of such fittings was once to be seen at Pembroke College,
Cambridge, in the library above the hall (fig. 48). In Dr Matthew Wren's
account of that library already quoted there is a passage which may be
translated as follows:
I would have you know that in the year 1617 the Library
was completely altered and made to assume an entirely
new appearance. This alteration was rendered necessary
by the serious damage which, to our great sorrow, we
found the books had suffered--a damage which was
increasing daily--partly from the sloping form of the
desks, partly from the inconvenient weight of the chains
(_tum ex declivi pluteorum fabrica, tum ex inepta mole
catenarum_)[318].
These desks were copied at S. John's College in the same University. A
contract dated 20 June, 1516, provides that the contractor
shall make all the Desks in the Library wythin the said
college of good and substanciall and abyll Tymber of Oke
mete and convenient for the same Library, aftir and
accordyng to the Library within ... Pembroke Hall[319].
The Library here referred to was on the first floor to the south of the
Great Gate of the college. It is now divided into chambers, but its
original extent can be readily made out by its range of equidistant
windows. The wall-spaces dividing these are 28 1/2 inches wide,
practically the same as those at Queens' College.
At Peterhouse also a similar arrangement seems to have subsisted when the
catalogue of 1418 was made. The very first book, a Bible, is said to stand
"in the sixth lectern on the west side (_lectrino 6^o ex parte
occidentali_)." The word _lectrinum_ is unusual, but it emphasizes the
form of the desk more clearly than any other.
[Illustration: Fig. 61 Single desk in the old Library, Lincoln Cathedral.]
A splendid example of this type of case is to be seen at Lincoln (fig.
61), where three "stalls" or desks, belonging to the old library already
described[320], are still preserved. Each is about 7 ft. long, 3 ft.
broad, and 4 ft. 4 in. high to the top of the sloping portion. At each
end, and in the centre, is a massive molded standard, 7 ft. 2 in. high,
terminating in a boldly carved finial; and these three standards are
connected together by a band of open-work, of a design similar to that of
the cornice of the library. Half way between this band and the top of the
desk is the bar to carry the chains, now of wood, but formerly of course
of iron; and below this again is a shelf 18 in. wide, projecting slightly
beyond the sloping portion of the desk. The edge of the desk is protected
by a ledge, as usual, and under it is a second shelf extending the whole
width of the piece of furniture. What was the use of these shelves? As the
bar is above the desk, not below it, the books must have reposed, as a
general rule, upon the desk, instead of being laid on their sides on the
shelf below it when not wanted by a reader. The chains would not have been
long enough to allow of any other arrangement. I think, therefore, that
the lower shelf must have been a constructional contrivance, to assist in
keeping the standards in their places. The narrow upper shelf, on the
other hand, was probably intended for the convenience of the reader. He
might place on it, temporarily, any book that he was not using, and which
got in his way while he was reading one of those beside it; or, if he was
making extracts, he might set his inkstand upon it.
These desks evidently stood in the old library against the shafts of the
roof, for one of the ends has been hollowed out in each to receive the
shaft; and the finial, which is left plain on that side, is bent over
slightly, to admit it under the brace (fig. 39).
As I have now described three varieties of the lectern-system, I will
place before my readers, side by side, elevations of each of the three
(fig. 62) drawn to the same scale. It will be seen that they resemble each
other exactly in essentials. The differences observable are accidental,
and may be referred to individual taste.
That this form of desk was recognised on the continent as typical of
library-fittings is proved by its appearance in a French translation of
the first book of the _Consolation of Philosophy_ of Boethius, which I had
the good fortune to find in the British Museum[321] (fig. 63). This
manuscript was written in Flanders towards the end of the fifteenth
century. In such a work the library shewn requires what I may term
generalised fittings. An eccentric peculiarity would have been quite
inadmissible.
[Illustration: Fig. 62. Elevation of (A) one of the bookcases in the
Library at Zutphen; (B) one of those in the Library at Queens' College,
Cambridge; (C) one of those in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral.]
In the Stadtbibliothek of Nuremberg some of the oldest works on
jurisprudence still preserve their chains. Each has a short chain about
12 in. long fixed on the upper edge of the left-hand board. The title is
written on the middle of the upper edge of the right-hand board. It is
obvious that these volumes must have lain on a desk with their titles
uppermost[322].
[Illustration: Fig. 63. Interior of a Library.
From a MS. of a French translation of the first book of the _Consolation
of Philosophy_ by Boethius: written in Flanders towards the end of the
fifteenth century.]
[Illustration: Fig. 64. Library of the College de Navarre, Paris, now
destroyed.]
It is probable that similar fittings were used in the library of the
Sorbonne, Paris, which was first established in 1289, with books chained
for the common convenience of the Fellows (_in communem sociorum
utilitatem_)[323]. This library was divided into two separate collections,
which formed, so to speak, two distinct libraries. The first, called the
great library, or the common library, contained the books most frequently
studied. They were chained, and could only be taken out under the most
exceptional circumstances. A statute, dated 1321, the provisions of which
recall the collegiate statutes summarised above, directed that the best
book the society possessed on each subject should be thus chained. The
second division of the library, called the small library, contained
duplicates, books rarely consulted, and generally all those of which the
loan was authorised under certain conditions[324]. The following
description of this library has been given by Claude Hemere (Librarian
1638-43) in his MS. history. This I proceed to translate:
The old library was contained under one roof. It was
firmly and solidly built, and was 120 feet long by 36
feet broad.... Each side was pierced with 19 windows of
equal size, that plenty of daylight both from the east
and the west (for this was the direction of the room)
might fall upon the desks, and fill the whole length and
breadth of the library. There were 28 desks, marked with
the letters of the alphabet, five feet high, and so
arranged that they were separated by a moderate
interval. They were loaded with books, all of which were
chained, that no sacrilegious hand might [carry them
off. These chains were attached to the right-hand board
of every book] so that they might be readily thrown
aside, and reading not be interfered with. Moreover the
volumes could be opened and shut without difficulty. A
reader who sat down in the space between two desks, as
they rose to a height of five feet as I said above,
neither saw nor disturbed any one else who might be
reading or writing in another place by talking or by any
other interruption, unless the other student wished it,
or paid attention to any question that might be put to
him. It was required, by the ancient rules of the
library, that reading, writing, and handling of books
should go forward in complete silence[325].
This description indicates desks similar to those of Zutphen. Even the
height is the same.
A library which vividly recalls the above account, with 19 windows on one
side and probably the same number on the other, was built in 1506 for the
College de Navarre, Paris, now the Ecole Polytechnique[326]. My
illustration (fig. 64) is from a photograph taken shortly before its
destruction in 1867. I have calculated that it was about 108 ft. long by
30 ft. wide.
The library of the College d'Autun, Paris, was similarly arranged. An
inventory taken 29 July, 1462, records: "dix bancs doubles, a se seoir
d'une part et d'autre, et ung poupitre; esquelz bancs et poupitre out este
trouvez enchaisnez les livres qui s'ensuyvent, qui sont intitulez sur la
couverture d'iceulx[327]." The catalogue enumerates 174 volumes, or rather
more than 17 for each "banc" or lectern. The expression _bancs doubles_ is
interesting, as it seems to imply that there were at that time libraries
in which _bancs simples_ were used; that is to say, lecterns with only one
sloping surface instead of two.
A study of the catalogue drawn up in 1513 for the Augustinian House of S.
Victor, Paris, by Claude de Grandrue, one of the monks, shews that the
same system must have been in use there. Further, his catalogue is an
excellent specimen of the pains taken in a large monastery to describe the
books accurately, and to provide ready access to them. A brief prefatory
note informs us that the desks are arranged in three rows, and marked with
a triple series of letters. The first row is marked A, B, C, etc.; the
second AA, BB, etc.; the third AAA, BBB, etc. To each of these letters are
appended the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on, to shew the position of the
required volume. For instance--to take one at random--_Abaelardi confessio_
is marked P. 13: that is, it is the thirteenth book on the desk in the
first row marked P. When the catalogue proper--in which each manuscript is
carefully described--was finished, the author increased its usefulness by
the composition of an alphabetical index[328].
How, I shall be asked, can the form of the bookcase or desk (_pulpitum_)
be inferred from this catalogue? I reply: In the first place, because
there are no shelf-marks. The librarian notes the letter of the desk, and
the place of each book on it, but nothing more. Secondly, because the
number of manuscripts accommodated on each desk is so small. There are 50
desks, and 988 manuscripts--or, an average of little more than 19 to
each. At Zutphen the average is exactly 18. This piece of evidence,
however, is so important that I will give it in detail. The following
table, compiled by myself from the catalogue, gives the letters used to
mark the desks, and the number of manuscripts on each.