B 21 | BB 16 | BBB 16
C 13 | CC 19 | CCC 17
D 18 | DD 18 | DDD 19
E 17 | EE 21 | EEE 17
F 20 | FF 17 | FFF 29
G 18 | GG 18 | GGG 24
H 16 | HH 17 | HHH 29
I 16 | II 23 | III 25
K 17 | KK 21 | KKK 29
L 22 | LL 21 | LLL 23
M 21 | MM 20 | MMM 26
N 18 | NN 20 | ----
O 14 | OO 13 | 269
P 19 | PP 23 |
Q 22 | QQ 27 |
R 14 | RR 26 |
S 14 | SS 28 |
T 21 | TT 24 |
----| ----|
334 | 385 |
These totals give a general total of 988 manuscripts, which, divided by
50, makes the average number for each desk, as stated above, 19.76.
Further, my theory is supported by the positive evidence of a description
of this library (unfortunately without date) quoted by M. Delisle: "Les
livres estoient couchez et enchaisnez, sur de longs pupitres, et une allee
entre deux[329]." It is obvious that the English system of placing each
lectern between a pair of windows could not have been maintained here.
At Queens' College, Cambridge, the catalogue, dated 1472, enumerates 192
volumes, divided over 10 desks and 4 half-desks, each called a step
(_gradus_). There were (avoiding fractions) 8 books on each half-desk, and
15 on each complete desk; so that by comparing the plan (fig. 50) and
elevation of a desk (fig. 51) with the views of the library at Zutphen, a
good idea of a college library in the fifteenth century can be obtained.
Before I leave the lectern-system, I will describe two eccentric specimens
of it. The first is still to be seen at Trinity Hall, Cambridge; the
second once existed at the University of Leyden.
[Illustration: Fig. 66. Elevation of a book-desk and seat in the Library
of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.]
[Illustration: Fig. 65. General view of the Library at Trinity Hall,
Cambridge.]
[Illustration: Fig. 68. A French Library of 1480.
From MS. 164 in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.]
The library of Trinity Hall is thoroughly medieval in plan, being a long
narrow room on the first floor of the north side of the second court, 65
feet long by 20 feet wide, with eight equidistant windows in each
side-wall, and a window of four lights in the western gable. It was built
about 1600, but the fittings are even later, having been added between
1626 and 1645 during the mastership of Thomas Eden, LL.D. They are
therefore a deliberate return to ancient forms at a time when a different
type had been adopted elsewhere.
There are five desks and six seats on each side of the room, placed, as
usual, at right angles to the side-walls, in the inter spaces of the
windows, and in front of the windows, respectively. Their arrangement, and
the details of their construction, will be understood from the general
view (fig. 65), and from the elevation (fig. 66).
These lecterns are of oak, 6 feet 7 inches long, and 7 feet high, measured
to the top of the ornamental finial. There is a sloping desk at the top,
beneath which is a single shelf (fig. 66, A). The bar for the chains
passes under the desk, through the two vertical ends of the case. At the
end farthest from the wall, the hasp of the lock is hinged to the bar and
secured by two keys (fig. 67). Beneath the shelf there is at either end a
slip of wood (fig. 66, B), which indicates that there was once a moveable
desk which could be pulled out when required. The reader could therefore
consult his convenience, and work either sitting or standing (fig. 65).
For both these positions the heights are very suitable, and at the bottom
of the case was a plinth (fig. 66, C), on which he could set his feet. The
seats between each pair of desks were of course put up at the same time as
the desks themselves. They shew an advance in comfort, being divided into
two, so as to allow support to the reader's back.
[Illustration: Fig. 67. Lock at end of book-desk. Trinity Hall.]
Similar desks occur in a beautiful miniature (fig. 68) from a manuscript
(now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge[330]) written in France about
1480. They appear to be solid--possibly fitted with cupboards for books
under the sloping portion. No seats are shewn, and, as a reader is
standing between them consulting a book, it may be concluded that they
could only be used by students in that position.
Lastly, I reproduce (fig. 69) a print by Jan Cornelis Woudanus, shewing
the library of the University of Leyden in 1610[331]. The bookcases were
evidently contrived with the view of getting the largest number possible
into the room. Each contained a single row of books, chained to a bar in
front of the shelf; and, also for the purpose of saving the space usually
occupied by a seat, readers were obliged to consult them standing. There
are eleven bookcases on each side of the room, each containing from 40 to
48 volumes. At the end of the room are two cupboards, probably for
manuscripts; and to the right of the spectator is a third press, marked
_Legatum Josephi Scaligeri_. He died in January, 1609. Further, as an
illustration of the usual appliances for study found in libraries at this
period, and often mentioned in catalogues and account-books, I would draw
attention to the globes and maps.
I present these bookcases at this point of my researches with some
diffidence, for they can hardly be said to represent the lectern-system.
On the other hand, they do not exactly represent any other; and I
therefore submit that they may be looked at here, as transitional
specimens, bridging over the interval between the desks we have lately
been considering, and those which we shall have to consider in the next
chapter.
[Illustration: Fig. 69. The interior of the Library of the University of
Leyden.
From a print by Jan Cornelis Woudanus, dated 1610.]
FOOTNOTES:
[258] The Statutes of the Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge bearing on the
care of books have been thoroughly analysed by Professor Willis in his
essay on "The Library," _Arch. Hist._ III. pp. 387-471, which I edited and
completed. I have therefore not thought it necessary to acknowledge each
quotation separately, but I wish it to be understood that this section of
my present book is to a great extent borrowed from him.
[259] Wood, _History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford_, ed.
Gutch, 4to. Oxford, 1796, Vol. II. Part 2, p. 910.
[260] _Commiss. Docts._ (Oxford), Vol. 1. Statutes of Merton College, Cap.
2, p. 24.
[261] _Sketch of the Life of Walter de Merton_, by Edmund [Hobhouse],
Bishop of Nelson, New Zealand, 8vo. Oxford, 1859, p. 39.
[262] _Annals of University College_, by Wm. Smith, 8vo. 1728, pp. 37-39.
I have compared Mr Smith's version with the Statute as printed by Anstey,
_Munimenta Academica_, I. 58, 59, and have made a few corrections.
[263] _Commiss. Docts._ (Oxford), Vol. I. Statutes of Oriel College, p.
14.
[264] _Ibid._ p. 22.
[265] _Commiss. Docts._ (Cambridge), II. 38. De omnibus libris Domus,
Munimentis, et Chartis custodiendis.
[266] _Ibid._ p. 17. De Duobus Decanis et eorum officio.
[267] _Commiss. Docts._ (Cambridge), II. 44. Statutum de libris Collegii.
[268] _Commiss. Docts._ (Cambridge), II. 432. De libris Collegii.
[269] The words are "in libraria communi ... ad sociorum communem usum
continue remanere."
[270] _Commiss. Docts._ (Oxford), Vol. I. Statutes of New College, p. 97.
De libris collegii conservandis et non alienandis.
[271] _Commiss. Docts._ (Oxford), Vol. I. Statutes of All Souls' College,
p. 54. De custodia bonorum ad capellam pertinentium.
[272] _Ibid._ Vol. II. Statutes of Magdalen College, p. 60. De custodia
librorum, ornamentorum, jocalium, et aliorum bonorum collegii.
[273] _Ibid._ Statutes of Corpus Christi College, p. 89. De custodia
bonorum Collegii.
[274] This passage is quoted in a short account of Pembroke College
Library, drawn up by Matthew Wren, D.D., while Fellow, as the preface to a
volume dated 1617, in which he recorded the names, of those who had
presented books to the Library. The words at the end of the statute are:
"sub cautione idonea custodi librorum exposita sine fraude."
[275] The history of Merton College has been most admirably written, in Mr
Robinson's series of College histories, by my friend Bernard W. Henderson,
M.A., Fellow and Librarian. His researches have thrown a new light on the
library, and especially on the date of the fittings. My most cordial
thanks are due to him, to the Warden and to the Bursar, for their kindness
in allowing me access to the library, and also to all the documents
referring to it.
[276] _Reg. Vet._ fol. 7 b. Vicesimo quarto die Octobris celebrata erat
eleccio librorum philosophie inter philosophicos collegii socios.
Undecimo die mensis Novembris celebrata erat eleccio librorum theologie in
domo custodis inter Theologos collegii socios.
[277] _Ibid._ fol. 110. 18^o. die eiusdem mensis [Marcii] fuit eleccio
librorum logicalium in Alta Aula.
[278] _Ibid._ fol. 125 b.
[279] _Reg. Vet._ fol. 118.
[280] The words are: "qui quidem liber jacuit pro caucione alterius libri
decretorum collegii."
[281] _Ibid._ fol. 121.
[282] _Ibid._ fol. 100 b.
[283] See above, p. 71.
[284] Dugdale, _Mon. Angl._ IV. 403-406.
[285] See above, p. 108.
[286] _Cat. Vet. Libr. Eccl. Cath. Dunelm._ ed. Surtees Soc. pp. 39-41.
[287] Wood, _History etc._, Vol. II. p. 910.
[288] Leland, _Comm. de Script. Brit._ ch. 131. I owe this important
quotation to the kindness of Dr James.
[289] Printed in the _Camb. Antiq. Soc. Comm._, Vol. II. p. 73.
[290] The headings of the two lists are as follows: "Libri per nos de
presenti dicto nostro Collegio dati et in dicto Collegio ex nunc ad
Sociorum communem usum perpetuo remansuri."
"Libri vero de presenti per nos dicto collegio dati, quorum usum nobis pro
vitae nostrae tempore quamdiu nobis placuerit duximus reservandum, immediate
inferius describuntur."
[291] _Arch. Hist._ Vol. II. p. 442. History of Trinity College.
[292] _Collected Papers of Henry Bradshaw_, 8vo. Camb., 1889, pp. 19-34.
[293] No heading to the first division of the list is given in the
catalogue.
[294] _Camb. Ant. Soc. Comm._, Vol. II. p. 165.
[295] _Ibid._ Vol. II. p. 258.
[296] _Camb. Ant. Soc. Quarto Publ._, No. I. This catalogue represents the
state of the library at the end of the fifteenth century, for it contains
the books given by Richard Nelson, who founded a Fellowship in 1503, and
probably gave his books at the same time, "sub ea condicione quod semper
remanerent cum tribus sociis."
[297] From my additions to the essay on "The Library," by Professor
Willis, p. 404.
[298] This catalogue, written at the beginning of the old parchment
Register of the College, has been printed by Dr James in his _Catalogue of
the MSS. in the Library of Peterhouse_, 8vo. Camb., 1899. pp. 3-26.
[299] From my additions to the essay on "The Library," by Professor
Willis, p. 402.
[300] _Commiss. Docts._ (Cambridge), Vol. I. p. 21. Stat. 24.
[301] _Ibid._ p. 22.
[302] This analysis of the catalogue of Peterhouse Library is borrowed
from the Introduction which I had the pleasure of contributing to my
friend Dr James' _Catalogue_.
[303] _Arch. Hist._, The Library, p. 404.
[304] _Arch. Hist._, vol. I., p. 138.
[305] I have to thank my friend Mr T. G. Jackson, architect, for kindly
lending me this section of Bishop Cobham's library. For his history of the
building, see his _Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford_, 4to. 1897, pp.
90-106. With regard to the number of windows he notes (p. 102): There
would have been eight, two to a bay, were it not that the tower buttresses
occupy half the western bay.
[306] Anstey, _Mun. Acad._ I. 227.
[307] Jackson, _ut supra_, p. 98.
[308] The total height of this desk-end is 66 in.; from the ground to the
beginning of the groove 31 in.; each slit is 19 in. long.
[309] For scale see fig. 62, p. 163.
[310] _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm._ Vol. VIII. pp. 379-388, 7 May,
1894.
[311] The existing Library is still called the New Library.
[312] _Novum ac Magnum Theatrum Urbium Belgicae_, fol. Amsterdam, 1649, s.
v. Zutphania. For these historical facts I have to thank my friend Mr
Gimberg, _Archivarius_ at Zutphen.
[313] I have to thank Mr T. D. Atkinson, architect, for drawing this plan.
[314] I have again to thank Mr Gimberg for this photograph. It was a work
of no small difficulty owing to the imperfect light.
[315] For scale see fig. 62, p. 163.
[316] I have described this library in _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm._
Vol. VIII. pp. 11-18.
[317] This book is now in the University Library, Cambridge.
[318] _Arch. Hist._, The Library, III. 429. It is obvious that these heavy
chains must have been attached to the lower edge of one of the boards, and
that the bar must have been below the desk and not above it. See above, p.
139.
[319] _Arch. Hist._ II. 244.
[320] See above, pp. 117-121.
[321] MSS. Harl. 4335. The picture hanging on the wall represents
Philosophy offering her consolation to a sick man.
[322] For this information I have to thank my friend, Bernard W.
Henderson, M.A., Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.
[323] Delisle, _Cabinet des manuscrits_, II. 186, _note_.
[324] This account is, in the main, a translation of that given by M.
Delisle, _ut supra_.
[325] Bibl. Nat. Par. MSS. Lat. 5493. For the history of this library see
Delisle, _ut supra_, pp. 142-208; Franklin, _Anciennes Bibliotheques de
Paris_, I. pp. 221-317.
[326] Franklin, _ut supra_, vol. I. p. 399.
[327] Franklin, _Bibliotheques de Paris_, II. 70.
[328] Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 228-231; Franklin, _ut supra_, I. 135-185.
The catalogue of Claude de Grandrue is in the Bibliotheque Nationale,
fonds latin, No. 14767; the alphabetical index in the Bibliotheque
Mazarine, No. 1358.
[329] Delisle, p. 228, _note_.
[330] The MS. (No. 164) is by Frere Jehan de Castel.
[331] This reproduction is from a copy of the print now in the Fitzwilliam
Museum, Cambridge. It also occurs on a reduced scale in _Les Arts au Moyen
Age et a l'Epoque de la Renaissance_ par Paul Lacroix, 4^o. Paris, 1869,
p. 492; and in _Illustrium Hollandiae et Westfrisiae Ordinum_ etc. 4^o.
Lugd. Bat., 1614.
CHAPTER V.
RECAPITULATION. INVENTION OF THE STALL-SYSTEM. LIBRARY OF CORPUS CHRISTI
COLLEGE, OXFORD, TAKEN AS A TYPE. SYSTEM OF CHAINING IN HEREFORD
CATHEDRAL. LIBRARIES OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND CLARE COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE. THE STALL-SYSTEM COPIED AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY, WELLS, AND DURHAM
CATHEDRALS. THIS SYSTEM POSSIBLY MONASTIC. LIBRARIES AT CANTERBURY, DOVER
PRIORY, CLAIRVAUX.
If the evidence brought forward in the last chapter be accepted, the
Library which a Monastery or College built in the fifteenth century was a
long narrow room lighted by rows of equidistant windows. Occasionally, if
neighbouring buildings allowed, there was a window at the end of the room
also. The fittings were lecterns of wood. On these the books were laid,
each volume being fastened by a chain to a bar usually placed over the
desk, but occasionally, in all probability, in front of it or beneath it.
The readers sat on benches immoveably fixed opposite to each window. It is
obvious that reading was convenient enough so long as the students were
few, but if they were numerous and the books chained too closely together
much annoyance must have been caused. When the University of Oxford
petitioned Humphrey Duke of Gloucester in 1444 to help them to build a new
library, they specially dwelt upon the obstacles to study arising from the
overcrowded condition of the old room. "Should any student," they said,
"be poring over a single volume, as often happens, he keeps three or four
others away on account of the books being chained so closely
together[332]."
Further, the lectern-system was so wasteful in the matter of space, that,
as books accumulated, some other piece of furniture had to be devised to
contain them. The desk could not be dispensed with so long as books were
chained; and it therefore occurred to an ingenious carpenter that the
required conditions would be fulfilled if the two halves of the desk were
separated, not by a few inches, but by a considerable interval, or broad
shelf, with one or more shelves fixed above it. Thus a case was arrived at
containing four shelves at least, two to each side of the case, which
could be made as long as the width of the library permitted. I propose to
call this system "the stall-system," from the word _staulum_ (sometimes
written _stalla_, _stallus_, or _stallum_), which is frequently applied to
a case for books in a medieval library.
There are at least five fine examples of this system at Oxford--none, I am
sorry to say, at Cambridge. There was a set at Clare College, supplied to
the old Library about 1627, but they have since been altered by the
removal of the desks. Those at Oxford are at Corpus Christi College
(1517), S. John's College (1596), Sir Thomas Bodley's library (1598),
Merton College (1623), Jesus College (1677-79), Magdalen College (of
uncertain date).
As a type of this system I shall take the library of Corpus Christi
College, founded in 1516 by Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester. The library
was ready for the fittings by the end of March in the following year, as
we learn from a building account preserved by Hearne:
8 Henry VIII. This boke made from the xvth day off March
unto the xxxti day off the same Moneth [30 March, 1517].
Md. couenauntyd and agreid wyth Comell Clerke, for the
makyng off the dextis in the liberary, to the summe off
xvi, after the maner and forme as they be in Magdaleyn
college, except the popie heedes off the seites, thes to
be workmanly wrowght and clenly, and he to have all
maner off stooff foond hym, and to have for the makyng
off on dexte xs the sum off the hole viii. li.[333]
[Illustration: Fig. 70. Bookcases and seat in the Library at Corpus
Christi College, Oxford.
From a photograph taken in 1894.]
The arrangement and appearance of these most interesting cases will be
understood from the general view (fig. 70) and from the elevation (fig.
71), but I shall proceed to describe them with some minuteness.
[Illustration: Fig. 71. Elevation of one bookcase in the Library of Corpus
Christi College, Oxford.]
The library occupies the first floor of the south side of the quadrangle
opposite to the entrance. It is 79 feet 6 inches long, by 21 feet broad,
with ten equidistant windows, about 3 feet 6 inches apart, on each side.
At the west end there is an inner library, occupying the angle between the
south and west sides of the quadrangle. On each side there are nine
bookcases, each 8 ft. 6 in. high, 2 ft. wide, and 7 ft. 6 in. long,
divided by partitions into three compartments.
I have carefully studied these cases on several occasions, and it seems to
me that the only alterations introduced since the original construction
are: (1) the addition of about two feet to the upper portion of the case
in order to provide additional shelf-room; (2) a slight change in the
arrangements of the desk for the reader; and (3) the addition of the
catalogue frame, which by its style is evidently Jacobean, to the end next
the central alley. Originally each case had two shelves only, one on the
level of the desk (Fig. 71, G, H), and the second about half-way between
it and the original top of the case (_ibid._ E, F). Before chaining fell
into disuse the cases were heightened so as to provide an additional shelf
(_ibid._ C, D). At present the number has been further increased by the
addition of a fourth shelf above the desk (_ibid._ A, B), and two below it
(_ibid._ I, K, L, M). The desks have been altered by a change in the
position of the bracket, and by the suppression of the slit through which
the chains usually passed, as I shall explain below.
The system of chaining used for the lectern-system required modification
and extension to suit this new arrangement of shelves. At Corpus Christi
College most of the iron-work remains (fig. 70); but it is necessary to go
elsewhere to find chained books actually in use. Of such chaining I know
no better example than the Chapter Library in Hereford Cathedral, from a
study of which I will describe the system, and shew that it is the same as
that employed at Corpus Christi College and elsewhere.
The Chapter Library at Hereford was originally over the west cloister, and
there is evidence that it was being fitted up in 1394, when Walter de
Rammesbury, B.D., gave L10 for the desks[334]. The original building has
long since been destroyed, and the books were transferred from one place
to another until the present beautiful structure was built on the old site
in 1897.
[Illustration: Fig. 73. Part of a bookcase in the Chapter Library,
Hereford.]
Throughout these changes some very ancient bookcases have been preserved.
They have been taken to pieces and altered several times, but are
probably, in the main, those put up in 1394. Above all, one of them
possesses, in thorough working order, the system of chaining, parts of
which are to be met with on the cases at Oxford which we have been
considering. Of the accompanying illustrations the first (fig. 72) gives a
general view of the most complete case, that which now contains the
manuscripts, and the second (fig. 73) shews one compartment of the same
case with the books, chains, desk etc. This case is 9 ft. 8 in. long, 2
ft. 2 in. wide and 8 ft. high, exclusive of the cornice. The material is
unplaned oak, very rough; the ends are 2-3 in. thick, made of three planks
fastened together with strong wooden pegs. The desk has been a good deal
altered, and is now inconveniently low, but, as the books were chained, it
is evident that there must always have been desks on each case, and
moreover the hook which held them up is still to be seen in several
places. The frames to contain the catalogue, which closely resemble those
at Oxford, are known to have been added in the 17th century by Thomas
Thornton, D.D., Canon Residentiary.
[Illustration: Fig. 72. Bookcase in the Chapter Library, Hereford
Cathedral.
[Illustration: Fig. 74. Part of a single volume, shewing the clasp, the
ring for the chain, and the mode of attaching it: Hereford.]
From a sketch taken in 1876.]
[Illustration: Fig. 75. A single volume, standing on the shelf, with the
chain attached to the iron bar: Hereford.]
[Illustration: Fig. 76. Iron bar and socket, closed to prevent removal of
the bar: Hereford.]
As the books were to stand upright on a shelf, not to lie on their sides
on a desk, it was necessary to attach the chain in a different manner. A
narrow strip of flat brass was passed round the left-hand board (fig. 74)
and riveted to it, in such a manner as to leave a loop in front of the
edge of the board, wide enough to admit an iron ring, an inch and a
quarter in diameter, to which one end of the chain was fastened. The book
is placed on the shelf with the fore-edge turned outwards, and the other
end of the chain is fastened to a second ring, rather larger than the
former, which plays along an iron bar (fig. 75). For the two upper shelves
these bars, which are 1/2 in. in diameter, are supported in front of the
shelf, at such a distance from it as to allow of easy play for the rings
(fig. 73). Each bar extends only from partition to partition, so that
three bars are needed for each shelf. For the lowest shelf there are also
three bars, set two inches behind the edge of the shelf, so as to keep the
rings and chains out of the way of the desk. The bars for the upper
shelves rest in iron sockets screwed to the woodwork at the juncture of
the horizontal shelves with the vertical divisions and ends respectively.
The socket fixed to the end of the bookcase which was intended to stand
against the wall is closed by an iron plate (fig. 76), so that the bar
cannot pass beyond it. At the opposite end, that which would usually face
the alley between the two rows of bookcases, the bars are secured by lock
and key in the following manner. A piece of flat iron is nailed to the end
of the bookcase, just above the level of the uppermost shelf (fig. 77).
Attached to this by a hinge is a hasp, or band of iron, two inches wide,
and rather longer than the interval between the two shelves. Opposite to
each shelf this iron band expands into a semicircular plate, to which a
cap is riveted for the reception of the head of the socket in which the
bar rests (fig. 77); and just below the middle shelf it drops into a lock
and is secured by a key (fig. 73). A second hasp, similarly constructed,
secures the lowest of the three bars; but, as that bar is behind, and not
in front of, the shelf to which it belongs, the arrangements described
above are reversed. One lock and key serves for the ironwork belonging to
the three shelves.
[Illustration: Fig. 77. Iron bar, with part of the iron plate or hasp
which is secured by the lock and keeps the bar in place: Hereford.]
The chains are made of links of hammered iron as shewn in the sketch (fig.
78) which represents a piece of one of the actual size. There is usually a
swivel in the centre, probably to prevent twisting. They vary somewhat in
length, and in the length of the links, according to the shelf on which
the books to which they belong are ranged, it being obviously necessary to
provide for the convenient placing of a book on the desk when a reader
wished to consult it. The most usual dimensions are 3 ft. 4 in., 3 ft. 6
in., 4 ft. 3 in.
The removal of any of the volumes, or the addition of a new one, must have
been a tedious and inconvenient operation. The bar would have to be
withdrawn, and all the rings set free. Moreover, if this change had to be
effected in one of the compartments remote from the end of the case which
carried the lock, the bar belonging to each of the other compartments
would have to be withdrawn before the required volume could be reached.
[Illustration: Fig. 78. Piece of chain, shewing the swivel: Hereford.
Actual size.]
If the views (figs. 70, 71) of the book-cases at Corpus Christi College,
Oxford, be attentively examined, it will be seen that the ironwork exactly
resembles that at Hereford. We find similar sockets to contain the bars at
the junction of the horizontal shelves and vertical uprights, and a
similar system of iron hasps to prevent the bars from being withdrawn.
The desk for the reader would of course vary according to individual
taste. As a general rule it was attached to the ends of the case by strong
hinges, so that it could be turned up and got out of the way when any
alteration in the ironwork had to be carried out. Iron hooks to hold it up
were not unfrequently provided. One of these, from the Bodleian Library,
is here figured (fig. 79). It was also usual to provide a slit in this
desk, about 2 in. wide, as close as possible to the shelf, for the chain
attached to the book in use to pass through. This is well shewn in the
view of a single book-case in Merton College, Oxford (fig. 83).
I will next describe the library of Merton College, Oxford. There is still
considerable doubt respecting the date of some of the bookcases, but the
appearance of the library is so venerable, so unlike any similar room with
which I am acquainted, that it must always command admiration, and deserve
study[335].
[Illustration: Fig. 80. Exterior of the Library at Merton College, Oxford,
as seen from 'Mob Quadrangle.'
From a photograph by H. W. Taunt, 1899.]
The library occupies the whole of the first floor of the south side of
"Mob Quadrangle" and the greater part of the same floor of the west side
(fig. 80). It is entered through a doorway in the south-western angle of
the court, whence a staircase leads up to the vestibule (fig. 81). This
room is separated from the two divisions of the library by lofty oak
screens, elaborately carved and ornamented in the style of the early
renaissance.
[Illustration: Fig. 79. Hook to hold up the desk. Bodleian Library,
Oxford.]
The two rooms into which the library is divided have a uniform width of 20
ft. 6 in. The west room, called by tradition Old Library, is 38 ft. 6 in.
long (A, B, fig. 81); the south room, or New Library, is 56 ft. 6 in. long
(C, D, fig. 81).
The west room is lighted by seven equidistant lancet windows in each of
the west and east walls, and by two dormer windows of peculiar design on
the side of the roof next to the court. The south room is similarly
lighted by ten lancets in each of the north and south walls, and on the
side next to the court by two dormer windows like those in the west room.
This room moreover has an open space at the east end, about 10 ft. long,
lighted by a window of two lights in each of the north and south walls
respectively, and by an oriel of five lights in the east wall. In both
rooms there is a waggon-roof of five cants boarded, and divided into
panels by molded ribs with little bosses at the intersections (fig. 82).
The blank wall at the north end of the west room is panelled with oak of
an elaborate and beautiful design for a height of about 12 ft. (fig. 82).
The space above this is decorated with panels of plaster-work. The large
square central panel contains the arms of the college; the circular panel
to the west those of John Whitgift (Archbishop of Canterbury 1583-1604);
and the similar panel to the east those of Sir Henry Savile (Warden
1585-1621).
[Illustration: Fig. 81. Ground-plan of the Library at Merton College,
Oxford.]
The east end of the south room is similarly treated, but the oak panelling
is less elaborate. In the plaster-work above it the arms of the college
are flanked on the north by those of George Abbot (Archbishop of
Canterbury 1611-1633) and on the south by those of Sir Nathaniel Brent
(Warden 1621-1651).
[Illustration: Fig. 82. Interior of the west Library at Merton College,
Oxford.
From a photograph by H. W. Taunt, 1899.]
[Illustration: Fig. 83. Bookcase in the west Library of Merton College,
Oxford.
From a photograph by H. W. Taunt, 1899.]
Both rooms are floored with rough oak planking. On this are laid four
sleepers, each about 5 in. square, parallel with the side-walls. The two
central sleepers have their outside edge roughly chamfered. Into these the
bookcases and the seats are morticed. The central alley, 5 ft. wide, is in
both rooms paved with encaustic tiles.
In the west room there are twelve complete cases and four half-cases; in
the south room there are twenty complete cases and two half-cases (fig.
81); in both rooms arranged in the usual manner with respect to the walls
and windows.
In order to present as vivid an idea as possible of these beautiful cases,
I reproduce here a photograph of a single compartment from the west
library, with a seated reader at work (fig. 83). The case is made to look
rather higher than it really is, but this distortion can be easily
corrected by comparing the height of the standard with that of the seated
figure.
In the west room each case (figs. 82, 83) is 7 ft. 5 in. long, 1 ft. 5 in.
wide and 6 ft. high from the top of the sleeper to the top of the cornice.
The material is oak. The ends are nearly 2 in. thick, and next the wall
are shaped roughly with an adze. Each case is separated into two divisions
by a central partition; and originally there was a desk 1 ft. 3 in. wide
on each side of the case. These desks were immoveable, and nailed to rough
brackets. There were two shelves only to each case: one just above the
level of the desk, and a second about half-way between it and the cornice
(fig. 84).
The system of ironwork by which the books were secured can be easily
recovered by studying the scars on the ends of the cases next the central
alley. At the lower end of the standard, two feet from the ground, was an
iron bar which carried the chains of all the books which stood on the
shelf just above the level of the desk, without reference to the side from
which they were to be consulted. This bar was secured by a separate hasp
and lock. The bars for the upper shelf, one on each side of the case, were
obviously secured by a system similar to that described above at Hereford
and Corpus Christi College. The whole system has been indicated on the
elevation (fig. 84), which should be compared with the reproduction of one
of the cases in the west room (fig. 83). Originally no books stood below
the desk. The comfort of readers was considered by the insertion of a bar
of wood to rest the feet on, between the seat and the bookcase (fig. 84).
[Illustration: Fig. 84. Elevation of a bookcase and seat in the West
Library at Merton College, Oxford.
Measured and drawn by T. D. Atkinson, Architect.]
In the south room the cases are on the same general plan as in the west
room; but the system of chaining appears to have been slightly different,
and to have approximated more closely to what I may call the Hereford
type.
In both rooms each case has a picturesque enrichment at the end of the
standard above the cornice, and a small oblong frame just below it to
contain the general title of the books within the case. The west room is
devoted to LIBRI ARTIUM, with the exception of the three cases and the
half-case at the north end of the east side, which are marked CODICES MSS.
These are protected by latticed doors of wood. In the south room the
cases on the south side are all lettered L. THEOLOGIAE; on the north side
the first three are lettered L. MEDICINAE; the next L. MEDIC. IURISPP. and
the last five L. IURIS PRVDENTIAE. In this room the last cases at the east
end on each side have latticed doors like those on the corresponding cases
in the west room.
The building of this library is recorded in four separate account-rolls
extending from the beginning of the first year of Richard II. to the third
year of the same king, that is from 1377 to 1379. From these documents it
appears that the building cost L462. 1_s._ 11 1/2_d._
From this first construction to the beginning of the sixteenth century--a
space of 125 years--the accounts furnish us with no information; but, from
what we learn afterwards, it would appear that the internal walls were
unplastered, that the roof-timbers were unprotected, and that the only
light was admitted through the narrow lancet windows.
In 1502-3 the panel-work (_celatura_) on the roof of the west library was
put up at a cost of L27. 6_s._ 0_d._ The account contains also a charge
for painting the bosses (_nodi_) at the intersection of the moldings that
separate the panels. Mr Henderson points out that these ornaments prove
the existing ceiling to be that put up in 1503; for among them are the
Tudor Rose, the dolphin of Fitzjames (Warden 1483-1507). and the Royal
Arms used from Henry IV. to Elizabeth, but altered by James I.
After this another long interval occurs during which no work done to the
library is recorded; but in 1623 the south room was taken in hand, and the
changes introduced into it were so extensive that it is referred to in the
accounts as New Library (_Nova Bibliotheca_) a name which it still
retains.
In the first place the room at the east end (fig. 81) was thrown into it,
and the oriel window constructed, together with the two large dormers on
the side next the court (fig. 80). These works, by which light was so
largely increased, prove how gloomy the library must have been before they
were undertaken. Next, after important repairs to the walls and floor, and
the construction of the decorative plaster-work at the east end, the old
bookcases were sold, and Benet the joiner supplied twenty new cases and
one half-case. The only old case remaining is, by tradition, the half-case
against the screen on the north side as one enters from the vestibule.
It is therefore certain that the cases and seats in the south room date
from 1623. It is unfortunately equally certain that we know nothing about
the date of those in the west room; and we are therefore unable to say
whether the cases in the south room were copied from them in 1623, or
whether the reverse process took place at some unknown date. If we adopt
the pleasing theory that in the west room we have very early cases,
constructed possibly when the library was built, we must still admit that
these relics of a remote past have been altered at some subsequent period,
so as to be brought into conformity with the cases in the south room; for
the cornices and the frames for the titles are precisely similar in the
two rooms.
The difference between the two sets of cases in the method of chaining, to
which attention has been already drawn, may bear on the question of date.
As time went on chaining would be modified in the direction of simplicity;
and to replace a single central bar by two lateral ones is a step towards
this, for under such conditions the addition or removal of a book would
entail less displacement. Further, it must be recognised that these cases,
whether extremely ancient or comparatively modern, differ in many
particulars from those to be met with elsewhere. They are lighter,
narrower and more elegant. Again, when the ground-plan of the library is
considered (fig. 81) it will be seen that their ends occupy nearly the
whole space between a pair of windows. In other examples of the
stall-system this is not the case.
The only explanation I have to offer for the whole difficulty is the
following. The library was constructed for the lectern-system, with
wall-spaces not more than 2 ft. wide, and was so fitted up. When books had
become numerous the western library was taken in hand, and the lecterns
altered into stalls, the single central bar being retained. At the same
time, in all probability, the dormers were inserted. It is remarkable that
these changes should not be recorded in the accounts, but possibly they
were carried out as the result of a special benefaction[336]. In 1623 the
stalls which had been placed in the west room, having been found
convenient, were copied for the south room.
I will in the next place briefly notice the distinctive points of the
other examples of the stall-system in Oxford.
At S. John Baptist's College the library was built in 1596, and we may
presume was fitted up soon afterwards, as Wood records numerous donations
of books in the years immediately succeeding, and the appointment of a
keeper to take charge of them in 1603[337]. This library, on the first
floor of the south side of the second quadrangle, is 112 feet long by 26
feet wide, with eight windows of two lights in each wall. The bookcases,
of which there are eight on each side between the windows, with a
half-case against the west wall, are rather larger than those at Corpus
Christi College, being 10 feet high, and 2 feet 6 inches wide. They have a
classical cornice and terminal pediment. The titles of the subjects are
painted at the tops of the stalls as at Merton College. A few traces of
chaining are still to be detected. The desks have not been altered. Each
is in two divisions, as at Corpus, separated by a central bracket, and it
has the slit to admit the chains. The long iron hinges are evidently
original. The seats resemble those at Corpus.
The bookcases at Trinity College, set up in 1618, and those at Jesus
College, made probably in 1679, call for no special remark.
Between 1598 and 1600 Sir Thomas Bodley refitted the library over the
Divinity School. This noble room is 86 feet long by 32 feet wide. These
dimensions contrast forcibly with those of the long narrow rooms to which
we have been accustomed; and it is probably on account of the great width
that the 10 windows on each side have two lights apiece. At right angles
to these walls, which face north and south, there are nine bookcases on a
side with a half-case at each end. Here again we find so close a
resemblance to the cases at Corpus Christi College, that a particular
description is unnecessary. It should be noted, however, that, as at S.
John's College, they had been made of a greater height (8 feet 4 inches)
in the first instance, so as to accommodate two shelves above that on the
level of the desk. These shelves are proved to be original by the
existence, at the juncture of the shelves with the upright divisions, of
the plates of iron which originally carried the sockets for the bar. The
rest of the ironwork has been removed, and it is difficult to detect
traces of its former existence, because modern shelves have been set
against the ends of the cases. The hole for the lowest bar, however,
remains in the same relative position as at Corpus Christi College; and,
as the ironwork for supporting the bars is identical with what still
remains there, it seems safe to conclude that no new principle was
introduced. The desks are modern, but the large and ornamental brackets
which support them are original, and the iron hooks (fig. 79) still remain
by which they were prevented from falling when turned up. The position of
these hooks shews that each desk was 19 inches broad. There were
originally seats between each pair of cases, as may be seen in Loggan's
view of the interior of the library, where their ends are distinctly
shewn.
A special feature of this room is the beautiful open roof, practically
that which Sir Thomas Bodley put up in 1599. The principals and tie-beams
are ornamented with arabesques, while the flat surface between them is
divided into square compartments on which are painted the arms of the
University. On the bosses that intervene between these compartments are
the arms of Bodley himself.
I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter that the stall-system had
been represented in the library at Clare College, Cambridge. The old
library was a long narrow room over the old chapel, and we know on the
authority of William Cole[338] that it was "fitted up with wainscote
Classes on both sides." These "classes" had been put up shortly before
1627, when the Duke of Buckingham, then Chancellor of the University, was
taken to see them. When this library was pulled down in 1763 they were
removed to the new library which had been fitted up 20 years previously,
and ranged round the room in front of the modern shelves. They are
splendid specimens of carpentry-work, and bear so close a resemblance to
the cases in the library of S. John's College, that it may be assumed that
they were copied from them[339]. When the removal took place they were a
good deal altered, and a few years ago some fragments which had not been
utilised were found in a lumber-closet. One of the standards (fig. 85),
with its brackets, shews that the cases were once fitted with desks, the
removal of which was ingeniously concealed by the insertion of slips of
wood in the style of the older work[340]. I have not been able to discover
any traces of chaining, but as there are a number of seats in the library,
very like those in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, it is more than
probable that chains were once employed.
[Illustration: Fig. 85. Stall-end in the Library of Clare College,
Cambridge.]
The stall-system was not only popular in Oxford itself, but was adopted as
a standard for bookcases, and reproduced elsewhere.
The first example I will cite is at Westminster Abbey[341], where part of
the dorter was fitted up as a library during the years 1623 and 1624 by
John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln and afterwards Archbishop of York, who
was dean of Westminster from 1620 to his death in 1650. In the flowery
rhetoric of his biographer Bishop Hacket:
With the same Generosity and strong propension of mind
to enlarge the Boundaries of Learning, he converted a
wast Room, scituate in the East side of the Cloysters,
into _Plato's_ Portico, into a goodly Library; model'd
it into decent shape, furnished it with Desks and
Chains, accoutred it with all Utensils, and stored it
with a vast Number of Learned Volumes[342].
This library--which has not been materially altered since 1625--occupies
the north end of what was once the dorter. It is 60 feet long, by 33 feet
4 inches broad. There are twelve bookcases--evidently the "desks" recorded
by Williams' biographer. Each is 10 feet 10 inches long, 2 feet broad, and
8 feet 3 inches high, divided by plain uprights into three compartments.
There are three shelves, below which is a desk for the reader, resting on
brackets, and provided with the usual slit for the chains to pass through.
These desks are hinged. The cases are quite plain, with the exception of a
molded cornice; above which, on the end of each, is some scroll-work.
There is also a small frame to contain the catalogue. It is probable that
there were originally seats for readers between each pair of cases. I
cannot discover any certain evidence of chaining, and yet "chains" are
distinctly enumerated among the dean's benefactions. There are faint scars
at the intersection of some of the shelves and uprights which may be
screwholes--but I cannot feel certain on the point.
I have already given the plan of the cathedral library at Wells (fig. 42).
After the Restoration this building was re-fitted during the episcopate of
Robert Creighton (Bishop 1670-1672), with the help of donations from the
celebrated Dr Richard Busby, and Dr Ralph Bathurst, who was dean from 1670
to 1704. It is important to remember that Bathurst was also master of
Trinity College, Oxford, an office which he retained until his death. As
he is described in the MS. List of Benefactors preserved in the library as
having taken a foremost part in fitting it up (in _Bibliotheca hac
instauranda_ [Greek: ergodioktes]), the selection of the bookcases may
with much probability be ascribed to him. His own college has still
bookcases which once must have been excellent specimens of the
stall-system.
[Illustration: Fig. 87. Bookcases in the Library of Durham Cathedral.
From a photograph.]
There are eight bookcases at Wells, of plain unpainted deal, projecting
from the west wall between the windows (fig. 42). They are 8 ft. 6 in.
long, 8 ft. 1 in. high and 3 ft. broad. Seven of them have desks on both
sides, but the last--that placed against the partition at the south end,
which screens off a small room for a study--has a desk on one side only.
There is no shelf below the desk, but two above it. They are fitted with
the usual apparatus for chaining. Between each pair of bookcases, in front
of the window, is a seat for the reader. These cases resemble so closely
those at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, that the source from which they
were derived cannot be doubtful.
Was this library ever chained? A Walton's Polyglot, 1657, had evidently
been prepared for chaining, and in a novel fashion, the plate to carry the
chain being attached to the left-hand board close to the back of the
volume (fig. 86)--so that it was evidently set on the shelf in the
ordinary way, and not with the fore-edge turned to the spectator, as is
usual in chained libraries. But with this exception I could not discover
indications of the attachment of a plate on any of the volumes. If I am
right in concluding that the books in this library were never chained, the
cases are a curious instance of the maintenance of fashion. Dean Bathurst
ordered a bookcase, and it was supplied to him with all its fittings
complete, whether they were to be used or not.
[Illustration: Fig. 86. Ring for attachment of chain, Wells.]
My last example is from Durham Cathedral, where John Sudbury, dean from
1661 to 1684, fitted up the ancient Frater as a library. The room is about
115 feet long by 30 feet wide, with nine windows in each side-wall. Their
sills are ten feet from the ground.
The cases (fig. 87) are evidently the work of a carpenter who was
thoroughly conversant with the stall-system. They had originally two
shelves only above the desk, the entablature, now visible on the ends
only, being carried along the sides. The shelf below the desk is also
modern. These cases are ten feet apart, and between each pair, instead of
a reader's seat, is a dwarf bookcase terminating in a desk. Attached to it
on each side is a seat conveniently placed for a reader to use the desk on
the side of the principal case.
I have shewn that the stall-system made its appearance at Oxford early in
the sixteenth century, but I have not been able to discover who introduced
it. My own impression is that it was monastic in its origin; and I can
prove that it fits at least two monastic libraries exactly. This theory
will also explain the prevalence of such cases at Oxford, and their almost
total absence from Cambridge, where monastic influence was never exercised
to the same extent.
I will begin with Canterbury, where, as I mentioned above[343], the
library was over the Prior's Chapel. The construction of this chapel is
described as follows by Professor Willis:
Roger de S. Elphege, Prior from 1258 to 1263, completed
a chapel between the Dormitory and Infirmary.... The
style of its substructure shews that it was begun by his
predecessor.... [It] is placed on the south side of the
Infirmary cloister, between the Lavatory tower and
Infirmary. Its floor was on the level of the upper
gallery, and was sustained by an open vaulted ambulatory
below. This replaced the portion of the original south
alley [of the cloister] which occupied ... that
position.... But, as this new substructure was more than
twice as broad as the old one, the chapel was obtruded
into the small cloister-garth, so as to cover part of
the facade of the Infirmary Hall, diminish the already
limited area, and destroy the symmetry of its form[344].
Above this chapel Archbishop Chichele built the library which Prior
Sellyng fitted up. It stood east and west, and of course must have been of
the same size as the chapel beneath it, namely, according to Professor
Willis, 62 feet long on the north side, 59 feet long on the south side,
and 22 feet broad. The door was probably at the south-west corner, at the
head of a staircase which originally led only to the chapel beneath it.
From these measurements I have constructed a plan of the room (fig. 88),
and of the bookcases which I am about to describe. The windows are of
course imaginary, but, I submit, justified by the uniform practice of
medieval libraries.
[Illustration: Fig. 88. Conjectural plan of the Library over the Prior's
Chapel at Christ Church, Canterbury.]
I am able to reconstruct this library because I have had the good fortune
to come across a very curious document[345] which gives sufficient data
for the purpose. It is contained in a MS. volume, now the property of the
Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, composed of several quires of paper
stitched into a parchment cover. They once belonged to, and were probably
written by, Brother William Ingram, who was _custos martirii_ in 1503; and
in June 1511 was promoted to the office of Pitancer. The accounts and
memoranda in the book are of a very miscellaneous character. The part
which concerns the library consists of a note of the books which were
repaired in 1508. This is headed:
Repairs done to the books contained in the library over
the chapel of our lord the Prior, namely, in new byndyng
and bordyng with covers and claspyng and chenyng,
together with sundry books of the gift of the aforesaid
Prior, namely, in the year of our Lord 1508, and the
year of the reign of King Henry VII., 23[346].
The writer goes round the room, beginning at the west end. He proceeds
along the north side, and returns along the south side, to the point
whence he started, enumerating on his way the bookcases and their shelves,
the volumes removed, and, occasionally, a note of the repairs required.
For my present purpose I will content myself with his account of a single
bookcase, the first on the list. The writer begins thus: "From the upper
shelf on the east side in the first seat (_de superiori textu[347] ex
orienti parte in prima_ (sic) _sedile_)." Three volumes are enumerated.
"From the lower shelf (_de inferiori textu_)," two volumes. "From the
upper shelf on the other side of the same seat (_de superiori textu ex
altera parte eiusdem sedilis_)," seven volumes. "From the lower shelf (_de
inferiori textu_)," five volumes. In this way eight seats, i.e. bookcases,
are gone through on this side of the room. The writer next turns his
attention to the south side, and goes through eight more seats, beginning
with: "From the east side of the upper shelf on the south side (_de textu
superiori ex parte australi incipiendo. In parte orientali_)." The
examination was evidently thorough, and, as the same number of seats is
enumerated for each side of the room, we may, I think, safely conclude
that all were examined, and that the whole number in the library was
sixteen.
The passages I have quoted shew that each of these bookcases had an upper
and lower shelf on each side, on which the books stood, so as to be
conveniently consulted by readers on each side; the books were chained;
and, in consequence, there must have been a desk, presumably below the
shelves on each side; and a seat for the reader. I have embodied these
requirements in the accompanying sketch or diagram (fig. 89), which
indicates a bookcase of the same type as those at Corpus Christi College,
Oxford. If we may suppose that each of these cases was two feet wide and
eight feet long like those at Merton College, we can accommodate eight
cases on each side of the room (fig. 88), with the same interval between
each pair as at that college.
[Illustration: Fig. 89. Sketch of the probable appearance of a bookcase,
and a reader's seat, in the Library at Christ Church, Canterbury.]
Let us now consider whether the library as thus arranged would have had
sufficient shelf-room. Each bookcase being 8 feet long would contain 32
feet of shelving, and the 16 cases a total of 512 feet. The catalogue made
in the time of Prior Henry of Eastry (1285-1331) enumerates 1850
volumes[348]. If we allow two feet and a half for every ten of these we
shall require 462 1/2 feet; or in other words we can arrange the whole
collection in 14 stalls, leaving 2 over for the additions which must have
been made in the interval between the middle of the 14th century and the
date of Brother Ingram's researches.
If the sketch here given of the probable aspect of the library at Christ
Church, Canterbury, be compared with the view of the library at Merton
College, Oxford (fig. 82), a fairly correct idea of a great conventual
library will be obtained. A very slight effort of imagination is needed to
make the necessary changes in the shelves, and to replace academic
students by Benedictine monks. Then, if we conceive the shelves to be
loaded with manuscripts, many of which were written in the early days of
the English Church, we shall be able to realise the feelings of Leland on
entering the library at Glastonbury:
I had hardly crossed the threshold when the mere sight
of books remarkable for their vast antiquity filled me
with awe, or I might almost say with bewilderment: so
that for a moment I could not move a step forward[349].
I propose in the next place to print a translation of the Introduction to
the catalogue[350] of the Benedictine Priory of S. Martin at Dover, which
was a cell to Canterbury made in 1389 by John Whytfeld. This catalogue
does not indicate the stall-system; in fact I am at a loss to define the
precise system which it does indicate. I print it in this place on account
of its internal interest, and the evidence which it affords of the care
taken in the last quarter of the fourteenth century to make books easily
accessible to scholars.
The present Register of the Library of the Priory of
Dover, compiled in the year of the Lord's Incarnation
1389 under the presidency of John Neunam prior and monk
of the said church, is separated into three main
divisions. The object is that the first part may supply
information to the precentor of the house concerning the
number of the books and the complete knowledge of them:
that the second part may stir up studious brethren to
eager and frequent reading: and that the third part may
point out the way to the speedy finding of individual
treatises by the scholars. Now although a brief special
preface is prefixed to each part to facilitate the
understanding of it, to this first part certain general
notes are prefixed, to begin with, for the more plain
understanding of the whole Register.
Be it noted, then, first, that this whole Library is
divided into nine several classes (Distinctions), marked
according to the nine first letters of the alphabet,
which are affixed to the classes themselves, in such a
way that A marks out to him who enters the first Class,
B the second, C the third, and so on in order. Each of
the said nine classes, moreover, will be seen to be
divided into seven shelves (grades), which are also
marked off by the addition of Roman numeral figures,
following the letters which denote the classes. We begin
the numbering of the shelves from the bottom, and
proceed upwards so that the bottom shelf, which is the
first, is marked thus, I; the second thus, II; the third
thus, III; and so the numbering goes, on up to
seven[351].
In addition to this, the books of the Library are all of
them marked on each leaf with Arabic numerals, to
facilitate the ascertaining of the contents of the
volumes.
Now since many of the volumes contain a number of
treatises, the names of these treatises, although they
have not always been correctly christened, are written
down under each volume, and an Arabic numeral is added
to each name shewing on what leaf each tract begins. To
this number the letter A or B is subjoined, the letter A
here denoting the first page of the leaf, and the letter
B the second. The books themselves, furthermore, have
their class-letters and also their shelf-marks inserted
not only outside on their bindings, but also inside,
accompanying the tables of contents at the beginning. To
such class-letters a small Arabic figure is added which
shews clearly what position the book occupies in the
order of placing on the shelf concerned.
On the second, third, or fourth leaf of the book, or
thereabouts, on the lower margin the name of the book is
written. Before it are entered the above-mentioned
class-letters and shelf-numbers, and after it (a small
space intervening) are immediately set down the words
with which that leaf begins, which I shall call the
proof of investigation (_probatorium cognitionis_). The
Arabic figures next following will state how many leaves
are contained in the whole volume; and finally another
numeral immediately following the last clearly sets
forth the number of the tracts contained in the said
volume.
If then the above facts be securely entrusted to a
retentive memory it will be clearly seen in what class,
shelf, place and order each book of the whole Library
ought to be put, and on what leaf and which side of the
leaf the beginnings of the several treatises may be
found. For it has been the object of the compiler of
this present register [and] of the Library, by setting
forth a variety of such marks and notations of classes,
shelves, order, pagination, treatises and volumes, to
insure for his monastery security from loss in time to
come, to shut the door against the spite of such as
might wish to despoil or bargain away such a treasure,
and to set up a sure bulwark of defence and resistance.
And in truth the compiler will not be offended but will
honestly love anyone who shall bring this
register--which is still faulty in many respects--into
better order, even if he should see fit to place his own
name at the head of the whole work.
In the first part of the register, therefore, we have
throughout at the top, between black lines ruled
horizontally, first the class-letter, in red, and,
following it, the shelf-mark, in black characters
(_tetris signaculis_). Then again between other lines
ruled in red, vertically: first, on the left a numeral
shewing the place of the book in order on its shelf:
then the name of the volume: thirdly, the number of the
"probatory" leaf; fourthly, the "probatory" words (in
the case of which, by the way, reference is made to the
text and not to the gloss); fifthly, the number of
leaves in the whole volume; and, lastly, the number of
the treatises contained in it--all written within the
aforesaid lines. In addition there will be left in each
shelf of this part, at the end, some vacant space, in
which the names of books that may be subsequently
acquired can be placed[352].
The meaning of the word "distinction" is the principal difficulty in the
way of understanding the above description. I thought at first that it
denoted merely difference of subject, and that _gradus_, as in the
catalogue of Queens' College, Cambridge, was a side of a lectern. But the
statement that the grades are numbered "from the bottom and proceed
upwards" can hardly be reconciled with any arrangement of lecterns.
_Distinctio_ probably denotes a bookcase or press, divided into 7 grades,
and probably placed against the wall, the word _gradus_ here meaning a
flat shelf, instead of one set at an angle as in former instances. If this
explanation be correct we have here a very early instance of shelves in
such a position.
My second example of a monastic library fitted up according to the
stall-system is the library at Clairvaux. As I have already printed a full
description of it[353], I need not do more in this place than translate
the passage referring to the fittings:
This library is 189 feet long, by 51 feet wide[354]. In
it are 48 seats (_bancs_), and in each seat 4 shelves
(_poulpitres_) furnished with books on all subjects, but
chiefly theology.... The building that contains the said
library is magnificent, built of stone, and excellently
well lighted on both sides with five large windows, well
glazed.
As there were so many as 48 bookcases, that is, 24 on each side, the
bookcases were evidently spaced without reference to the lateral windows,
which were probably raised high above the floor.
The catalogue, from which I have already quoted the verses commemorating
the building of the library, contains much useful information respecting
the arrangement of the books. The verses are succeeded by the following
introductory note:
Repertorium omnium librorum in hac Clarevallis
biblioteca existentium a fratre Mathurino de cangeyo
eiusdem loci monacho non sine magno labore editum.
Lege
Pro intelligentia presentis tabule seu Repertorii,
sciendum est quod a parte aquilonari collocantur libri
quorum litere capitales nigre sunt, quorum vero rubre a
parte australi. Et omnes in ea ordine alphabetico
scribuntur.
Utriusque autem partis primum analogium per litteram A
signatur, secundum per litteram B, tercium per litteram
C, quartum per litteram D, quintum per litteram E. Et
consequenter cetera analogia per sequentes litteras
alphabeticas.
Quodlibet autem analogium quatuor habet partes, quarum
prima signatur per litteram A, secunda per B, tercia per
C, quarta per D.
Prime partis primi analogii primus liber signatur per A.
a. 1, secundus per A. a. 2, tercius per A. a. 3, et
consequenter.
Secunde partis primus liber signatur per A. b. 1,
secundus per A. b. 2; et de consequentibus similis est
ordinatio.
Tercie partis primus liber signatur per A. c. 1,
secundus per A. c. 2; et consequenter.
Quarte partis primus liber signatur per A. d. 1,
secundus per A. d. 2; et consequenter.
[In this way five "analogia" are enumerated.]
Et eadem est disciplina et ordinacio de ceteris
analogiis prout habetur in novissimo quaternione eiusdem
tabule, immo et in fronte cuiuslibet analogii in tabella
eidem appendente.
Hanc tabulam seu repertorium scripsit quondam frater
Petrus mauray de Arecis oriundus. Vivus vel defunctus
requiescat in bona semper pace. Amen.
The most important passage in the above note may be thus translated:
Read
For the right understanding of the present table or
method of finding books (_tabule seu repertorii_), you
must know that on the north side are ranged those books
whereof the capital letters are black; on the south side
those whereof the capital letters are red. All are set
down in alphabetical order.
On each side the first desk (_analogium_) is marked by
the letter A; the second by the letter B; [and so
forth].
Each desk has four divisions, the first of which is
marked by the letter _a_, the second by the letter _b_,
the third by the letter _c_, the fourth by the letter
_d_. The first book on the first shelf of the first desk
is marked A. a. i; the second A. a. ii; [and so forth].
The catalogue as well as the description makes it perfectly clear that
each desk, that is to say, each bookcase, had four shelves; and further,
as the authors of the _Voyage Litteraire_ (1708) mention chains[355], it
may be concluded that there were desks, and seats for readers, between
each pair of bookcases. If we place two shelves on each side of the case
we get a piece of furniture precisely similar to that in use at
Canterbury.
FOOTNOTES:
[332] Macray, _Annals of the Bodleian Library_, p. 7. The words used are:
Jam enim si quis, ut fit, uni libro inhaereat, aliis studere volentibus ad
tres vel quatuor pro vicinitate colligationis praecludit accessum.
[333] Hearne's _Glastonbury_, ed. 1722, p. 286.
[334] _Fasti Herefordenses_, by Rev. F. T. Havergal. 4^o, 1869, p. 181. A
Chapter-order dated 16 February, 1589, directed the removal of the books
to the Lady Chapel, and the erection of a school on the ground where the
Library had once stood.
[335] For the historical facts in the following account I am indebted to
Mr Henderson's History, to the merits of which I have already drawn
attention. I have also made copious extracts from the College
account-books. Further, I have carefully studied the library on several
occasions, and have had the benefit of the professional assistance of my
friend Mr T. D. Atkinson, Architect.
[336] In the bursar's accounts for 1605, among other charges for the
library, is the following entry: "pro pari cardinum ad sedem in
bibliotheca 12d." If I am right in thinking that this refers to the desks
for the readers in the west library it proves that the existing cases had
been set up before 1605.
[337] Wood, _Colleges and Halls_, p. 551.
[338] Add. MSS. Mus. Brit. 5803, MSS. Cole, II. 9.
[339] _Arch. Hist._ III. 453.
[340] I have described these fragments in _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc._, Vol.
VIII. p. 18.
[341] See my paper in _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm._, Vol. IX. p. 37.
[342] _Scrinia reserata_: a Memorial ... of John Williams, D.D.... By John
Hacket. Fol. Lond. 1693, pp. 46, 47.
[343] See above, p. 106.
[344] _Arch. Hist. of ... Monastery of Chr. Ch. Cant._ 8vo. 1869, p. 65.
This chapel was pulled down at the end of the 17th century and the present
library, called the Howley library, built in its place.
[345] I have to thank my friend Mr W. H. St John Hope, Assistant Secretary
of the Society of Antiquaries, for first drawing my attention to it; and
the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury for leave to use it.
[346] Reparaciones facte circa libros qui continentur in libraria supra
capellam domini prioris videlicet in le new byndyng and bordyng cum
coopertoriis and le claspyng and chenyng eciam cum diuersis libris ex dono
eiusdem prioris videlicet Anno domini M^o ccccc^o viij^o and Anno Regni
Regis henrici vij^o xxiii.
[347] This word seems to have been used at Canterbury to denote any piece
of joinery. We have already seen it applied to a carrell (p. 99).
[348] See above, p. 102. The catalogue has been printed by Edwards,
_Memoirs of Libraries_, I. pp. 122-235.
[349] Vix certe limen intraveram cum antiquissimorum librorum vel solus
conspectus religionem, nescio an stuporem, animo incuteret meo; eaque de
causa, pedem paullulum sistebam. Leland, _De Script. Brit._ ed. Hall, I.
41.
[350] This catalogue is in the Bodleian Library (MSS. 920). I am indebted
to my friend Dr James for the admirable translation which I here print.
[351] The words thus translated are: "Incipiendo graduum computacionem a
loco inferiori in altum procedendo videlicet ut gradus infimus qui primus
est sic signetur I."
[352] Dr James has pointed out (_Camb. Ant. Soc. Oct. Publ._, No. XXXII.)
that there are six MSS. from Dover Priory among Archbishop Parker's MSS.
at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The first of these--a Bible in two
volumes--is entered in the catalogue of the Priory as A. 1. 2, 3--that is
to say it was in _distinctio_ A, _gradus_ 1, and the volumes stood second
and third in the _gradus_.
[353] See above, p. 112.
[354] The words are: "contient de longueur LXIII passees, et de largeur
XVII passees." I have taken one pace=3 feet.
[355] _Voyage Litteraire_, ed. 1717, Part I.. p. 102.
CHAPTER VI.
THE LECTERN-SYSTEM IN ITALY. LIBRARIES AT CESENA, AT THE CONVENT OF S.
MARK, FLORENCE, AND AT MONTE OLIVETO. VATICAN LIBRARY OF SIXTUS IV. DUCAL
LIBRARY AT URBINO. MEDICEAN LIBRARY, FLORENCE. SYSTEM OF CHAINING THERE
USED. CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDIEVAL LIBRARIES. NAMES OF MEDIEVAL BOOKCASES
AND BOOKSHELVES.
While the "stall-system" was being generally adopted in England and in
France, a different plan was being developed in Italy. It consisted in a
return to the "lectern-system," with the addition of a shelf below the
lectern, on which the books lay on their sides when not wanted; and an
ingenious combination of a seat for the reader with the desk and shelf.
The earliest library fitted up in this manner that I have been able to
discover is at Cesena, a city of north Italy between Forli and Ravenna. It
is practically in its original condition.
In the fifteenth century Cesena was governed by the powerful family of
Malatesta, one of whom, Domenico Malatesta Novello, built the library in
1452, and placed it under the charge of the convent of S. Francesco. Two
burghers were associated with the Friars in this duty. The library was
always public. It was designed by Matteo Nuzio of Fano, a celebrated
architect of the day, as we learn from an inscription originally inserted
into the wall on the right of the door of entrance, but now placed inside
the library:
MATHEVS. NVTIVS.
FANENSI EX VRBE. CREATVS.
DEDALVS ALTER. OPVS.
TANTVM. DEDVXIT. AD VNGVEM.
[Illustration: Figs. 90, 91. Ground-plan and section of Library at
Cesena.]
[Illustration: Fig. 92. General view of the Library at Cesena.
From a photograph.]
The general plan and arrangement will be readily understood from the
ground-plan (fig. 90), and the longitudinal section (fig. 91), copied on a
reduced scale from those given by the learned Giuseppe Maria Muccioli, who
published a catalogue of the MSS. in the library in 1780[356], and also
from the general view of the interior (fig. 92). It is a long narrow
building, 133 ft. 4 in. long, by 34 ft. broad[357], standing east and
west, so that its windows face north and south. It is on the first floor,
being built over some rooms which once belonged to the convent, and is
entered at the west end through a lofty marble doorway. Internally it is
divided into three aisles, of which the central is the narrowest, by two
rows of ten fluted marble columns. Against the side-walls and partly
engaged in them, are two rows of similar columns. The aisles are divided
by plain quadripartite vaults, resting partly on the central columns,
partly on those engaged in the side-walls, into eleven bays, each lighted
by two windows (fig. 91). These aisles are about 12 ft. wide. The central
aisle, 8 ft. 3 in. wide between the columns, has a plain barrel vault,
extending from end to end of the building.
The influence of the Renaissance may readily be detected in the
ornamentation of the columns, but traces of medieval forms still linger in
the room. If the central alley were wider it might be taken for the nave
of a basilica.
[Illustration: Fig. 93. Bookcases at west end of south side of Library,
Cesena.]
There are 29 bookcases in each aisle. Between each pair of cases there is
a wooden floor, raised 3 1/2 in. above the general level of the room; and
there is an interval of 2 ft. 3 in. between the cases and the wall, so
that access may be readily obtained to them from either end. The room is
paved with unglazed tiles.
The westernmost bay is empty (fig. 90), being used as a vestibule, and
the first bookcase, if I may be allowed the expression, on each side, is
really not a bookcase but a seat (fig. 93)[358].
[Illustration: Fig. 94. Part of a bookcase at Cesena to shew the system of
chaining.]
The construction of these cases is most ingenious, both as regards
convenience and economy of space. If they were designed by the architect
who built the room, he must have been a man of no ordinary originality.
Each piece of furniture consists of a desk to lay the books on when wanted
for use, a shelf for those not immediately required, and a seat for the
reader, whose comfort is considered by a gentle slope in the back (fig.
93). At the end next the central alley is a panel containing the heraldic
devices of the Malatesta family.
The principal dimensions of each case are as follows:
Length 10 ft. 2 1/2 in.
Height 4 ft. 2 1/4 in.
Width of seat 3 ft. 1 in.
Width of foot-rest 11 in.
Height 3 1/2 in.
Height of seat from ground 1 ft. 10 1/2 in.
Width 1 ft. 4 in.
Distance from desk to desk 4 ft. 1 in.
Angle of slope of desk 45 deg.
The books are still attached to the desks by chains. The bar which carries
them is in full view just under the ledge of the desk (fig. 94), inserted
into massive iron stanchions nailed to the underside of the desk. There
are four of these: one at each end of the desk, and one on each side of
the central standard. The bar is locked by means of a hasp attached to the
standard in which the lock is sunk.
The chains are of a novel form (fig. 95). Each link, about 2 1/4 in. long,
consists of a solid central portion, which looks as though it were cast
round a bent wire, the ends of which project beyond the solid part. The
chain is attached to the book by an iron hook screwed into the lower edge
of the right-hand board near the back.
[Illustration: Fig. 95. Piece of a chain, Cesena.]
[Illustration: Fig. 96. Chained book at Ghent.]
The volume which I figure next (fig. 96), entitled _Lumen animae seu liber
moralitatum_, was printed at Eichstaedt in Bavaria, in 1479. M. Ferd.
Vander Haeghen, librarian of Ghent, bought it in Hungary a few years
since, and gave it to the library which he so ably directs. The chain is
just 24 in. long. The links, of which there are ten, are slightly
different from any which I have figured, each link being compressed in the
middle so that the two sides touch each other. There is no ring, but a
link, rather larger than the rest, is passed round the bar. It will be
observed that the chain is fastened to the left-hand board, and not to the
right-hand board as in Italy. The presence of a title written on
parchment kept in place by strips of leather, and five bosses of copper,
shew that the left-hand board was uppermost on the desk. The position of
the chain shews that when it was attached the book was intended to lie on
a desk, where the bar must have been in front of, or below, the desk; but
there is also a scar on the upper edge of the right-hand board, which
shews that at some previous period it lay on a desk of what I may call the
Zutphen type, where the bar was above the sloping surface.
With the library at Cesena may be compared that attached to the Dominican
Convent of S. Mark at Florence, built in 1441 for Cosmo dei Medici--the
first public library in Italy. It is on the first floor, and is approached
by a staircase from the cloister. It is 148 ft. long by 34 ft. 6 in.
wide[359], divided into three aisles by two rows of eleven columns. The
central aisle, 9 ft. wide between the columns, has a plain barrel vault;
the side aisles, 11 ft. wide, have quadripartite vaults. In each of the
side-walls there are twelve windows. In all these details the library
resembles that at Cesena so closely that I cannot help suspecting that
Malatesta or his architect may have copied it.
The original fittings have been removed, but we learn from the
catalogue[360] that the books were originally contained in 64 _banchi_,
half of which were on the east side and half on the west side of the room.
There was an average of about sixteen books to each _banchus_. The
catalogue also mentions a Greek library, which had seven _banchi_ on each
side. This was probably a separate room.
There is a similar library at the Benedictine Convent of Monte Oliveto,
near Siena, but it is on a much smaller scale. Like the others, it is
divided into three aisles by two rows of six columns. The central aisle
has a barrel vault, and the side aisles quadripartite vaults. It is 85 ft.
long by 32 ft. broad. There are seven windows on one side only. At the end
of the library, approached by a flight of thirteen stairs, is a room of
the same width and 21 ft. long, which may have been used as an inner
library. An inscription over the door of entrance records that this
library was built in 1516[361].
While discussing the arrangements of Italian libraries, I must not omit
that at the Convent of S. Francis at Assisi[362]. The catalogue, dated 1
January, 1381, shews that the library, even at that comparatively early
date, was in two divisions: (1) for the use of the brethren; (2) for loans
to extraneous persons. This catalogue, after a brief preface stating that
it includes "all the books belonging to the library of the Holy Convent of
S. Francis at Assisi, whether they be chained, or whether they be not
chained," begins as follows:
In the first place we make a list of the books which are
chained to benches (_banchi_) in the Public Library as
follows, and observe that all the leaves of all the
books which are in this catalogue, whether they are in
quires of 12, 10, 8, or any other number of leaves
larger or smaller,--every one of these books contains
the denomination of the quires, as appears in the first
quire of each book on the lower margin: all the quires
being marked at beginning and end in black and red with
the figure here shewn, and the number of the quire
within it.
[Illustration]
Moreover, the letters of the alphabet that are placed on
the top of the covers ought all to be fairly large and
entirely black, as marked below [in this catalogue] at
the end of each book[363].
This introduction is succeeded by the list of books. They are chained to
nine benches on the west side of a room, and to the same number on the
east side. The total is 170.
The second part of the catalogue has the following heading:
In the name of the Lord, Amen. Here begins the list of
all the books which are in the Reserved Library
(_libraria secreta_) of the Holy Convent of S. Francis
at Assisi, appointed to be lent to prelates, masters,
readers, bachelors, and all other brethren in orders,
according as the amount of knowledge or line of study of
each demands them.
This part of the collection is contained in eleven presses (for which the
unusual word _solarium_[364] is used) arranged along the east and west
walls of a room, but whether the same as the last we are not informed. The
number of manuscripts is 530.
A considerable number of the manuscripts here registered still exists.
They are well taken care of in the Town Hall, and a list of them has been
privately printed. Several are in their original condition, bound in
boards about a quarter of an inch thick, covered with white leather. The
title, written on a strip of parchment, is pasted on the top of the
right-hand board. It usually begins with a capital letter in red or black,
denoting the desk or press in which a given MS. would be found, thus:
F Postilla Magistri
Nicolai de lyra super psalmos
reponatur uersus orientem in banco vj^o.
In the next place I will tell at length the story of the establishment of
the Vatican Library by Pope Sixtus IV., as it is both interesting in
itself and useful for my present purpose[365].
The real founder of the Vatican Library, as we understand the term, was
Nicholas V. (1447-1455), but he was unable to do more than collect books,
for which no adequate room was provided till the accession of Sixtus IV.
in 1471. In December of that year, only four months after his election,
his chamberlain commissioned five architects to quarry and convey to the
palace a supply of building-stone "for use in a certain building there to
be constructed for library-purposes[366]"; but the scheme for an
independent building, as indicated by the terms here employed, was soon
abandoned, and nothing was done for rather more than three years. In the
beginning of 1475, however, a new impulse was given to the work by the
appointment of Bartolommeo Platina as Librarian (28 February)[367]; and
from that date until Platina's death in 1481 it went forward without let
or hindrance. This distinguished man of letters seems to have enjoyed the
full confidence of the Pope, to have been liberally supplied with funds,
and to have had a free hand in the employment of craftsmen and artists to
furnish and decorate his Library. It is pleasant to be able to record that
he lived to see his work completed, and all the books under his charge
catalogued. The enumeration of the volumes contained in the different
stalls, closets, and coffers, with which the catalogue of 1481 concludes,
is headed by a rubric, which records, with pathetic simplicity, the fact
that it was drawn up "by Platina, librarian, and Demetrius of Lucca his
pupil, keeper, on the 14th day of September, 1481, only eight days before
his death[368]."
[Illustration: Fig. 98. Ground-plan of the rooms in the Vatican Palace
fitted up for library-purposes by Sixtus IV.
E. Wilson, Cambridge]
It is evident that the Library had suffered considerably from the
negligence of those in whose charge it had been. Many volumes were
missing, and those that remained were in bad condition. Platina and his
master set to work energetically to remedy these defects. The former
engaged a binder, and bought materials for his use[369]; the latter issued
a Bull (30 June) of exceptional severity[370]. After stating that "certain
ecclesiastical and secular persons, having no fear of God before their
eyes, have taken sundry volumes in theology and other faculties from the
library, which volumes they still presume rashly and maliciously to hide
and secretly to detain"; such persons are warned to return the books in
question within forty days. If they disobey they are _ipso facto_
excommunicated. If they are clerics they shall be incapable of holding
livings, and if laymen, of holding any office. Those who have knowledge of
such persons are to inform against them. The effect produced by this
document has not been recorded; nor are we told what the extent of the
loss was. It could hardly have been very extensive, for a catalogue which
Platina prepared, or perhaps only signed, on the day of his election,
enumerates 2527 volumes, of which 770 were Greek and 1757 Latin[371]. The
number of the latter had more than doubled in the twenty years that had
elapsed since the death of Nicholas V., an augmentation due, in all
probability, to the activity of Sixtus himself.
The place selected to contain this extensive collection was the
ground-floor of a building which had been erected by Nicholas V. and
subsequently used as a provision store. The position of it, and its
relations to neighbouring structures, will be understood from the
accompanying plan (fig. 97), which I borrow from M. Fabre's paper. In
order to shew how the building was arranged when it was first built,
before other structures abutted against it, I have prepared a second plan
(fig. 98) drawn from measurements taken by myself.
[Illustration: Fig. 97. Ground-plan of part of the Vatican Palace, shewing
the building of Nicholas V., as arranged for library purposes by Sixtus
IV., and its relation to the surrounding structures.
From Letarouilly, _Le Vatican_, fol. Paris, 1882; as reproduced by M.
Fabre.]
The floor is divided into four rooms by party-walls which are probably
older than 1475, but which are proved, by the catalogue of 1481, to have
been in existence at that period. The first of these rooms, entered
directly from the court, contained the Latin Library; the second, the
Greek Library. These two, taken together, formed the Common, or Public,
Library (_Bibliotheca communis_, _B. publica_, or merely _Bibliotheca_).
Next to this room, or these rooms, was the _Bibliotheca secreta_ or
Reserved Library, in which the more precious MSS. were kept apart from the
others. The fourth room, which was not fitted up till 1480 or 1481, was
called _Bibliotheca pontificia_. In addition to MSS. it contained the
papal archives and registers (_Regesta_). In the catalogue dated 1512 it
is called _Intima et ultima secretior bibliotheca_, and seems to have
contained the most valued treasures. This quadripartite division is
commemorated by Aurelio Brandolini (Epigram XII.)[372]. After alluding to
the founders of some of the famous libraries of antiquity, he says in
conclusion:
Bibliotheca fuit, fateor, sua cuique, sed vna.
Sixte pater vincis: quatuor vnus habes.
Thanks to the care with which Platina set down his expenditure, we are
able to follow step by step the gradual transformation of the rooms. His
account-books[373], begun 30 June 1475, record, with a minuteness as rare
as it is valuable, his transactions with the different artists and workmen
whom he thought proper to employ. It was evidently intended that the
library should be beautiful as well as useful, and some of the most
celebrated artists of the day were set to work upon it.
The librarian prudently began in August, 1475, by increasing the light,
and a new window was made "on the side next the court." It seems to have
been impossible to get either workmen or materials in Rome; both were
supplied from a distance. For the windows, glass, lead and solder were
brought from Venice, and a German, called simply Hormannus, i.e. Hermann,
was hired to glaze them. For the internal decoration two well-known
Florentine artists--the brothers Ghirlandajo--were engaged, with Melozzo
da Forli, who was painting there in 1477[374]. In 1476 the principal
entrance was decorated with special care. Marble was bought for the
doorcase, and the door itself was studded with 95 bronze nails, which were
gilt, as were also the ring and knocker, and the frame of trellised
ironwork (_cancellus_), which hung within the outer door.
The building is entered from the _Cortile del Papagallo_[375] through a
marble doorway (fig. 98, A) in the classical style surmounted by the arms
of Sixtus IV. On the frieze are the words SIXTUS PAPA IIII. The doorcase
is doubtless that made in 1476; but the door, with its gilt nails and
other adornments, has disappeared. Within the doorway there has been a
descent of three steps at least to the floor of the Library[376]. The four
rooms of which it was once composed are now used as the _Floreria_ or
_Garde-meuble_ of the Vatican Palace; a use to which they have probably
been put ever since the new Library was built at the end of the sixteenth
century.
The Latin Library, into which the door from the court opens directly, is a
noble room, 58 ft. 9 in. long, 34 ft. 8 in. wide, and about 16 ft. high to
the spring of the vault. In the centre is a square pier, which carries the
four plain quadripartite vaults, probably of brick, covered with plaster.
The room is at present lighted by two windows (B, C) in the north wall,
and by another, of smaller size, above the door of entrance (A). That this
latter window was inserted by Sixtus IV., is proved by the presence of his
arms above it on a stone shield. This is probably the window "next the
court" made in 1475. The windows in the north wall are about 8 ft. high by
5 ft. broad, and their sills are 7 ft. above the floor of the room.
Further, there were two windows in the west wall (_b_, _c_) a little
smaller than those in the north wall, and placed at a much lower level,
only a few feet above the floor. These were blocked when the Torre Borgia
was built by Alexander VI. (1492-1503), but their position can still be
easily made out. This room must have been admirably lighted in former
days.
The room next to this, the Greek Library, is 28 ft. broad by 34 ft. 6 in.
long. It is lighted by a window (fig. 98, D) in the north wall, of the
same size as those of the Latin Library, and by another (_ibid._, E) a
good deal smaller, opposite to it. This room was originally entered from
the Latin Library by a door close to the north wall (_d_). But, in
1480[377], two large openings (_e_, _f_) were made in the partition-wall,
either because the light was found to be deficient, or because it was
thought best to throw the two rooms into one as far as possible. At some
subsequent date the door (_d_) was blocked up, and the opening next to it
(_e_) was carried down to the ground, so as to do duty as a door. The
other opening (_f_), about 7 ft. 6 in. square, remains as constructed.
The decorative work of the brothers Ghirlandajo can still be made out, at
least in part, though time has made sad havoc with it. The edges of the
vaulting were made prominent by classical moldings coarsely drawn in a
dark colour; and at the key of each vault is a large architectural
ornament, or coat of arms, surrounded by a wreath of oak-leaves and
acorns, to commemorate the Della Rovere family. They are tied together on
each side with long flaunting ribbons, which, with their shadows, extend
for a considerable distance over the vaults. The semi-circular lunettes in
the upper part of the wall under the vaults are all treated alike, except
that those on the sides of the room, being larger than those at the ends
(fig. 98), contain two subjects instead of one. The lower part, for about
3 feet in height, is painted to represent a solid marble balcony, behind
which a Doctor or Prophet is supposed to be standing. He is visible from
rather below the waist upwards, and holds in his hand a scroll bearing an
appropriate text. On each side of the figure in the smaller lunettes,
resting on the balcony, is a large vase of flowers; and behind it a clear
sky. Round the upper edge of the lunette is a broad band of oak-leaves,
and fruits of various kinds. The figures, of which there were evidently
twelve originally, are the following, beginning with the one at the
north-east corner over the door leading into the Greek Library, and
proceeding to the right:
1. HIERONYMUS. _Scientiam scripturarum ama, et vitia carnis non amabis._
2. GREGORIUS. _Dei sapientiam sardonyco et zaphyro non confer._
3. THOMAS. _Legend illegible._
4. BONAVENTURA. _Fructus scripturae est plenitudo aeternae felicitatis._
5. ARISTOTELES. }
}
6. DIOGENES. }
}
7. CLEOBULUS. }
} _Legends illegible._
8. ANTISTHENES. }
}
9. SOCRATES. }
}
10. PLATO. }
11. AUGUSTINUS. _Nihil beatius est quam semper aliquid legere aut
scribere._
12. AMBROSIUS. _Diligentiam circa scripturas sanctorum posui._
Jerome and Gregory occupy the east wall; Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventura
the first lunette on the south wall, over the door of entrance; Aristotle
and Diogenes the next, succeeded by Cleobulus and Antisthenes on the west
wall; on the first lunette on the north wall are Socrates and Plato; in
the second Augustine and Ambrose, facing Aquinas and Bonaventura. Thus the
eastern half of the library was presided over by doctors of the Christian
Church, the western by pagan philosophers.
The space on the north wall (_gh_), nearly opposite to the door of
entrance, was occupied by the fresco on which Melozzo da Forli was working
in 1477. It was intended to commemorate the establishment of the Library
in a permanent home by Sixtus the Fourth. The Pope is seated on the right
of the spectator. On his right stands his nephew, Cardinal Pietro Riario,
and before him, his head turned towards the Pope, to whom he seems to be
speaking, another nephew, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Pope
Julius the Second. At the feet of the Pope kneels Bartolommeo Platina, the
newly appointed Librarian, who is pointing with the forefinger of his
right hand to the inscription below the fresco. Behind Platina are two
young men with chains of office round their necks. The inscription, said
to have been written by Platina himself, is as follows:
TEMPLA, DOMUM EXPOSITIS[378], VICOS, FORA, MOENIA, PONTES,
VIRGINEAM TRIVII QUOD REPARARIS AQUAM,
PRISCA LICET NAUTIS STATUAS DARE MUNERA PORTUS,
ET VATICANUM CINGERE, SIXTE, JUGUM,
PLUS TAMEN URBS DEBET; NAM QUAE SQUALORE LATEBAT
CERNITUR IN CELEBRI BIBLIOTHECA LOCO.
The fresco is now in the Vatican picture-gallery. It was transferred to
canvas soon after 1815, when the present gallery was formed, and has
suffered a good deal from what is called restoration[379].
The decoration of the Greek Library is not alluded to in the
Accounts[380]; but it is easy to see that the lunettes have been
ornamented on the same system as those of the Latin Library, but without
figures; for their decoration still exists, though much damaged by time
and damp. Below the lunettes the walls are covered with whitewash, under
which some decoration is evidently concealed. The whitewash has peeled off
in some places, and colour is beginning to make its appearance.
The _Bibliotheca secreta_ is 20 ft. wide by 38 ft. 6 in. long. It is
lighted by a single window in the north wall (fig. 98, F), of the same
size and shape as the rest. The light is sufficient, even under present
conditions.
The fourth and last room--spoken of in 1480 as "that addition which our
Master lately made"--is 29 ft. wide by 40 ft. 6 in. long. It is at present
lighted by only a single window in the north wall (fig. 98, G), and is
very gloomy. But in former days, before Julius II. (1503-1513) built the
_Cortile di San Damaso_, it had another window in the middle of the east
wall (_ibid._, H), where there is now a door. Nothing certain can be made
out about its decoration.
It is much to be regretted that so little is said about the glazing of the
windows throughout the Library. Great care was evidently bestowed upon
them, and the engagement of foreign artists, with the purchase of glass at
Venice, are proofs that something specially beautiful was intended.
Coloured glass is mentioned, which may have been used either for coats of
arms--and we know that the Papal Arms were to be set up in the
_Bibliotheca secreta_--or for subjects. But, in forming conjectures as to
the treatment of these windows, it should be remembered that the
transmission of light must always have been the first consideration, and
that white glass must have preponderated.
The rooms for the Librarian and his assistants were in a small building
which abutted on the Library at its S.W. corner, and stood between the two
courts, obtaining light from each. Over the door of entrance was the
inscription:
SIXTUS . IIII . PONT . MAX.
BIBLIOTECARIO . ET . CVSTODIBVS . LOCVM . ADDIXIT[381].
The accommodation provided was not magnificent, two rooms only being
mentioned. A door (fig. 98, _a_), now blocked, gave access to the Library
from this building. It is interesting to note, as a proof of the richness
of all the work, that it was of inlaid wood (_pino intarsiata_).
The work of fitting up this Library occupied about six years. It began in
September 1475, and proceeded continuously to January 1477, when Melozzo's
fresco was in progress. In December of that year the windows of the
_Bibliotheca secreta_ were begun; but during 1478 and 1479 nothing was
done. In 1480 work was resumed, and the last payment to painters was made
in 1481.
Let us now consider how these rooms were fitted up for the reception of
books. I will first collect the notices in the Accounts respecting desks,
or _banchi_, as they are called, and then compare them with the rooms
themselves, and with the descriptions in the catalogues, which are
fortunately extremely full; and I think that it will be possible to give a
clear and consistent picture of the arrangements.
Platina ordered the desks for the Latin Library first, in 1475. This is
set down in the following terms:
I have counted out, in the presence of Clement, steward
of the household of His Holiness our Master, Salvatus
the library-keeper (_librarius_), and Demetrius the
reader (_lector_), 45 ducats to Francis the carpenter of
Milan, now dwelling in the fishmarket of the city of
Rome, towards making the desks in the library; and
especially ten desks which stand on the left hand, the
length of which is 38 palms or thereabouts; and so
having received a part of the money, the total of which
is 130 ducats, he promises and binds himself to do that
which it is his duty to do, this 15th day of July,
1475[382].
The full name of this carpenter is known, from his receipts, to have been
Francesco de Gyovane di Boxi da Milano. He received in all 300 ducats
instead of the 130 mentioned in the first agreement, and when the last
payment was made to him, 7 June, 1476, the following explanatory note is
given:
Moreover I have paid to the same [Francis the carpenter]
30 ducats for what remains due on 25 desks for the
Library: for the longer ones, which are 10 in number,
there were paid, as entered above, 130 ducats; for the
rest there were paid 170 ducats, making a total of 300
ducats, and so he has been paid in full for all the
desks, this 7th day of June, 1476[383].
In 1477 the furniture for the next room, the _Bibliotheca secreta_ or
Inner Library, was begun. The work was entrusted to a Florentine, called
in the Accounts merely _Magister Joanninus faber lignarius de Florentia_,
but identified by M. Fabre with Giovannino dei Dolci, one of the builders
of the Sistine chapel. The most important entry referring to him is the
following:
Master Giovannino, carpenter of Florence, had from me
Platyna, librarian of His Holiness our Master, for
making the desks in the inner library, for the great
press, and the settle, in the said room--all of which
were estimated by Master Francis of Milan at one hundred
and eighty ducats--he had, as aforesaid, sixty-five
ducats and sixty groats on the 7th May, 1477[384].
The last payment on this account was made 18 March, 1478, on which day he
also received eight ducats for three frames "to contain the names of the
books," and for some repairs to old desks[385]. These frames were painted
by one of Melozzo da Forli's workmen[386]. In February, 1481, 12
book-chests were supplied[387].
The desks for the fourth room or _Bibliotheca pontificia_ were ordered in
1480-81. The workmen employed were Giovannino and his brother Marco.
Master Giovannino of Florence and Master Marco his
brother, a carpenter, received XXV ducats in part
payment for the desks which are being made in the
library now added by His Holiness our Master, 18 July,
1480[388].
These workmen received 100 ducats up to 7 April, 1481, but the account was
not then settled. Up to this period the bookcases had cost the large sum
of 580 ducats or, if the value of the ducat be taken at six shillings and
sixpence, L188 10_s._ of our money.
The purchase of chains began in January 1476[389]. It is worth notice that
so simple an article as a chain for a book could not be bought in Rome,
but had to be sent for from Milan; where, by the way, the dues exacted by
the government made the purchase irksome and costly. The total number of
chains bought was 1728, and the total cost 102 ducats, or rather more than
L33. The rings were found to be too small, and were altered in Rome.
Nothing is said about the place from which the rods came (_ferramenta
quibus catenae innituntur_).
In 1477 (14 April) "John the chain-maker (_Joannes fabricator catenarum_)"
supplies "48 iron rods on which the books are strung on the seats[390]"
and also 48 locks, evidently connected with the same number of rods
supplied before. In the same year a key-maker (_magister clavium_)
supplies 22 locks for the seats and cupboards in the _Bibliotheca
secreta_[391]; and in 1480, when the _Bibliotheca pontficia_ was being
fitted up, keys, locks, chains, and other ironwork were supplied by
Bernardino, nephew of John of Milan[392].
For further information we must turn to the catalogues. For my present
purpose the first of these[393] is that by Platina, of which I have
already spoken, dated 14 September, 1481. It is a small folio volume,
written on vellum, with gilt edges, and in plain binding that may be
original. The first page has a lovely border of an enlaced pattern with
the arms of Sixtus IV. in a circle at the bottom.
The compiler of the catalogue goes through the library case by case,
noting (at least in the Latin Library) the position of the case, the
subjects of the books contained in it, and their titles. This is succeeded
by an enumeration of the number of volumes, so as to shew, in a couple of
pages, how many the whole Library contained. MM. Muentz and Fabre print
this enumeration, but, so far as I know, the catalogue itself has not as
yet been printed by any one. For my present purpose I shall combine the
headings of the catalogue, the subjects, and the number of the volumes, as
follows:
Inventarium Bibliothecae Palatinae Divi Sexti Quarti Pont. Max.
[I. LATIN LIBRARY.]
Ad sinistram ingredientibus
In primo banco. [_Bibles and Commentaries_] 51
In secundo banco. _Hieronymus. Augustinus_ 55
In tertio banco. _Augustinus. Ambrosius. Gregorius_ 47
In quarto banco. _Ioannes Chrysostomus_ 50
In quinto banco. _Thomas_ 47
In sexto banco. _In Theologia. In divino officio_ 54
In septimo banco. _Ius canonicum_ 43
In octauo banco. _Ius canonicum_ 41
In nono banco. _Ius civile_ 42
----430
In primo banco ad dextram ingredientibus. _Philosophi_ 53
In secundo banco. _Astrologi. In Medicina_ 48
In tertio banco. _Poetae_ 41
In quarto banco. _Oratores_ 43
In quinto banco. _Historici_ 33
In sexto banco. _Historici ecclesiastici_ 48
In septimo banco. _Grammatici_ 47
----313
[II. GREEK LIBRARY.]
In primo banco Bibliothecae Grecae. _Testamentum
vetus et novum_ 42
In secundo banco. _Auctores clariores [Fathers]_ 31
In tertio banco. _Auctores clariores_ 46
In quarto banco. _Auctores clariores_ 49
In quinto banco. _Ius civile et canonicum_ 58
In sexto banco. _In Philosophia_ 59
In septimo banco. _Oratores et Rhetores_ 57
In octauo banco. _Historici. Poetae et Grammatici_ 58
----400
[III. INNER LIBRARY.]
[A. BANCHI.]
In primo banco Bibliothecae Secretae. [_Bibles, Fathers,
etc._] 29
In secundo banco. _In Theologia_ 37
In tertio banco. _In Philosophia_ 41
In quarto banco. _Ius canonicum_ 20
In quinto banco. _Concilia_ 34
In sexto banco. _In Astrologia. In Hebraico. In
Dalmatico. In Arabico_ 29
----190
[B. ARMARIUM.]
In primo armario Bibliothecae Secretae. _Libri sacri
et in divino officio_ 173
In secundo armario. _Ius canonicum. Ius civile_ 148
In tertio armario. _Expositiones. In sententiis. Poetae
Grammatici et Historici Greci_ 242
In quarto armario. _In medicina. Mathematici et
Astrologi. Ius canonicum et civile. Oratores et
Rhetores. Platonis Opera. In Philosophia_ 186
In quinto armario. _Auctores clariores_ 89
----938
[C. CAPSAE.]
In prima capsa primi banchi Bibliothecae Secretae.
_In Theologia_ 107
In secunda capsa primi banchi. _Diversa facultas_
[_Miscellanea_] 66
In prima capsa secundi banchi. [_Privileges and Royal
Letters in_ 3 _volumes_] 3
In secunda capsa secundi banchi. [_Miscellanea_] 124
In prima capsa tertii banchi. _Philosophi_ 90
In secunda capsa tertii banchi [00]
In prima capsa quarti banchi. _Historici_ 65
In secunda capsa quarti banchi [00]
In prima capsa quinti banchi. [_Official forms_] 43
In secunda capsa quinti banchi. _In Arabico_ 23
In prima capsa sexti banchi. _In Historia
ecclesiastica. Ceremonialia_ 67
In secunda capsa sexti banchi. _Libri sine nomine
ad quinquaginta parvi et modici quidem valoris_ 50
----638
[D. SPALERA.]
In prima capsa spalerae Bibliothecae Secretae. _In
Poesi. Oratores Rhetores_ 69
In secunda capsa. _In divino officio et sermones_ 59
In tertia capsa. _Concilia et Canon. De potestate
ecclesiastica_ 54
In quarta et ultima capsa. _In Medicina. In
Astrologia_ 34
----216
[IV. BIBLIOTHECA PONTIFICIA.]
[A. BANCHI.]
In primo banco Bibliothecae Pontificiae. _Testamentum
vetus et novum_ 19
In secundo banco. _Expositores_ 22
In tertio banco. _Augustinus_ 14
In quarto banco. _Hieronymus_ 23
In quinto banco. _In Theologia_ 22
In sexto banco. _In Theologia_ 18
In septimo banco. _Thomas_ 23
In octavo banco. _In Philosophia_ 29
In nono banco. [_Greek and Latin Classics_] 25
In decimo banco. _Ius canonicum_ 28
In undecimo banco. [_Civil Law_] 17
In duodecimo banco. [_New Testament. Fathers_] 19
----259
[B. SPALERA.]
Regestra Pontificum hic descripta in capsis Spalerae
Bibliothecae Pontificiae per Platinam Bibliothecarium
ex ordine recondita et in capsa prima 21
In secunda capsa Spalerae Bibliothecae Pontificiae 47
In tertia capsa Bibliothecae Pont. Regestra recondita
par Platynam Bibliothecarium 16
In quarta capsa Spalerae Bibliothecae Pontificiae Regestra
recondita 16
In quinta capsa Spalerae Bibliothecae Pontificiae Regestra
recondita 15
These lists give the following results:
Latin Library, left hand, 9 seats 430
" " right " 7 " 313
----743
Greek Library 8 " 400
Inner " 6 " 190
Armaria 938
Capsae 638
Spalera 216
----1982
Bibliotheca Pontificia 12 seats 259
5 Capsae (Regestra) 115
----374
----
Total 3499
Before proceeding farther, it should be noticed that, on a rough average,
each seat in the Latin Library, left hand, contained 47 volumes, and in
the same Library, right hand, 43 volumes. In the Greek Library, each seat
contained 50 volumes; in the Inner Library, 31 volumes; in the
_Bibliotheca pontificia_, 21 volumes.
In the next place I will give the results of the examination of a
catalogue[394] of the Library, which M. Fabre, with much probability,
assigns to the year 1512[395]. It begins as follows with the Latin
Library:
Ad sinistra' Pontificis bibliothecam introeuntibus
In primo scanno supra [27]
" " infra [27]
Finis primi scanni sub et supra [54]
The nine seats (_banchi_) of the left side of the Latin Library are gone
through in the same way as the first, with the result that each is shewn
to have two shelves. The total number of books is 457, or 27 more than in
1481.
On the opposite, or right-hand side of the Library, the first two seats
have three shelves, and are described as follows:
In primo scanno supra [22]
" " infra [27]
" eodem scanno inferius siue sub infra [26]
Finis primi scanni sub et subter [75]
On this side of the Latin Library the number of books has risen to 360 as
against 313 of the previous catalogue.
In the Greek Library there are similarly two shelves to each seat, and the
total number of volumes is 407 as against 400.
The account of the Inner Library begins as follows:
In secretiori bibliotheca
In iij^o. scanno supra. [16]
" " infra [17]
" " inferius siue sub infra [21]
Three of the seats have three shelves; the rest two; and the total number
of volumes has become 222 as against 190: or, an average of 37 to each
seat.
The _Bibliotheca pontificia_ is introduced with the following heading:
In intima et ultima secretiori bibliotheca ubi libri
sunt pretiosiores.
Each seat has two shelves, and the total number of volumes is 277 as
against 259 in 1481. Among the MSS. occurs "Virgilius antiquus litteris
maiusculis"--no doubt the Vatican Virgil (_Codex romanus_), a volume which
fully justifies its place among those termed _libri pretiosiores_.
This catalogue closes with the following sentence:
Finis totius Bibliothece Pontificie: viz. omnium
scamnorum tam Latinorum quam Grecorum in prima, secunda,
tertia, et quarta eius distinctione et omnium omnino
librorum: exceptis armariis et capsis: et iis libris,
qui Graeci ex maxima parte, in scabellis parieti
adherentibus in intima ac penitissima Bibliothece parte
sunt positi. Deo Laudes et Gratias.
The increase between 1481 and 1512 in the number of volumes in the parts
of the Library defined in the above catalogue will be best understood from
the following table, which shews that 131 volumes had been added in 31
years.
1481 1512
Latin Library 743 817
Greek " 400 407
Bibliotheca secreta 190 222
" pontificia 259 277
---- ----
Total 1592 1723
Another catalogue, unfortunately without date[396], but which has every
appearance of belonging to the same period, notes the rooms as the
_Bibliotheca magna publica_, i.e. the Latin and Greek Libraries taken
together, the _Bibliotheca parva secreta_, and the _Bibliotheca magna
secreta_.
The catalogue drawn up by Zenobio Acciaioli, 12 October, 1518[397], offers
no peculiarity except that in the Inner Library each seat is noted as
having three rows of books, thus:
In primo bancho bibliothece parve secrete
Infra in secundo ordine
" tertio "
[Illustration: Fig 99. Interior of the Library of Sixtus IV., as shewn in
a fresco in the Ospedale di Santo Spirito, Rome.
From a photograph taken by Danesi.]
We may now proceed to arrange the Library in accordance with the
information derived from the Accounts and the catalogues, compared with
the ground-plan (fig. 98).
These authorities shew that in each of the rooms the books were arranged
on what are called _banchi_, or as they would have been termed in England,
desks, or seats, to which the books were attached by chains. It is
obvious, therefore, that there must have been also seats for readers. A
piece of furniture fulfilling these conditions and constructed twenty-five
years earlier, is still to be seen at Cesena, as I have just explained.
Further, I have examined a good many manuscripts now in the Vatican
Library which formed part of the older collection; and wherever the mark
of the chain has not been obliterated by rebinding, it is in the precise
position required for the above system.
If I am right in supposing that the cases at Cesena are a survival of what
was once in general use, we should expect to find another example of them
in the Vatican; and that such was the case, is proved by the evidence of a
fresco in the Ospedale di Santo Spirito at Rome, representing the interior
of the library. This hospital was rebuilt by Sixtus IV. on an enlarged
scale[398], and after its completion in 1482, one of the halls on the
ground floor was decorated with a series of frescoes representing the
improvements which he had carried out in the city of Rome. Recent
researches[399] make it probable that the earlier pictures in the series
of which the library is one, were selected by Platina, and executed before
his death in 1481. I am able to present to my readers a reduced copy of
this invaluable record (fig. 99) executed for me by Signor Danesi, under
the kind superintendence of Father Ehrle.
The artistic merit of such a work as this is not great, but I feel sure
that the artist faithfully reproduced what he saw with the limitations
prescribed by his own want of skill. The desks bear a general resemblance
to those at Cesena; they are plainer than the Accounts would warrant, but
this may be due to want of skill on the part of the artist. The chains
have also been omitted either for the same reason or from a wish to avoid
detail. It will be noticed that each desk is fully furnished with volumes
laid out upon it, and that these vary in number and size, and have
different bindings. It may be argued that the artist wished to compliment
his patrons by making the most of their property; but I should be inclined
to maintain that this was the normal condition of the Library, and that
the books, handsomely bound and protected by numerous bosses of metal,
usually lay upon the desks ready for use.
If this fresco be compared with the earlier work of Melozzo da Forli, it
is not difficult to identify four of the persons present in the Library
(other than the readers). The central figure is obviously Sixtus IV., and
the Cardinal to whom he is speaking is, I think, meant for Giuliano della
Rovere, afterwards Julius II. The figure immediately behind the Pope may
be intended for Pietro Riario, and the figure behind him is certainly
Platina. The others, I take it, are simply attendants.
Nor must it be forgotten that, important as this fresco is in connexion
with the Library of the Vatican, it is of even greater interest as a
contemporary representation of a large fifteenth century library.
The arrangement of each room is not quite so simple as might appear at
first sight; and, besides the desks, there are other pieces of furniture
to be accounted for. We will therefore go through the rooms in order with
the ground-plan (fig. 98). On this plan the cases are coloured gray, the
readers' seats are indicated by transverse lines, and the intervals are
left white.
_Latin Library._ The Accounts tell us that there were 10 seats on the left
hand of the Latin Library, and that these were longer than the rest,
measuring 38 palms each, or about 27 ft. 9 in. English[400].
As the distance from the central pier to the west wall is just 27 ft. 6
in., it is obvious that the cases must have stood north and south--an
arrangement which is also convenient for readers, as the light would fall
on them from the left hand. For this reason I have placed the first desk
against the pier, the reader's seat being westward of it. A difficulty
now arises. It is stated in the Accounts that _ten banchi_ are paid for,
but all the catalogues mention only _nine_. I suggest that the explanation
is to be found in the fact that ten pieces of furniture do occur between
the pier and the wall, the first of which is a shelf and desk, and the
last a seat only. This arrangement is to be seen at Cesena and in the
Medicean Library at Florence. The room being 34 ft. 8 in. wide, space is
left for a passage along the south wall to the door (_a_) of the
Librarian's room, and also for another along the opposite ends of the
desks.
For the arrangement of the rest of the Library, the Accounts give a most
important piece of information. They tell us that the whole of the seats
for the Common Library, i.e. the Latin and Greek Libraries taken together,
25 in number, cost 300 ducats, of which sum the 10 long seats above
mentioned absorbed 130 ducats, leaving 170 to pay for the remaining 15.
From these data it is not difficult to calculate the cost of each palm,
and from that the number of palms that 170 ducats would buy. I make this
to be 510 palms, or about 373 feet[401].
It is, I think, obvious that there must have been some sort of vestibule
just inside the door of entrance, where students could be received, and
where they could consult the catalogue or the Librarian. Further, the
catalogues shew that the seven desks arranged in this part of the Library
were in all probability shorter than those of the opposite side, for they
contained fewer volumes. If we allow each of them 21 ft. 4 in. in length,
we shall dispose of 149 ft., which leaves 224 ft. for the 8 desks of the
Greek Library, or 28 ft. for each, with one foot over.
_Greek Library._ In this room there were eight seats, and, as explained
above, each was about 28 ft. long. The room being 28 ft. wide, this
number, with a width of 3 ft. for each, is very convenient, and leaves a
passage 4 ft. wide along the west wall. The length, moreover, does not
interfere with the passage from door to door, and leaves a short interval
between the ends of the desks and the opposite wall.
_Inner Library._ In this room space has to be provided for (1) six seats,
each holding on an average about 30 volumes; (2) a press (_armarium_) with
five divisions, and holding 938 volumes; (3) a settle (_spalera_); (4) 12
chests or coffers (_capsae_).
I have placed the _armarium_ at the end of the room, opposite the window.
In this position it can be allowed to be 20 ft. in width with 5 divisions,
each, we will suppose, about 4 ft. wide. Let us suppose further that it
was 7 ft. high, and had 6 shelves. If we allow 8 volumes to each foot,
each shelf would hold 32 volumes, and each division six times that number,
or 192. This estimate for each division will give a total of 960 volumes
for the five divisions, a number slightly in excess of that mentioned in
Platina's catalogue.