PRIVATE LIBRARIES. ABBAT SIMON AND HIS BOOK-CHEST. LIBRARY OF CHARLES V.
OF FRANCE. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS LIBRARY FROM ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS.
BOOK-LECTERN USED IN PRIVATE HOUSES. BOOK-DESKS REVOLVING ROUND A CENTRAL
SCREW. DESKS ATTACHED TO CHAIRS. WALL-CUPBOARDS. A SCHOLAR'S ROOM IN THE
FIFTEENTH CENTURY. STUDY OF THE DUKE OF URBINO. LIBRARY OF MONTAIGNE.
LIBRARY OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA. CONCLUSION.
In the previous chapters I have sketched the history of library-fittings
from the earliest times to the end of the eighteenth century. The
libraries to which these fittings belonged were, for the most part,
public, or as good as public. But, as in history we have recognised the
important fact that a record of battles and sieges and enactments in
Parliament gives an imperfect conception of the life of a people, so I
should feel that this archeological subject had been insufficiently
treated if I made no attempt to shew how private scholars disposed their
books, or with what appliances they used them. For instance, in what sort
of chair was the author of the _Philobiblon_ sitting when he wrote the
last words of his treatise, 24 January, 1345, and how was his study in his
palace at Auckland furnished? Further, how were private students bestowed
in the fifteenth century, when a love of letters had become general?
Lastly, how were libraries fitted up for private use in the succeeding
century, when the great people of the earth, like the wealthy Romans of
imperial times, added the pursuit of literature to their other fashions,
and considered a library to be indispensable in their luxurious palaces?
In the hope of obtaining reliable information on these interesting
questions, I have for some years past let no opportunity slip of examining
illuminated manuscripts. I have gone through a large number in the British
Museum, where research is aided by an excellent list of the subjects
illustrated; in the _Bibliotheque Nationale_, Paris; and in the
_Bibliotheque Royale_, Brussels, where the manuscripts are for the most
part those which once belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy. I have been
somewhat disappointed in this search, for, with the single exception of
the illustration from Boethius (fig. 63), I have not found any library,
properly so called. This is no doubt strange, having regard to the great
variety of scenes depicted. It must be remembered, however, that these are
used for the most part to illustrate some action that is going forward,
for which a library would be a singularly inappropriate background. Single
figures, on the other hand, are frequently shewn with their books about
them, either reading or writing. Such illustrations most frequently occur
in _Books of Hours_, in representations of the Evangelists; or in
portraits of S. Jerome, who is painted as a scholar at his desk surrounded
by piles of books and papers; and I think we may safely take these as
representations of ordinary scholars, because, by the beginning of the
fifteenth century, when most of the pictures to which I refer were drawn,
it had become the custom to surround even the most sacred personages with
the attributes of common life.
In the twelfth century, when books were few, they were kept in chests, and
the owners seem to have used the edge as a desk to lean their book on. My
illustration (fig. 134) shews Simon, Abbat of S. Albans 1167-1183, seated
in front of his book-chest[521]. The chest is set on a frame, so as to
raise it to a convenient height; and the Abbat is seated on one of those
folding wooden chairs which are not uncommon at the present day. Simon was
a great collector of books: "their number," writes his chronicler, "it
would take too long to name; but those who desire to see them can find
them in the painted aumbry in the church, placed as he specially directed
against the tomb of Roger the hermit[522]."
Chests, as we have seen above at the Vatican library, were used for the
permanent storage of books in the fifteenth century; and a book-chest
frequently formed part of the travelling luggage of a king. For example,
when Charles V. of France died, 16 September, 1380, at the Chateau de
Beaute-sur-Marne, thirty-one volumes were found in his chamber "in a chest
resting on two supports, which chest is by the window, near the fireplace,
and it has a double cover, and in one of the divisions of the said chest
were the volumes that follow." His son, Charles VI., kept the thirteen
volumes which he carried about with him in a carved chest, within which
was an inlaid box (_escrin marquete_) to contain the more precious
books[523].
[Illustration: Fig. 134. Simon, Abbat of S. Albans (1167-1183), seated at
his book-chest.
From MSS. Cotton.]
The earliest information about the furniture of a medieval private library
that I have as yet discovered is contained in a fragment of an
account-book recording the cost of fitting up a tower in the Louvre in
1367 and 1368, to contain the books belonging to Charles V. of France.
Certain pieces of woodwork in the older library in the palace on the Isle
de la Cite are to be taken down and altered, and set up in the new room.
Two carpenters are paid (14 March, 1367) for "having taken to pieces all
the cases (_bancs_) and two wheels (_roes_), which were in the king's
library in the palace, and transported them to the Louvre with the desks
(_lettrins_), and the aforesaid wheels, each made smaller by a foot all
round; and for having put all together again, and hung up the desks
(_lettrins_) in the two upper stages of the tower that looks toward the
Falconry, to put the king's books in; and for having panelled the first of
those two stories all round on the inside with wood from 'Illande,' at a
total cost of fifty francs of gold. Next, because the seats were too old,
they were remade of new timber which the aforesaid carpenters brought.
Also [they were paid] for two strong doors for the said two stories 7 ft.
high, 3 ft. broad, and 3 fingers thick." In the following year (4 May,
1368), a wire-worker (_cagetier_) is paid "for having made trellises of
wire in front of two casements and two windows ... to keep out birds and
other beasts (_oyscaux et autres bestes_), by reason of, and protection
for, the books that shall be placed there." The ceiling is said to have
been panelled in cypress wood ornamented with carvings[524].
The "tower that looks toward the Falconry" mentioned in the above
description has been identified with the north-west tower of the old
Louvre. The rooms fitted up as a library were circular, and about 14 feet
in diameter[525].
The above description of a library will be best explained by an
illumination (fig. 135) contained in Boccacio's _Livre des cas des
malheureux nobles hommes et femmes_, written and illuminated in Flanders
for King Henry the Seventh, and now in the British Museum[526]. Two
gentlemen are studying at a revolving desk, which can be raised or lowered
by a central screw. This is evidently the "wheel" of the French King's
library. Behind are their books, either resting on a desk hung against the
wall, which is panelled, or lying on a shelf beneath the desk. This piece
of furniture would be properly described either as a _banc_ or a
_lettrin_. It should be noted that care has been taken to keep the wheel
steady by supporting it on a solid base, beneath which are two strong
cross-pieces of timber, which also serve as a foot-rest for the readers.
The books on the desk set against the wall are richly bound, with bosses
of metal. Chaining was evidently not thought of, indeed I doubt if it was
ever used in a private library. The window is glazed throughout. In other
examples which I shall figure below we shall find a wire trellis used
instead of glass for part at least of the window.
My next illustration (fig. 136), also Flemish, is of the same date, from a
copy of the _Miroir historial_[527]. It represents a Carmelite monk,
probably the author of the book, writing in his study. Behind him are
three desks, one above the other, hung against the wall along two sides of
the room, with books bound and ornamented as in the former picture,
resting upon them, and beneath the lowest is a flat shelf or bench on
which a book rests upon its side. The desk he is using is not uncommon in
these illustrations. It is fixed on a solid base, which is further
strengthened, as in the example of the wheel-desk, by massive planks, to
guard against the slightest vibration; and it can be turned aside by means
of a limb--apparently of iron--which is first vertical, then horizontal,
then vertical again. The Carmelite holds in his left hand an instrument
for keeping the page perfectly flat. This instrument has usually a sharp
point with which any roughness on the page can be readily removed. The
volume he is using is kept open by two strings, to each of which a weight
is attached. Behind the desk, covered with a cloth, is a chest secured by
two locks. On this stands an object which appears to be a large magnifying
glass.
Sometimes the desk was carried round three sides of the room, with no
curtain to keep off dust, and with no shelf beneath it. The illustration
(fig. 137) is from a French translation of Valerius Maximus (1430-75) in
the Harleian Collection[528].
I now pass to a series of pictures which illustrate the daily life of a
scholar or a writer who had few books, but who could live in a certain
ease--allowing himself a chair and a desk. Of these desks there is an
infinite variety, dictated, I imagine, by the fashion prevalent in
particular places at particular times. I have tried to arrange them in
groups.
[Illustration: Fig. 136. A Carmelite in his study.
From a MS. of _Le Miroir Historial_ in the British Museum.]
[Illustration: Fig. 137. Three musicians in a library.
From a MS. of a French translation of _Valerius Maximus_, in the British
Museum.]
In the first place the chair is usually a rather elaborate piece of
furniture, with arms, a straight back, and, very frequently, a canopy. A
cushion to sit upon is sometimes permitted, but, as a general rule, these
chairs are destitute of stuffing, tapestry, or other device to conceal the
material of which they are made. Occasionally the canopy is richly carved
or painted in a pattern.
The commonest form of desk is a modification of the lectern-system. It
consists of a double lectern, beneath which is a row of cupboards, or
rather a shelf protected by several doors, one of which is always at the
end of the piece of furniture. The triangular space under the lectern is
also used for books. This device is specially commended by Richard de Bury
in the _Philobiblon_[529]. "Moses," says he, "the gentlest of men, teaches
us to make bookcases most neatly, wherein they may be protected from any
injury: _Take_, he says, _this book of the law, and put it in the side of
the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God_." My illustration (fig. 138)
is taken from an edition of the _Ship of Fools_, printed at Basle by
Nicolas Lamparter in 1507. In this example the desk with its cupboards
stands on a plinth, and this again on a broad step. Both are probably
introduced to ensure steadiness.
[Illustration: Fig. 138. A bibliomaniac at his desk.
From the _Ship of Fools_.]
The seated figure represents a bibliomaniac who treats his books as mere
curiosities from which he derives no mental improvement. He has put on his
spectacles and wielded his feather-brush, in order to dust the leaves of a
folio with greater care. Under the cut are the following explanatory
lines:
Qui libros tyriis vestit honoribus
Et blattas abijt puluerulentulas
Nec discens animum litterulis colit:
Mercatur nimia stultieiam stipe.
I append a rough translation:
Who clothes his books in Tyrian dyes,
Then brushes off the dust and flies,
Nor reads one line to make him wise,
Spends lavish gold and--FOLLY buys.
Such a desk as this was used in the succeeding century in at least two
libraries belonging to ladies of high rank. The first belonged to Margaret
of Austria, daughter of Maximilian, Emperor of Germany. She had been the
wife of Philibert II., Duke of Savoy, and after his death, 10 September,
1504, her father made her regent of the Netherlands. She died at Malines
30 November, 1530, at the age of fifty. She seems to have been a liberal
patroness of literature and the arts, and the beautiful church that she
built at Brou in memory of her husband bears witness to her architectural
taste and skill.
The inventory, out of which I hope to reconstruct her library, is dated 20
April, 1524[530]. It is headed: "Library," and begins with the following
entry: "The first desk (_pourpitre_) begins over the door, and goes all
round up to the fireplace." On this desk or shelf are enumerated fifty-two
volumes, all bound in velvet with gilt bosses. This entry is succeeded by:
"here follow the Books of Hours, being on a desk high up in continuation
of the preceding one between the windows and the fireplace." This desk
contains twenty-six volumes bound in velvet, red satin, or cloth of gold,
with gilt bosses.
We come next to "the first desk below (_d'ambas_) beginning near the door
at the first seat." This desk carries nine books, presumably on the
sloping portion, because we presently come to a paragraph headed "here
follow the books covered with leather &c., which are underneath the desks
beginning near the door." The author of the inventory then returns to the
first desk, and enumerates eleven volumes. He next goes round to "the
other side of the said desk," and enumerates thirteen volumes. In this
way six desks are gone through. All have books bound in black, blue,
crimson, or violet, velvet laid out upon them, while those in plainer
dress are consigned to the shelves beneath. It should be added that the
fourth desk is described as being near the fireplace (_empres la
chemynee_).
The desks having been gone through, we come to "the books which are within
the iron trellis beginning near the door." This piece of furniture
contained twenty-seven volumes.
The number of books accommodated in the whole room was as follows:
First shelf 52
Second shelf 26 78
First desk (sloping portion) 9
Under desk: one side 11
" " other side 13 24 33
--------
Second desk 21
11
10 21 42
--------
Third " " 26
13
10 23 49
--------
Fourth " " 15
18
14 32 47
--------
Fifth " " 19
11
10 21 40
--------
Sixth " " 20
9
10 19 39 250
--------
Within the trellis-work 27
355
We will next try to form some idea of the way in which this library was
arranged; and first of the two shelves which begin "over the door." A
shelf in this position is shewn in Carpaccio's well-known picture of S.
Jerome in his study. It is set deskwise against the wall supported on iron
brackets. As a large proportion of the fifty-two volumes on our shelf are
described as of large size (_grant_), we shall be justified in assuming
that each was 10 in. broad. The total therefore would occupy 520 in. or
say 43 ft. at least, not allowing for intervals between them. This shelf
extended from the door round the room to the fireplace, by which I suppose
we are to understand that it began on the wall which contained the door,
and was carried round the corner of the room up to the fireplace.
The second shelf, at the same height as the preceding, contained only
twenty-six volumes, fifteen of which are described as small (_petit_). A
space of thirteen feet or even less will therefore be amply sufficient to
contain them.
The six desks which stood on the floor were, I imagine, constructed in
some such way as that which I have figured above from the _Ship of Fools_.
It is evident that books in velvet bindings and adorned with gilt bosses
would be set out where they could be seen, and for such a purpose what
could be better than a lectern? The table I have given above shews that
there were 110 volumes thus disposed, or an average of say 18 to each
desk. A careful analysis of the inventory, where the size of each book is
always set down, shews me that there were very few small books in this
part of the library, but that they were divided between large (_grant_)
and medium size (_moien_). If we allow 8 in. for each book, we get an
average of 144 in. = 12 ft. for each desk, that is, as the desk was
double, the piece of furniture was 6 ft. long. Under the sloping portion
it had a shelf on each side. Four such desks stood between the door and
the fireplace, and two between the fireplace and the window, which seems
to have been opposite the door.
We are not told where the "trellis of iron" was. I suppose these words
mean some shelves set against the wall with ironwork in front of them. As
the enumeration of the books begins "near the door" the piece of furniture
may be placed on the side of the door opposite to the former desks.
The inventory further shews that this library did duty as a museum. It was
in fact filled with rare and beautiful objects, and must have presented a
singularly rich appearance. In the middle of the hood over the fireplace
was a stag's head and horns bearing a crucifix. There was a bust of the
Duke of Savoy, in white marble, forming a pendant to one of the Duchess
Margaret herself, and in the same material a statuette of a boy extracting
a thorn from his foot, probably a copy of the antique in the Ducal Gallery
at Florence. There were also twenty oil paintings in the room, some of
which were hung round the hood of the fireplace. Besides these works of
art there were several pieces of furniture, as, for instance, a large
press containing a complete set of armour, a sideboard "a la mode
d'Italie," given as a present by the viceroy of Naples; a square table of
inlaid work; a smaller table bearing the arms of Burgundy and Spain; three
mirrors; a number of objects in rock-crystal; and lastly some feather
dresses from India (S. America?), presented by the Emperor.
It is provoking that the inventory, minute as it is, should desert us at
the most important point, and give insufficient data for estimating the
size of the room. I conjecture that it was about 46 ft. long from the
following considerations. In the first place, I allow 2 ft. for the width
of each desk. Of these there were four between the door and the fireplace
= 8 ft. Secondly, I allow 3 ft. each for the five intervals = 15 ft., or a
total of 23 ft. from the door to the fireplace. For the fireplace itself I
allow 10 ft. Between the fireplace and the wall containing the window or
windows, there were two desks and three intervals = 13 ft. I pointed out
above that 43 ft. at least might be allowed for the shelf extending from
the door to the fireplace. Of this I have absorbed 23 ft., leaving 20 ft.
for the distance from the door to the corner of the room. As we are not
told anything about the position of the door my estimate of the size of
the room cannot be carried further.
A similar arrangement obtained in the library of Anne de France, daughter
of Louis XI., or as she is usually called Anne de Beaujeu[531]. Her
catalogue made 19 September, 1523, records 314 titles, which I need hardly
say represent a far larger number of books. They were arranged like those
of the Duchess Margaret, on eleven desks (_poulpitres_). These were set
round a room, with the exception of two which were placed in the middle of
it. It is interesting to note respecting one of these, that it had a
cupboard at the end, for the contents are entered as follows: _au bout
dudit poulpitre sont enclos les livres qui s'ensuivent_, and sixteen
volumes are enumerated. There was also a shelf set against the wall,
described as _le plus hault poulpitre le long de la dite muraille_, which
contained fifty-five volumes. This desk was probably high up, like the
one in the library of the Duchess Margaret. The books upon it are noted as
being all covered with red velvet, and ornamented with clasps, bosses, and
corner-pieces of metal. There were also in this library an astrolabe, and
a sphere with the signs of the Zodiac.
[Illustration: Fig. 139. S. John writing his Gospel.
From a MS. _Hours_ in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.]
A desk, similar in general character to that figured in the _Ship of
Fools_, but of a curiously modern type, occurs in an Hours in the
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, executed about 1445 for Isabel, Duchess of
Brittany. The picture (fig. 139) represents S. John writing his Gospel.
A modification of this form of desk was common in Italy. It is often used
by painters of the fifteenth century in pictures of the Annunciation,
where it does duty as a prie-dieu. The example I have selected (fig. 140)
is from a painting by Benedetto Bonfigli, in the church of S. Peter at
Perugia. It represents S. Jerome writing. A small circular revolving desk,
at the left-hand corner of the larger desk, holds the work he is copying
or referring to. On the desk near the inkstand lies the pointed _stylus_
mentioned above. Below the cupboard containing books is a drawer.
Projecting from the top of the revolving desk, there is a vertical rod of
iron with a long horizontal arm. This is no doubt intended to carry a
lantern. I shall shortly give an example of one in such a position.
[Illustration: Fig. 141. Circular book-desk.
From a MS. of _Fais et Gestes du Roi Alexandre_, in the British Museum.]
[Illustration: Fig. 140. S. Jerome writing.
From an oil painting by Benedetto Bonfigli, in the Church of S. Peter at
Perugia.]
I now return to the wheel-desk, of which I have already figured one
specimen (fig. 135). A piece of furniture consisting of one or more tables
which could be raised or depressed by means of a central screw, was very
generally used by scholars in the Middle Ages. I shall present a few of
the most common forms.
[Illustration: Fig. 142. S. Luke writing his Gospel.
From the Dunois _Horae_, a MS. in the possession of H. Y. Thompson, Esq.]
My first specimen is from a manuscript in the British Museum, written and
illuminated in England in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is
called _Fais et Gestes du Roi Alexandre_[532]. The picture (fig. 141)
represents Alexander as a little child, standing in front of his tutor,
who is seated in one of the chairs I described above. On the learned man's
right is his book-desk. A circular table with a rim round it to prevent
the books falling off, is supported on a central pedestal, which contains
the screw. The top of the said screw is concealed by the little Gothic
turret in the centre of the table. This turret also supports the book
which the reader has in use.
[Illustration: Fig. 143. A lady seated in her chair reading.
From a MS. written in France, early in the fifteenth century.]
My next example is from a miniature in a volume of Hours known as the
Dunois _Horae_, also written in the middle of the fifteenth century. It has
been slightly enlarged in order to bring out the details more clearly. The
subject is S. Luke writing his Gospel, but the background represents a
scholar's room. There is a bookcase of a very modern type, a table with
two folio volumes lying upon it, and in the centre a hexagonal book-desk,
with a little Gothic turret as in the last example. Round the screw under
the table are four cylindrical supports, the use of which I fail to
understand, but they occur frequently on desks of this type. The whole
piece of furniture rests on a heavy cylindrical base, and that again on a
square platform.
I now pass to a variety of the screw-desk, which has a small book-rest
above the table. The whole structure rests upon a prolongation of the
solid platform on which the reader's chair is placed, so that it is really
exactly in front of the reader. My illustration (fig. 143) is from "The
booke of the noble ladyes in frensh," a work by Boccacio; it was written
in France early in the fifteenth century[533].
[Illustration: Fig. 144. Screw-desk.
From a fifteenth century MS. in the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, Paris.]
[Illustration: Fig. 145. Hexagonal desk, with central spike, probably for
a candle.
From a French MS. of _Le Miroir Historial_.]
These double desks are exceedingly common, and I might fill a large number
of pages with figures and descriptions of the variety which the ingenuity
of the cabinet-makers of the fifteenth century managed to impart to
combinations of a screw and two or more tables. I will content myself
with one more example (fig. 144) which shews the screw exceedingly well,
and the two tables above it. The uppermost of these serves as a ledge to
rest the books on, as does also the hexagonal block above it which
conceals the top of the screw[534].
We meet occasionally with a solid desk, by which I mean one the level of
which cannot be altered. In the example here given (fig. 145) from a
French MS. of _Le Miroir Historial_, there is a central spike which I
suspect to have been intended to carry a candle[535].
In some examples of these book-desks the pedestal is utilized as a
book-cupboard (fig. 146). The picture which I have selected as shewing a
desk of this peculiarity is singularly beautiful, and finished in the
highest style of art available at the end of the fifteenth century in
France. It forms half of the frontispiece to a fine manuscript of
Boccacio's _Livre des cas des malheureux nobles hommes et femmes_[536].
The central figure is apparently lecturing on that moving theme, for in
front of him, in the other half of the picture, is a crowd of men
exhibiting their interest by the violence of their gestures. On his left
is the desk I mentioned; it stands on an unusually firm base, and one side
of the vertical portion is pierced by an arch, so as to make the central
cavity available for putting books in. From the centre of the table rises
a tall spike, apparently of iron, to which is attached a horizontal arm,
bearing a lighted lantern. On the table, in addition to three books, is an
inkstand and pen-case. In front of the lecturer is a carved chest,
probably one of those book-coffers which I have already mentioned. The
chair and canopy are richly carved, and the back of the seat is partially
covered by a piece of tapestry. Further, the lecturer is allowed the
unusual luxury of a cushion.
I will next deal with the appliances for reading and writing directly
connected with the chairs in which scholars sat, and I will begin with the
desk.
[Illustration: Fig. 146. A lecturer addressing an audience.
From a MS. of _Livre des cas des malheureux nobles hommes et femmes_,
written in France at end of fifteenth century.]
[Illustration: Fig. 148. The author of _The Chronicles of Hainault_ in his
study (1446).]
[Illustration: Fig. 150. A writer with his desk and table.
From a MS. of _Le Livre des Proprietes des Choses_ in the British
Museum.]
The simplest form of desk is a plain board, set at a suitable angle by
means of a chain or cord extending from one of its corners to the back of
the chair, while the opposite corner rests against a peg driven into the
arm of the chair. This arrangement, variously modified, occurs very
frequently; sometimes there are two pegs and two chains, but what I may
term the normal form is shewn in my illustration (fig. 147)[537]. It is
difficult to understand how the desk was kept steady.
[Illustration: Fig. 147. S. Mark writing his Gospel.
From a MS. _Hours_ written in France in the fifteenth century.]
The author whose study I shall figure next (fig. 148) is engaged in
writing the Chronicles of Hainault[538]. His desk rests securely on two
irons fastened to the arms of his chair. On his right is a plain lectern
with an open volume on each side of it, and behind are two or more shelves
set against the wall with books lying on their sides. On his left is a
chest, presumably a book-chest, with books lying on its closed lid. One of
these is open. He has prudently placed his chair near the window in such a
position that the light falls upon his work from the left. It should be
noted that the upper part of the window only is glazed, the lower part
being closed by shutters. When these are thrown back, the lights are seen
to be filled to half their height with a trellis, such as was ordered for
the French king's library.
My third example of a chair fitted with a desk (fig. 149) is taken from
_Les Miracles de Notre Dame_[539], a manuscript which belonged to Philip
the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and was written for him at the Hague in 1456.
The illustration represents S. Jerome seated in his study. From arm to arm
of the chair extends a desk of a very firm and solid construction. The
ends of this desk apparently drop into the heads of the small columns with
which the arms of the chair terminate. The saint has in his left hand a
pointed _stylus_, and in his right a pen, which he is holding up to the
light. On the desk beside the manuscript lies an ink-horn. To the right of
the saint's chair is a hexagonal table with a high ledge round it. There
is no evidence that this table has a screw; but the small subsidiary desk
above it seems to be provided with one. It will be observed that the
support of this desk is not directly over that of the table beneath it.
The desk is provided with two slits--an ingenious contrivance for dealing
with a roll. On the table, besides an open book, are a pair of spectacles,
four pens, a small box which may contain French chalk for pouncing, and
what looks like a piece of sponge.
[Illustration: Fig. 149. S. Jerome in his study.
From _Les Miracle de Nostre Dame_, written at the Hague in 1456.]
I now figure two different sets of library appliances. The first (fig.
150) is from a manuscript of the _Livre des Proprietes des Choses_, in the
British Museum, written in the fifteenth century[540]. The writer is
seated in one of those low chairs which occur very frequently in
miniatures, and look as if they were cut out of a single block of wood.
His desk, which is quite independent of the chair, is of the simplest
design, consisting of a piece of wood supported at an angle on two carved
uprights. On his left stands a very elegant piece of furniture, a table
with a desk at a considerable height above it--so high, in fact, that it
could only be used standing. This upper desk is fitted with a little door
as though it served as a receptacle for small objects.
[Illustration: Fig. 151. S. Luke writing his Gospel.
MSS. Douce, Bodl. Lib. Oxf., No. 381.]
The second example (fig. 151) shews S. Luke sitting on a bench writing at
a table[541]. The top, which is very massive, rests on four legs, morticed
into a frame. In front of this table is a desk of peculiar form; the lower
part resembles a reversed cone, and the upper part a second cone of
smaller diameter, so as to leave space enough between the two bases for a
ledge to rest books on. Round the base of the desk three quaint lions do
duty as feet. These lions occur again beneath the frame of the picture,
and may be connected with a former possessor of the manuscript. The
pedestal of the desk is a twisted column, which, like the base, and indeed
the whole structure, looks as though it were made of brass.
[Illustration: Fig. 152. S. Augustine at his desk.
From a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi at Florence.]
[Illustration: Fig. 153. S. Jerome reading.
From an oil painting by Catena, in the National Gallery, London.]
[Illustration: Fig. 154. A writer at work.
From a French translation of Valerius Maximus, written and illuminated in
Flanders in 1479, for King Edward IV.]
I now pass to a totally different way of fitting up a study, which seems
to have been common in Italy, to judge by the number of paintings in which
it occurs. It consists of a massive desk of wood, one part of which is set
at right angles to the other, and is connected in various ways with
shelves, drawers, pigeon-holes, and other contrivances for holding books
and papers. In the example I here figure (fig. 152), from a painting by
Fra Filippo Lippi (1412-1469) representing S. Augustine's vision of the
Trinity, there are two small recesses above the desk on the saint's right,
both containing books, and behind the shorter portion of the desk, three
shelves also with books on them. Attached to the end of the desk is a
small tray, probably to contain pens.
A similar desk occurs in the beautiful picture by Catena in the National
Gallery[542], representing S. Jerome reading, of which I give a
reproduction on a reduced scale (fig. 153). This picture also contains an
excellent example of a cupboard in the thickness of the wall, a
contrivance for taking care of books as common in the Middle Ages as it
had been in Roman times[543].
Cupboards in the thickness of the wall are also to be seen in the
frontispiece (fig. 154) to a copy of a French translation of Valerius
Maximus[544], written in Flanders in 1479 for King Edward IV. The
writer--probably intended for the author or the translator of the book--is
seated at a desk, consisting of a plank set at an angle and capable of
being turned aside by means of a central bracket, like that used by the
Carmelite (fig. 136). Observe the two weights hanging over the edge of the
desk and the ends of the two horns, intended to hold ink, projecting
through it. The window, as in the picture representing the author of the
Chronicles of Hainault at work, is glazed in the upper part only, while in
the lower are two framed trellises of wire-work. Behind the writer are two
cupboards in the thickness of the wall. One of these is open, and shews
books lying on their sides, upon which are some pomegranates. I cannot
suggest any reason for the introduction of these fruits, except that from
their colour they make a pleasing variety; but I ought to mention that
they occur very frequently in miniatures representing a writer at work. On
the other side of the window is a small hanging cupboard. Here again a
fruit is introduced on the lowest shelf. Round the room is a settle,
raised above the floor on blocks at intervals. The seat is probably a
chest, as in the settles described above in the Vatican Library.
The last picture (fig. 155) in this series of illustrations represents
what I like to call a scholar's room, at the beginning of the fifteenth
century[545]. The owner of the apartment is busily writing at a desk
supported on a trestle-table. He holds a _stylus_ in his left hand, and a
pen in his right. The ink-horn he is using is inserted into the desk.
Above it are holes for two others, in case he should require ink of
different colours. Above the inkstand is a pen stuck in a hole, with
vacant holes beside it. The page on the desk is kept flat by a weight.
Above this desk is a second desk, of nearly equal size, on which lies an
open book, kept open by a large weight, extending over two-thirds of the
open pages. Behind the writer's chair is his book-chest. The background
represents a well-appointed chamber. The floor is paved with encaustic
tiles; a bright fire is burning on the hearth; the window, on the same
plan as that described in the last picture, is open; a comfortable--not to
say luxurious--bed invites repose. The walls are unplastered, but there is
a hanging under the window and over the head of the bed.
With this simple room, containing a scholar's necessaries and no more, I
will contrast the study of the Duke of Urbino.
This beautiful room, which still exists as the Duke left it, is on an
upper floor of the castle, commanding from its balcony, which faces the
south, an extensive view of the approach to the Castle, the city, and the
country beyond, backed by the Apennines. It is of small size, measuring
only 11 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. 4 in., and is somewhat irregular in shape. It
is entered by a door from the Duke's private apartment. The floor is paved
with rough tiles set in patterns. The walls are panelled to a height of
about eight feet. The bare space between the top of the panel-work and the
ceiling was probably hung with tapestry. The ceiling is a beautiful
specimen of the most elaborate plaster-work, disposed in octagonal panels.
The decoration of the panel-work begins with a representation of a bench,
on which various objects are lying executed in intarsia work. Above this
bench is a row of small panels, above which again is a row of large
panels, each containing a subject in the finest intarsia, as for example a
portrait of Duke Frederick, figures of Faith, Hope, and other virtues, a
pile of books, musical instruments, armour, a parrot in a cage, etc. In
the cornice above these is the word FEDERICO, and the date 1476.
[Illustration: Fig. 155. A scholar's room in the fifteenth century.
From a MS. in the Royal Library at Brussels.]
Opposite the window there is a small cupboard, and on the opposite side of
the projection containing it there are a few shelves. These are the only
receptacles for books in the room. From its small size it could have
contained but little furniture, and was probably intended for the purpose
traditionally ascribed to it, namely as a place of retirement for the Duke
when he wished to be alone.
Another specimen of a library so arranged as to provide a peaceful retreat
is afforded a century later by that of Montaigne, of which he has
fortunately left a minute description.
[My library is] in the third story of a Tower, of which
the Ground-room is my Chappel, the second story an
Apartment with a withdrawing Room and Closet, where I
often lie to be more retired. Above it is a great
Wardrobe, which formerly was the most useless part of
the House. I there pass away both the most of the Days
of my Life, and most of the Hours of those Days. In the
Night I am never there. There is within it a Cabinet
handsome and neat enough, with a Fire-place very
commodiously contriv'd, and Light very finely fitted.
And was I not more afraid of the Trouble than the
Expence, the Trouble that frights me from all Business,
I could very easily adjoyn on either side, and on the
same Floor, a Gallery of an hundred paces long, and
twelve broad, having found Walls already rais'd for some
other Design, to the requisite height. Every place of
retirement requires a Walk. My Thoughts sleep if I sit
still; my Fancy does not go by itself, as when my Legs
move it: and all those who study without a Book are in
the same Condition.
The figure of my Study is round, and has no more flat
Wall than what is taken up by my Table, and my Chairs;
so that the remaining parts of the Circle present me a
view of all my books at once, set up upon five degrees
of Shelves round about me. It has three noble and free
Prospects, and is sixteen paces[546] Diameter. I am not
so continually there in Winter; for my House is built
upon an Eminence, as its Name imports, and no part of it
is so much expos'd to the Wind and Weather as that,
which pleases me the better, for being of a painful
access, and a little remote, as well upon the account of
Exercise, as being also there more retir'd from the
Crowd. 'Tis there that I am in my Kingdom, as we say,
and there I endeavour to make myself an absolute
Monarch, and so sequester this one Corner from all
Society both Conjugal, Filial, and Civil[547].
The notices of libraries which I have collected have brought me to the end
of the sixteenth century, by which time most of the appliances in use in
the Middle Ages had been given up. I hope that I have not exhausted the
patience of my readers by presenting too long a series of illustrations
extracted from manuscripts. I love, as I look at them, to picture to
myself the medieval man of letters, laboriously penning voluminous
treatises in the writing room of a monastery, or in his own study, with
his scanty collection of books within his reach, on shelves, or in a
chest, or lying on a table. We sometimes call the ages dark in which he
lived, but the mechanical ingenuity displayed in the devices by which his
studies were assisted might put to shame the cabinet-makers of our own
day.
As the fashion of collecting books, and of having them bound at a lavish
expense, increased, it was obvious that they must be laid out so as to be
seen and consulted without the danger of spoiling their costly covers.
Hence the development of the lectern-system in private houses, and the
arrangement of a room such as the Duchess Margaret possessed at Malines.
Gradually, however, as books multiplied, and came into the possession of
persons who could not afford costly bindings, lecterns were abandoned, and
books were ranged on shelves against the wall, as in the public libraries
which I described in the last chapter.
There is still in existence, on an upper floor in the Palazzo Barberini at
Rome, a library of this description, which has probably not been altered
in any way since it was fitted up by Cardinal Francesco Barberini about
1630. The room is 105 ft. long by 28 ft. broad, and is admirably lighted
by two windows in the south wall, and seven in the gallery. The shelves
are set round three sides of the room at a short distance from the wall,
so as to leave space for a gallery and the stairs to it. The cases are
divided into compartments by fluted Ionic columns 5 ft. high. These rest
upon a flat shelf 14 in. wide, beneath which are drawers for papers and a
row of folios. This part of the structure is 3 ft. high from the floor to
the base of the columns. Above the columns is a cornice, part of which is
utilized for books; and above this again is the gallery, where the
arrangement of the shelves is a repetition of what I have described in the
lower part of the room. Dwarf cases in a plainer style and of later date
are set along the sides and ends of the room. Upon these are desks for the
catalogue, a pair of globes, some astronomical instruments, and some
sepulchral urns found at Praeneste. The older woodwork in this library has
never been painted or varnished, and the whole aspect of the room is
singularly old-world and delightful.
[Illustration: Fig. 156 Dean Boys in his Library, 1622.]
Another instance is afforded by the sketch of the library of John Boys,
Dean of Canterbury, who died in 1625. It occurs on the title-page of his
works dated 1622, and I may add on his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral also.
He clung to ancient fashions so far as to set his books with their
fore-edge outwards, but in other respects his book-shelves are of a modern
type.
* * * * *
I have now reached the limit which I imposed upon myself when I began this
essay. But before I conclude let me say a few last words. I wish to point
out that collectors and builders in the Middle Ages did not guard their
manuscripts with jealous care merely because they had paid a high price to
have them written; they recognised what I may call the personal element in
them; they invested them with the senses and the feelings of human
beings; and bestowed them like guests whom they delighted to honour. No
one who reads the _Philobiblon_ can fail to see that every page of it is
pervaded by this sentiment; and this I think explains the elaborate
precautions against theft; the equally elaborate care taken to arrange a
library in so orderly a fashion that each book might be accessible with
the least difficulty and the least delay; and the exuberant gratitude with
which the arrival of a new book was welcomed.
In my present work I have looked at libraries from the technical side
exclusively. It would have been useless to try to combine fire and water,
sentiment and fact. But let me remind my readers that we are not so far
removed from the medieval standpoint as some of us perhaps would wish.
When we enter the library of Queens' College, or the older part of the
University Library, at Cambridge, where there has been continuity from the
fifteenth century to the present day, are we not moved by feelings such as
I have tried to indicate, such in fact as moved John Leland when he saw
the library at Glastonbury for the first time?
Moreover, there is another sentiment closely allied to this by which
members of a College or a University are more deeply moved than others--I
mean the sentiment of association. The most prosaic among them cannot fail
to remember that the very floors were trodden by the feet of the great
scholars of the past; that Erasmus may have sat at that window on that
bench, and read the very book which we are ourselves about to borrow.
But in these collections the present is not forgotten; the authors of
to-day are taking their places beside the authors of the past, and are
being treated with the same care. On all sides we see progress: the
lecterns and the stalls are still in use and keep green the memory of old
fashions; while near them the plain shelving of the twentieth century
bears witness to the ever-present need for more space to hold the invading
hordes of books that represent the literature of to-day. On the one hand,
we see the past; on the other, the present; and both are animated by full,
vigorous life.
FOOTNOTES:
[521] MSS. Mus. Brit., MSS. Cotton, Claudius E. 4, part 1. fol. 124. I
have to thank my friend, Mr Hubert Hall, of the Public Record Office, for
drawing my attention to this illustration.
[522] _Gesta Abbatum_, ed. Rolls series, I. p. 184. I owe this reference
and its translation to the Reverend F. A. Gasquet, _Medieval Monastic
Libraries_, p. 89, in _Downside Review_, 1891, Vol. X. No. 2.
[523] Henri Havard, _Dict. de l' Ameublement_, s. v. Librairie. The first
chest is described in the following words: "Livres estans en la grant
chambre dudit Seigneur, en ung escrin assiz sur deux crampons, lequel est
a la fenestre empres la cheminee de ladite chambre, et est a deux
couvescles, en l'une des parties dequel coffre estoient les parties qui
s'ensuivent." See also J. Labarle: _Inventaire du Mobilier de Charles V._
4to. Paris, 1879, p. 336.
[524] Franklin, _Anc. Bibl. de Paris_, Vol. II. p. 112. A copy of this
account is in the _Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal_, No. 6362. This I have
collated with M. Franklin's text. The most important passage is the
following: A Jacques du Parvis et Jean Grosbois, huchiers, pour leur peine
d'avoir dessemble tous les bancs et deux roes qui estoient en la librairie
du Roy au palais, et iceux faict venir audit Louvre, avec les lettrins et
icelles roes estrecies chacune d'un pied tout autour; et tout rassemble et
pendu les lettrins es deux derraines estages de la tour, devers la
Fauconnerie, pour mettre les livres du Roy; et lambroissie de bort
d'Illande le premier d'iceux deux estages tout autour par dedans, au pris
de L. francs d'or, par marche faict a eux par ledit maistre Jacques, XIV^e
jour de mars 1367.
[525] A. Berty, _Topographie historique du vieux Paris_, 4to. Paris, 1866,
Vol. I. pp. 143-146. He considers that the "bort d'Illande" was Dutch oak,
480 pieces of which had been given to the king by the officer called
Senechal of Hainault.
[526] MSS. Mus. Brit. 14 E. V.
[527] MSS. Mus. Brit. 14 E. 1. This miniature has been reproduced by
Father Gasquet in the paper quoted above.
[528] MSS. Mus. Brit., MSS. Harl. 4375, f. 151 _b_.
[529] _The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury_: ed. E. C. Thomas, London,
1888.
[530] Printed in _Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des
Allerhoechsten Kaiserhauses_, Band III. 4to. Wien, 1885.
[531] Lerou de Lincey, _Melanges de la Societe des Bibliophiles_, 1850, p.
231.
[532] MSS. Mus. Brit. 15 E. VI.
[533] MS. Mus. Brit. 20 C. V.
[534] Paris, Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, MS. 5193, fol. 311. Boccacio: _Cas
des malheureux nobles hommes et femmes_.
[535] Paris, Bibl. Nat., MSS. Francais, 50, _Le Miroir Historial_, by
Vincent de Beauvais, fol. 340. Probably written in cent. XV.
[536] MSS. Mus. Brit. Add. 35321. MSS. Waddesdon, No. 12. Bequeathed by
Baron Ferdinand Rothschild.
[537] MSS. Bodl. Lib. Oxf., MSS. Rawl. Liturg. e. 24, fol. 17 _b_.
[538] MSS. Bibliotheque Royale de Bruxelles, No. 9242. _Chroniques de
Hainaut_, Pt. I. fol. 2, 1446.
[539] MSS. Bibl. Nat. Paris, MSS. Fran. 9198. See _Miracles de Nostre
Dame_, by J. Mielot, Roxburghe Club, 1885; with introduction by G. F.
Warner, M.A.
[540] MSS. Cotton, Augustus, VI. fol. 213 _b_. There is a beautiful
example of a table and desk on this plan in a MS. of _La Cite des Dames_,
from the old Royal Library of France in the Bibl. Nat., MSS. Fran. 1177.
[541] MSS. Bodl. Lib. Oxf., MSS. Douce, No. 381, fol. 159. A second
example occurs in the same MS., fol. 160.
[542] I have to thank my friend Sidney Colvin, M.A., for drawing my
attention to this picture.
[543] See above, pp. 37, 38.
[544] MSS. Mus. Brit. 18 E. IV.
[545] _Le Debat de l'honneur entre trois Princes chevalereux_. Bibil. Roy.
Bruxelles, No. 9278, fol. 10. The MS. is from the library of the Dukes of
Burgundy, and may be dated in the second third of the fifteenth century.
[546] The original words are 'seize pas de vuide.' The substantive 'pas'
must I think mean a foot, the length a foot makes when set upon the
ground. The word pace, the length of which is 2 ft. 6 in. or 3 ft., is
inapplicable here.
[547] _Essays of Michael Seigneur de Montaigne._ Made English by Ch.
Cotton, Vol. III. pp. 53, 54. 8vo. London, 1741. I have to thank my friend
Mr A. F. Sieveking for this reference.
INDEX.
Abingdon, Berks, Benedictine House at:
customs in force respecting books, 68;
carrells set up, 98
Abingdon: School library, 262
Actor and masks: relief representing in Lateran Museum, Rome, 36
Agapetus, pope: his intended college and library, 44
Albans (S.): form of curse used, 78;
endowment of _scriptorium_, 80;
library built 1452-3, 108;
stained glass, 241
Alencon: town library, 287
Alexandria: account of libraries, 6;
in museum, _ibid._;
in temple of Serapis, 7
All Souls' Coll., Oxf.: library statute, 137;
special provisions, 138
Ambrosian Library, Milan: description, 271;
may have been copied by Wren at S. Paul's, London, 282
_analogium_: a book-desk, 105, 197, 243
Anne de Beaujeu: her library, 302
Antony, Mark: gives library at Pergamon to Cleopatra, 8
Apollo: temple and area on Palatine Hill at Rome, 14;
composition of the library, 18, 19;
allusions to, by Ovid and Horace, _ibid._
Apollonius Thyaneus: commemorated in Roman library, 23
Apse, triple: how treated in early times, 63;
De Rossi's theory, _ibid._;
description by Paulinus of Nola, _ibid._;
view of Lenoir, 64, _note_
Aristotle: said to have been a book-collector, 5;
his methods adopted by the Ptolemies, _ibid._
Ark: desk on pattern of, 297
armarium: in Ulpian library, 20;
described by Nibby, 37;
to contain _codices_, _ibid._;
held by jurist Ulpian to be part of the library, _ibid._;
description by Pliny of one sunk in wall of a room, 38;
on sarcophagus in Museo Nazionale, Rome, with shoemaker at work,
_ibid._;
on do. in Villa Balestra, Rome, with physician reading, _ibid._;
on tomb of Galla Placidia, 39;
in Jewish synagogues, _ibid._ note;
in Codex Amiatinus, 40, 41;
verses composed for his own presses by Isidore, Bp of Seville, 45;
called _fenestra_ by Pachomius, 64, 65, _note_;
alluded to by S. Benedict, 66;
word used for a library by the Cluniacs, 67;
placed in charge of precentor, who is called also _armarius_, _ibid._;
same provisions in force at Abingdon, 68;
at Evesham, 69;
word used for a library by the Carthusians, 69;
described in Augustinian Customs, 71;
what this piece of furniture was, 81-96;
the _armarium commune_, 82;
this described and figured at Fossa Nuova, _ibid._;
Worcester Cathedral, 84;
Kirkstall, 85;
Meaux, 86;
at Titchfield, 87;
Durham, 93;
book-presses in cloister at Durham and Westminster, 90-94;
in France, 94;
examples of presses at Bayeux, Obazine, and S. Germain l'Auxerrois,
94-96;
supervision of press at S. Augustine's, Canterbury, 99
_armarius_ (who is also Precentor):
has charge of library in Cluniac Houses, 67, 73;
in Augustinian, 71;
provides for borrowing as well as lending books among the
Premonstratensians, 72
Arts: books required for course in, at Cambridge, 147
Assisi: library at, catalogued 1381, 73;
analysis of this, 206, 207
Assur-bani-pal, King of Nineveh: library in his palace, 2
Astrolabe: in library of Anne de Beaujeu, 303
Athens: notices of ancient libraries at, 5;
library built by Hadrian, 6, 16
Attalus, King: note on his stoa at Athens, 11, _note_
Augustine (S.): directions about church library at Hippo, 63
Augustine (S.), Benedictine House at Canterbury:
extract from custumary on care of MSS., 76;
rules for use of carrells, 99;
organisation of library in cloister, _ibid._
Augustinians: rules for books in force among, 71
Augustus: builds libraries in Rome, 12;
porticus Octaviae, _ibid._;
temple and area of Apollo Palatinus, 14;
their organisation, 18
Autun, College d', Paris: library at, 166
Bale, John, laments loss of monastic libraries, 246
Bamberg: chained book from monastery, 159
_banca_ or _bancus_: meaning discussed, 242
Bancroft, Abp, his library brought to Cambridge, 253
Barber Surgeons, Lond.: books in their library chained 1639, 265
Barberini: library in their palace at Rome, 316
Bateman, Will., Bp of Norwich: his library statute for Trinity Hall, 136;
division of his library, 144
Bayeux, Cathedral: press called _Le Chartrier_ described and figured, 94;
library at, 125
Beaulieu, Cistercian Abbey: book-room, 86;
book-recesses in wall of cloister, 89
Benedict (S.): passage in his Rule respecting study, 66
Benedictines:
decrees given to English monks of the Order by Abp Lanfranc, 67;
customs in force at S. Benoit-sur-Loire, 68, _note_;
at Abingdon, Berks, _ibid._;
at Evesham, Worcestershire, 69;
their books bestowed in wooden presses, 84;
arrangement adopted at Durham, 90
Benoit (S.)-sur-Loire: customs quoted, 68, _note_;
endowment of library, 79
Bicester: school library, 262
Bobbio: library, 102
Bodleian Library, Oxf.: description, as fitted up by Sir T. Bodley, 185;
chains taken off 1757, 266;
inconvenience of chaining, 266;
new bookcases on wall-system, 275
Boethius: decoration of his library, 41;
view of a library in MS. of his _Cons. of Phil._, 163, 164
Bolton, Lanc.: school, 264
Book-room: in Cistercian Houses, 84-89;
at Fossa Nuova, 83
Boys, John: his library, 317
Brandolini, A.: epigram on library of Sixtus IV., 211
Brasenose Coll., Oxf.: library statute, 137;
chains taken off 1780, 266
_breve_ or _brevis_ = a book-ticket: in Cluniac Customs, 67;
in Lanfranc's decrees for Benedictines, 68
Brewster, Will.: bequeathes books to All Saints' Ch., Hereford, 262
Budge, Dr Wallis: note on Mesopotamian discoveries, 4
Bury, Lanc.: library in school, 263
Bury S. Edmunds: use of carrells, 98;
cloister glazed with stained glass, 100;
library built 1429-45, 108
Busts in Roman libraries: _see_ Portraits
Caesar, Julius: intends to build public library in Rome, 12
Caesarea: library, 62
Calder Abbey: portion of book-room, 88
Canterbury; _see_ Christ Church, Canterbury
Canterbury Coll., Oxf.:
library furnished from Christ Church, Canterbury, 143
_capsa_; box for carrying rolls, 30
Cardinal Coll., Oxf.; library statute, 137
Carols: _see_ Carrells
Carpenter, John (Bp of Worcester): his library foundation, 126
Carpet: books to be laid out on, in Chapter House for annual audit
in Cluniac Houses, 67;
in Benedictine, 68
Carrells: in cloister at Durham, 90;
detailed account of, with ground plan of a window, 96;
at Westminster Abbey, 92, 93;
series of, in stone, at Gloucester, 96-98;
general considerations as to arrangement, 98;
instances of their use in various houses, _ibid._;
by whom to be used, 99
Carthusians: rules for books in force among, 69
Cartmel, Lanc.: books to be chained in churchwarden's pew, 258
Cassiodorus: his _Codex grandior_ mentioned, 40;
intended college in Rome, 44;
monastery, library, and _scriptorium_ at Vivarium, _ibid._
Catharine (S.) Coll., Camb.: number of books in library, 145;
new cases, 285
Cedar: _see_ Citrus
Cesena: description of library, 199-203
Chaining: books chained in S. Mary's Ch., Oxf., cent, xiii., 132;
at Peterhouse, Camb., 135, 145;
Trinity Hall, 136, 168;
New Coll., Oxf., 137;
indiscriminate chaining forbidden, 138;
system in use at Zutphen explained, 153-159;
in Stadtbibliothek at Nuremberg, 163;
at Sorbonne, Paris, 164;
College d'Autun, 166;
S. Victor, _ibid._;
inconvenience of, at Oxf., 172;
at Hereford described, 174-8;
at Merton Coll., Oxf., 181, 182;
traces of, at S. John's Coll., Oxf., 185;
at Cathedral Library, Wells, 189;
at Cesena, 203;
on printed book from Hungary now at Ghent, 204;
chains bought for Vatican Library, 219;
at Medicean library, Florence, 238-240;
at Grantham, 257;
Cartmel, 258;
Gorton, 259;
Chetham library, Manchester, 260;
Wimborne, 261;
Denchworth, 262;
All Saints', Hereford, _ibid._;
Abingdon, Berks, _ibid._;
Bicester, _ibid._;
Guildford, 263;
instances of late use of chaining, 264;
Faculty of Medicine, Paris, _ibid._;
Corpus Christi Coll., Camb., _ibid._;
Gray's Inn, _ibid._;
S. John's Coll., Gonville and Caius Coll.,
Peterhouse, Trinity Coll., Camb., 265;
Library of Barber Surgeons, _ibid._;
wills of Sir M. Hale and M. Scrivener, _ibid._;
chains taken off at various places, 266;
inconvenience of, at Bodleian, _ibid._, note
Chair with desk: figured in MSS., 309-312
Chapter-House:
spaces divided off at west end for book-rooms in monasteries, 87-89;
books read in neighbourhood of, 89
Charles V., King of France: book-chest, 293;
fits up library in Louvre, _ibid._
Chest for books: bought for Vatican Library, 218;
used by Simon, Abbat of S. Albans, 292;
in France, 293
Chester Cathedral: arches in cloister, possibly used for books, 89
Chetham, Humphry: provisions of will, 259;
library in Manchester, 260
Chichele, Abp: builds library at Canterbury, 106;
account of this, 190
Christ Church, Canterbury: curse from a MS., 78;
library-walk of cloister, 91;
sets of nine holes, 92;
carrells in use, 99;
glass in cloister, 100;
catalogue, saec. xii., 102;
library, 106;
probable extent and arrangement of this described, 190-194;
Howley-Harrison library, 256
Christopher Le Stocks (S.), Lond.: library, 244
Christ's Hospital, Lond.: library, 108
Churches: libraries built in or near, 61, 64
Cirta: library, 62
Cistercians: rules for books, 70;
evolution of book-room, 84-89;
plan of this at Fossa Nuova, 85;
Kirkstall, _ibid._;
arrangement of books in, at Meaux, 86;
Titchfield, 87;
book-rooms at west end of Chapter House, Furness, _ibid._;
Calder Abbey, 88;
Fountains, _ibid._;
Beaulieu, 89;
Hayles _ibid._;
Chester Cathedral, _ibid._
Citeaux: books chained near Chapter House, 89;
arrangement of books, saec. xv., 103-106;
permanent library, 109-112
Citrus: identification of tree so called, 22, _note_;
used to preserve rolls, 29
Clairvaux: curse used, 78;
books chained near Chapter House, 89;
library, 112-4;
catalogue of this discussed, 196-8;
nature of fittings, 198
Clare Coll., Camb.: account of old library, 186;
new cases put up 1627,
_ibid._;
their plan discussed, 187;
new library fitted up, 285
_class_: meaning of word discussed, 243
_claustrum sine armario_ etc., 75
Cleopatra: receives library of Pergamon from Antony, 8
Cloister: the centre of monastic life, 80;
work interrupted by cold and bad weather, _ibid._;
activity at S. Martin's, Tournai, 81;
arrangements at Durham described, 90;
illustrated by reference to Westminster Abbey, 91-94;
was glazed at Durham, 90;
in other Houses, 100
Cluniacs: regulations in their Customs respecting books, 67;
date of these Customs, 68, _note_;
book-room in their priory at Much Wenlock, 87
Cobham, Thomas: library, Oxf., 148-151;
stained glass in windows, 242
Codex, a book: how accommodated, 36, 37;
figured on tomb of Galla Placidia, 39
Codex Amiatinus: representation of _armarium_ described, 40
Cold, in cloister, 80
_columpna_: a set of shelves, 87
_communes libri_; meaning of term, 82
Corbie: note from MS. once belonging to, 75, _note_;
injunction to use a MS. at, carefully, 77 and _note_;
endowment of library, 79
_cornua_: used for the knobs of a roll, 28
Corpus Christi Coll., Camb.: books chained 1523, 264
Corpus Christi Coll., Oxf.: library statute, 137, 138;
provisions against indiscriminate chaining, 138;
fittings supplied 1517, 172;
a type of the stall-system, _ibid._;
elevation of one bookcase, 173
Cosma e Damiano: church of, in Rome, 25, 26
Crates (of Mallus): his visit to Rome and influence there, 14
Creighton, Rob., Bp of Wells: fits up cathedral library, 188
Croxden, Cistercian Abbey: book-room, 86
Cruas, on the Rhone: book-press in the church, 94
Cupboards: in thickness of wall, 313
Curses, on those who steal or damage MSS., 77
Cuthbert, Abbat of Wearmouth: his scribes paralysed with cold, 80
Damasus, Pope: his archivum or Record Office, 42
_demonstratio_: meaning discussed, 243
Demosthenes: statue of, to shew way of holding roll, 27;
replica of his statue at Knowle Park, _ibid._, note
Denchworth: library in church, 262
De Rossi: theory respecting S. Lorenzo in Damaso, 42;
of the use of a triple apse, 63
Derr: library at, explored by Dr W. Budge, 4
_descus_: meaning discussed, 242
_distinctio_: word used in catalogue of Dover Priory, 194-196;
meaning discussed, 196, 243
[Greek: Diphthera] = cover of a roll, 29;
coloured purple, 29
Dolci, Giovannino dei: supplies bookcases to Vatican Library, 218
_domuncula_: a compartment of a bookcase, 244
Dover, Priory of S. Martin at: introduction to catalogue translated, 194
Durham: description of the book-presses and carrells in the cloister, 90;
_armarium commune_, 93;
plan of window and account of carrells, 96-99;
library at, saec. xii., 102;
enumeration of books at, saec. xiv., 103;
library at, built 1446, 107;
library fitted up by Dean Sudbury, saec. xvii., 189
Durham Coll., Oxf.: library, 142
Ely: endowment of _scriptorium_ at, 79
Emmanuel Coll., Camb.: bookcases at, 54;
new cases in library, 285
Endowment of libraries: at Corbie, 79;
S. Martin des Champs, _ibid._;
S. Benoit-sur-Loire (Fleury), _ibid._;
at Ely, _ibid._
Entreaties to use books carefully, 76
[Greek: Epistulion]: use of word explained, 32, _note_
Escorial: built by Philip II., 267;
description of library, 268;
of bookcases, 269;
cases copied at Bibliotheque Mazarine, 273
Eton College: stained glass in Election Hall, 242;
chains taken off 1719, 266
Eucherius, Bp of Lyons: describes a private library, 43
Euripides: said to have been a book-collector, 5;
lines from the _Frogs_ about him quoted, _ibid._
Euthydemus, follower of Socrates: his library, 5
Evesham, Benedictine House in Worcestershire:
customs respecting books, 69;
carrells, 99
_fenestra_ = cupboard: in rule of S. Pachomius, 64;
meaning of word discussed, 65, note
Fleury, Abbey at: _see_ Benoit (S.)-sur-Loire
_forulus_ = cell: receptacle for rolls in Roman libraries, 31
Fossa Nuova: book-press at, described and figured, 82;
plan and description of book-room, 85
Fountains Abbey: position of book-rooms at, 89
foxtails: bought to dust Vatican Library, 232
Francis (S.): reproves a brother who asked for a psalter, 72, _note_
Franciscans: provisions respecting books, 72;
their libraries described in the _Philobiblon_, _ibid._
Froidmont: glass in library, 242
_frons_: used for the edge of a roll, 28;
was evidently visible, 34
Furness Abbey: book-rooms at west end of chapter-house, 87
Gall (S.): library at, 102
Galla Placidia: book-press on her tomb, 39
Gatien, S., Tours, church of: chained library at, 1718, 266
Genevieve, S., Paris: description of library, 289
Germain (S.) des Pres, Paris: library open to strangers, 75;
expansion of library at, 114-6;
fittings described, 289
Germain (S.) l'Auxerrois, church of: wooden press in, described, 95
Ghirlandajo, the brothers: engaged to decorate Vatican Library, 211;
their work described, 213
Glass: in certain cloisters, 100
Glastonbury: feelings of Leland on entering Library, 194
Globes: in Vatican Library, 229;
in library of S. Genevieve, 289
Gloucester Cathedral: library-walk of cloister, 91;
sets of nine holes, 92;
stone carrells described and figured, 96-98;
library, 107
Gonville Hall, Camb.: curse from breviary used at, 79
Gonville and Caius Coll., Camb.: bookcases at, 254;
chaining of books bequeathed by Dr Caius, 265
Gorton: bookcase, 259
_gradus_ = a shelf, 87, _note_;
used with same meaning at Dover Priory, 194-196;
a side of a lectern, 167
Grammar Schools: _see_ Libraries
Grantham: library, 257
Gray's Inn: bequest of books to be chained, 264
Gregory (S.) the Great: notice of his monastery at Rome, 44
Groenendaal: library, 108
Guildford: chain in library of Grammar School, 157;
further account of this, 263
Hadrian: library built by him in Athens, 16-18;
similarity of plan between it and Pergamon, 18
Hale, Sir Matt.: his books given to Lincoln's Inn 1676 to be chained, 265
Hawkesmoore, N.:
builds library and bookcases at Queen's College, Oxford, 256
Hayles, Cistercian Abbey: book-room, 86;
arches possibly used as book-recesses, 89
Herculaneum: library, 23-25
Hereford, All Saints' Ch.: library, 262
Hereford Chapter Library: notes on, 174;
chaining described, 174-8
Hippo: library, 63
Hobart, Nich.: his bookcase at King's College, Cambridge, 254
Honywood, Mich.: builds library at Lincoln Cathedral, 276
Hook, to hold up desk, 179
Horace: advice to his friend Celsus respecting the Palatine library, 19
Howley-Harrison Library, Canterbury, 256
Humphrey, D. of Gloucester: his MSS. at Oxford, 247
_index_ = ticket bearing the title of a roll, 28;
of some bright colour, 29;
used in Cicero's library, 33
Isidore, Bp of Seville: on library of Pollio at Rome, 12;
on decoration of libraries, 41;
account of his own library, 45, 46
Ivory: books written on, 20
Jerome (S.): advises consultation of church-libraries, 62;
on library at Caesarea, _ibid._;
collated there MSS. used by Origen, _ibid._
Jerusalem: library, 62
Jervaulx, Cistercian Abbey: book-room, 86
Jesus Coll., Camb.: equidistant windows of library, 148;
glass in library, 242;
bookcases, 254
Jews: used _armaria_ in synagogues to contain the rolls of the law, 39,
_note_
John (S.) the Baptist, Coll., Oxf.: library statute at, 137;
library described, 185;
John (S.) the Evangelist, Coll., Camb.:
equidistant windows in old library, 148;
contract for desks, 160;
book chained at, 1564, 265;
library built 1623-1628, 248-251
Jumieges: curse from MS. at, 78
Juniper: bought to fumigate Vatican Library, 232
Kederminster, Sir John: founds library at Langley, 258
Kempis, Thomas a:
quotation from, on desolate condition of priest and convent without
books, 75;
injunction to use MSS. carefully, 77
King's Coll., Camb.: library statute, 137;
number of books in library 1453, 145;
bookcase by bequest from N. Hobart, 254;
Cole's account of library, 255;
chains taken off 1777, 266
Kirkstall Abbey: the _armarium commune_, 85
Kouyunjik: library, discovered by Layard, 2;
criticised by Dr W. Budge, 4
Lanciani. R.: discovers a private library in Rome, 22;
describes record-house of Vespasian, 26
Lanfranc, Abp: decree respecting use of books, 67
Langley Marye: library, 258
Lateran Museum, Rome: sculpture representing actor with masks, 36
Layard: library discovered by him at Kouyunjik, 2
Leaver, James: gives press to Bolton school, Lancashire, 264
Lectern-system: fittings in early libraries so named, 151-153;
at Zutphen, 153-159;
Queens' Coll., Camb., 151, 159;
Pembroke Coll., S. John's Coll., Peterhouse, Camb., 160;
Lincoln Cathedral, 161;
MS. Mus. Brit., 162;
Nuremberg, 163;
the Sorbonne, Paris, 164;
the College d'Autun, Paris, 166;
Monastery of S. Victor, Paris, 166;
Trinity Hall, Camb., 168;
MS. Fitzwilliam Mus., 169;
at University of Leyden, 170;
Cesena, 199-203;
S. Mark, Florence, 203;
Monte Oliveto, _ibid._;
Assisi, 206;
Vatican, 225;
Medicean Library, Florence, 235-240;
in private houses, 297-301
_lectrinum_ = desk, 161
Leland, John: his feelings on entering library at Glastonbury, 194
Lepidus, Domitius: temple built by him in Rome, 13
_liber_ = book: decision of the jurist Ulpian as to what is included
under this category, 37
Librarian: _see_ Precentor--Armarius
LIBRARIES, Assyrian: at Kouyunjik, discovered by Layard, 2-4;
at Derr, 4
Libraries of Cathedrals: 116-128;
Lincoln, 117, 161;
Salisbury, 121;
Old S. Paul's, 122;
Wells, 123;
Lichfield, 123;
Noyon, 124;
Bayeux, 125;
York, 125;
Troyes, 126;
Worcester, 126;
Rouen, 128
Libraries, Christian: situated in or near churches, 61;
at Jerusalem, 62;
at Caesarea, _ibid._;
at Cirta, _ibid._;
at Hippo, 63;
use of the triple apse, 63
Libraries of Colleges: statutes of Merton Coll., Oxford, 133;
University, 133;
Oriel, 133;
Peterhouse, Cambridge, 134;
Trinity Hall, 136;
New Coll., Oxford, 137;
All Souls', 137;
Magdalen Coll., Oxford, 138;
Corpus Christi Coll., Oxford, 137, 138;
Pembroke Coll., Cambridge, 139;
resume of regulations, _ibid._;
loan of books from, 140;
rules copied from monasteries, 141;
a real library an after-thought, 143;
characteristics of this, 143;
number of books, 143-148;
divided into lending and reference departments, 145;
examples of such libraries, 148;
Bp Cobham's library, Oxf., _ibid._;
Queens' Coll., Camb., a type, 151, 159;
fittings at Pembroke and other Coll., 160;
S. John's Coll., Camb., 248-250;
at Peterhouse, 251;
at Gonville and Caius, Emmanuel, Jesus, Pembroke, 254;
King's Coll., Camb., _ibid._;
Queen's Coll., Oxf., 255
Libraries, Greek: notices of, in Athens and elsewhere, 4, 5;
at Alexandria, 6;
at Pergamon, 7-12
Libraries, medieval: general characteristics, 240-244
Libraries, monastic: rule of Pachomius, 64;
general considerations 65;
Benedictine Rule, 66;
Cluniac Customs, _ibid._;
decrees given to English Benedictines by Lanfranc, 67;
Customs of Benedictine Houses, 68;
of Carthusians, 69;
of Cistercians, 70;
of Augustinians, _ibid._;
of Premonstratensians, 72;
of Mendicants, _ibid._;
general conclusions, 73;
divided into library of reference and library for lending, 74;
open to strangers, 75;
books a necessary possession, _ibid._;
protection of books, 76;
curses, 77;
endowment of libraries, 79;
work done and books kept in the cloister, 80;
furniture used, 81;
_armarium commune_, 82;
at Fossa Nuova, _ibid._;
at Worcester, 84;
evolution of Cistercian book-room, 84-89;
arrangements in Benedictine Houses, 90;
at Westminster Abbey, 91-94;
supervision at S. Augustine's, Canterbury, 99;
decoration, 100;
growth of, 101;
at S. Riquier, S. Gall, Bobbio, Lorsch, Durham, Canterbury, 102;
construction of a special library, 106;
at Canterbury, _ibid._;
Durham and Gloucester, 107;
Winchester, S. Albans, Worcester, Bury S. Edmunds, S. Victor, Paris,
Franciscans of London, 108;
Citeaux, 109-112;
Clairvaux, 112-114;
S. Germain des Pres, Paris, 114;
destruction in England, 246;
extension of their libraries in France in 17th cent., 287;
library of Jesuits at Rheims, 287-289;
of S. Genevieve, Paris, 289;
S. Germain des Pres, _ibid._;
Monte Cassino, 290
Libraries, parochial: at Grantham, 257;
at Langley Marye, 258;
Cartmel, _ibid._;
will of H. Chetham, 259;
Gorton, _ibid._;
Turton, _ibid._;
Wimborne Minster, 261;
Denchworth, 262;
All Saints', Hereford, _ibid._;
Abingdon, _ibid._
Libraries, private: books kept in chests, 292;
tower in Louvre fitted up as library, 293;
illustration of this, 294;
a Carmelite in his study, 296;
a scholar's chair, 297;
lectern, 297-9;
_Ship of Fools_, 298;
library of Margaret of Austria, 299-302;
of Anne de Beaujeu, 302;
Italian lectern, 304;
wheel-desk, 304-8;
chairs with desk, 309-312;
desks used in Italy, 312;
wall-cupboards, 313;
scholar's room, 314;
study of Duke of Urbino, _ibid._;
of Montaigne, 315;
Palazzo Barberini, 316;
library of Dean Boys, 317
Libraries, Roman (B.C.):
intention of Julius Caesar to build a library, 12;
library of C. Asinius Pollio, _ibid._;
decorated with busts of departed authors, _ibid._;
works of Augustus, _ibid._;
Porticus Octaviae, 12-14;
temple and area of Apollo, 14;
other public libraries, 15;
of Tiberius, Vespasian, Trajan, _ibid._;
of Hadrian at Athens, 16-18;
organisation of Roman libraries, 18;
composition of Palatine library, _ibid._;
description by Ovid, _ibid._;
advice of Horace respecting, 19;
library of Tiberius, _ibid._;
of Vespasian in templo Pacis, _ibid._;
of Trajan (bibliotheca Ulpia), _ibid._;
loan of books from public collections, 20;
fittings, 36;
private libraries: of Lucullus, 20, 21;
fashion for book-collecting denounced by Seneca, 21;
library in Via dello Statuto discovered by Lanciani, 22;
at Herculaneum, 23;
near Rome, as described by Martial, 31;
record-house of Vespasian, 26, 27;
contents of Roman libraries, 27-30;
fittings of Roman libraries: discussion of words used, 30-33;
what the furniture so designated was, 34, 35;
representation found at Neumagen, 35;
desk for rolls in Lateran Museum, 36;
presses (_armaria_), 36-41
Libraries, Roman (A.D.): decoration mentioned by Boethius, 41;
by Isidore, 41, 42;
library described by Eucherius, 43;
of pope Agapetus, 44;
of Isidore, Bp of Seville, 45;
summary of pagan conception of a library, 47;
illustrated by Vatican Library of Sixtus V., 47-60
Libraries of Schools: Abingdon, 262;
Bicester, _ibid._;
Rivington, _ibid._;
Guildford, 263;
Bury, _ibid._;
Bolton, 264
_Library_ = bookcase, 244
Lichfield Cathedral: library, 123
Lincoln Cathedral: library, 117;
desks described, 161
_linea_: a shelf for books, 105, _note_;
at Saint Ouen, 244
Linen: books written on, 20
L'Isle, Roger: gives books to Oxford, 132
Loan of books: from public libraries in Rome, 20
Loan of books (for external use): allowed at Abingdon, 68;
Evesham, 69;
among Carthusians, 70;
Augustinians, 71;
Premonstratensians, 72;
enjoined on monks by Council of Paris 1212, 74;
books bequeathed that they may be lent, 75;
one House lent to another, _ibid._;
to Oxford scholars, 132;
prescribed in College Statutes, 133-137;
instances of, at Merton Coll., 140;
from Vatican Library, 230-1
Loan of books (to brethren on written attestation): among Cluniacs, 67;
Benedictines, 68;
Augustinians, 71;
probable meaning of this provision, 74, note
_loculamentum_ = pigeon-hole:
receptacle for rolls in Roman libraries, 31, 32
_lora_ = straps to keep rolls closed, 29
Lorenzo in Damaso: church, 42
Lorsch: library, 102
Louvre: library fitted up, 293
Lucullus: library described, 20, 21
_Lumen animae_: chained book so called, 203
Magdalen Coll., Oxf.: library statute at, 137
Margaret of Austria: library described, 299-302
Mark, S., Florence, Dominican Convent of: library, 205
Martin (S.) des Champs, Paris: endowment of library, 79
Martin (S.), at Tournai: literary work in cloister, 81
Mary (S.) Church in Oxf.: books chained, 132
Matthew (S.): Hebrew original of his Gospel at Caesarea, 62
Mazarin, Cardinal, library of: described, 272-274;
furniture noted by Wren, 276
Meaux, in Holderness: book-room at, and arrangement, 86
Medicean Library, Florence: described, 234-240
Medicine, Faculty of, Paris: books chained in library 1509, 264
Melozzo da Forli: engaged to paint in Vatican Library, 212;
his work described, 214
Mendicants: libraries, 72
Merton Coll., Oxf.: library statute, 133;
choice and loan of books, 140;
reception of a gift, 141;
description of library, 178-185;
history, 183;
sale of old bookcases, _ibid._;
new cases supplied to south library 1623, 184;
chains taken off 1792, 266
Mesmin (Saint): curse from MS., 77, 78, and _note_
Metellus, Quintus: share in building the Porticus Octaviae, 13;
plan may have been derived from Pergamon, 14
Michelangelo:
builds Medicean Library, 234;
his sketch for the bookcases, 236
Micklethwaite, J. T.: his plan of Westminster Abbey, 91
Monastic influence at Oxf. and Camb., 142
Montaigne: visits Vatican Library 6 March, 1581, 230;
describes his own library, 315
Monte Cassino: library described, 290
Monte Oliveto, Benedictine Convent of: library, 205
Much Wenlock, Cluniac Priory: book-room, 87
Navarre, College de: library, 165
Netley, Cistercian Abbey: book-room, 86
Neumagen near Treves:
representation of a library found at, 34, and _note_
New College, Oxford: library statute, 137
_nidus_ = pigeon-hole: receptacle for rolls in Roman libraries, 30, 31
Noyon Cathedral: library, 124
Nuremberg: chained books in Stadtbibliothek, 163
Nuzio, Matteo: builds library at Cesena, 199
Obazine, in Central France: book-press described and figured, 95
Odo, Abbat of S. Martin at Tournai: promotes work in cloister, 81
Ordericus Vitalis: his work stopped by cold, 80
_ordo_: a shelf, 244
Oriel Coll., Oxf.: library statute, 133-134
Ouen, Saint: library, 244
Ovid: lines from the _Tristia_ describing Palatine library, 18
Oxford: destruction of MSS. 1549, 247
Pachomius (S.): provisions of his rule, 64, 65, _note_
Palatine library, Rome: _see_ Apollo
Pamphilus: founds library at Caesarea, 62
Parchment: story of its invention at Pergamon, 8
Parkhurst, Bp John: bequeathes books to Guildford school, 263
Paul, S., London, Cathedral: library, 122;
library built by Wren, 282-4
Paulinus, Bp of Nola:
describes use of apse in basilica built by himself, 63
Peace, library in Temple of, at Rome: _see_ Vespasian
_pegmata_ = shelves: use and meaning discussed, 32;
in Cicero's library, 33;
conclusion respecting, 34
Peisistratus, tyrant of Athens: said to have collected a library, 5
Pembroke Coll., Camb.: library statute, 139;
library fittings, 160;
bookcases at, 254
Peniscola: library of Boniface XIII., 244
Pergamon: description of site, 7;
foundation of library by Eumenes II., 8;
given to Cleopatra by Antony, _ibid._;
plan of temple and precinct of Athena, 9;
account of German exploration, 9-11;
plan possibly copied at Rome by Q. Metellus, 14;
described to Romans by Crates of Mallus, _ibid._;
copied by Hadrian at Athens, 18;
by Pope Damasus at Rome, 42
Peter (S.), Liverpool, Ch. of:
books bequeathed by John Fells, mariner, 1815, to be chained, 266
Peterborough: cloister windows glazed, 100
Peterhouse, Camb.: library statutes, 134-136;
discussion of catalogue dated 1418, 145-148;
lecterns in old library, 160;
bookcases put up between 1641 and 1648, 251;
chaining of books bequeathed by Dr Perne 1588, 265
Peter (S.) Mancroft, Norwich: wooden press in vestry, 96, _note_
Philobiblon: description of libraries of Mendicants quoted from, 72;
injunction to handle MSS. carefully, 76, _note_;
book-chest prescribed in, 297
Pigeon-hole system: used in Roman libraries, 47
Pilkington, Bp James: statutes for school at Rivington, 262
Platina, Bartolommeo: appointed librarian of Vatican, 208;
engages a binder, 209;
writes inscription in Latin library, 215;
rooms for himself and his assistants, 216;
orders desks for Latin library, 217;
selects subjects for frescoes in Ospedale di Santo Spirito, 225;
his assistants, 231-2;
provides all articles required for maintenance, 232
Pliny (the younger): describes _armarium_ sunk in wall of his bedroom, 38
_pluteus_ = shelf: use of word discussed and illustrated, 32, 33, 34
Pollio, C. Asinius:
builds a library and an _atrium libertatis_ in Rome B.C. 39, 12
Polycrates, tyrant of Samos: said to have collected a library, 4
Pompeii: reproduction of fresco shewing way to hold roll, 27
Pontis, Wm.: builds staircase in Rouen Cathedral, 129
Porticus Octaviae, 12-14
Portraits of departed authors used to decorate libraries:
at Pergamon, 11;
by C. Asinius Pollio, 12;
by Augustus, 14;
in private libraries, 35;
inscriptions accompanying them, _ibid._;
described by Eucherius, Bp of Lyons, in a private library, 43;
in library designed by pope Agapetus, 44
Precentor: called also _armarius_ and entrusted with care of books by
Cluniacs, 67;
Benedictines, 68;
Augustinians, 71;
Premonstratensians, 72;
supervises use of press at S. Augustine's, Canterbury, 99
Premonstratensians: rules for books among, 72
_Procurator bibliothecarum_: officer appointed by Augustus, 18
Protection of MSS.: rule for holding a MS., 76;
hands to be clean, _ibid._;
handkerchiefs to be wrapped round, _ibid._;
entreaties to use carefully, _ibid._;
curses on those who damage or steal, 77
Queens' Coll., Camb.: number of books in library 1472, 145;
equidistant windows of library, 148;
library selected as type, 151;
analysis of catalogue dated 1472, 167
Queen's Coll., Oxf.: library built by Hawkesmoore, 255
Ramsey Abbey, Hunts: bad weather in cloister at, 80
Remi, S., at Rheims: library belonging to, 286
Reserved library: in collegiate libraries, 145;
at Assisi, 207;
at Vatican, 211
Rheims: library of S. Remi, 286; of the Jesuits, 287
Riquier (S.): library, 102
Rivington: school library, 262;
Bp Pilkington's statute for, _ibid._
Roche, Cistercian Abbey: book-room, 86
_roe_, a wheel = a book-desk, 294;
explained, 295;
illustrated, 304-308
Rolls: dimensions, use, etc., 27;
fastened to stick, 28;
this decorated with knobs (_cornua_), _ibid._;
edges (_frontes_) of roll cut, _ibid._;
ticket (_index_) appended, 29;
closed with straps (_lora_), _ibid._;
wrapped in covers, _ibid._;
carried in a _capsa_ or _scrinium_, 30;
receptacles for, 30-34;
desk for reading, 36;
_armarium_ to contain, 37
Rome: _see_ Libraries, Roman
Rouen: Cathedral library, 128-130
Salisbury: Cathedral library, 121
Sarcophagus:
in Mus. Naz., Rome, with shoemaker at work in front of a press, 38;
in Villa Balestra, with physician reading, _ibid._
_scrinium_: box for carrying rolls, 30
Scriptorium: endowment, at Ely, 79;
at S. Albans, 80
Scrivener, Matt.:
bequeathes L50 to Univ. Library, Camb., 1687, to buy chains, 265
_sedile_: meaning discussed, 243
Sellyng, Prior, at Canterbury: sets up carrells in the cloister, 99;
glazes the windows, 100;
fits up library, 106
Seneca: denounces fashion for book-collecting, 21
_Ship of Fools_: lectern used in, 297
Shiryngton, Walt.: builds library at Old S. Paul's Cathedral, 122
[Greek: sillibos] = ticket bearing the name of a roll, 29;
used in Cicero's library, 33
Simon, abbat of S. Albans: book-chest, 292
_solarium_ = press, 207
Sorbonne: library, 164;
glass in windows of library, 242
_spalera_ or _spalliera_: a settle, 228
Stained glass: instances of, in libraries, 241
_stalla_ or _stallum_: meaning discussed, 242
Stall-system: term explained, 172;
type at Corp. Chr. Coll., Oxf., _ibid._;
description of these cases, 173;
chaining used, 174-8;
fittings at Merton Coll., Oxf., 178-185;
at S. John the Baptist Coll., Trinity Coll.,
Bodl. Library, Oxford, 185;
at Clare Coll., Camb., 186;
Westminster Abbey, 187;
Wells Cathedral, 188;
Durham Cath., 189;
origin probably monastic, 190;
Christ Church, Cant., 190-4;
Clairvaux, 196-8;
Howley-Harrison library at Canterbury, 256
Student-monks: at Oxf. and Camb., 142
Sudbury, John, dean of Durham: fits up Frater as library, 189
_tabula_, board covered with wax and parchment to record loan of
books, 139
_textus_ = bookshelf: at Ch. Ch., Canterbury, 192, 243
_theca_: a shelf or cupboard, 87, _note_
Theodmarus Cassinensis: his letter to Charlemagne quoted, 76 and _note_
Tiberius, Emperor: his library in Rome, 15, 16;
this mentioned by Aulus Gellius, 19;
contained public records, _ibid._
Tibur = Tivoli: story of library in temple of Hercules, 20
Tintern, Cistercian Abbey: book-room, 86
Titchfield: book-room and arrangement, 87
_titulus_ = ticket bearing the name of a roll, 28
Tournai: _see_ Martin (S.)
Trajan: library in his forum in Rome, 15;
statements of Aulus Gellius and Vopiscus respecting, 19;
described by Nibby, 37
_trichora_; applied to a triple apse, 63;
use of the word by Dioscorides, 64
Trigg, Fra.: founds library at Grantham, 257
Trinity Coll., Camb.: chaining of books given in 1601, 265;
Wren's library built, 277-281
Trinity Hall, Camb.: library statute, 136;
library described, 168
Troyes: library in Cathedral, 126
Turton: library, 259
Udine, Giovanni da: supplies stained glass to Medicean Library, 235
Ulpian, jurist: decisions respecting libraries and their furniture, 37
Ulpian library, at Rome: _see_ Trajan
_umbilicus_ = stick to which roll was fastened, 28
Universities: visited by Commissioners of Edward VI., 247
University Coll., Oxf.: library statute, 133
University Library, Camb.: subjects of books catalogued 1424, 144;
ditto 1473, 145;
bookcases supplied to, 1731-4, 285
Urbino: account of library, 233;
private study of Duke, 314
Varro, M. Terentius:
employed by C. Julius Caesar to collect books for his intended
library, 12;
his bust admitted into Pollio's library, _ibid._
Vatican Library of Sixtus IV.: description of, 208-32;
appointment of Platina as librarian, 208;
selection of site, 209;
fourfold division, 211;
purchase of materials, _ibid._;
engagement of artists, _ibid._;
door of entrance made, 212;
Latin Library described, _ibid._;
its decoration, 213;
Greek Library described, _ibid._;
its decoration, 215;
Bibliotheca secreta described, _ibid._;
Bibliotheca pontificia, _ibid._;
glazing of the windows, 216;
rooms for librarians, _ibid._;
bookcases for Latin library ordered, 217;
for _Bibliotheca secreta_, _ibid._;
catalogue-frames and coffers ordered, 218;
cases for _Bibliotheca pontificia_ ordered, _ibid._;
chains bought, 219;
information derived from catalogues, 220-4;
contemporary fresco representing library, 225;
arrangement of cases in the four rooms, 226-9;
globes and brazier, 229;
rule for good behaviour in, 1513, _ibid._;
visit of Montaigne, 230;
loans from, 230-1;
staff of library, 231;
maintenance of, 232
Vatican Library of Sixtus V.: type of an ancient Roman library, 47;
summary account of decoration, 48;
detailed do., 49-60
Versailles: libraries of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, 287
Verses: by Martial, to be placed under his own portrait, 35;
by Isidore of Seville, for the presses in his library, 45
Vespasian: his library in Rome _in templo Paris_, 15;
statement of Aulus Gellius respecting, 19;
his record-office, now church of SS. Cosma e Damiano, 25
Victor (S.), Paris: books bequeathed to, on condition of loan, 75;
library open to strangers, _ibid._;
lines from MSS. at, admonishing readers to be careful, 76;
curse habitually used at, 77, _note_;
library built at, 1501-8, 108;
catalogue of library analysed, 166-7
Villa Balestra, Rome: sarcophagus, 38
Vivarium, near Squillace: monastery of Cassiodorus near, 44
_volumen_ = roll, 27-30;
box for, 30;
fittings of libraries adapted to, 34;
representation of one of these, 35
Wall-system: name proposed, 267;
library of Escorial, 267-270;
Ambrosian Library at Milan, 271;
Bibliotheque Mazarine, 272-274
Wells Cathedral: library at, 123;
described, 188
Wessyngton, Prior: builds library at Durham, 107
Westminster Abbey: plan of cloister at, 91;
account of library in, 91-94;
carrells, 92, 93;
resemblance to Gloucester, 98;
library fitted up 1623-4, 187
Wheel-desk: _see_ roe
Whethamstede, John: builds library at S. Albans, 108;
at Gloucester House, Oxf., 142
Whittington, Sir R.: builds library at Christ's Hospital 1421, 108
Williams, John, Bp of Lincoln:
fits up dorter at Westminster Abbey as library 1623-4, 187;
builds library at S. John's Coll., Camb., 248-251
Wimborne: Minster library, 261
Winchester: position of library, 108
Winckelmann, J. J.: description of library at Herculaneum, 25
Wings, attached to bookcases: at Peterhouse, Camb., 252;
at University Library, 253;
at Pembroke Coll., 254
Worcester Cathedral: book-recesses in cloister at, 84;
library at, 108;
Bishop Carpenter's library-foundation, 126-8
Wren, Sir C.: visits Paris, 276;
builds library at Lincoln Cathedral, 277;
at Trinity College, Cambridge, 277-281;
at S. Paul's Cathedral, London, 282-4
Wren, Matt.: account of Pembroke Coll. library, 139, 160
York: Cathedral library, 125
Zutphen: library described, 153-159
CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY J. AND C. F. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.