These enigmatical verses contain all that we know, or are ever likely to know, respecting this building, which is called chartarium ecclesiae Romanae by S. Jerome[106], and unquestionably held the official documents of the Latin Church until they were removed to the Lateran in the seventh century. The whole building, or group of buildings, was destroyed in 1486 by Cardinal Raphael Riario, the dissolute nephew of Sixtus IV., to make room for his new palace, now called Palazzo della Cancelleria, and the church was rebuilt on a new site. The connexion with Pope Damasus is maintained by the name, S. Lorenzo in Damaso. No plan of the old buildings, or contemporary record of their arrangement, appears to exist. My only reason for drawing attention to a structure which has no real connexion with my subject is that the illustrious De Rossi considers that in the second line of the above quotation the word column signifies colonnades; and that Damasus took as his model one of the great pagan libraries of Rome which, in its turn, had been derived from the typical library at Pergamon[107]. According to this view he began by building, in the centre of the area selected, a basilica, or hall of basilican type, dedicated to S. Lawrence; and then added, on the north and south sides, a colonnade or loggia from which the rooms occupied by the records would be readily accessible. This opinion is also held by Signor Lanciani, who follows De Rossi without hesitation. I am unwilling to accept a theory which seems to me to have no facts to support it; and find it safer to believe that the line in question refers either to the aisles of the basilica, or to such a portico in front of it as may be seen at San Clemente and other early churches.

A letter to Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons in A.D. 441, from a correspondent named Rusticus, gives a charming picture of a library which he had visited in his young days, say about A.D. 400:

I am reminded of what I read years ago, hastily, as a boy does, in the library of a man who was learned in secular literature. There were there portraits of Orators and also of Poets worked in mosaic, or in wax of different colours, or in plaster, and under each the master of the house had placed inscriptions noting their characteristics; but, when he came to a poet of acknowledged merit, as for instance, Virgil, he began as follows:

Virgilium vatem melius sua carmina laudant; In freta dum fluvii current, dum montibus umbrae Lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet, Semper honos nomenque tuum laudesque manebunt.

Virgil's own lines most fitly Virgil praise: As long as rivers run into the deep, As long as shadows o'er the hillside sweep, As long as stars in heaven's fair pastures graze, So long shall live your honour, name, and praise.[108]

Agapetus, who was chosen Pope in 535, and lived for barely a year, had intended, in conjunction with Cassiodorus, to found a college for teachers of Christian doctrine. He selected for this purpose a house on the Caelian Hill, afterwards occupied by S. Gregory, and by him turned into a monastery. Agapetus had made some progress with the scheme, so far as the library attached to the house was concerned, for the author of the Einsiedlen MS., who visited Rome in the ninth century, saw the following inscription "in the library of S. Gregory"—i.e. in the library attached to the Church of San Gregorio Magno.

SANCTORVM VENERANDA COHORS SEDET ORDINE LONGO DIVINAE LEGIS MYSTICA DICTA DOCENS HOS INTER RESIDENS AGAPETVS IVRE SACERDOS CODICIBVS PVLCHRVM CONDIDIT ARTE LOCVM GRATIA PAR CVNCTIS SANCTVS LABOR OMNIBVS VNVS DISSONA VERBA QVIDEM SED TAMEN VNA FIDES

Here sits in long array a reverend troop Teaching the mystic truths of law divine: 'Mid these by right takes Agapetus place Who built to guard his books this fair abode. All toil alike, all equal grace enjoy— Their words are different, but their faith the same.

These lines undoubtedly imply that there was on the walls a long series of portraits of the Fathers of the Church, including that of Agapetus himself, who had won his right to a place among them by building a sumptuous home for their works[109].

The design of Agapetus, interrupted by death, was carried forward by his friend Cassiodorus, at a place in South Italy called Vivarium, near his own native town Squillace. Shortly after his final retirement from court, A.D. 538, Cassiodorus established there a brotherhood, which, for a time at least, must have been a formidable rival to that of S. Benedict. A library held a prominent place in his conception of what was needed for their common life. He says little about its size or composition, but much rhetoric is expended on the contrivances by which its usefulness and attractiveness were to be increased. A staff of bookbinders was to clothe the manuscripts in decorous attire; self-supplying lamps were to light nocturnal workers; sundials by day, and water-clocks by night, enabled them to regulate their hours. Here also was a scriptorium, and it appears probable that between the exertions of Cassiodorus and his friend Eugippius, South Italy was well supplied with manuscripts[110].

These attempts to snatch from oblivion libraries which, though probably according to our ideas insignificant, were centres of culture in the darkest of dark ages, will be illustrated by the fuller information that has come down to us respecting the library of Isidore, Bishop of Seville 600-636. The "verses composed by himself for his own presses," to quote the oldest manuscript containing them[111], have been preserved, with the names of the writers under whose portraits they were inscribed.

There were fourteen presses, arranged as follows:

I. Origen. II. Hilary. III. Ambrose. IV. Augustine. V. Jerome. VI. Chrysostom. VII. Cyprian. VIII. Prudentius. IX. Avitus, Juvencus, Sedulius. X. Eusebius, Orosius. XI. Gregory. XII. Leander. XIII. Theodosius, Paulus, Gaius. XIV. Cosmas, Damian, Hippocrates, Galen.

These writers are probably those whom Isidore specially admired, or had some particular reason for commemorating. The first seven are obvious types of theologians, and the presses over which they presided were doubtless filled not merely with their own works, but with bibles, commentaries, and works on Divinity in general. Eusebius and Orosius are types of ecclesiastical historians; Theodosius, Paulus, and Gaius, of jurists; Cosmas, Damian, etc. of physicians. But the Christian poets Prudentius to Sedulius could hardly have needed two presses to contain their works; nor Gregory the Great the whole of one. Lastly, Leander, Isidore's elder brother, could only owe his place in the series to fraternal affection. I conjecture that these portraits were simply commemorative; and that the presses beneath them contained the books on subjects not suggested by the rest of the portraits, as for example, secular literature, in which Isidore was a proficient.

The sets of verses[112] begin with three elegiac couplets headed Titulus Bibliothece, probably placed over the door of entrance.

Sunt hic plura sacra, sunt hic mundalia plura: Ex his si qua placent carmina, tolle, lege. Prata vides, plena spinis, et copia florum; Si non vis spinas sumere, sume rosas. Hic geminae radiant veneranda volumina legis; Condita sunt pariter hic nova cum veteri.

Here sacred books with worldly books combine; If poets please you, read them; they are thine. My meads are full of thorns, but flowers are there; If thorns displease, let roses be your share. Here both the Laws in tomes revered behold; Here what is new is stored, and what is old.

The authors selected are disposed of either in a single couplet, or in several couplets, according to the writer's taste. I will quote the lines on S. Augustine:

Mentitur qui [te] totum legisse fatetur: An quis cuneta tua lector habere potest? Namque voluminibus mille, Augustine, refulges, Testantur libri, quod loquor ipse, tui. Quamvis multorum placeat prudentia libris, Si Augustinus adest, sufficit ipse tibi.

They lie who to have read thee through profess; Could any reader all thy works possess? A thousand scrolls thy ample gifts display; Thy own books prove, Augustine, what I say. Though other writers charm with varied lore, Who hath Augustine need have nothing more.

The series concludes with some lines "To an Intruder (ad Interventorem)," the last couplet of which is too good to be omitted:

Non patitur quenquam coram se scriba loquentem; Non est hic quod agas, garrule, perge foras.

A writer and a talker can't agree: Hence, idle chatterer; 'tis no place for thee.



With these three examples I conclude the section of my work which deals with what may be called the pagan conception of a library in the fulness of its later development. Unfortunately, no enthusiast of those distant times has handed down to us a complete description of his library, and we are obliged to take a detail from one account, and a detail from another, and so piece the picture together for ourselves. What I may call "the pigeon-hole system," suitable for rolls only, was replaced by presses which could contain rolls if required, and certainly did (as shewn (fig. 13) on the sarcophagus of the Villa Balestra), but which were specially designed for codices. These presses were sometimes plain, sometimes richly ornamented, according to the taste or the means of the owner. With the same limitations the floor, the walls, and possibly the roof also were decorated. Further, it was evidently intended that the room selected for books should be used for no other purpose; and, as the books were hidden from view in their presses, the library-note, if I may be allowed the expression, was struck by numerous inscriptions, and by portraits in various materials, representing either authors whose works were on the shelves, or men distinguished in other ways, or friends and relations of the owner of the house.

The Roman conception of a library was realised by Pope Sixtus V., in 1587[113], when the present Vatican Library was commenced from the design of the architect Fontana. I am not aware that there is any contemporary record to prove that either the Pope or his advisers contemplated this direct imitation; but it is evident, from the most cursory inspection of the large room (fig. 16), that the main features of a Roman library are before us[114]; and perhaps, having regard to the tendency of the Renaissance, especially in Italy, it would be unreasonable to expect a different design in such a place, and at such a period.

This noble hall—probably the most splendid apartment ever assigned to library-purposes—spans the Cortile del Belvedere from east to west, and is entered at each end from the galleries connecting the Belvedere with the Vatican palace. It is 184 feet long, and 57 feet wide, divided into two by six piers, on which rest simple quadripartite vaults. The north and south walls are each pierced with seven large windows. No books are visible. They are contained in plain wooden presses 7 feet high and 2 feet deep, set round the piers, and against the walls between the windows. The arrangement of these presses will be understood from the general view (fig. 16), and from the view of a single press open (fig. 17).

In the decoration, with which every portion of the walls and vaults is covered, Roman methods are reproduced, but with a difference. The great writers of antiquity are conspicuous by their absence; but the development of the human race is commemorated by the presence of those to whom the invention of letters is traditionally ascribed; the walls are covered with frescoes representing the foundation of the great libraries which instructed the world, and the assemblies of the Councils which established the Church; the vaults record the benefits conferred on Rome by Sixtus V., in a series of historical views, one above each window; and over these again are stately figures, each embodying some sacred abstraction—"Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers"—with angels swinging censers, and graceful nymphs, and laughing satyrs—a strange combination of paganism and Christianity—amid wreaths of flowers, and arabesques twining round the groups and over every vacant space, partly framing, partly hiding, the heraldic devices which commemorate Sixtus and his family:—a web of lovely forms and brilliant colours, combined in an intricate and yet orderly confusion.

It may be questioned whether such a room as this was ever intended for study. The marble floor, the gorgeous decoration, the absence of all appliances for work in the shape of desks, tables, chairs, suggest a place for show rather than for use. The great libraries of the Augustan age, on the other hand, seem, so far as we can judge, to have been used as meeting-places and reading-rooms for learned and unlearned alike. In general arrangement and appearance, however, the Vatican Library must closely resemble its imperial predecessors.



FOOTNOTES:

[1] Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, 2 vols., 8vo. Lond. 1853. Vol. II., p. 343.

[2] Ezra, vi. I.

[3] Mr Layard gives a view of the interior of one of these rooms (p. 345) after it had been cleared of rubbish.

[4] La Bibliotheque du Palais de Ninive, par M. Joachim Menant. 8vo. Paris, 1880, p. 32.

[5] The two languages are the ancient Sumerian and the more modern Assyrian.

[6] Athenaeus, Book 1., Chap. 4.

[7] Noct. Att. Book VII., Chap. 17. Libros Athenis disciplinarum liberalium publice ad legendum praebendos primus posuisse dicitur Pisistratus tyrannus.

[8] Xenophon, Memorabilia, Book IV., Chap. 2.

[9] Aristoph. Ranae, 1407-1410, translated by J. H. Frere. The passage has been quoted by Castellani, Biblioteche nell' Antichita, 8vo., Bologna, 1884, pp. 7, 8, and many others.

[10] Strabo, ed. Kramer, Berlin, 8vo., 1852, Book XIII., Chap. I, Sec. 54. [Greek: protos hon hismen synagagon biblia, kai didaxas tous en Aigypto basileas bibliothekes syntaxin.]

[11] Book XIII., Chap. 4, Sec. 2.

[12] Book XVII., Chap. 1, Sec. 8. [Greek: ton de basileion meros esti kai to Mouseion, echon peripaton kai exedran kai oikon megan, en ps to sussition ton metechonton tou Mouseion philologon andron esti de te sunodo taute kai chremata koina kai iereus o epi to Monseio, tetagmenos tote men upo ton Basileon nun d upo Kaisaros.]

[13] One of the anonymous lives of Apollonius Rhodius states that he presided over the Museum Libraries ([Greek: ton bibliothekon ton Mouseion]).

[14] Epiphanius, De Pond. et Mens., Chap. 12. [Greek: eti de usteron kai etera egeneto bibliotheke en to Serateio, mikrotera tes protes, etis thugater onomasthe autes.]

[15] Ammianus Marcellinus, Book XXII., Chap. 16, Sec. 12. Atriis columnariis amplissimis et spirantibus signorum figmentis ita est exornatum, ut post Capitolium quo se venerabilis Roma in aeternum attollit, nihil orbis terrarum ambitiosius cernat. See also Aphthonius, Progymn. C. XII. ed. Walz, Rhetores Graeci, i. 106.

[16] Pliny, Hist. Nat., Book V., Chap. 30. Longeque clarissimum Asiae Pergamum.

[17] Strabo, Book XIII., Chap. 4, Sec. 2. After recounting the successful policy of Eumenes II. towards the Romans, he proceeds: [Greek: kateskenase de ontos ten polin, kai to Nikephorion alsei katephuteuse, kai anathemata kai bibliothekas kai ten epi tosonde katoikian tou Pergamon ten nun ousan ekeinos prosephilokalese].

[18] De Architectura, Book VII., Praefatio. The passage is quoted in the next note.

[19] Pliny, Hist. Nat., Book XIII., Chap. 11. Mox aemulatione circa bibliothecas regum Ptolemaei et Eumenis, supprimente chartas Ptolemaeo, idem Varro membranas Pergami tradidit repertas. Vitruvius, on the other hand (ut supra) makes Ptolemy found the library at Alexandria as a rival to that at Pergamon. Reges Attalici magnis philologiae dulcedinibus inducti cum egregiam bibliothecam Pergami ad communem delectationem instituissent, tune item Ptolemaeus, infinito zelo cupiditatisque incitatus studio, non minoribus industriis ad eundem modum contenderat Alexandriae comparare.

[20] Plutarch, Antonius, Chap. 57. To a list of accusations against Antony for his subservience to Cleopatra, is added the fact: [Greek: charisasthai men aute tas ek Pergamon bibliothekas, en ais eikosi muriades biblon aplon esan].

[21] Altertuemer von Pergamon, Fol., Berlin, 1885, Band 11. Das Heiligtum der Athena Polias Nikephoros, von Richard Bohn. The ground-plan (fig. 2) is reduced from Plate III. in that volume.

[22] Die Pergamenische Bibliothek. Sitzungsberichte der Koenigl. Preuss. Akad. der Wiss. zu Berlin, 1884, II. 1259-1270.

[23] In my first lecture as Sandars Reader at Cambridge in the Lent Term, 1900, I pointed out that this enclosure was of about the same size as Nevile's Court at Trinity College, if to the central area there we add the width of one of the cloisters; and that the temple of Athena was of exactly the same width as the Hall, but about 15 feet shorter. Nevile's Court is 230 feet long from the inside of the pillars supporting the Library to the wall of the Hall; and it has a mean breadth of 137 feet. If the width of the cloister, 20 feet, be added to this, we get 157 feet in lieu of the 162 feet at Pergamon.

[24] Now in the Royal Museum, Berlin.

[25] Similar sockets have been discovered in the walls of the chambers connected with the Stoa of King Attalus at Athens. These chambers are thought to have been shops, and the sockets to have supported shelves on which wares were exposed for sale. Conze, ut supra, p. 1260; Adler, Die Stoa des Koenigs Attalos zu Athen, Berlin, 1874; Murray's Handbook for Greece, ed. 1884, 1. p. 255.

[26] Suetonius, Caesar, Chap. 44.

[27] Pliny, Nat. Hist., Book VII., Chap. 30; Book XXXV., Chap. 2.

[28] Suetonius, Augustus, Chap. 29.

[29] Isidore, Origines, Book VI., Chap. 5.

[30] Lanciani, Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, ed. 1897, p. 471. Middleton, Ancient Rome, 1892, II. 204, 205.

[31] Nibby, Roma Antica, p. 601. [Augusto] vi aggiunse un luogo per conversare chiamato Schola.

[32] Vell. Pat., Book 1., Chap. II. Hic est Metellus Macedonicus qui porticus quae fuere circumdatae duabus aedibus sine inscriptione positis, quae nunc Octaviae porticibus ambiuntur, fecerat.

[33] Suet. De Illustr. Gramm. c. 2.

[34] Middleton, Ancient Rome, 1892, II. 205.

[35] I have taken these dimensions from Middleton's Plan of the Palatine Hill (ut supra, p. 156), but until the site has been excavated they must be more or less conjectural.

[36] Middleton, Ibid., I. 185-188. The evidence for the portraits rests on the following passage in the Annals of Tacitus ii. 37, where he is relating how Hortalus, grandson of the orator Hortensius, being reduced to poverty, came with his four children to the Senate: "igitur quatuor filiis ante limen curiae adstantibus, loco sententiae, cum in Palatio senatus haberetur, modo Hortensii inter oratores sitam imaginem, modo Augusti, intuens, ad hunc modum coepit."

[37] Pausanias, Attica, Book I., Chap. 18, Sec. 9, ed. J. G. Frazer, Vol. I., p. 26.

[38] The above description is derived from Miss Harrison's book, ut supra, pp. 195-198; Pausanias, ed. J. G. Frazer, Vol. II., pp. 184, 185.

[39] Eusebius, Chronicon, ed. Schoene, Vol. II., p. 167.

[40] Middleton, Ancient Rome, I. 186.

[41] Tristia, III. 59.

[42] Epist., I. 3. 17.

[43] Noctes Atticae, V. 21. 9.

[44] Vopiscus, Hist. Aug. Script., II. 637.

[45] Aulus Gellius, ut supra, XVI. 8. 2.

[46] Ibid., XI. 17. 1.

[47] Flavii Vopisci Tacitus, c. 8.

[48] Id., Aurelianus, c. 1.

[49] Noctes Atticae, XIX. 5.

[50] Plutarch, Lucullus, Chap. XLII. [Greek: Spondes d' axia kai logoy ta peri ten ton biblion kataskeuen. kai gar polla, kai gegrammena kalos, sunege, e te chresis en philotimotera tes kteseos, aneimenon pasi ton bibliothekon, kai ton peri autas peripaton kai scholaoterlon akolutos upodechomenon tous Ellenas, osper eis Mouson ti katagogion ekeise phoitontas kai sundiemereuontas allelois, apo ton allon chreion asmenos apotrechontas].

[51] De Tranquillitate Animi, Chap. IX. Studiorum quoque quae liberalissima impensa est, tamdiu rationem habet quamdiu modum. Quo innumerabiles libros et bibliothecas quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit? onerat discentem turba, non instruit, multoque satius est paucis te auctoribus tradere, quam errare per multos. Quadraginta milia librorum Alexandriae arserunt: pulcherrimum regiae opulentiae monumentum alius laudaverit, sicut et Livius, qui elegantiae regum curaeque egregium id opus ait fuisse: non fuit elegantia illud aut cura, sed studiosa luxuria, immo ne studiosa quidem, quoniam non in studium sed in spectaculum comparaverant sicut plerisque ignaris etiam servilium literarum libri non studiorum instrumenta sed coenationum ornamenta sunt. Paretur itaque librorum quantum satis sit, nihil in adparatum. "Honestius" inquis "hoc impensis quas in Corinthia pictasque tabulas effuderim." Vitiosum est ubique quod nimium est. Quid habes cur ignoscas homini armaria citro atque ebore captanti, corpora conquirenti aut ignotorum auctorum aut improbatorum et inter tot milia librorum oscitanti, cui voluminum suorum frontes maxime placent titulique? Apud desidiosissimos ergo videbis quicquid orationum historiarumque est, tecto tenus exstructa loculamenta. Iam enim inter balnearia et thermas bibliotheca quoque ut necessarium domus ornamentum expolitur. Ignoscerem plane, si studiorum nimia cupidine oriretur: nunc ista conquisita, cum imaginibus suis descripta, sacrorum opera ingeniorum in speciem et cultum parietum comparantur. With this passage may be compared Lucian's tract: [Greek: Eros apaideuton kai polla biblia onoumenon.] My friend Mr F. Darwin in informs me that the Latin citrus, or Greek [Greek: kedros], is the coniferous tree called Thuia articulata = Callitris quadrivalvis. See Helm, Kulturpflanzen, Berl. 1894. Engl. Trans, p. 431.

[52] Lanciani, Ancient Rome, 8vo. 1888, p. 193.

[53] Ancient Rome, ed. 1892, ii. 254.

[54] Phil. Trans., Vol. XLVIII., Pt 2, p. 634.

[55] Ibid., p. 821.

[56] Ibid., p. 825.

[57] Opere di G. G. Winckelmann, Prato, 1831, VII. 197.

[58] Lanciani, Ruins of Ancient Rome, pp. 213-217. He describes and figures Ligorio's elevation, from MS. Vat. 3439, in Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma, Ann. X. Ser. II., 1882. pp. 29-54. See also Middleton, Ancient Rome, 1892, II. 15-19. The plan of Rome called the Capitoline Plan, because it is now preserved in the Museum of the Capitol, was fixed to the north-east wall (fig. 7. 3).

[59] The average length of a roll may be taken at 20-30 ft.; the width at 9-11 in. See The Palaeography of Greek Papyri, by F. G. Kenyon, Oxf. 1899, Chap. II.

[60] The breadth of these columns from left to right was not great, and their length was considerably shorter than the width of the roll, as a margin was left at the top and bottom.

[61] Antichita di Ercolano, Fol. Napoli, 1779. Vol. V., Tavola 55, p. 243.

[62] In this statue the roll is a restoration, but a perfectly correct one. It is original, and slightly different, in the replica of the statue at Knowle Park, Sevenoaks, Kent. See a paper on this statue by J. E. Sandys. Litt.D. in Melanges Weil, 1898. pp. 423-428.

[63] Horace, Epodes, XIV. 5-8. Comp. Martial, Epigrams, IV. 89. Ohe! libelle, Iam pervenimus usque ad umbilicos.

[64] Tristia, I. i. 109.

[65] Catullus (XXII. 7) says of a roll which had been got up with special smartness:

Novi umbilici, lora rubra, membrana Directa plumbo, et pumice omnia aequata.

[66] Lucian, Adv. Indoct., Chap. 16.

[67] Epigrams, X. 93.

[68] My friend M. R. James, Litt.D., of King's College, has kindly given me the following note: In the apocryphal Assumption of Moses Joshua is told to 'cedar' Moses' words (= rolls), and to lay them up in Jerusalem: "quos ordinabis et chedriabis et repones in vasis fictilibus in loco quem fecit [Deus] ab initio creaturae orbis terrarum." Assump. Mos., ed. Charles, I. 17. See also Dueange, s.v. Cedria. Vitruvius (II. ix. 13) says: "ex cedro oleum quod cedreum dicitur nascitur, quo reliquae res cum sint unctae, uti etiam libri, a tineis et earie non laeduntur." See above, p. 22.

[69] Epigrams, III. ii. 6.

[70] Ovid (Tristia, I. i. 105) addressing his book, says:

Cum tamen in nostrum fueris penetrale receptus Contigerisque tuam, scrinia curva, domum.

[71] Epigrams, I. 117.

[72] Epigrams, VII. 17.

[73] Suet. Aug. 31. Libros Sibyllinos condidit duobus forulis auratis sub Palatini Apollinis basi.

[74] Sat. III. 219.

[75] Georg. IV. 250.

[76] De Re Rustica, VIII. 8. Paxillis adactis tabulae superponantur; quae vel loculamenta quibus nidificent aves, vel fictilia columbaria, recipiant.

[77] Ibid., IX. 12. 2. The writer, having described bees swarming, proceeds: protinus custos novum loculamentum in hoc praeparatum perlinat intrinsecus praedictis herbis ... tum manibus aut etiam trulla congregatas apes recondat, atque ... diligenter compositum et illitum vas ... patiatur in eodem loco esse dum advesperascat. Primo deinde crepusculo transferat et reponat in ordinem reliquarum alvorum.

[78] Vegetius, Art. Vet., III. 32. Si iumento loculamenta dentium vel dentes doluerint.

[79] Vitruvius, De Arch., ed. Schneider, X. 9. Insuper autem ad capsum redae loculamentum firmiter figatur habens tympanum versatile in cultro collocatum, etc.

[80] Dr. Sandys, in his edition of Aristotle's Constitution of Athens, 1893, p. 174, has shewn that in the office of the public clerk a similar contrivance was used, called [Greek: epistulion]: "a shelf supporting a series of pigeon-holes, and itself supported by wooden pedestals."

[81] Ulpian, Digest, 33. 7. 12. In emptionem domus et specularia et pegmata cedere solent, sive in aediticiis sint posita, sive ad tempus detracta.

[82] Ibid., 29. 1. 17. Reticuli circa columnas, plutei circa parietes, item cilicia, vela, aedium non sunt.

[83] Sat. II. 4. I do not think that these lines refer to a library. The whole house, not a single room in it, is full of plaster busts of philosophers.

[84] Ep. cv. (ed. Billerbeck); Ad Att. IV. 4, p. 2.

[85] Ep. cvi. (ibid.); Ad Att. IV. 5.

[86] Ep. cxi. (ibid.); Ad Att. IV. 8.

[87] This cut is given in Antiquitatum et Annalium Trevirensium libri XXV. Auctoribus RR. PP. Soc. Jesu P. Christophoro Browero, et P. Jacobo Masenio. 2 v. fol. Leodii, 1670. It is headed: Schema voluminum in bibliothecam (sic) ordine olim digestorum Noviomagi in loco Castrorum Constantini M. hodiedum in lapide reperto excisum. See also C. G. Schwarz, De Ornamentis Librorum, 4to, Lips. 1756, pp. 86, 172, 231, and Tab. II., fig. 4. I learnt this reference from Sir E. M. Thompson's Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography, ed. 2, 1894, p. 57, note. The Director of the Museum at Treves informs me that all the antiquities discovered at Neumagen were destroyed in the seventeenth century.

[88] See above, p. 11.

[89] Ibid., p. 12.

[90] Epigrams, Lib. IX. Introduction.

[91] The whole relief is figured in Seyffert, Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, ed. Nettleship and Sandys, p. 649.

[92] De Architectura, Lib. VII, Pref. [Aristophanes] e certis amiariis infinita volumina eduxit.

[93] Digesta Justiniani Augusti, ed. Mommsen. 8vo. Berlin, 1870. Vol. II. p. 88. Book XXXII. 52.

[94] This is the date of the Columna cochlis. Middleton's Rome, II. 24 note.

[95] Nibby, Roma Antica, 8vo. Roma, 1839, p. 188.

[96] Epist. II. 17. 8. Parieti eius [cubiculi mei] in bibliothecae speciem armarium insertum est quod non legendos libros sed lectitandos capit.

[97] I should not have known of the existence of this sarcophagus had it not been figured, accurately enough on the whole, in Le Palais de Scaurus, by Mazois, published at Paris in 1822. The sarcophagus had passed through the hands of several collectors since Mazois figured it, and I had a long and amusing search for it.

[98] Mittheilungen des K. D. Archaeologischen Instituts Rom, 1900, Band XV. p. 171. Der Sarkophag eines Arztes.

[99] The inscription is printed in full in Antike Bilderwerke in Rom ... beschrieben von Friedrich Matz., und F. von Duhn, 3 vols., 8vo. Leipzig, 1881, Vol. II. p. 346, No. 3127^*.

[100] Garrucci, Arte Christiana, Vol. IV. p. 39. It would appear from some curious drawings on glass figured by Garrucci, ut supra Pl. 490, that the Jews used presses of similar design in their synagogues to contain the rolls of the law.

[101] The original of this picture is 18 in. high by 9-3/4 in. broad, including the border. It could not be photographed, and therefore, through the kind offices of Miss G. Dixon, and Signor Biagi, Librarian of the Laurentian Library, the services of a thoroughly capable artist, Professor Attilio Formilli, were secured to make an exact copy in water colours. This he has done with singular taste and skill. My figure has been reduced from this copy. The press has also been figured in outline by Garrucci, Arte Christiana, Vol. III., Pl. 126.

[102] The romantic story of the Codex Amiatinus is fully narrated by Mr H. J. White in Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica, 8vo. Oxf. 1890, II. pp. 273-308.

[103] The Octateuch, or, the five books of Moses, with the addition of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.

[104] Consol. Philosoph., Book I. Ch. 5. Nec bibliothecae potius comptos ebore ac vitro parietes quam tuae mentis sedem requiro.

[105] Origines, Book VI. Ch. ii. Cum peritiores architecti neque aurea lacunaria ponenda in bibliothecis putent neque pavimenta alia quam a Carysteo marmore, quod auri fulgor hebetat et Carystei viriditas reficiat oculos.

[106] Apol. adv. Rufinum, ii. 20: Opera, ed. Vallarsi, II. 549.

[107] De Origine Historia Indicibus scrinii et bibliothecae Sedis Apostolicae commentatio Ioannis Baptistae de Rossi.... 4to. Romae, 1886, Chapter V. A brief, but accurate, summary of his account will be found in Lanciani's Ancient Rome, 8vo. 1888, pp. 187-190. Father C. J. Ehrle has given me much help on this difficult question.

[108] Sidonii Apollinaris Opera, ed. Sirmondi. 4to. Paris, 1652. Notes, p. 33. The words of this letter, which I have translated very freely, are as follows:

Sed dum haec tacitus mecum revolvo, occurrit mihi quod in Bibliotheca studiosi saecularium litterarum puer quondam, ut se aetatis illius curiositas habet, praetereundo legissem. Nam cum supra memoratae aedis ordinator ac dominus, inter expressas lapillis aut ceris discoloribus, formatasque effigies vel Oratorum vel etiam Poetarum specialia singulorum autotypis epigrammata subdidisset; ubi ad praeiudicati eloquii venit poetam, hoc modo orsus est.

The last three lines of the inscription are from the AEneid, Book I. 607. I owe the most important part of the translation of Rusticus to Lanciani, ut supra, p. 196: that of Virgil is by Professor Conington.

[109] I have taken the text of the inscription, and my account of Agapetus and his work, from De Rossi, ut supra, Chap. VIII. p. lv.

[110] Cassiodorus, De Inst. Div. Litt. Chap. XXX. pp. 1145, 46. Ed. Migne. De Rossi, ut supra.

[111] Versus qui scripti sunt in armaria sua ab ipso [Isidoro] compositi. Cod. Vat. Pal. 1877, a MS. which came from Lorch in Germany. De Rossi, ut supra. Chap. VII.

[112] Isidori Opera Omnia, 410. Rome, 1803. Vol. VII. p. 179.

[113] See Hen. Stevenson, Topografia e Monumenti di Roma nelle Pitture a fresco di Sisto V. della Biblioteca Vaticana, p. 7; in Al Sommo Pontefice Leone XIII. Omaggio Giubilare della Biblioteca Vaticana, Fol. Rome, 1881.

[114] Signor Lanciani (Ancient Rome, p. 195) was the first to suggest a comparison between the Vatican Library and those of ancient Rome.



APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I.

DECORATION OF THE VATICAN LIBRARY.

The system of decoration carried out in this Library, of which I have just given a summary description, is so interesting, and bears evidence of so much care and thought, that I subjoin a detailed account of it, which, by the kindness of Father Ehrle, prefect of the Library, I was enabled to draw up during my late visits to Rome. The diagrammatic ground-plan (fig. 18) which accompanies this description, if studied in conjunction with the general view (fig. 16), will make the relation of the subjects to each other perfectly clear. The visitor is supposed to enter the Library from the vestibule at the east end; and the notation of the piers, windows, wall-frescoes, etc., begins from the same end. Further, the visitor is supposed to examine the east face of each pier first, and then to turn to the left.

I will begin with the figures on the central piers and half-piers. These figures are painted in fresco, of heroic size: and over their heads are the letters which they are supposed to have invented.

1. PILASTER AGAINST EAST WALL.

ADAM.

A tall stalwart figure dressed in short chiton. He holds an apple in his left hand, and a mattock in his right.

Adam divinitus edoctus primus scientiarum et litterarum inventor.

2. FIRST PIER.

(a) ABRAHAM.

Abraham Syras et Chaldaicas litteras invenit.

(b) THE SONS OF SETH.

Filii Seth columnis duabus rerum coelestium disciplinam inscribunt.

(c) ESDRAS.

Esdras novas Hebraeorum litteras invenit.

(d) MOSES.

Moyses antiquas Hebraicas litteras invenit.

On the cornice of the presses round this pier are the following inscriptions:

(a) Doctrina bona dabit gratiam. Prov. xiii. 15. (b) Volo vos sapientes esse in bono. Rom. xvi. 19. (c) Impius ignorat scientiam. Prov. xxix. 7. (d) Cor sapientis quaerit doctrinam. Prov. xv. 14.

3. SECOND PIER.

(a) MERCURY.

Mercurius Thovt AEgyptiis sacras litteras conscripsit.

(b) ISIS.

Isis regina AEgyptiarum litterarum inventrix.

(c) MENON.

Menon Phoroneo aequalis litteras in AEgypto invenit.

(d) HERCULES.

Hercules aegyptius Phrygias litteras invenit.

On the cornice of the presses:

(a) Recedere a malo intelligentia. Job xxviii. 28. (b) Timere Deum ipsa est sapientia. Job xxviii. 22. (c) Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis. Eccl. xii. 12. (d) Dat scientiam intelligentibus disciplinam. Dan. xi. 12.

4. THIRD PIER.

(a) PHOENIX.

Phoenix litteras Phoenicibus tradidit.

(b) CECROPS.

Cecrops Diphyes primus Atheniensium rex Graecarum litterarum auctor.

(c) LINUS.

Linus Thebanus litterarum Graecarum inventor.

(d) CADMUS.

Cadmus Phoenicis frater litteras xvi in Graeciam intulit.

On the cornice of the presses:

(a) In malevolam animam non introibit sapientia. Sap. i. 4. (b) Habentes solatio sanctos libros. 1 Mach. xii. 9. (c) Cor rectum inquirit scientiam. Prov. xxvii. 12. (d) Sapientiam qui abiicit infelix est. Sap. iii. 14.

5. FOURTH PIER.

(a) PYTHAGORAS.

Pythagoras. Y. litteram ad humanae vitae exemplum invenit.

(b) PALAMEDES.

Palamedes bello Troiano Graecis litteris quattuor adiecit.

(c) SIMONIDES.

Simonides Melicus quattuor Graecarum litterarum inventor.

(d) EPICHARMUS.

Epicharmus Siculus duas Graecas addidit litteras.

On the cornice of the presses:

(a) Qui evitat discere incidet in mala. Prov. vii. 16. (b) Non glorietur sapiens in sapientia sua. Ier. ix. 23. (c) Si quis indiget sapientia postulet a Deo. Iac. i. 15. (d) Melior est sapientia cunctis pretiosissimis. Prov. viii. 11.

6. FIFTH PIER.

(a) EVANDER.

Evander Carment. F. aborigines litteras docuit.

(b) NICOSTRATA.

Nicostrata Carmenta latinarum litterarum inventrix.

(c) DEMARATUS.

Demaratus Corinthius etruscarum litterarum auctor.

(d) CLAUDIUS.

Claudius imperator tres novas litteras adinvenit.

On the cornice of the presses:

(a) Non erudietur qui non est sapiens in bono. Eccl. xxi. 24. (b) Viri intelligentes loquantur mihi. Iac. xxxiv. 34. (c) Non peribit consilium a sapienti. Ier. xviii. 18. (d) Sapientiam atque doctrinam stulti despiciunt. Prov. i. 17.

7. SIXTH PIER.

(a) CHRYSOSTOM.

S. Io. Chrysostomus litterarum Armenicarum auctor.

(b) VLPHILAS.

Vlphilas Episcopus Gothorum litteras invenit.

(c) CYRIL.

S. Cyrillus aliarum Illyricarum litterarum auctor.

(d) JEROME.

S. Hieronymus litterarum Illyricarum inventor.

On the cornice of the presses:

(a) Scientia inflat charitas vero aedificat. Cor. viii. 1. (b) Sapere ad sobrietatem. Rom. xii. 3. (c) Vir sapiens fortis et vir doctus robustus. Prov. xxiv. 5. (d) Ubi non est scientia animae non est bonum. Prov. xix. 2.

8. PILASTER AGAINST WEST WALL.

CHRIST.

Our Lord is seated. Over His Head [Greek: Alpha], [Greek: Omega]; in His Hand an open book: Ego sum [Greek: Alpha] et [Greek: Omega]; principium et finis. At His Feet: Iesus Christus summus magister, caelestis doctrinae auctor.

On Christ's right hand is a POPE, standing, with triple cross and tiara.

Christi Domini vicarius.

On Christ's left hand is an EMPEROR, also standing, with crown, sword, blue mantle.

Ecclesiae defensor.

I will now pass to the decoration of the walls. On the south wall, between the windows, are representations of famous libraries; on the north wall, of the eight general Councils of the Church. Each space is ornamented with a broad border, like a picture-frame. In the centre above is the general title of the subject or subjects below: e.g. Bibliotheca Romanorum; and beneath each picture is an inscription describing the special subject. Above each window, on the vault, is a large picture, to commemorate the benefits conferred by Sixtus V. on Rome and on the world. I will describe the libraries first, beginning as before at the east end of the room.

I. SIXTUS V. AND THE ARCHITECT FONTANA.

(Right of Entrance.)

Sixtus V. Pont. M. Bibliothecae Vaticanae aedificationem prescribit.

The Pope is seated. Fontana, a pair of compasses in his right hand, is on one knee, exhibiting the plan of the intended library.

II. MOSES ENTRUSTS THE TABLES OF THE LAW TO THE LEVITES.

(Left of Entrance.)

Moyses librum legis Levitis in tabernaculo reponendum tradit.

Moses hands a large folio to a Levite, behind whom more Levites are standing. Soldiers, etc., stand behind Moses. Tents in background.

III. BIBLIOTHECA HEBRAEA.

(On first wall-space south side.)

Esdras sacerdos et scriba Bibliothecam sacram restituit.

Ezra, attired in a costume that is almost Roman, stands in the centre of the picture, his back half turned to the spectator. An official is pointing to a press full of books. Porters are bringing in others.

IV. BIBLIOTHECA BABYLONICA.

(Two pictures.)

(a) The education of Daniel in Babylon.

Daniel et socii linguam scientiamque Chaldaeorum ediscunt.

Daniel and other young men are writing and reading at a table on the right of the picture. A group of elderly men in front of them to the left. Behind these is a lofty chair and desk, beneath which is a table at which a group of boys are reading and writing. In the background a set of book-shelves with a desk, quite modern in style.

(b) The search for the decree of Cyrus.

Cyri decretum de templi restauratione Darii iussu perquiritur.

Darius, crowned, his back half turned to the spectator, is giving orders to several young men, who are taking books out of an armarium—evidently copied from one of the Vatican book-cupboards.

V. BIBLIOTHECA ATHENIENSIS.

(Two pictures.)

(a) Pisistratus arranges a library at Athens.

Pisistratus primus apud Graecos publicam bibliothecam instituit.

Pisistratus, in armour, over which is a blue mantle, is giving orders to an old man who kneels before him, holding an open book. Behind the old man attendants are placing books on desks—others are reading. Behind Pisistratus is a group of officers, and behind them again a book-press without doors, and a row of open books on the top.

(b) Restoration of the library by Seleucus.

Seleucus bibliothecam a Xerxe asportatam referendam curat.

Servants are bringing in books which are being hastily packed into cases. In the background is seen the sea, with a ship; and the door of the palace. A picture full of life and movement.

VI. BIBLIOTHECA ALEXANDRINA.

(Two pictures.)

(a) Ptolemy organises the library at Alexandria.

Ptolemaeus ingenti bibliotheca instructa Hebreorum libros concupiscit.

Ptolemy, a dignified figure in a royal habit, stands in the centre. He is addressing an elderly man who stands on his right. Behind him are three porches, within which are seen desks and readers. In the central porch are closed presses, with rows of folios on the top. Below are desks, at which readers are seated, their backs turned to the presses.

(b) The Seventy Translators bring their work to Ptolemy.

LXXII interpretes ab Eleazaro missi sacros libros Ptolemaeo reddunt.

Ptolemy is seated on a throne to right of spectator with courtiers on his right and left. The messengers kneel before him, and hand him volumes.

VII. BIBLIOTHECA ROMANORUM.

(a) Tarquin receives the Sibylline Books.

Tarquinius Superbus libros Sibyllinos tres aliis a muliere incensis tantidem emit.

Tarquin, seated in the centre of the picture, receives three volumes from an aged and dignified woman. In front a lighted brazier in which the other books are burning.

(b) Augustus opens the Palatine library.

Augustus Caes. Palatina Bibliotheca magnifice ornata viros litteratos fovet.

Augustus, in armour, with imperial mantle, crown and sceptre, stands left of centre. An old man seated at his feet is writing from his dictation. Left of the Emperor are five desks; with five closed books lying on the top of each. These desks are very probably intended to represent those of the Vatican Library as arranged by Sixtus IV. Two men, crowned with laurel, are standing behind the last desk, conversing. Behind them again is a book-case of three shelves between a pair of columns. Books are lying on their sides on these shelves. Beneath the shelves is a desk, with books open upon it, and others on their sides beneath it.

VIII. BIBLIOTHECA HIEROSOLIMITANA.

Alexander, Bishop and Martyr, collects a library at Jerusalem.

S. Alexander Episc. et Mart. Decio Imp. in magna temporum acerbitate sacrorum scriptorum libros Hierosolymis congregat.

A picture full of movement, occupying the whole space between two windows. The saint is in the centre of the picture, seated. Young men are bringing in the books, and placing them on shelves.

IX. BIBLIOTHECA CAESARIENSIS.

Pamphilus, Priest and Martyr, collects a library at Caesarea.

S. Pamphilus Presb. et Mart. admirandae sanctitatis et doctrinae Caesareae sacram bibliothecam conficit multos libros sua manu describit.

Pamphilus, in centre of picture, is giving orders to porters who are bringing in a basket of books. On his left a large table at which a scribe is writing. S. Jerome, seated in right corner of picture, is apparently dictating to the scribe. Behind them is a large book-case on the shelves of which books lie on their sides; others are being laid on the top by a man standing on a ladder. In the left of the picture is a table covered with a green cloth, on which book-binders are at work. In front of this table a carpenter is preparing boards. In background, seen through a large window, is a view of Caesarea.

X. BIBLIOTHECA APOSTOLORUM.

S. Peter orders the safe-keeping of books.

S. Petrus sacrorum librorum thesaurum in Romana ecclesia perpetuo asservari jubet.

S. Peter is standing before an altar on which are books and a cross. In front doctors are writing at a low table.

[A small picture between window and west wall.]

XI. BIBLIOTHECA PONTIFICUM.

The successors of S. Peter carry on the library-tradition.

Romani pontifices apostolicam bibliothecam magno studio amplificant atque illustrant.

A pope, his left hand resting on a book, is earnestly conversing with a cardinal, whose back is half turned to the spectator. Another pope, with three aged men, in background.

[A small picture on west wall.]

We will now return to the east end of the room, and take the representations of Councils, painted on the east and north walls, in chronological order.

I. II. CONCILIUM NICAENUM I.

(On east wall.)

The first Council held at Nicaea, A.D. 325.

S. Silvestro PP. Constantino Mag. imp. Christus dei Filius patri consubstantialis declaratur Arii impietas condemnatur.

The burning of the books of Arius.

Ex decreto concilii Constantinus Imp. libros Arianorum comburi iubet.

III. CONCILIUM CONSTANTINOPOLITANUM I.

The first Council held at Constantinople, A.D. 381.

S. Damaso PP. et Theodosio sen. imp. Spiritus Sancti divinitas propugnatur nefaria Macedonii haeresis extinguitur.

IV. CONCILIUM EPHESINUM.

The Council held at Ephesus, A.D. 431.

S. Caelestino PP. et Theodosio Jun. Imp. Nestorius Christum dividens damnatur, B. Maria Virgo dei genetrix praedicatur.

V. CONCILIUM CHALCEDONENSE.

The Council held at Chalcedon, A.D. 451.

S. Leone magno PP. et Marciano Imp. infelix Eutyches vnam tantum in Christo post incarnationem naturam asserens confutatur.

VI. CONCILIUM CONSTANTINOPOLITANUM II.

The second Council held at Constantinople, A.D. 553.

Vigilio Papa et Iustiniano Imp. contentiones de tribus capitibus sedantur Origenis errores refelluntur.

VII. CONCILIUM CONSTANTINOPOLITANUM III.

The third Council held at Constantinople, A.D. 680.

S. Agathone Papa Constantino pogonato Imp. monothelitae haeretici vnam tantum in Christo voluntatem docentes exploduntur.

VIII. CONCILIUM NICAENUM II.

The second Council held at Nicaea, A.D. 787.

Hadriano papa Constantino Irenes F. imp. impii iconomachi reiiciuntur sacrarum imaginum veneratio confirmatur.

IX. X. CONCILIUM CONSTANTINOPOLITANUM IV.

The fourth Council held at Constantinople, A.D. 869.

Hadriano papa et Basilio imp. S. Ignatius patriarcha Constant. in suam sedem pulso Photio restituitur.

The burning of the books of Photius.

Ex decreto concilii Basilius Imp. chirographa Photii et conciliab. acta comburi iubet.

In conclusion I will enumerate the series of eighteen large pictures on the side-walls and in the lunettes at each end of the room, representing, with some few exceptions, the benefits conferred on Rome by Sixtus. The most important of these pictures are above the windows (fig. 16), of which there are seven on each side-wall. A Latin couplet above the picture records the subject, and allegorical figures of heroic size, one on each side, further indicate the idea which it is intended to convey.

The series begins at the east end of the room, over the door.

I. Procession of Sixtus to his coronation.

Hic tria Sixte tuo capiti diademata dantur Sed quantum in coelis te diadema manet.

ELECTIO SACRA. MANIFESTATIO.

On the left of this, over the First Nicene Council, is

II. Coronation of Sixtus, with facade of old S. Peter's.

Ad templum antipodes Sixtum comitantur euntem Jamque novus Pastor pascit ovile novum.

HONOR. DIGNITAS.

With the following picture the series on the south wall begins, above the windows:

III. An allegorical tableau. A lion with a human face, and a thunder-bolt in his right paw, stands on a green hill. A flock of sheep is feeding around.

Alcides partem Italiae praedone redemit Sed totam Sixtus: dic mihi major uter.

JUSTITIA. CASTIGATIO.

IV. The obelisk in front of old S. Peter's. The dome rising behind.

Dum stabit motus nullis Obeliscus ab Euris Sixte tuum stabit nomen honosque tuus.

RELIGIO. MUNIFICENTIA.

V. An allegorical tableau. A tree loaded with fruits, up which a lion is trying to climb. A flock of sheep beneath.

Temporibus Sixti redeunt Saturnia regna Et pleno cornu copia fundit opes.

CHARITAS. LIBERALITAS.

VI. A Columna Cochlis surmounted by a statue.

Ut vinclis tenuit Petrum sic alta columna Sustinet; hinc decus est dedecus unde fuit.

SUBLIMATIO. MUTATIO.

VII. A crowd assembled in front of a church.

Sixtus regnum iniens indicit publica vota Ponderis o quanti vota fuisse vides.

SALUS GENERIS HUMANI. PIETAS RELIGIONIS.

VIII. The Lateran Palace, with the Baptistery and Obelisk.

Quintus restituit Laterana palatia Sixtus Atque obelum medias transtulit ante foras.

SANATIO. PURGATIO.

IX. A fountain erected by Sixtus.

Fons felix celebri notus super aethera versu Romulea passim jugis in urbe fuit.

MISERATIO. BENIGNITAS.

The next two pictures are above the arches leading from the west end of the library into the corridor:

X. Panorama of Rome as altered by Sixtus.

Dum rectas ad templa vias sanctissima pandit Ipse sibi Sixtus pandit ad astra viam.

LAETIFICATIO. NOBILITAS.

XI. An allegorical representation of the Tiara, with adoring worshippers.

Virgo intacta manet nec vivit adultera conjux Castaque nunc Roma est quae fuit ante salax.

CASTITAS. DEFENSIO.

With the following picture the series on the north wall begins:

XII. Section of S. Peter's, with the dome.

Virginis absistit mirari templa Dianae; Qui fanum hoc intrat Virgo Maria tuum.

AEQUIPARATIO. POTESTAS.

XIII. The Obelisk in the Circus of Nero.

Maximus est obelus circus quem maximus olim Condidit et Sixtus maximus inde trahit.

REAEDIFICATIO. COGNITO VERI DEI.

XIV. The Tiber, with the Ponte Sisto, and the Ospedale di Santo Spirito.

Quaeris cur tota non sit mendicus in Urbe: Tecta parat Sixtus suppeditatque cibos.

CLEMENTIA. OPERATIO BONA.

XV. A similar view.

Jure Antoninum paulo vis Sixte subesse Nam vere hic pius est impius ille pius.

ELECTIO SACRA. VERA GLORIA.

XVI. A similar view, with the Obelisk.

Transfers Sixte pium transferre an dignior alter Transferri an vero dignior alter erat.

RECOGNITIO. GRATITUDO.

XVII. The Obelisk, now in front of S. Peter's, before it was removed.

Qui Regum tumulis obeliscus serviit olim Ad cunas Christi tu pie Sixte locas.

OBLATIO. DEVOTIO.

XVIII. A fleet at sea.

Instruit hic Sixtus classes quibus aequora purget Et Solymos victos sub sua jura trahat.

PROVIDENTIA. SECURITAS.



CHAPTER II.

CHRISTIAN LIBRARIES CONNECTED WITH CHURCHES. USE OF THE APSE. MONASTIC COMMUNITIES. S. PACHOMIUS. S. BENEDICT AND HIS SUCCESSORS. EACH HOUSE HAD A LIBRARY. ANNUAL AUDIT OF BOOKS. LOAN ON SECURITY. MODES OF PROTECTION. CURSES. PRAYERS FOR DONORS. ENDOWMENT OF LIBRARIES. USE OF THE CLOISTER. DEVELOPMENT OF CISTERCIAN BOOK-ROOM. COMMON PRESS. CARRELLS. GLASS.

The evidence collected in the last chapter shews that what I have there called the Roman conception of a library was maintained, even by Christian ecclesiastics, during many centuries of our era. I have next to trace the beginning and the development of another class of libraries, directly connected with Christianity. We shall find that the books intended for the use of the new communities were stored in or near the places where they met for service, just as in the most ancient times the safe-keeping of similar treasures had been entrusted to temples.

It is easy to see how this came about. The necessary service-books would be placed in the hands of the ecclesiastic who had charge of the building in which the congregation assembled. To these volumes—which at first were doubtless regarded in the same light as vestments or sacred vessels—treatises intended for edification or instruction would be gradually added, and so the nucleus of a library would be formed.

The existence of such libraries does not rest on inference only. There are numerous allusions to them in the Fathers and other writers; S. Jerome, for instance, advises a correspondent to consult church-libraries, as though every church possessed one[115]. As however the allusions to them are general, and say nothing about extent or arrangement, this part of my subject need not detain us long[116].

The earliest collection of which I have discovered any record is that got together at Jerusalem, by Bishop Alexander, who died A.D. 250. Eusebius, when writing his Ecclesiastical History some eighty years later, describes this library as a storehouse of historical records, which he had himself used with advantage in the composition of his work[117]. A still more important collection existed at Caesarea in Palestine. S. Jerome says distinctly that it was founded by Pamphilus, "a man who in zeal for the acquisition of a library wished to take rank with Demetrius Phalereus and Pisistratus[118]." As Pamphilus suffered martyrdom in A.D. 309, this library must have been got together soon after that at Jerusalem. It is described as not only extensive, but remarkable for the importance of the manuscripts it contained. Here was the supposed Hebrew original of S. Matthew's Gospel[119], and most of the works of Origen, got together by the pious care of Pamphilus, who had been his pupil and devoted admirer. S. Jerome himself worked in this library, and collated there the manuscripts which Origen had used when preparing his Hexapla[120]. At Cirta the church and the library were evidently in the same building, from the way in which they are spoken of in the account of the persecution of A.D. 303-304. "The officers," we are told, "went into the building (domus) where the Christians were in the habit of meeting." There they took an inventory of the plate and vestments. "But," proceeds the narrative, "when they came to the library, the presses there were found empty[121]." Augustine, on his deathbed, A.D. 430, gave directions that "the library of the church [at Hippo], and all the manuscripts, should be carefully preserved by those who came after him[122]."

Further, there appears to be good reason for believing that when a church had a triple apse, the lateral apses were separated off by a curtain or a door, the one to contain the sacred vessels, the other the books. This view, which has been elaborated by De Rossi in explanation of three recesses in the thickness of the wall of the apse of a small private oratory discovered in Rome in 1876[123], is chiefly supported by the language of Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, who lived from about A.D. 353 to A.D. 431. He describes a basilica erected by himself at Nola in honour of S. Felix, martyr, as having "an apse divided into three (apsidem trichoram)[124]"; and in a subsequent passage, after stating that there are to be two recesses, one to the right, the other to the left of the apse, he adds, "these verses indicate the use of each[125]," and gives the following couplets, with their headings:

On the right of the Apse.

Hic locus est veneranda penus qua conditur, et qua Ponitur alma sacri pompa ministerii.

Here are the sacred vessels stored, and here The peaceful trappings of our holy rites.

On the left of the same.

Si quem sancta tenet meditandi in lege voluntas Hic poterit residens sacris intendere libris.

Here he whose thoughts are on the laws of God May sit and ponder over holy books.

As De Rossi explains, the first of the two niches was intended to contain the vessels and furniture of the altar; the second was reserved for the safe-keeping of the sacred books. The word trichora, in Greek [Greek: tricho], is used by later writers to designate a three-fold division of any object—as for instance, by Dioscorides, of the seed-pod of the acacia[126].

Whether this theory of the use of the apse be accurate or fanciful, the purely Christian libraries to which I have alluded were undoubtedly connected, more or less closely, with churches; and I submit that the libraries which in the Middle Ages were connected with cathedrals and collegiate churches are their lineal descendants.

I have next to consider the libraries formed by monastic communities, the origin of which may be traced to very early times. Among the Christians of the first three centuries there were enthusiasts who, discontented with the luxurious life they led in the populous cities along the coasts of Africa and Syria, fled into the Egyptian deserts, there to lead a life of rigorous self-denial and religious contemplation. These hermits were presently joined by other hermits, and small communities were gradually formed, with a regular organization that foreshadowed the Rules and Customs of the later monastic life. Those who governed these primitive monasteries soon realised the fact that without books their inmates would relapse into barbarism, and libraries were got together. The Rule of S. Pachomius (A.D. 292-345), whose monastery was at Tabennisi near Denderah in Upper Egypt, provides that the books of the House are to be kept in a cupboard (fenestra) in the thickness of the wall. Any brother who wanted a book might have one for a week, at the end of which he was bound to return it. No brother might leave a book open when he went to church or to meals. In the evening the officer called "the Second," that is, the second in command, was to take charge of the books, count them, and lock them up.[127]

These provisions, insisted upon at a very early date, form a suitable introduction to the most important section of my subject—the care of books by the Monastic Orders. With them book-preserving and book-producing were reduced to a system, and in their libraries—the public libraries of the Middle Ages—literature found a home, until the invention of printing handed over to the world at large the duties which had been so well discharged by special communities. This investigation is full of difficulty; and, though I hope to arrive at some definite conclusions respecting the position, size, dimensions, and fittings of monastic libraries, I must admit that my results depend to a certain extent on analogy and inference. It should be remembered that in England the monasteries were swept away more than three centuries ago by a sudden catastrophe, and that those who destroyed them were far too busy with their own affairs to place on record the aspect or the plan of what they were wrecking. In France again, though little more than a century has elapsed since her monasteries were overwhelmed by the Revolution, and though descriptions and views of many of her great religious houses have been preserved, and much has been done in the way of editing catalogues of their manuscripts, there is still a lamentable dearth of information on my particular subject.

I shall begin by quoting some passages from the Rules and Customs of the different Orders, which shew (1) that reading was encouraged and enforced by S. Benedict himself, with whom the monastic life, as we conceive it, may be said to have originated; (2) that subsequently, as Order after Order was founded, a steady development of feeling with regard to books, and an ever-increasing care for their safe-keeping, can be traced.

The Rule of S. Benedict was made public early in the sixth century; and the later Orders were but offshoots of the Benedictine tree, either using his Rule or basing their own statutes upon it. It will therefore be desirable to begin this research by examining what S. Benedict said on the subject of study, and I will translate a few lines from the 48th chapter of his Rule, Of daily manual labour.

Idleness is the enemy of the soul; hence brethren ought, at certain seasons, to occupy themselves with manual labour, and again, at certain hours, with holy reading....

Between Easter and the calends of October let them apply themselves to reading from the fourth hour till near the sixth hour.

From the calends of October to the beginning of Lent let them apply themselves to reading until the second hour.... During Lent, let them apply themselves to reading from morning until the end of the third hour ... and, in these days of Lent, let them receive a book apiece from the library, and read it straight through. These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent[128].

In this passage the library—by which a book-press is probably to be understood—is specially mentioned. In other words, at that early date the formation of a collection of books was contemplated, large enough to supply the community with a volume apiece, without counting the service-books required for use in the church.

The Benedictine Order flourished and increased abundantly for more than four centuries, until, about A.D. 912, the order of Cluni was established. It was so called from the celebrated abbey near Macon in Burgundy, which, though not the first house of the Order in point of date, became subsequently the first in extent, wealth, and reputation. As a stricter observance of the Rule of S. Benedict was the main object which the founder of this Order had in view, the Benedictine directions respecting study are maintained and developed. The Customs prescribe the following regulations for books:

On the second day of Lent the only passage of the Rule to be read in Chapter is that concerning the observance of Lent.

Then shall be read aloud a note (brevis) of the books which a year before had been given out to brethren for their reading. When a brother's name is called, he rises, and returns the book that had been given to him; and if it should happen that he has not read it through, he is to ask forgiveness for his want of diligence.

A carpet on which those books are to be laid out is to be put down in the Chapter-House; and the titles of those which are distributed to brethren afresh are to be noted, for which purpose a tablet is to be made of somewhat larger size than usual[129].

In a subsequent chapter it is directed that the books are to be entrusted to the official "who is called Precentor and Armarius, because he usually has charge of the library, which is also called the armarium (press)[130]. This arrangement shews that up to this date all the books, whether service-books or not, were regarded as belonging to the church.

I come next to the decrees given to the English Benedictines by Archbishop Lanfranc in or about 1070. "We send you" he says "the Customs of our Order in writing, selected from the Customs of those houses (coenobia) which are in our day of the highest authority in the monastic order[131]." The section relating to books is so interesting that I will translate it.

On the Monday after the first Sunday in Lent ... before the brethren go in to Chapter, the librarian (custos librorum) ought to have all the books brought together into the Chapter-House and laid out on a carpet, except those which had been given out for reading during the past year: these the brethren ought to bring with them as they come into Chapter, each carrying his book in his hand. Of this they ought to have had notice given to them by the aforesaid librarian on the preceding day in Chapter. Then let the passage in the Rule of S. Benedict about the observance of Lent be read, and a discourse be preached upon it. Next let the librarian read a document (breve) setting forth the names of the brethren who have had books during the past year; and let each brother, when he hears his own name pronounced, return the book which had been entrusted to him for reading; and let him who is conscious of not having read the book through which he had received, fall down on his face, confess his fault, and pray for forgiveness.

Then let the aforesaid librarian hand to each brother another book for reading; and when the books have been distributed in order, let the aforesaid librarian in the same Chapter put on record the names of the books, and of those who receive them[132].

It is, I think, certain that when Lanfranc was writing this passage the Cluniac Customs must have been before him[133]. It should be noted that the librarian is not defined otherwise than as "keeper of the books," but we learn from the Customs of Benedictine houses subsequent to Lanfranc's time that this duty was discharged by the Precentor, as in the Cluniac Customs. For instance, in the Customs of the Benedictine house at Abingdon, in Berkshire, drawn up near the end of the twelfth century, we read:

The precentor shall keep clean the presses belonging to the boys and the novices, and all others in which the books of the convent are stored, repair them when they are broken, provide coverings for the books in the library, and make good any damage done to them[134].

The precentor cannot sell, or give away, or pledge any books; nor can he lend any except on deposit of a pledge, of equal or greater value than the book itself. It is safer to fall back on a pledge, than to proceed against an individual. Moreover he may not lend except to neighbouring churches, or to persons of conspicuous worth[135].

The Customs of the Abbey of Evesham in Worcestershire give the same directions in a slightly different form.

It is part of the precentor's duty to entrust to the younger monks the care of the presses, and to keep them in repair: whenever the convent is sitting in cloister, he is to go round the cloister as soon as the bell has sounded, and replace the books, in case any brother through carelessness should have forgotten to do so.

He is to take charge of all the books in the monastery, and have them in his keeping, provided his carefulness and knowledge be such that they may be entrusted to him. No one is to take a book out unless it be entered on his roll: nor is any book to be lent to any one without a proper and sufficient voucher, and this too is to be set down on his roll[136].

The Carthusians—the second offshoot of the Benedictine tree (1084)—also preserved the primitive tradition of study. They not only read themselves, but were actively employed in writing books for others. In the chapter of their statutes which deals with the furniture allowed to each "tenant of a cell (incola celle)"—(for in this community each brother lived apart, with his sitting-room, bed-room, and plot of garden-ground)—all the articles needful for writing are enumerated, "for nearly all those whom we adopt we teach, if possible, to write," and then the writer passes on to books.

Moreover he—[the tenant of the cell]—receives two books out of the press for reading. He is admonished to take the utmost care and pains that they be not soiled by smoke or dust or dirt of any kind; for it is our wish that books, as being the perpetual food of our souls, should be most jealously guarded, and most carefully produced, that we, who cannot preach the word of God with our lips, may preach it with our hands[137].

They did, however, on occasion lend books, for it is provided that when books are lent no one shall retain them contrary to the will of the lenders[138]. It would be interesting to know how this rule was enforced.

The Cistercian Order—founded 1128—adopted the Benedictine Rule, and with it the obligation of study and writing. Moreover, in their anxiety to take due care of their books, they went further than their predecessors; for they entrusted them to a special officer, instead of to the precentor, and they admitted a special room to contain them into the ground-plan of their houses.

At a later point I shall return to the interesting subject of the Cistercian book-room. For the present I must content myself with translating from their Customs the passage relating to books. It occurs in Chapter CXV., Of the precentor and his assistant. After describing his various duties, the writer proceeds:

With regard to the production and safe-keeping of charters and books, the abbat is to consider to whom he shall entrust this duty.

The officer so appointed may go as far as the doors of the writing-rooms when he wants to hand in or to take out a book, but he may not go inside. In the same way for books in common use, as for instance antiphoners, hymnals, graduals, lectionaries [etc.], and those which are read in the Prater and at Collation, he may go as far as the door of the novices, and of the sick, and of the writers, and then ask for what he wants by a sign, but he may not go further unless he have been commanded by the abbat. When Collation is over it is his duty to close the press, and during the period of labour, of sleep, and of meals, and while vespers are being sung, to keep it locked[139].

The Customs of the Augustinian Order are exceedingly full on the subject of books. I will translate part of the 14th chapter of the Customs in use at Barnwell[140], near Cambridge. It is headed: Of the safe keeping of the books, and of the office of Librarian (armarius). As the passage occurs also in the Customs as observed in France and in Belgium, it may be taken, I presume, to represent the general practice of the Order.

The Librarian, who is called also Precentor, is to take charge of the books of the church; all which he ought to keep and to know under their separate titles; and he should frequently examine them carefully to prevent any damage or injury from insects or decay. He ought also, at the beginning of Lent, in each year, to shew them to the convent in Chapter, when the souls of those who have given them to the church, or of the brethren who have written them, and laboured over them, ought to be absolved, and a service in convent be held over them. He ought also to hand to the brethren the books which they see occasion to use, and to enter on his roll the titles of the books, and the names of those who receive them. These, when required, are bound to give surety for the volumes they receive; nor may they lend them to others, whether known or unknown, without having first obtained permission from the Librarian. Nor ought the Librarian himself to lend books unless he receive a pledge of equal value; and then he ought to enter on his roll the name of the borrower, the title of the book lent, and the pledge taken. The larger and more valuable books he ought not to lend to anyone, known or unknown, without permission of the Prelate....

Books which are to be kept at hand for daily use, whether for singing or reading, ought to be in some common place, to which all the brethren can have easy access for inspection, and selection of anything which seems to them suitable. The books, therefore, ought not to be carried away into chambers, or into corners outside the Cloister or the Church. The Librarian ought frequently to dust the books carefully, to repair them, and to point them, lest brethren should find any error or hindrance in the daily service of the church, whether in singing or in reading. No other brother ought to erase or change anything in the books unless he have obtained the consent of the Librarian....

The press in which the books are kept ought to be lined inside with wood, that the damp of the walls may not moisten or stain the books. This press should be divided vertically as well as horizontally by sundry shelves on which the books may be ranged so as to be separated from one another; for fear they be packed so close as to injure each other or delay those who want them[141].

Further, as the books ought to be mended, pointed, and taken care of by the Librarian, so ought they to be properly bound by him.

The Order of Premontre—better known as the Premonstratensians, or reformed Augustinians—repeat the essential part of these directions in their statute, Of the Librarian (armarius), with this addition, that it is to be part of the librarian's duty to provide for the borrowing of books for the use of the House, as well as for lending[142].

Lastly, the Friars, though property was forbidden, and S. Francis would not allow his disciples to own so much as a psalter or a breviary[143], soon found that books were a necessity, and the severity of early discipline was relaxed in favour of a library. S. Francis died in 1226, and only thirty-four years afterwards, among the constitutions adopted by a General Chapter of the Order held at Narbonne 10 June, 1260, are several provisions relating to books. They are of no great importance, taken by themselves, but their appearance at so early a date proves that books had become indispensable. It is enacted that no brother may write books, or have them written, for sale; nor may the chief officer of a province venture to keep books without leave obtained from the chief officer of the whole Order; no brother may keep the books assigned to him, unless they are altogether the property of the Order—and so forth[144]. A century later, when Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham, was writing his Philobiblon (completed 24 January, 1344-45), he could say of them and the other friars—whom, be it remembered, he, as a regular, would regard with scant favour—

But whenever it happened that we turned aside to the cities and places where the Mendicants had their convents we did not disdain to visit their libraries and any other repositories of books; nay there we found heaped up amidst the utmost poverty the utmost riches of wisdom. We discovered in their fardels and baskets not only crumbs falling from the master's table for the dogs, but the shewbread without leaven and the bread of angels having in it all that is delicious; and indeed the garners of Joseph full of corn, and all the spoil of the Egyptians and the very precious gifts which Queen Sheba brought to Solomon.

These men are as ants ever preparing their meat in the summer, and ingenious bees continually fabricating cells of honey.... And to pay due regard to truth ... although they lately at the eleventh hour have entered the Lord's vineyard ..., they have added more in this brief hour to the stock of the sacred books than all the other vinedressers; following in the footsteps of Paul, the last to be called but the first in preaching, who spread the gospel of Christ more widely than all others[145].

At Assisi, the parent house of the Franciscan Order, there was a library of considerable extent, many volumes of which still exist, with a catalogue drawn up in 1381.

At this point I will resume the conclusions which may be deduced from this examination of the Benedictine Rule and the Customs founded upon it.

In the first place they all assume the existence of a library. S. Benedict contents himself with general directions about study. The Cluniacs put the books in charge of the precentor, who is to be called also armarius, and they prescribe an annual audit of them, with the assignment of a single volume to each brother, on the security of a written attestation of the fact. These regulations were adopted by the Benedictines, with fuller rules for the librarian, who is still precentor also. He is to keep both presses and books in repair, and personally to supervise the daily use of the manuscripts, restoring to their proper places those that brethren may have been reading. Among these rules permission to lend books on receipt of a pledge first makes its appearance. The Carthusians maintain the principle of lending. Each brother might have two books, and he is to be specially careful to keep them clean. The Cistercians appoint a special officer to have charge of the books, about the safety of which great care is to be taken, and at certain times of the day he is to lock the press. The Augustinians and the Premonstratensians follow the Cluniacs and Benedictines: but the Premonstratensians direct their librarian to take note of the books that the House borrows as well as of those that it lends; and they adopt the Cistercian precaution about his opening and locking the press.

Secondly, by the time that Lanfranc was writing his statutes for English Benedictines, it was evidently contemplated that the number of books would have exceeded the number of brethren, for the keeper of the books is directed to bring all the books of the House into Chapter, and after that the brethren, one by one, are to bring in the books which they have borrowed[146]. Among the books belonging to the House there were probably some service-books; but, from the language used, it appears to me that we may fairly conclude that by the end of the eleventh century Benedictine Houses had two sets of books: (1) those which were distributed among the brethren; (2) those which were kept in some safe place, as part of the possessions of the House: or, to adopt modern phrases, that they had a lending library and a library of reference.

Thirdly, it is evident that the loan of books to persons in general, on adequate security, began at a very early date. On this account I have already ventured to call monastic libraries the public libraries of the Middle Ages. As time went on, the practice was developed, and at last became general. It was even enjoined upon monks as a duty by their ecclesiastical superiors. In 1212 a Council which met at Paris made the following decree, but I am not able to say whether it was accepted out of France:

We forbid those who belong to a religious Order, to formulate any vow against lending their books to those who are in need of them; seeing that to lend is enumerated among the principal works of mercy.

After careful consideration, let some books be kept in the House for the use of brethren; others, according to the decision of the abbat, be lent to those who are in need of them, the rights of the House being safe-guarded.

From the present date no book is to be retained under pain of incurring a curse [for its alienation], and we declare all such curses to be of no effect[147].

In the same century many volumes were bequeathed to the Augustinian House of S. Victor, Paris, on the express condition that they should be so lent[148]. It is almost needless to add that one abbey was continually lending to another, either for reading or for copying[149].

Houses which lent liberally would probably be the first to relax discipline so far as to admit strangers to their libraries; and in the sixteenth and following centuries the libraries of the Benedictine House of S. Germain des Pres, Paris, as well as the already mentioned House of S. Victor, were open to all comers on certain days in the week.

When we try to realise the feelings with which monastic communities regarded books, it must always be remembered that they had a paternal interest in them. In many cases they had been written in the very House in which they were afterwards read from generation to generation: and if not, they had probably been procured by the exchange of some work so written. In fact, if a book was not a son of the House, it was at least a nephew.

The conviction that books were a possession with which no convent could dispense, appears in many medieval writers. The whole matter is summed up in the phrase, written about 1170, "claustrum sine armario, castrum sine armamentario[150]," an epigram which I will not spoil by trying to translate it; and even more clearly in the passionate utterances of Thomas a Kempis on the desolate condition of priest and convent without books[151]. The "round of creation" is explored for similes to enforce this truth. A priest so situated is like a horse without bridle, a ship without oars, a writer without pens, a bird without wings, etc.; while the House is like a kitchen without stewpans, a table without food, a well without water, a river without fish—and many other things which I have no space to mention.

Evidence of the solicitude with which they protected their treasures is not wanting. The very mode of holding a manuscript was prescribed, if not by law, at least by general custom. "When the religious are engaged in reading in cloister or in church," says an Order of the General Benedictine Chapter, "they shall if possible hold the books in their left hands, wrapped in the sleeve of their tunics, and resting on their knees; their right hands shall be uncovered with which to hold and turn the leaves of the aforesaid books[152]." In a manuscript at Monte Cassino[153] is the practical injunction

Quisquis quem tetigerit Sit illi lota manus;

and at the same House the possession of handkerchiefs—which were evidently regarded as effeminate inventions—is specially excused on the ground that they would be useful—among other things—"for wrapping round the manuscripts which brethren handle[154]." Of similar import is the distich at the end of a fine manuscript formerly in the library of S. Victor:

Qui servare libris preciosis nescit honorem Illius a manibus sit procul iste liber[155].

With these injunctions may be compared a note in a fourteenth century manuscript from the same library:

Whoever pursues his studies in this book, should be careful to handle the leaves gently and delicately, so as to avoid tearing them by reason of their thinness; and let him imitate the example of Jesus Christ, who, when he had quietly opened the book of Isaiah and read therein attentively, rolled it up with reverence, and gave it again to the minister[156];

and the advice of Thomas a Kempis to the youthful students for whose benefit he composed the treatise called Doctrinale Juvenum which I have already quoted:

Take thou a book into thine hands as Simeon the Just took the Child Jesus into his arms to carry him and kiss him. And when thou hast finished reading, close the book and give thanks for every word out of the mouth of God; because in the Lord's field thou hast found a hidden treasure[157].

In a similar strain a writer or copyist entreats readers to be careful of his work—work which has cost him an amount of pains that they cannot realise. It is impossible to translate the original exactly, but I hope that I have given the meaning with tolerable clearness:

I beseech you, my friend, when you are reading my book to keep your hands behind its back, for fear you should do mischief to the text by some sudden movement; for a man who knows nothing about writing thinks that it is no concern of his. Whereas to a writer the last line is as sweet as port is to a sailor. Three fingers hold the pen, but the whole body toils. Thanks be to God. I Warembert wrote this book in God's name. Thanks be to God. Amen[158].

Entreaties so gentle and so pathetic as these are seldom met with; but curses—in the same strain probably as those to which the Council of Paris took exception—are extremely common. In fact, in some Houses, a manuscript invariably ended with an imprecation—more or less severe, according to the writer's taste[159]. I will append a few specimens.

This book belongs to S. Maximin at his monastery of Micy, which abbat Peter caused to be written, and with his own labour corrected and punctuated, and on Holy Thursday dedicated to God and S. Maximin on the altar of S. Stephen, with this imprecation that he who should take it away from thence by what device soever, with the intention of not restoring it, should incur damnation with the traitor Judas, with Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate. Amen[160].

Should anyone by craft or any device whatever abstract this book from this place [Jumieges] may his soul suffer, in retribution for what he has done, and may his name be erased from the book of the living and not be recorded among the Blessed[161].

A simpler form of imprecation occurs very frequently in manuscripts belonging to S. Alban's:

This book belongs to S. Alban. May whosoever steals it from him or destroys its title be anathema. Amen[162].

A similar form of words occurs at the Cistercian House of Clairvaux, a great school of writing like S. Alban's, but whether it habitually protected its manuscripts in this manner I am unable to say:

May whoever steals or alienates this manuscript, or scratches out its title, be anathema. Amen[163].

A very curious form of curse occurs in one of the manuscripts of Christ Church, Canterbury. The writer repents of his severity in the last sentence.

May whoever destroys this title, or by gift or sale or loan or exchange or theft or by any other device knowingly alienates this book from the aforesaid Christ Church, incur in this life the malediction of Jesus Christ and of the most glorious Virgin His Mother, and of Blessed Thomas, Martyr. Should however it please Christ, who is patron of Christ Church, may his soul be saved in the Day of Judgment[164].

Lastly, I will quote a specimen in verse, from a breviary now in the library of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge:

Wher so ever y be come over all I belonge to the Chapell of gunvylle hall: He shal be cursed by the grate sentens That felonsly faryth and berith me thens. And whether he bere me in pooke or sekke, For me he shall be hanged by the nekke, (I am so well beknown of dyverse men) But I be restored theder agen[165].

On the other hand, the gift of books to a monastery was gratefully recorded and enumerated among the good deeds of their donors. Among the Augustinians such gifts, and the labour expended upon books in general, was the subject of a special service[166].

It is not uncommon to find a monastic library regularly endowed with part of the annual revenue of the House. For instance, at Corbie, the librarian received 10 sous from each of the higher, and 5 sous from each of the inferior officers, together with a certain number of bushels of corn from lands specially set apart for the purpose. This was confirmed by a bull of Pope Alexander III. (1166-1179)[167]. A similar arrangement was made at the library of S. Martin des Champs, Paris, in 1261[168]. At the Benedictine Abbey of Fleury, near Orleans, in 1146, it was agreed in chapter on the proposition of the abbat, that in each year on S. Benedict's winter festival (21 March), he and the priors subordinate to him, together with the officers of the House, should all contribute "to the repair of our books, the preparation of new ones, and the purchase of parchment." The name of each contributor, and the sum that he was to give, are recorded[169]. At the Benedictine Monastery of Ely Bishop Nigel (1133-1174) granted the tithe of certain churches in the diocese "as a perpetual alms to the scriptorium of the church of Ely for the purpose of making and repairing the books of the said church[170]." The books referred to were probably, in the first instance, service-books; but the number required of these could hardly have been sufficient to occupy the whole time of the scribes, and the library would doubtless derive benefit from their labours. The scriptorium at S. Alban's was also specially endowed.

We must next consider the answer to the following questions: In what part of their Houses did the Monastic Orders bestow their books? and what pieces of furniture did they use? The answer to the first of these questions is a very curious one, when we consider what our climate is, and indeed what the climate of the whole of Europe is, during the winter months. The centre of the monastic life was the cloister. Brethren were not allowed to congregate in any other part of the conventual buildings, except when they went into the frater, or dining-hall, for their meals, or at certain hours in certain seasons into the warming-house (calefactorium). In the cloister accordingly they kept their books; and there they wrote and studied, or conducted the schooling of the novices and choir-boys, in winter and in summer alike.

It is obvious that their work must have been at the mercy of the elements during many months of the year, and some important proofs that such was the case can be quoted. Cuthbert, Abbat of Wearmouth and Jarrow in the second half of the eighth century, excuses himself to a correspondent for not having sent him all the works of Bede which he had asked for, on the ground that the intense cold of the previous winter had paralysed the hands of his scribes[171]; Ordericus Vitalis, who wrote in the first half of the twelfth century, closes the fourth book of his Ecclesiastical History with a lament that he must lay aside his work for the winter[172]; and a monk of Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire has recorded his discomforts in a Latin couplet which seems to imply that in a place so inconvenient as a cloister all seasons were equally destructive of serious work:

In vento minime pluvia nive sole sedere Possumus in claustro nec scribere neque studere[173].

As we sit here in tempest in rain snow and sun Nor writing nor reading in cloister is done.

But, when circumstances were more propitious, plenty of good work that was of permanent value could be done in a cloister. A charming picture has come down to us of the literary activity that prevailed in the Abbey of S. Martin at Tournai at the end of the eleventh century, when Abbat Odo was giving an impulse to the writing of MSS. "When you entered the cloister," says his chronicler, "you could generally see a dozen young monks seated on chairs, and silently writing at desks of careful and artistic design. With their help, he got accurate copies made of all Jerome's commentaries on the Prophets, of the works of Blessed Gregory, and of all the treatises he could find of Augustine, Ambrose, Isidore, and Anselm; so that the like of his library was not to be found in any of the neighbouring churches; and those attached to them used generally to ask for our copies for the correction of their own[174]."