If the views (figs. 70, 71) of the book-cases at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, be attentively examined, it will be seen that the ironwork exactly resembles that at Hereford. We find similar sockets to contain the bars at the junction of the horizontal shelves and vertical uprights, and a similar system of iron hasps to prevent the bars from being withdrawn.

The desk for the reader would of course vary according to individual taste. As a general rule it was attached to the ends of the case by strong hinges, so that it could be turned up and got out of the way when any alteration in the ironwork had to be carried out. Iron hooks to hold it up were not unfrequently provided. One of these, from the Bodleian Library, is here figured (fig. 79). It was also usual to provide a slit in this desk, about 2 in. wide, as close as possible to the shelf, for the chain attached to the book in use to pass through. This is well shewn in the view of a single book-case in Merton College, Oxford (fig. 83).

I will next describe the library of Merton College, Oxford. There is still considerable doubt respecting the date of some of the bookcases, but the appearance of the library is so venerable, so unlike any similar room with which I am acquainted, that it must always command admiration, and deserve study[335].



The library occupies the whole of the first floor of the south side of "Mob Quadrangle" and the greater part of the same floor of the west side (fig. 80). It is entered through a doorway in the south-western angle of the court, whence a staircase leads up to the vestibule (fig. 81). This room is separated from the two divisions of the library by lofty oak screens, elaborately carved and ornamented in the style of the early renaissance.



The two rooms into which the library is divided have a uniform width of 20 ft. 6 in. The west room, called by tradition Old Library, is 38 ft. 6 in. long (A, B, fig. 81); the south room, or New Library, is 56 ft. 6 in. long (C, D, fig. 81).

The west room is lighted by seven equidistant lancet windows in each of the west and east walls, and by two dormer windows of peculiar design on the side of the roof next to the court. The south room is similarly lighted by ten lancets in each of the north and south walls, and on the side next to the court by two dormer windows like those in the west room. This room moreover has an open space at the east end, about 10 ft. long, lighted by a window of two lights in each of the north and south walls respectively, and by an oriel of five lights in the east wall. In both rooms there is a waggon-roof of five cants boarded, and divided into panels by molded ribs with little bosses at the intersections (fig. 82).

The blank wall at the north end of the west room is panelled with oak of an elaborate and beautiful design for a height of about 12 ft. (fig. 82). The space above this is decorated with panels of plaster-work. The large square central panel contains the arms of the college; the circular panel to the west those of John Whitgift (Archbishop of Canterbury 1583-1604); and the similar panel to the east those of Sir Henry Savile (Warden 1585-1621).



The east end of the south room is similarly treated, but the oak panelling is less elaborate. In the plaster-work above it the arms of the college are flanked on the north by those of George Abbot (Archbishop of Canterbury 1611-1633) and on the south by those of Sir Nathaniel Brent (Warden 1621-1651).



Both rooms are floored with rough oak planking. On this are laid four sleepers, each about 5 in. square, parallel with the side-walls. The two central sleepers have their outside edge roughly chamfered. Into these the bookcases and the seats are morticed. The central alley, 5 ft. wide, is in both rooms paved with encaustic tiles.

In the west room there are twelve complete cases and four half-cases; in the south room there are twenty complete cases and two half-cases (fig. 81); in both rooms arranged in the usual manner with respect to the walls and windows.

In order to present as vivid an idea as possible of these beautiful cases, I reproduce here a photograph of a single compartment from the west library, with a seated reader at work (fig. 83). The case is made to look rather higher than it really is, but this distortion can be easily corrected by comparing the height of the standard with that of the seated figure.

In the west room each case (figs. 82, 83) is 7 ft. 5 in. long, 1 ft. 5 in. wide and 6 ft. high from the top of the sleeper to the top of the cornice. The material is oak. The ends are nearly 2 in. thick, and next the wall are shaped roughly with an adze. Each case is separated into two divisions by a central partition; and originally there was a desk 1 ft. 3 in. wide on each side of the case. These desks were immoveable, and nailed to rough brackets. There were two shelves only to each case: one just above the level of the desk, and a second about half-way between it and the cornice (fig. 84).

The system of ironwork by which the books were secured can be easily recovered by studying the scars on the ends of the cases next the central alley. At the lower end of the standard, two feet from the ground, was an iron bar which carried the chains of all the books which stood on the shelf just above the level of the desk, without reference to the side from which they were to be consulted. This bar was secured by a separate hasp and lock. The bars for the upper shelf, one on each side of the case, were obviously secured by a system similar to that described above at Hereford and Corpus Christi College. The whole system has been indicated on the elevation (fig. 84), which should be compared with the reproduction of one of the cases in the west room (fig. 83). Originally no books stood below the desk. The comfort of readers was considered by the insertion of a bar of wood to rest the feet on, between the seat and the bookcase (fig. 84).



In the south room the cases are on the same general plan as in the west room; but the system of chaining appears to have been slightly different, and to have approximated more closely to what I may call the Hereford type.

In both rooms each case has a picturesque enrichment at the end of the standard above the cornice, and a small oblong frame just below it to contain the general title of the books within the case. The west room is devoted to LIBRI ARTIUM, with the exception of the three cases and the half-case at the north end of the east side, which are marked CODICES MSS. These are protected by latticed doors of wood. In the south room the cases on the south side are all lettered L. THEOLOGIAE; on the north side the first three are lettered L. MEDICINAE; the next L. MEDIC. IURISPP. and the last five L. IURIS PRVDENTIAE. In this room the last cases at the east end on each side have latticed doors like those on the corresponding cases in the west room.

The building of this library is recorded in four separate account-rolls extending from the beginning of the first year of Richard II. to the third year of the same king, that is from 1377 to 1379. From these documents it appears that the building cost L462. 1s. 11 1/2d.

From this first construction to the beginning of the sixteenth century—a space of 125 years—the accounts furnish us with no information; but, from what we learn afterwards, it would appear that the internal walls were unplastered, that the roof-timbers were unprotected, and that the only light was admitted through the narrow lancet windows.

In 1502-3 the panel-work (celatura) on the roof of the west library was put up at a cost of L27. 6s. 0d. The account contains also a charge for painting the bosses (nodi) at the intersection of the moldings that separate the panels. Mr Henderson points out that these ornaments prove the existing ceiling to be that put up in 1503; for among them are the Tudor Rose, the dolphin of Fitzjames (Warden 1483-1507). and the Royal Arms used from Henry IV. to Elizabeth, but altered by James I.

After this another long interval occurs during which no work done to the library is recorded; but in 1623 the south room was taken in hand, and the changes introduced into it were so extensive that it is referred to in the accounts as New Library (Nova Bibliotheca) a name which it still retains.

In the first place the room at the east end (fig. 81) was thrown into it, and the oriel window constructed, together with the two large dormers on the side next the court (fig. 80). These works, by which light was so largely increased, prove how gloomy the library must have been before they were undertaken. Next, after important repairs to the walls and floor, and the construction of the decorative plaster-work at the east end, the old bookcases were sold, and Benet the joiner supplied twenty new cases and one half-case. The only old case remaining is, by tradition, the half-case against the screen on the north side as one enters from the vestibule.

It is therefore certain that the cases and seats in the south room date from 1623. It is unfortunately equally certain that we know nothing about the date of those in the west room; and we are therefore unable to say whether the cases in the south room were copied from them in 1623, or whether the reverse process took place at some unknown date. If we adopt the pleasing theory that in the west room we have very early cases, constructed possibly when the library was built, we must still admit that these relics of a remote past have been altered at some subsequent period, so as to be brought into conformity with the cases in the south room; for the cornices and the frames for the titles are precisely similar in the two rooms.

The difference between the two sets of cases in the method of chaining, to which attention has been already drawn, may bear on the question of date. As time went on chaining would be modified in the direction of simplicity; and to replace a single central bar by two lateral ones is a step towards this, for under such conditions the addition or removal of a book would entail less displacement. Further, it must be recognised that these cases, whether extremely ancient or comparatively modern, differ in many particulars from those to be met with elsewhere. They are lighter, narrower and more elegant. Again, when the ground-plan of the library is considered (fig. 81) it will be seen that their ends occupy nearly the whole space between a pair of windows. In other examples of the stall-system this is not the case.

The only explanation I have to offer for the whole difficulty is the following. The library was constructed for the lectern-system, with wall-spaces not more than 2 ft. wide, and was so fitted up. When books had become numerous the western library was taken in hand, and the lecterns altered into stalls, the single central bar being retained. At the same time, in all probability, the dormers were inserted. It is remarkable that these changes should not be recorded in the accounts, but possibly they were carried out as the result of a special benefaction[336]. In 1623 the stalls which had been placed in the west room, having been found convenient, were copied for the south room.

I will in the next place briefly notice the distinctive points of the other examples of the stall-system in Oxford.

At S. John Baptist's College the library was built in 1596, and we may presume was fitted up soon afterwards, as Wood records numerous donations of books in the years immediately succeeding, and the appointment of a keeper to take charge of them in 1603[337]. This library, on the first floor of the south side of the second quadrangle, is 112 feet long by 26 feet wide, with eight windows of two lights in each wall. The bookcases, of which there are eight on each side between the windows, with a half-case against the west wall, are rather larger than those at Corpus Christi College, being 10 feet high, and 2 feet 6 inches wide. They have a classical cornice and terminal pediment. The titles of the subjects are painted at the tops of the stalls as at Merton College. A few traces of chaining are still to be detected. The desks have not been altered. Each is in two divisions, as at Corpus, separated by a central bracket, and it has the slit to admit the chains. The long iron hinges are evidently original. The seats resemble those at Corpus.

The bookcases at Trinity College, set up in 1618, and those at Jesus College, made probably in 1679, call for no special remark.

Between 1598 and 1600 Sir Thomas Bodley refitted the library over the Divinity School. This noble room is 86 feet long by 32 feet wide. These dimensions contrast forcibly with those of the long narrow rooms to which we have been accustomed; and it is probably on account of the great width that the 10 windows on each side have two lights apiece. At right angles to these walls, which face north and south, there are nine bookcases on a side with a half-case at each end. Here again we find so close a resemblance to the cases at Corpus Christi College, that a particular description is unnecessary. It should be noted, however, that, as at S. John's College, they had been made of a greater height (8 feet 4 inches) in the first instance, so as to accommodate two shelves above that on the level of the desk. These shelves are proved to be original by the existence, at the juncture of the shelves with the upright divisions, of the plates of iron which originally carried the sockets for the bar. The rest of the ironwork has been removed, and it is difficult to detect traces of its former existence, because modern shelves have been set against the ends of the cases. The hole for the lowest bar, however, remains in the same relative position as at Corpus Christi College; and, as the ironwork for supporting the bars is identical with what still remains there, it seems safe to conclude that no new principle was introduced. The desks are modern, but the large and ornamental brackets which support them are original, and the iron hooks (fig. 79) still remain by which they were prevented from falling when turned up. The position of these hooks shews that each desk was 19 inches broad. There were originally seats between each pair of cases, as may be seen in Loggan's view of the interior of the library, where their ends are distinctly shewn.

A special feature of this room is the beautiful open roof, practically that which Sir Thomas Bodley put up in 1599. The principals and tie-beams are ornamented with arabesques, while the flat surface between them is divided into square compartments on which are painted the arms of the University. On the bosses that intervene between these compartments are the arms of Bodley himself.

I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter that the stall-system had been represented in the library at Clare College, Cambridge. The old library was a long narrow room over the old chapel, and we know on the authority of William Cole[338] that it was "fitted up with wainscote Classes on both sides." These "classes" had been put up shortly before 1627, when the Duke of Buckingham, then Chancellor of the University, was taken to see them. When this library was pulled down in 1763 they were removed to the new library which had been fitted up 20 years previously, and ranged round the room in front of the modern shelves. They are splendid specimens of carpentry-work, and bear so close a resemblance to the cases in the library of S. John's College, that it may be assumed that they were copied from them[339]. When the removal took place they were a good deal altered, and a few years ago some fragments which had not been utilised were found in a lumber-closet. One of the standards (fig. 85), with its brackets, shews that the cases were once fitted with desks, the removal of which was ingeniously concealed by the insertion of slips of wood in the style of the older work[340]. I have not been able to discover any traces of chaining, but as there are a number of seats in the library, very like those in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, it is more than probable that chains were once employed.



The stall-system was not only popular in Oxford itself, but was adopted as a standard for bookcases, and reproduced elsewhere.

The first example I will cite is at Westminster Abbey[341], where part of the dorter was fitted up as a library during the years 1623 and 1624 by John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln and afterwards Archbishop of York, who was dean of Westminster from 1620 to his death in 1650. In the flowery rhetoric of his biographer Bishop Hacket:

With the same Generosity and strong propension of mind to enlarge the Boundaries of Learning, he converted a wast Room, scituate in the East side of the Cloysters, into Plato's Portico, into a goodly Library; model'd it into decent shape, furnished it with Desks and Chains, accoutred it with all Utensils, and stored it with a vast Number of Learned Volumes[342].

This library—which has not been materially altered since 1625—occupies the north end of what was once the dorter. It is 60 feet long, by 33 feet 4 inches broad. There are twelve bookcases—evidently the "desks" recorded by Williams' biographer. Each is 10 feet 10 inches long, 2 feet broad, and 8 feet 3 inches high, divided by plain uprights into three compartments. There are three shelves, below which is a desk for the reader, resting on brackets, and provided with the usual slit for the chains to pass through. These desks are hinged. The cases are quite plain, with the exception of a molded cornice; above which, on the end of each, is some scroll-work. There is also a small frame to contain the catalogue. It is probable that there were originally seats for readers between each pair of cases. I cannot discover any certain evidence of chaining, and yet "chains" are distinctly enumerated among the dean's benefactions. There are faint scars at the intersection of some of the shelves and uprights which may be screwholes—but I cannot feel certain on the point.

I have already given the plan of the cathedral library at Wells (fig. 42). After the Restoration this building was re-fitted during the episcopate of Robert Creighton (Bishop 1670-1672), with the help of donations from the celebrated Dr Richard Busby, and Dr Ralph Bathurst, who was dean from 1670 to 1704. It is important to remember that Bathurst was also master of Trinity College, Oxford, an office which he retained until his death. As he is described in the MS. List of Benefactors preserved in the library as having taken a foremost part in fitting it up (in Bibliotheca hac instauranda [Greek: ergodioktes]), the selection of the bookcases may with much probability be ascribed to him. His own college has still bookcases which once must have been excellent specimens of the stall-system.



There are eight bookcases at Wells, of plain unpainted deal, projecting from the west wall between the windows (fig. 42). They are 8 ft. 6 in. long, 8 ft. 1 in. high and 3 ft. broad. Seven of them have desks on both sides, but the last—that placed against the partition at the south end, which screens off a small room for a study—has a desk on one side only. There is no shelf below the desk, but two above it. They are fitted with the usual apparatus for chaining. Between each pair of bookcases, in front of the window, is a seat for the reader. These cases resemble so closely those at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, that the source from which they were derived cannot be doubtful.

Was this library ever chained? A Walton's Polyglot, 1657, had evidently been prepared for chaining, and in a novel fashion, the plate to carry the chain being attached to the left-hand board close to the back of the volume (fig. 86)—so that it was evidently set on the shelf in the ordinary way, and not with the fore-edge turned to the spectator, as is usual in chained libraries. But with this exception I could not discover indications of the attachment of a plate on any of the volumes. If I am right in concluding that the books in this library were never chained, the cases are a curious instance of the maintenance of fashion. Dean Bathurst ordered a bookcase, and it was supplied to him with all its fittings complete, whether they were to be used or not.



My last example is from Durham Cathedral, where John Sudbury, dean from 1661 to 1684, fitted up the ancient Frater as a library. The room is about 115 feet long by 30 feet wide, with nine windows in each side-wall. Their sills are ten feet from the ground.

The cases (fig. 87) are evidently the work of a carpenter who was thoroughly conversant with the stall-system. They had originally two shelves only above the desk, the entablature, now visible on the ends only, being carried along the sides. The shelf below the desk is also modern. These cases are ten feet apart, and between each pair, instead of a reader's seat, is a dwarf bookcase terminating in a desk. Attached to it on each side is a seat conveniently placed for a reader to use the desk on the side of the principal case.

I have shewn that the stall-system made its appearance at Oxford early in the sixteenth century, but I have not been able to discover who introduced it. My own impression is that it was monastic in its origin; and I can prove that it fits at least two monastic libraries exactly. This theory will also explain the prevalence of such cases at Oxford, and their almost total absence from Cambridge, where monastic influence was never exercised to the same extent.

I will begin with Canterbury, where, as I mentioned above[343], the library was over the Prior's Chapel. The construction of this chapel is described as follows by Professor Willis:

Roger de S. Elphege, Prior from 1258 to 1263, completed a chapel between the Dormitory and Infirmary.... The style of its substructure shews that it was begun by his predecessor.... [It] is placed on the south side of the Infirmary cloister, between the Lavatory tower and Infirmary. Its floor was on the level of the upper gallery, and was sustained by an open vaulted ambulatory below. This replaced the portion of the original south alley [of the cloister] which occupied ... that position.... But, as this new substructure was more than twice as broad as the old one, the chapel was obtruded into the small cloister-garth, so as to cover part of the facade of the Infirmary Hall, diminish the already limited area, and destroy the symmetry of its form[344].

Above this chapel Archbishop Chichele built the library which Prior Sellyng fitted up. It stood east and west, and of course must have been of the same size as the chapel beneath it, namely, according to Professor Willis, 62 feet long on the north side, 59 feet long on the south side, and 22 feet broad. The door was probably at the south-west corner, at the head of a staircase which originally led only to the chapel beneath it.

From these measurements I have constructed a plan of the room (fig. 88), and of the bookcases which I am about to describe. The windows are of course imaginary, but, I submit, justified by the uniform practice of medieval libraries.



I am able to reconstruct this library because I have had the good fortune to come across a very curious document[345] which gives sufficient data for the purpose. It is contained in a MS. volume, now the property of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, composed of several quires of paper stitched into a parchment cover. They once belonged to, and were probably written by, Brother William Ingram, who was custos martirii in 1503; and in June 1511 was promoted to the office of Pitancer. The accounts and memoranda in the book are of a very miscellaneous character. The part which concerns the library consists of a note of the books which were repaired in 1508. This is headed:

Repairs done to the books contained in the library over the chapel of our lord the Prior, namely, in new byndyng and bordyng with covers and claspyng and chenyng, together with sundry books of the gift of the aforesaid Prior, namely, in the year of our Lord 1508, and the year of the reign of King Henry VII., 23[346].

The writer goes round the room, beginning at the west end. He proceeds along the north side, and returns along the south side, to the point whence he started, enumerating on his way the bookcases and their shelves, the volumes removed, and, occasionally, a note of the repairs required. For my present purpose I will content myself with his account of a single bookcase, the first on the list. The writer begins thus: "From the upper shelf on the east side in the first seat (de superiori textu[347] ex orienti parte in prima (sic) sedile)." Three volumes are enumerated. "From the lower shelf (de inferiori textu)," two volumes. "From the upper shelf on the other side of the same seat (de superiori textu ex altera parte eiusdem sedilis)," seven volumes. "From the lower shelf (de inferiori textu)," five volumes. In this way eight seats, i.e. bookcases, are gone through on this side of the room. The writer next turns his attention to the south side, and goes through eight more seats, beginning with: "From the east side of the upper shelf on the south side (de textu superiori ex parte australi incipiendo. In parte orientali)." The examination was evidently thorough, and, as the same number of seats is enumerated for each side of the room, we may, I think, safely conclude that all were examined, and that the whole number in the library was sixteen.

The passages I have quoted shew that each of these bookcases had an upper and lower shelf on each side, on which the books stood, so as to be conveniently consulted by readers on each side; the books were chained; and, in consequence, there must have been a desk, presumably below the shelves on each side; and a seat for the reader. I have embodied these requirements in the accompanying sketch or diagram (fig. 89), which indicates a bookcase of the same type as those at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. If we may suppose that each of these cases was two feet wide and eight feet long like those at Merton College, we can accommodate eight cases on each side of the room (fig. 88), with the same interval between each pair as at that college.



Let us now consider whether the library as thus arranged would have had sufficient shelf-room. Each bookcase being 8 feet long would contain 32 feet of shelving, and the 16 cases a total of 512 feet. The catalogue made in the time of Prior Henry of Eastry (1285-1331) enumerates 1850 volumes[348]. If we allow two feet and a half for every ten of these we shall require 462 1/2 feet; or in other words we can arrange the whole collection in 14 stalls, leaving 2 over for the additions which must have been made in the interval between the middle of the 14th century and the date of Brother Ingram's researches.

If the sketch here given of the probable aspect of the library at Christ Church, Canterbury, be compared with the view of the library at Merton College, Oxford (fig. 82), a fairly correct idea of a great conventual library will be obtained. A very slight effort of imagination is needed to make the necessary changes in the shelves, and to replace academic students by Benedictine monks. Then, if we conceive the shelves to be loaded with manuscripts, many of which were written in the early days of the English Church, we shall be able to realise the feelings of Leland on entering the library at Glastonbury:

I had hardly crossed the threshold when the mere sight of books remarkable for their vast antiquity filled me with awe, or I might almost say with bewilderment: so that for a moment I could not move a step forward[349].

I propose in the next place to print a translation of the Introduction to the catalogue[350] of the Benedictine Priory of S. Martin at Dover, which was a cell to Canterbury made in 1389 by John Whytfeld. This catalogue does not indicate the stall-system; in fact I am at a loss to define the precise system which it does indicate. I print it in this place on account of its internal interest, and the evidence which it affords of the care taken in the last quarter of the fourteenth century to make books easily accessible to scholars.

The present Register of the Library of the Priory of Dover, compiled in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1389 under the presidency of John Neunam prior and monk of the said church, is separated into three main divisions. The object is that the first part may supply information to the precentor of the house concerning the number of the books and the complete knowledge of them: that the second part may stir up studious brethren to eager and frequent reading: and that the third part may point out the way to the speedy finding of individual treatises by the scholars. Now although a brief special preface is prefixed to each part to facilitate the understanding of it, to this first part certain general notes are prefixed, to begin with, for the more plain understanding of the whole Register.

Be it noted, then, first, that this whole Library is divided into nine several classes (Distinctions), marked according to the nine first letters of the alphabet, which are affixed to the classes themselves, in such a way that A marks out to him who enters the first Class, B the second, C the third, and so on in order. Each of the said nine classes, moreover, will be seen to be divided into seven shelves (grades), which are also marked off by the addition of Roman numeral figures, following the letters which denote the classes. We begin the numbering of the shelves from the bottom, and proceed upwards so that the bottom shelf, which is the first, is marked thus, I; the second thus, II; the third thus, III; and so the numbering goes, on up to seven[351].

In addition to this, the books of the Library are all of them marked on each leaf with Arabic numerals, to facilitate the ascertaining of the contents of the volumes.

Now since many of the volumes contain a number of treatises, the names of these treatises, although they have not always been correctly christened, are written down under each volume, and an Arabic numeral is added to each name shewing on what leaf each tract begins. To this number the letter A or B is subjoined, the letter A here denoting the first page of the leaf, and the letter B the second. The books themselves, furthermore, have their class-letters and also their shelf-marks inserted not only outside on their bindings, but also inside, accompanying the tables of contents at the beginning. To such class-letters a small Arabic figure is added which shews clearly what position the book occupies in the order of placing on the shelf concerned.

On the second, third, or fourth leaf of the book, or thereabouts, on the lower margin the name of the book is written. Before it are entered the above-mentioned class-letters and shelf-numbers, and after it (a small space intervening) are immediately set down the words with which that leaf begins, which I shall call the proof of investigation (probatorium cognitionis). The Arabic figures next following will state how many leaves are contained in the whole volume; and finally another numeral immediately following the last clearly sets forth the number of the tracts contained in the said volume.

If then the above facts be securely entrusted to a retentive memory it will be clearly seen in what class, shelf, place and order each book of the whole Library ought to be put, and on what leaf and which side of the leaf the beginnings of the several treatises may be found. For it has been the object of the compiler of this present register [and] of the Library, by setting forth a variety of such marks and notations of classes, shelves, order, pagination, treatises and volumes, to insure for his monastery security from loss in time to come, to shut the door against the spite of such as might wish to despoil or bargain away such a treasure, and to set up a sure bulwark of defence and resistance. And in truth the compiler will not be offended but will honestly love anyone who shall bring this register—which is still faulty in many respects—into better order, even if he should see fit to place his own name at the head of the whole work.

In the first part of the register, therefore, we have throughout at the top, between black lines ruled horizontally, first the class-letter, in red, and, following it, the shelf-mark, in black characters (tetris signaculis). Then again between other lines ruled in red, vertically: first, on the left a numeral shewing the place of the book in order on its shelf: then the name of the volume: thirdly, the number of the "probatory" leaf; fourthly, the "probatory" words (in the case of which, by the way, reference is made to the text and not to the gloss); fifthly, the number of leaves in the whole volume; and, lastly, the number of the treatises contained in it—all written within the aforesaid lines. In addition there will be left in each shelf of this part, at the end, some vacant space, in which the names of books that may be subsequently acquired can be placed[352].

The meaning of the word "distinction" is the principal difficulty in the way of understanding the above description. I thought at first that it denoted merely difference of subject, and that gradus, as in the catalogue of Queens' College, Cambridge, was a side of a lectern. But the statement that the grades are numbered "from the bottom and proceed upwards" can hardly be reconciled with any arrangement of lecterns. Distinctio probably denotes a bookcase or press, divided into 7 grades, and probably placed against the wall, the word gradus here meaning a flat shelf, instead of one set at an angle as in former instances. If this explanation be correct we have here a very early instance of shelves in such a position.

My second example of a monastic library fitted up according to the stall-system is the library at Clairvaux. As I have already printed a full description of it[353], I need not do more in this place than translate the passage referring to the fittings:

This library is 189 feet long, by 51 feet wide[354]. In it are 48 seats (bancs), and in each seat 4 shelves (poulpitres) furnished with books on all subjects, but chiefly theology.... The building that contains the said library is magnificent, built of stone, and excellently well lighted on both sides with five large windows, well glazed.

As there were so many as 48 bookcases, that is, 24 on each side, the bookcases were evidently spaced without reference to the lateral windows, which were probably raised high above the floor.

The catalogue, from which I have already quoted the verses commemorating the building of the library, contains much useful information respecting the arrangement of the books. The verses are succeeded by the following introductory note:

Repertorium omnium librorum in hac Clarevallis biblioteca existentium a fratre Mathurino de cangeyo eiusdem loci monacho non sine magno labore editum.

Lege

Pro intelligentia presentis tabule seu Repertorii, sciendum est quod a parte aquilonari collocantur libri quorum litere capitales nigre sunt, quorum vero rubre a parte australi. Et omnes in ea ordine alphabetico scribuntur.

Utriusque autem partis primum analogium per litteram A signatur, secundum per litteram B, tercium per litteram C, quartum per litteram D, quintum per litteram E. Et consequenter cetera analogia per sequentes litteras alphabeticas.

Quodlibet autem analogium quatuor habet partes, quarum prima signatur per litteram A, secunda per B, tercia per C, quarta per D.

Prime partis primi analogii primus liber signatur per A. a. 1, secundus per A. a. 2, tercius per A. a. 3, et consequenter.

Secunde partis primus liber signatur per A. b. 1, secundus per A. b. 2; et de consequentibus similis est ordinatio.

Tercie partis primus liber signatur per A. c. 1, secundus per A. c. 2; et consequenter.

Quarte partis primus liber signatur per A. d. 1, secundus per A. d. 2; et consequenter.

[In this way five "analogia" are enumerated.]

Et eadem est disciplina et ordinacio de ceteris analogiis prout habetur in novissimo quaternione eiusdem tabule, immo et in fronte cuiuslibet analogii in tabella eidem appendente.

Hanc tabulam seu repertorium scripsit quondam frater Petrus mauray de Arecis oriundus. Vivus vel defunctus requiescat in bona semper pace. Amen.

The most important passage in the above note may be thus translated:

Read

For the right understanding of the present table or method of finding books (tabule seu repertorii), you must know that on the north side are ranged those books whereof the capital letters are black; on the south side those whereof the capital letters are red. All are set down in alphabetical order.

On each side the first desk (analogium) is marked by the letter A; the second by the letter B; [and so forth].

Each desk has four divisions, the first of which is marked by the letter a, the second by the letter b, the third by the letter c, the fourth by the letter d. The first book on the first shelf of the first desk is marked A. a. i; the second A. a. ii; [and so forth].

The catalogue as well as the description makes it perfectly clear that each desk, that is to say, each bookcase, had four shelves; and further, as the authors of the Voyage Litteraire (1708) mention chains[355], it may be concluded that there were desks, and seats for readers, between each pair of bookcases. If we place two shelves on each side of the case we get a piece of furniture precisely similar to that in use at Canterbury.

FOOTNOTES:

[332] Macray, Annals of the Bodleian Library, p. 7. The words used are: Jam enim si quis, ut fit, uni libro inhaereat, aliis studere volentibus ad tres vel quatuor pro vicinitate colligationis praecludit accessum.

[333] Hearne's Glastonbury, ed. 1722, p. 286.

[334] Fasti Herefordenses, by Rev. F. T. Havergal. 4^o, 1869, p. 181. A Chapter-order dated 16 February, 1589, directed the removal of the books to the Lady Chapel, and the erection of a school on the ground where the Library had once stood.

[335] For the historical facts in the following account I am indebted to Mr Henderson's History, to the merits of which I have already drawn attention. I have also made copious extracts from the College account-books. Further, I have carefully studied the library on several occasions, and have had the benefit of the professional assistance of my friend Mr T. D. Atkinson, Architect.

[336] In the bursar's accounts for 1605, among other charges for the library, is the following entry: "pro pari cardinum ad sedem in bibliotheca 12d." If I am right in thinking that this refers to the desks for the readers in the west library it proves that the existing cases had been set up before 1605.

[337] Wood, Colleges and Halls, p. 551.

[338] Add. MSS. Mus. Brit. 5803, MSS. Cole, II. 9.

[339] Arch. Hist. III. 453.

[340] I have described these fragments in Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc., Vol. VIII. p. 18.

[341] See my paper in Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm., Vol. IX. p. 37.

[342] Scrinia reserata: a Memorial ... of John Williams, D.D.... By John Hacket. Fol. Lond. 1693, pp. 46, 47.

[343] See above, p. 106.

[344] Arch. Hist. of ... Monastery of Chr. Ch. Cant. 8vo. 1869, p. 65. This chapel was pulled down at the end of the 17th century and the present library, called the Howley library, built in its place.

[345] I have to thank my friend Mr W. H. St John Hope, Assistant Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, for first drawing my attention to it; and the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury for leave to use it.

[346] Reparaciones facte circa libros qui continentur in libraria supra capellam domini prioris videlicet in le new byndyng and bordyng cum coopertoriis and le claspyng and chenyng eciam cum diuersis libris ex dono eiusdem prioris videlicet Anno domini M^o ccccc^o viij^o and Anno Regni Regis henrici vij^o xxiii.

[347] This word seems to have been used at Canterbury to denote any piece of joinery. We have already seen it applied to a carrell (p. 99).

[348] See above, p. 102. The catalogue has been printed by Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries, I. pp. 122-235.

[349] Vix certe limen intraveram cum antiquissimorum librorum vel solus conspectus religionem, nescio an stuporem, animo incuteret meo; eaque de causa, pedem paullulum sistebam. Leland, De Script. Brit. ed. Hall, I. 41.

[350] This catalogue is in the Bodleian Library (MSS. 920). I am indebted to my friend Dr James for the admirable translation which I here print.

[351] The words thus translated are: "Incipiendo graduum computacionem a loco inferiori in altum procedendo videlicet ut gradus infimus qui primus est sic signetur I."

[352] Dr James has pointed out (Camb. Ant. Soc. Oct. Publ., No. XXXII.) that there are six MSS. from Dover Priory among Archbishop Parker's MSS. at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The first of these—a Bible in two volumes—is entered in the catalogue of the Priory as A. 1. 2, 3—that is to say it was in distinctio A, gradus 1, and the volumes stood second and third in the gradus.

[353] See above, p. 112.

[354] The words are: "contient de longueur LXIII passees, et de largeur XVII passees." I have taken one pace=3 feet.

[355] Voyage Litteraire, ed. 1717, Part I.. p. 102.



CHAPTER VI.

THE LECTERN-SYSTEM IN ITALY. LIBRARIES AT CESENA, AT THE CONVENT OF S. MARK, FLORENCE, AND AT MONTE OLIVETO. VATICAN LIBRARY OF SIXTUS IV. DUCAL LIBRARY AT URBINO. MEDICEAN LIBRARY, FLORENCE. SYSTEM OF CHAINING THERE USED. CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDIEVAL LIBRARIES. NAMES OF MEDIEVAL BOOKCASES AND BOOKSHELVES.

While the "stall-system" was being generally adopted in England and in France, a different plan was being developed in Italy. It consisted in a return to the "lectern-system," with the addition of a shelf below the lectern, on which the books lay on their sides when not wanted; and an ingenious combination of a seat for the reader with the desk and shelf.

The earliest library fitted up in this manner that I have been able to discover is at Cesena, a city of north Italy between Forli and Ravenna. It is practically in its original condition.

In the fifteenth century Cesena was governed by the powerful family of Malatesta, one of whom, Domenico Malatesta Novello, built the library in 1452, and placed it under the charge of the convent of S. Francesco. Two burghers were associated with the Friars in this duty. The library was always public. It was designed by Matteo Nuzio of Fano, a celebrated architect of the day, as we learn from an inscription originally inserted into the wall on the right of the door of entrance, but now placed inside the library:

MATHEVS. NVTIVS. FANENSI EX VRBE. CREATVS. DEDALVS ALTER. OPVS. TANTVM. DEDVXIT. AD VNGVEM.



The general plan and arrangement will be readily understood from the ground-plan (fig. 90), and the longitudinal section (fig. 91), copied on a reduced scale from those given by the learned Giuseppe Maria Muccioli, who published a catalogue of the MSS. in the library in 1780[356], and also from the general view of the interior (fig. 92). It is a long narrow building, 133 ft. 4 in. long, by 34 ft. broad[357], standing east and west, so that its windows face north and south. It is on the first floor, being built over some rooms which once belonged to the convent, and is entered at the west end through a lofty marble doorway. Internally it is divided into three aisles, of which the central is the narrowest, by two rows of ten fluted marble columns. Against the side-walls and partly engaged in them, are two rows of similar columns. The aisles are divided by plain quadripartite vaults, resting partly on the central columns, partly on those engaged in the side-walls, into eleven bays, each lighted by two windows (fig. 91). These aisles are about 12 ft. wide. The central aisle, 8 ft. 3 in. wide between the columns, has a plain barrel vault, extending from end to end of the building.

The influence of the Renaissance may readily be detected in the ornamentation of the columns, but traces of medieval forms still linger in the room. If the central alley were wider it might be taken for the nave of a basilica.



There are 29 bookcases in each aisle. Between each pair of cases there is a wooden floor, raised 3 1/2 in. above the general level of the room; and there is an interval of 2 ft. 3 in. between the cases and the wall, so that access may be readily obtained to them from either end. The room is paved with unglazed tiles.

The westernmost bay is empty (fig. 90), being used as a vestibule, and the first bookcase, if I may be allowed the expression, on each side, is really not a bookcase but a seat (fig. 93)[358].



The construction of these cases is most ingenious, both as regards convenience and economy of space. If they were designed by the architect who built the room, he must have been a man of no ordinary originality. Each piece of furniture consists of a desk to lay the books on when wanted for use, a shelf for those not immediately required, and a seat for the reader, whose comfort is considered by a gentle slope in the back (fig. 93). At the end next the central alley is a panel containing the heraldic devices of the Malatesta family.

The principal dimensions of each case are as follows:

Length 10 ft. 2 1/2 in. Height 4 ft. 2 1/4 in. Width of seat 3 ft. 1 in. Width of foot-rest 11 in. Height 3 1/2 in. Height of seat from ground 1 ft. 10 1/2 in. Width 1 ft. 4 in. Distance from desk to desk 4 ft. 1 in. Angle of slope of desk 45 deg.

The books are still attached to the desks by chains. The bar which carries them is in full view just under the ledge of the desk (fig. 94), inserted into massive iron stanchions nailed to the underside of the desk. There are four of these: one at each end of the desk, and one on each side of the central standard. The bar is locked by means of a hasp attached to the standard in which the lock is sunk.

The chains are of a novel form (fig. 95). Each link, about 2 1/4 in. long, consists of a solid central portion, which looks as though it were cast round a bent wire, the ends of which project beyond the solid part. The chain is attached to the book by an iron hook screwed into the lower edge of the right-hand board near the back.



The volume which I figure next (fig. 96), entitled Lumen animae seu liber moralitatum, was printed at Eichstaedt in Bavaria, in 1479. M. Ferd. Vander Haeghen, librarian of Ghent, bought it in Hungary a few years since, and gave it to the library which he so ably directs. The chain is just 24 in. long. The links, of which there are ten, are slightly different from any which I have figured, each link being compressed in the middle so that the two sides touch each other. There is no ring, but a link, rather larger than the rest, is passed round the bar. It will be observed that the chain is fastened to the left-hand board, and not to the right-hand board as in Italy. The presence of a title written on parchment kept in place by strips of leather, and five bosses of copper, shew that the left-hand board was uppermost on the desk. The position of the chain shews that when it was attached the book was intended to lie on a desk, where the bar must have been in front of, or below, the desk; but there is also a scar on the upper edge of the right-hand board, which shews that at some previous period it lay on a desk of what I may call the Zutphen type, where the bar was above the sloping surface.

With the library at Cesena may be compared that attached to the Dominican Convent of S. Mark at Florence, built in 1441 for Cosmo dei Medici—the first public library in Italy. It is on the first floor, and is approached by a staircase from the cloister. It is 148 ft. long by 34 ft. 6 in. wide[359], divided into three aisles by two rows of eleven columns. The central aisle, 9 ft. wide between the columns, has a plain barrel vault; the side aisles, 11 ft. wide, have quadripartite vaults. In each of the side-walls there are twelve windows. In all these details the library resembles that at Cesena so closely that I cannot help suspecting that Malatesta or his architect may have copied it.

The original fittings have been removed, but we learn from the catalogue[360] that the books were originally contained in 64 banchi, half of which were on the east side and half on the west side of the room. There was an average of about sixteen books to each banchus. The catalogue also mentions a Greek library, which had seven banchi on each side. This was probably a separate room.

There is a similar library at the Benedictine Convent of Monte Oliveto, near Siena, but it is on a much smaller scale. Like the others, it is divided into three aisles by two rows of six columns. The central aisle has a barrel vault, and the side aisles quadripartite vaults. It is 85 ft. long by 32 ft. broad. There are seven windows on one side only. At the end of the library, approached by a flight of thirteen stairs, is a room of the same width and 21 ft. long, which may have been used as an inner library. An inscription over the door of entrance records that this library was built in 1516[361].

While discussing the arrangements of Italian libraries, I must not omit that at the Convent of S. Francis at Assisi[362]. The catalogue, dated 1 January, 1381, shews that the library, even at that comparatively early date, was in two divisions: (1) for the use of the brethren; (2) for loans to extraneous persons. This catalogue, after a brief preface stating that it includes "all the books belonging to the library of the Holy Convent of S. Francis at Assisi, whether they be chained, or whether they be not chained," begins as follows:

In the first place we make a list of the books which are chained to benches (banchi) in the Public Library as follows, and observe that all the leaves of all the books which are in this catalogue, whether they are in quires of 12, 10, 8, or any other number of leaves larger or smaller,—every one of these books contains the denomination of the quires, as appears in the first quire of each book on the lower margin: all the quires being marked at beginning and end in black and red with the figure here shewn, and the number of the quire within it.



Moreover, the letters of the alphabet that are placed on the top of the covers ought all to be fairly large and entirely black, as marked below [in this catalogue] at the end of each book[363].

This introduction is succeeded by the list of books. They are chained to nine benches on the west side of a room, and to the same number on the east side. The total is 170.

The second part of the catalogue has the following heading:

In the name of the Lord, Amen. Here begins the list of all the books which are in the Reserved Library (libraria secreta) of the Holy Convent of S. Francis at Assisi, appointed to be lent to prelates, masters, readers, bachelors, and all other brethren in orders, according as the amount of knowledge or line of study of each demands them.

This part of the collection is contained in eleven presses (for which the unusual word solarium[364] is used) arranged along the east and west walls of a room, but whether the same as the last we are not informed. The number of manuscripts is 530.

A considerable number of the manuscripts here registered still exists. They are well taken care of in the Town Hall, and a list of them has been privately printed. Several are in their original condition, bound in boards about a quarter of an inch thick, covered with white leather. The title, written on a strip of parchment, is pasted on the top of the right-hand board. It usually begins with a capital letter in red or black, denoting the desk or press in which a given MS. would be found, thus:

F Postilla Magistri Nicolai de lyra super psalmos reponatur uersus orientem in banco vj^o.

In the next place I will tell at length the story of the establishment of the Vatican Library by Pope Sixtus IV., as it is both interesting in itself and useful for my present purpose[365].

The real founder of the Vatican Library, as we understand the term, was Nicholas V. (1447-1455), but he was unable to do more than collect books, for which no adequate room was provided till the accession of Sixtus IV. in 1471. In December of that year, only four months after his election, his chamberlain commissioned five architects to quarry and convey to the palace a supply of building-stone "for use in a certain building there to be constructed for library-purposes[366]"; but the scheme for an independent building, as indicated by the terms here employed, was soon abandoned, and nothing was done for rather more than three years. In the beginning of 1475, however, a new impulse was given to the work by the appointment of Bartolommeo Platina as Librarian (28 February)[367]; and from that date until Platina's death in 1481 it went forward without let or hindrance. This distinguished man of letters seems to have enjoyed the full confidence of the Pope, to have been liberally supplied with funds, and to have had a free hand in the employment of craftsmen and artists to furnish and decorate his Library. It is pleasant to be able to record that he lived to see his work completed, and all the books under his charge catalogued. The enumeration of the volumes contained in the different stalls, closets, and coffers, with which the catalogue of 1481 concludes, is headed by a rubric, which records, with pathetic simplicity, the fact that it was drawn up "by Platina, librarian, and Demetrius of Lucca his pupil, keeper, on the 14th day of September, 1481, only eight days before his death[368]."



It is evident that the Library had suffered considerably from the negligence of those in whose charge it had been. Many volumes were missing, and those that remained were in bad condition. Platina and his master set to work energetically to remedy these defects. The former engaged a binder, and bought materials for his use[369]; the latter issued a Bull (30 June) of exceptional severity[370]. After stating that "certain ecclesiastical and secular persons, having no fear of God before their eyes, have taken sundry volumes in theology and other faculties from the library, which volumes they still presume rashly and maliciously to hide and secretly to detain"; such persons are warned to return the books in question within forty days. If they disobey they are ipso facto excommunicated. If they are clerics they shall be incapable of holding livings, and if laymen, of holding any office. Those who have knowledge of such persons are to inform against them. The effect produced by this document has not been recorded; nor are we told what the extent of the loss was. It could hardly have been very extensive, for a catalogue which Platina prepared, or perhaps only signed, on the day of his election, enumerates 2527 volumes, of which 770 were Greek and 1757 Latin[371]. The number of the latter had more than doubled in the twenty years that had elapsed since the death of Nicholas V., an augmentation due, in all probability, to the activity of Sixtus himself.

The place selected to contain this extensive collection was the ground-floor of a building which had been erected by Nicholas V. and subsequently used as a provision store. The position of it, and its relations to neighbouring structures, will be understood from the accompanying plan (fig. 97), which I borrow from M. Fabre's paper. In order to shew how the building was arranged when it was first built, before other structures abutted against it, I have prepared a second plan (fig. 98) drawn from measurements taken by myself.



The floor is divided into four rooms by party-walls which are probably older than 1475, but which are proved, by the catalogue of 1481, to have been in existence at that period. The first of these rooms, entered directly from the court, contained the Latin Library; the second, the Greek Library. These two, taken together, formed the Common, or Public, Library (Bibliotheca communis, B. publica, or merely Bibliotheca). Next to this room, or these rooms, was the Bibliotheca secreta or Reserved Library, in which the more precious MSS. were kept apart from the others. The fourth room, which was not fitted up till 1480 or 1481, was called Bibliotheca pontificia. In addition to MSS. it contained the papal archives and registers (Regesta). In the catalogue dated 1512 it is called Intima et ultima secretior bibliotheca, and seems to have contained the most valued treasures. This quadripartite division is commemorated by Aurelio Brandolini (Epigram XII.)[372]. After alluding to the founders of some of the famous libraries of antiquity, he says in conclusion:

Bibliotheca fuit, fateor, sua cuique, sed vna. Sixte pater vincis: quatuor vnus habes.

Thanks to the care with which Platina set down his expenditure, we are able to follow step by step the gradual transformation of the rooms. His account-books[373], begun 30 June 1475, record, with a minuteness as rare as it is valuable, his transactions with the different artists and workmen whom he thought proper to employ. It was evidently intended that the library should be beautiful as well as useful, and some of the most celebrated artists of the day were set to work upon it.

The librarian prudently began in August, 1475, by increasing the light, and a new window was made "on the side next the court." It seems to have been impossible to get either workmen or materials in Rome; both were supplied from a distance. For the windows, glass, lead and solder were brought from Venice, and a German, called simply Hormannus, i.e. Hermann, was hired to glaze them. For the internal decoration two well-known Florentine artists—the brothers Ghirlandajo—were engaged, with Melozzo da Forli, who was painting there in 1477[374]. In 1476 the principal entrance was decorated with special care. Marble was bought for the doorcase, and the door itself was studded with 95 bronze nails, which were gilt, as were also the ring and knocker, and the frame of trellised ironwork (cancellus), which hung within the outer door.

The building is entered from the Cortile del Papagallo[375] through a marble doorway (fig. 98, A) in the classical style surmounted by the arms of Sixtus IV. On the frieze are the words SIXTUS PAPA IIII. The doorcase is doubtless that made in 1476; but the door, with its gilt nails and other adornments, has disappeared. Within the doorway there has been a descent of three steps at least to the floor of the Library[376]. The four rooms of which it was once composed are now used as the Floreria or Garde-meuble of the Vatican Palace; a use to which they have probably been put ever since the new Library was built at the end of the sixteenth century.

The Latin Library, into which the door from the court opens directly, is a noble room, 58 ft. 9 in. long, 34 ft. 8 in. wide, and about 16 ft. high to the spring of the vault. In the centre is a square pier, which carries the four plain quadripartite vaults, probably of brick, covered with plaster. The room is at present lighted by two windows (B, C) in the north wall, and by another, of smaller size, above the door of entrance (A). That this latter window was inserted by Sixtus IV., is proved by the presence of his arms above it on a stone shield. This is probably the window "next the court" made in 1475. The windows in the north wall are about 8 ft. high by 5 ft. broad, and their sills are 7 ft. above the floor of the room. Further, there were two windows in the west wall (b, c) a little smaller than those in the north wall, and placed at a much lower level, only a few feet above the floor. These were blocked when the Torre Borgia was built by Alexander VI. (1492-1503), but their position can still be easily made out. This room must have been admirably lighted in former days.

The room next to this, the Greek Library, is 28 ft. broad by 34 ft. 6 in. long. It is lighted by a window (fig. 98, D) in the north wall, of the same size as those of the Latin Library, and by another (ibid., E) a good deal smaller, opposite to it. This room was originally entered from the Latin Library by a door close to the north wall (d). But, in 1480[377], two large openings (e, f) were made in the partition-wall, either because the light was found to be deficient, or because it was thought best to throw the two rooms into one as far as possible. At some subsequent date the door (d) was blocked up, and the opening next to it (e) was carried down to the ground, so as to do duty as a door. The other opening (f), about 7 ft. 6 in. square, remains as constructed.

The decorative work of the brothers Ghirlandajo can still be made out, at least in part, though time has made sad havoc with it. The edges of the vaulting were made prominent by classical moldings coarsely drawn in a dark colour; and at the key of each vault is a large architectural ornament, or coat of arms, surrounded by a wreath of oak-leaves and acorns, to commemorate the Della Rovere family. They are tied together on each side with long flaunting ribbons, which, with their shadows, extend for a considerable distance over the vaults. The semi-circular lunettes in the upper part of the wall under the vaults are all treated alike, except that those on the sides of the room, being larger than those at the ends (fig. 98), contain two subjects instead of one. The lower part, for about 3 feet in height, is painted to represent a solid marble balcony, behind which a Doctor or Prophet is supposed to be standing. He is visible from rather below the waist upwards, and holds in his hand a scroll bearing an appropriate text. On each side of the figure in the smaller lunettes, resting on the balcony, is a large vase of flowers; and behind it a clear sky. Round the upper edge of the lunette is a broad band of oak-leaves, and fruits of various kinds. The figures, of which there were evidently twelve originally, are the following, beginning with the one at the north-east corner over the door leading into the Greek Library, and proceeding to the right:

1. HIERONYMUS. Scientiam scripturarum ama, et vitia carnis non amabis.

2. GREGORIUS. Dei sapientiam sardonyco et zaphyro non confer.

3. THOMAS. Legend illegible.

4. BONAVENTURA. Fructus scripturae est plenitudo aeternae felicitatis.

5. ARISTOTELES. } } 6. DIOGENES. } } 7. CLEOBULUS. } } Legends illegible. 8. ANTISTHENES. } } 9. SOCRATES. } } 10. PLATO. }

11. AUGUSTINUS. Nihil beatius est quam semper aliquid legere aut scribere.

12. AMBROSIUS. Diligentiam circa scripturas sanctorum posui.

Jerome and Gregory occupy the east wall; Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventura the first lunette on the south wall, over the door of entrance; Aristotle and Diogenes the next, succeeded by Cleobulus and Antisthenes on the west wall; on the first lunette on the north wall are Socrates and Plato; in the second Augustine and Ambrose, facing Aquinas and Bonaventura. Thus the eastern half of the library was presided over by doctors of the Christian Church, the western by pagan philosophers.

The space on the north wall (gh), nearly opposite to the door of entrance, was occupied by the fresco on which Melozzo da Forli was working in 1477. It was intended to commemorate the establishment of the Library in a permanent home by Sixtus the Fourth. The Pope is seated on the right of the spectator. On his right stands his nephew, Cardinal Pietro Riario, and before him, his head turned towards the Pope, to whom he seems to be speaking, another nephew, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Pope Julius the Second. At the feet of the Pope kneels Bartolommeo Platina, the newly appointed Librarian, who is pointing with the forefinger of his right hand to the inscription below the fresco. Behind Platina are two young men with chains of office round their necks. The inscription, said to have been written by Platina himself, is as follows:

TEMPLA, DOMUM EXPOSITIS[378], VICOS, FORA, MOENIA, PONTES, VIRGINEAM TRIVII QUOD REPARARIS AQUAM, PRISCA LICET NAUTIS STATUAS DARE MUNERA PORTUS, ET VATICANUM CINGERE, SIXTE, JUGUM, PLUS TAMEN URBS DEBET; NAM QUAE SQUALORE LATEBAT CERNITUR IN CELEBRI BIBLIOTHECA LOCO.

The fresco is now in the Vatican picture-gallery. It was transferred to canvas soon after 1815, when the present gallery was formed, and has suffered a good deal from what is called restoration[379].

The decoration of the Greek Library is not alluded to in the Accounts[380]; but it is easy to see that the lunettes have been ornamented on the same system as those of the Latin Library, but without figures; for their decoration still exists, though much damaged by time and damp. Below the lunettes the walls are covered with whitewash, under which some decoration is evidently concealed. The whitewash has peeled off in some places, and colour is beginning to make its appearance.

The Bibliotheca secreta is 20 ft. wide by 38 ft. 6 in. long. It is lighted by a single window in the north wall (fig. 98, F), of the same size and shape as the rest. The light is sufficient, even under present conditions.

The fourth and last room—spoken of in 1480 as "that addition which our Master lately made"—is 29 ft. wide by 40 ft. 6 in. long. It is at present lighted by only a single window in the north wall (fig. 98, G), and is very gloomy. But in former days, before Julius II. (1503-1513) built the Cortile di San Damaso, it had another window in the middle of the east wall (ibid., H), where there is now a door. Nothing certain can be made out about its decoration.

It is much to be regretted that so little is said about the glazing of the windows throughout the Library. Great care was evidently bestowed upon them, and the engagement of foreign artists, with the purchase of glass at Venice, are proofs that something specially beautiful was intended. Coloured glass is mentioned, which may have been used either for coats of arms—and we know that the Papal Arms were to be set up in the Bibliotheca secreta—or for subjects. But, in forming conjectures as to the treatment of these windows, it should be remembered that the transmission of light must always have been the first consideration, and that white glass must have preponderated.

The rooms for the Librarian and his assistants were in a small building which abutted on the Library at its S.W. corner, and stood between the two courts, obtaining light from each. Over the door of entrance was the inscription:

SIXTUS . IIII . PONT . MAX. BIBLIOTECARIO . ET . CVSTODIBVS . LOCVM . ADDIXIT[381].

The accommodation provided was not magnificent, two rooms only being mentioned. A door (fig. 98, a), now blocked, gave access to the Library from this building. It is interesting to note, as a proof of the richness of all the work, that it was of inlaid wood (pino intarsiata).

The work of fitting up this Library occupied about six years. It began in September 1475, and proceeded continuously to January 1477, when Melozzo's fresco was in progress. In December of that year the windows of the Bibliotheca secreta were begun; but during 1478 and 1479 nothing was done. In 1480 work was resumed, and the last payment to painters was made in 1481.

Let us now consider how these rooms were fitted up for the reception of books. I will first collect the notices in the Accounts respecting desks, or banchi, as they are called, and then compare them with the rooms themselves, and with the descriptions in the catalogues, which are fortunately extremely full; and I think that it will be possible to give a clear and consistent picture of the arrangements.

Platina ordered the desks for the Latin Library first, in 1475. This is set down in the following terms:

I have counted out, in the presence of Clement, steward of the household of His Holiness our Master, Salvatus the library-keeper (librarius), and Demetrius the reader (lector), 45 ducats to Francis the carpenter of Milan, now dwelling in the fishmarket of the city of Rome, towards making the desks in the library; and especially ten desks which stand on the left hand, the length of which is 38 palms or thereabouts; and so having received a part of the money, the total of which is 130 ducats, he promises and binds himself to do that which it is his duty to do, this 15th day of July, 1475[382].

The full name of this carpenter is known, from his receipts, to have been Francesco de Gyovane di Boxi da Milano. He received in all 300 ducats instead of the 130 mentioned in the first agreement, and when the last payment was made to him, 7 June, 1476, the following explanatory note is given:

Moreover I have paid to the same [Francis the carpenter] 30 ducats for what remains due on 25 desks for the Library: for the longer ones, which are 10 in number, there were paid, as entered above, 130 ducats; for the rest there were paid 170 ducats, making a total of 300 ducats, and so he has been paid in full for all the desks, this 7th day of June, 1476[383].

In 1477 the furniture for the next room, the Bibliotheca secreta or Inner Library, was begun. The work was entrusted to a Florentine, called in the Accounts merely Magister Joanninus faber lignarius de Florentia, but identified by M. Fabre with Giovannino dei Dolci, one of the builders of the Sistine chapel. The most important entry referring to him is the following:

Master Giovannino, carpenter of Florence, had from me Platyna, librarian of His Holiness our Master, for making the desks in the inner library, for the great press, and the settle, in the said room—all of which were estimated by Master Francis of Milan at one hundred and eighty ducats—he had, as aforesaid, sixty-five ducats and sixty groats on the 7th May, 1477[384].

The last payment on this account was made 18 March, 1478, on which day he also received eight ducats for three frames "to contain the names of the books," and for some repairs to old desks[385]. These frames were painted by one of Melozzo da Forli's workmen[386]. In February, 1481, 12 book-chests were supplied[387].

The desks for the fourth room or Bibliotheca pontificia were ordered in 1480-81. The workmen employed were Giovannino and his brother Marco.

Master Giovannino of Florence and Master Marco his brother, a carpenter, received XXV ducats in part payment for the desks which are being made in the library now added by His Holiness our Master, 18 July, 1480[388].

These workmen received 100 ducats up to 7 April, 1481, but the account was not then settled. Up to this period the bookcases had cost the large sum of 580 ducats or, if the value of the ducat be taken at six shillings and sixpence, L188 10s. of our money.

The purchase of chains began in January 1476[389]. It is worth notice that so simple an article as a chain for a book could not be bought in Rome, but had to be sent for from Milan; where, by the way, the dues exacted by the government made the purchase irksome and costly. The total number of chains bought was 1728, and the total cost 102 ducats, or rather more than L33. The rings were found to be too small, and were altered in Rome. Nothing is said about the place from which the rods came (ferramenta quibus catenae innituntur).

In 1477 (14 April) "John the chain-maker (Joannes fabricator catenarum)" supplies "48 iron rods on which the books are strung on the seats[390]" and also 48 locks, evidently connected with the same number of rods supplied before. In the same year a key-maker (magister clavium) supplies 22 locks for the seats and cupboards in the Bibliotheca secreta[391]; and in 1480, when the Bibliotheca pontficia was being fitted up, keys, locks, chains, and other ironwork were supplied by Bernardino, nephew of John of Milan[392].

For further information we must turn to the catalogues. For my present purpose the first of these[393] is that by Platina, of which I have already spoken, dated 14 September, 1481. It is a small folio volume, written on vellum, with gilt edges, and in plain binding that may be original. The first page has a lovely border of an enlaced pattern with the arms of Sixtus IV. in a circle at the bottom.

The compiler of the catalogue goes through the library case by case, noting (at least in the Latin Library) the position of the case, the subjects of the books contained in it, and their titles. This is succeeded by an enumeration of the number of volumes, so as to shew, in a couple of pages, how many the whole Library contained. MM. Muentz and Fabre print this enumeration, but, so far as I know, the catalogue itself has not as yet been printed by any one. For my present purpose I shall combine the headings of the catalogue, the subjects, and the number of the volumes, as follows:

Inventarium Bibliothecae Palatinae Divi Sexti Quarti Pont. Max.

[I. LATIN LIBRARY.]

Ad sinistram ingredientibus

In primo banco. [Bibles and Commentaries] 51 In secundo banco. Hieronymus. Augustinus 55 In tertio banco. Augustinus. Ambrosius. Gregorius 47 In quarto banco. Ioannes Chrysostomus 50 In quinto banco. Thomas 47 In sexto banco. In Theologia. In divino officio 54 In septimo banco. Ius canonicum 43 In octauo banco. Ius canonicum 41 In nono banco. Ius civile 42 ——430

In primo banco ad dextram ingredientibus. Philosophi 53 In secundo banco. Astrologi. In Medicina 48 In tertio banco. Poetae 41 In quarto banco. Oratores 43 In quinto banco. Historici 33 In sexto banco. Historici ecclesiastici 48 In septimo banco. Grammatici 47 ——313

[II. GREEK LIBRARY.]

In primo banco Bibliothecae Grecae. Testamentum vetus et novum 42 In secundo banco. Auctores clariores [Fathers] 31 In tertio banco. Auctores clariores 46 In quarto banco. Auctores clariores 49 In quinto banco. Ius civile et canonicum 58 In sexto banco. In Philosophia 59 In septimo banco. Oratores et Rhetores 57 In octauo banco. Historici. Poetae et Grammatici 58 ——400

[III. INNER LIBRARY.]

[A. BANCHI.]

In primo banco Bibliothecae Secretae. [Bibles, Fathers, etc.] 29 In secundo banco. In Theologia 37 In tertio banco. In Philosophia 41 In quarto banco. Ius canonicum 20 In quinto banco. Concilia 34 In sexto banco. In Astrologia. In Hebraico. In Dalmatico. In Arabico 29 ——190

[B. ARMARIUM.]

In primo armario Bibliothecae Secretae. Libri sacri et in divino officio 173 In secundo armario. Ius canonicum. Ius civile 148 In tertio armario. Expositiones. In sententiis. Poetae Grammatici et Historici Greci 242 In quarto armario. In medicina. Mathematici et Astrologi. Ius canonicum et civile. Oratores et Rhetores. Platonis Opera. In Philosophia 186 In quinto armario. Auctores clariores 89 ——938

[C. CAPSAE.]

In prima capsa primi banchi Bibliothecae Secretae. In Theologia 107 In secunda capsa primi banchi. Diversa facultas [Miscellanea] 66 In prima capsa secundi banchi. [Privileges and Royal Letters in 3 volumes] 3 In secunda capsa secundi banchi. [Miscellanea] 124 In prima capsa tertii banchi. Philosophi 90 In secunda capsa tertii banchi [00] In prima capsa quarti banchi. Historici 65 In secunda capsa quarti banchi [00] In prima capsa quinti banchi. [Official forms] 43 In secunda capsa quinti banchi. In Arabico 23 In prima capsa sexti banchi. In Historia ecclesiastica. Ceremonialia 67 In secunda capsa sexti banchi. Libri sine nomine ad quinquaginta parvi et modici quidem valoris 50 ——638

[D. SPALERA.]

In prima capsa spalerae Bibliothecae Secretae. In Poesi. Oratores Rhetores 69 In secunda capsa. In divino officio et sermones 59 In tertia capsa. Concilia et Canon. De potestate ecclesiastica 54 In quarta et ultima capsa. In Medicina. In Astrologia 34 ——216

[IV. BIBLIOTHECA PONTIFICIA.]

[A. BANCHI.]

In primo banco Bibliothecae Pontificiae. Testamentum vetus et novum 19 In secundo banco. Expositores 22 In tertio banco. Augustinus 14 In quarto banco. Hieronymus 23 In quinto banco. In Theologia 22 In sexto banco. In Theologia 18 In septimo banco. Thomas 23 In octavo banco. In Philosophia 29 In nono banco. [Greek and Latin Classics] 25 In decimo banco. Ius canonicum 28 In undecimo banco. [Civil Law] 17 In duodecimo banco. [New Testament. Fathers] 19 ——259

[B. SPALERA.]

Regestra Pontificum hic descripta in capsis Spalerae Bibliothecae Pontificiae per Platinam Bibliothecarium ex ordine recondita et in capsa prima 21 In secunda capsa Spalerae Bibliothecae Pontificiae 47 In tertia capsa Bibliothecae Pont. Regestra recondita par Platynam Bibliothecarium 16 In quarta capsa Spalerae Bibliothecae Pontificiae Regestra recondita 16 In quinta capsa Spalerae Bibliothecae Pontificiae Regestra recondita 15

These lists give the following results:

Latin Library, left hand, 9 seats 430 " " right " 7 " 313 ——743

Greek Library 8 " 400 Inner " 6 " 190 Armaria 938 Capsae 638 Spalera 216 ——1982

Bibliotheca Pontificia 12 seats 259 5 Capsae (Regestra) 115 ——374 —— Total 3499

Before proceeding farther, it should be noticed that, on a rough average, each seat in the Latin Library, left hand, contained 47 volumes, and in the same Library, right hand, 43 volumes. In the Greek Library, each seat contained 50 volumes; in the Inner Library, 31 volumes; in the Bibliotheca pontificia, 21 volumes.

In the next place I will give the results of the examination of a catalogue[394] of the Library, which M. Fabre, with much probability, assigns to the year 1512[395]. It begins as follows with the Latin Library:

Ad sinistra' Pontificis bibliothecam introeuntibus In primo scanno supra [27] " " infra [27] Finis primi scanni sub et supra [54]

The nine seats (banchi) of the left side of the Latin Library are gone through in the same way as the first, with the result that each is shewn to have two shelves. The total number of books is 457, or 27 more than in 1481.

On the opposite, or right-hand side of the Library, the first two seats have three shelves, and are described as follows:

In primo scanno supra [22] " " infra [27] " eodem scanno inferius siue sub infra [26] Finis primi scanni sub et subter [75]

On this side of the Latin Library the number of books has risen to 360 as against 313 of the previous catalogue.

In the Greek Library there are similarly two shelves to each seat, and the total number of volumes is 407 as against 400.

The account of the Inner Library begins as follows:

In secretiori bibliotheca In iij^o. scanno supra. [16] " " infra [17] " " inferius siue sub infra [21]

Three of the seats have three shelves; the rest two; and the total number of volumes has become 222 as against 190: or, an average of 37 to each seat.

The Bibliotheca pontificia is introduced with the following heading:

In intima et ultima secretiori bibliotheca ubi libri sunt pretiosiores.

Each seat has two shelves, and the total number of volumes is 277 as against 259 in 1481. Among the MSS. occurs "Virgilius antiquus litteris maiusculis"—no doubt the Vatican Virgil (Codex romanus), a volume which fully justifies its place among those termed libri pretiosiores.

This catalogue closes with the following sentence:

Finis totius Bibliothece Pontificie: viz. omnium scamnorum tam Latinorum quam Grecorum in prima, secunda, tertia, et quarta eius distinctione et omnium omnino librorum: exceptis armariis et capsis: et iis libris, qui Graeci ex maxima parte, in scabellis parieti adherentibus in intima ac penitissima Bibliothece parte sunt positi. Deo Laudes et Gratias.

The increase between 1481 and 1512 in the number of volumes in the parts of the Library defined in the above catalogue will be best understood from the following table, which shews that 131 volumes had been added in 31 years.

1481 1512

Latin Library 743 817 Greek " 400 407 Bibliotheca secreta 190 222 " pontificia 259 277 —— —— Total 1592 1723

Another catalogue, unfortunately without date[396], but which has every appearance of belonging to the same period, notes the rooms as the Bibliotheca magna publica, i.e. the Latin and Greek Libraries taken together, the Bibliotheca parva secreta, and the Bibliotheca magna secreta.

The catalogue drawn up by Zenobio Acciaioli, 12 October, 1518[397], offers no peculiarity except that in the Inner Library each seat is noted as having three rows of books, thus:

In primo bancho bibliothece parve secrete Infra in secundo ordine " tertio "



We may now proceed to arrange the Library in accordance with the information derived from the Accounts and the catalogues, compared with the ground-plan (fig. 98).

These authorities shew that in each of the rooms the books were arranged on what are called banchi, or as they would have been termed in England, desks, or seats, to which the books were attached by chains. It is obvious, therefore, that there must have been also seats for readers. A piece of furniture fulfilling these conditions and constructed twenty-five years earlier, is still to be seen at Cesena, as I have just explained. Further, I have examined a good many manuscripts now in the Vatican Library which formed part of the older collection; and wherever the mark of the chain has not been obliterated by rebinding, it is in the precise position required for the above system.

If I am right in supposing that the cases at Cesena are a survival of what was once in general use, we should expect to find another example of them in the Vatican; and that such was the case, is proved by the evidence of a fresco in the Ospedale di Santo Spirito at Rome, representing the interior of the library. This hospital was rebuilt by Sixtus IV. on an enlarged scale[398], and after its completion in 1482, one of the halls on the ground floor was decorated with a series of frescoes representing the improvements which he had carried out in the city of Rome. Recent researches[399] make it probable that the earlier pictures in the series of which the library is one, were selected by Platina, and executed before his death in 1481. I am able to present to my readers a reduced copy of this invaluable record (fig. 99) executed for me by Signor Danesi, under the kind superintendence of Father Ehrle.

The artistic merit of such a work as this is not great, but I feel sure that the artist faithfully reproduced what he saw with the limitations prescribed by his own want of skill. The desks bear a general resemblance to those at Cesena; they are plainer than the Accounts would warrant, but this may be due to want of skill on the part of the artist. The chains have also been omitted either for the same reason or from a wish to avoid detail. It will be noticed that each desk is fully furnished with volumes laid out upon it, and that these vary in number and size, and have different bindings. It may be argued that the artist wished to compliment his patrons by making the most of their property; but I should be inclined to maintain that this was the normal condition of the Library, and that the books, handsomely bound and protected by numerous bosses of metal, usually lay upon the desks ready for use.

If this fresco be compared with the earlier work of Melozzo da Forli, it is not difficult to identify four of the persons present in the Library (other than the readers). The central figure is obviously Sixtus IV., and the Cardinal to whom he is speaking is, I think, meant for Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Julius II. The figure immediately behind the Pope may be intended for Pietro Riario, and the figure behind him is certainly Platina. The others, I take it, are simply attendants.

Nor must it be forgotten that, important as this fresco is in connexion with the Library of the Vatican, it is of even greater interest as a contemporary representation of a large fifteenth century library.

The arrangement of each room is not quite so simple as might appear at first sight; and, besides the desks, there are other pieces of furniture to be accounted for. We will therefore go through the rooms in order with the ground-plan (fig. 98). On this plan the cases are coloured gray, the readers' seats are indicated by transverse lines, and the intervals are left white.

Latin Library. The Accounts tell us that there were 10 seats on the left hand of the Latin Library, and that these were longer than the rest, measuring 38 palms each, or about 27 ft. 9 in. English[400].

As the distance from the central pier to the west wall is just 27 ft. 6 in., it is obvious that the cases must have stood north and south—an arrangement which is also convenient for readers, as the light would fall on them from the left hand. For this reason I have placed the first desk against the pier, the reader's seat being westward of it. A difficulty now arises. It is stated in the Accounts that ten banchi are paid for, but all the catalogues mention only nine. I suggest that the explanation is to be found in the fact that ten pieces of furniture do occur between the pier and the wall, the first of which is a shelf and desk, and the last a seat only. This arrangement is to be seen at Cesena and in the Medicean Library at Florence. The room being 34 ft. 8 in. wide, space is left for a passage along the south wall to the door (a) of the Librarian's room, and also for another along the opposite ends of the desks.