FOOTNOTES:

The disposition of the shelues both along the walls and breaking out from the walls ... must needes proue very convenient and gracefull, and the best way for the students will be to haue a litle square table in each Celle with 2 chaires. The necessity of bringing windowes and dores to answer to the old building leaues two squarer places at the endes and 4 lesser Celles not to study in, but to be shut up with some neat Lattice dores for archives.

The bookcases, designed by himself, were executed under his direction by Cornelius Austin, a Cambridge workman. My illustration (fig. 128) shews one of the "4 lesser Celles" with one of its doors open, and next to it a "Celle" for students withtable, revolving desk, and two stools. These pieces of furniture were also designed by Wren.

Fig. 128. Interior of the north-east corner of the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, shewing the bookcases, table, desk and chairs, as designed by Sir C. Wren.Fig. 128. Interior of the north-east corner of the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, shewing the bookcases, table, desk and chairs, as designed by Sir C. Wren.

The cases are 11 ft. 10 in. high, and the wooden floor upon which they stand is raised higher than that of the library. The great depth of the plinth, which Wren utilised for cupboards, recalls the plan of some of the older cases, and there is the little cupboard to contain the catalogue at the end of each standard; but, with these exceptions, there is nothing medieval about them except their position. On the top of each case is a square pedestal of wood on which Wren intended to place a statue, but this part of his scheme was not carried out. The celebrated Grinling Gibbons supplied the busts which take the place of Wren's statues, and also the coats of arms and wreaths of flowers and fruit with which the ends of the cases are decorated.

It is difficult to decide the source from which an architect so great as Wren derived any feature of his buildings, but it seems to me reasonable to ascribe to foreign influence his use of the side-walls at Trinity College library; and his scheme for combining a lofty internal wall with beauty of external design, and a complete system of lighting, must always command admiration. In the next example of his library work foreign influence may be more directly traced, for I feel that the library of S. Paul's Cathedral suggests reminiscences of the Ambrosian library at Milan.

Wren placed the library of his new cathedral in the western transept, with an ingenuity of contrivance and a dignity of conception peculiarly his own. On the level of what in a Gothic church would have been the triforium, he constructed, both on the north and south side, a large and lofty room. It was his intention that each of these rooms should be used as a library, and that they should be connected by means of the gallery which crosses the west end of the nave. Access to them was to be obtained from the exterior, without entering the church, by a circular staircase in the south-west corner of the façade. This plan has not been fully carried out, and the southern library only has been fitted up. It is now usually reached by means of the staircase leading to the dome.

These arrangements will be understood from the ground-plan (fig. 129)[508]. This plan shews very clearly the library itself, the two circular staircases at the west end, leading up to the gallery, the wide geometrical staircase leading down to the portico, the corridor into which this staircase opens, and from which a visitor could either ascend by a flight of stairs to the gallery crossing the nave, or, turning to his right, either enter the library, or pass eastwards towards the dome.

Fig. 129. Ground plan of Library and adjacent parts of S. Paul's Cathedral, London.Fig. 129. Ground plan of Library and adjacent parts of S. Paul's Cathedral, London.

Fig. 130. Sir Christopher Wren's Library at S. Paul's Cathedral, London, looking north-east.Fig. 130. Sir Christopher Wren's Library at S. Paul's Cathedral, London, looking north-east.

The library (fig. 130) is a well-lighted room, with an area measuring 53 ft. by 32 ft, and of sufficient height to admit of the introduction of a gallery under the vault. A massive stone pier projects into the room at each corner, so as to break the formal regularity of the design in a very pleasing manner. The gallery, together with the bookcases, which stand against thewalls, both in the gallery and below it, were either designed by Wren himself, or placed there with his approval. The Building Accounts[509]contain many valuable pieces of information respecting the history of the room and its fittings. The floor "in the south library" was laid down in July, 1708, as was alsothat in the gallery; the windows "in the north and south library," words which shew very clearly that the corresponding room on the north side was also intended for a library, were painted in December, 1708; and the ornamental woodwork was supplied in March, 1708-9. From the entries referring to these works I will quote the following, as it particularises the most striking feature in the room, namely, the large ornamental brackets which appear to support the gallery:

To Jonathan Maine Carver in the South Library, viz. For carving 32 Trusses or Cantalivers under the Gallary, 3 ft. 8 in. long, and 3 ft. 8 in. deep and 7 in. thick with Leather worke cut through and a Leaf in the front and a drop hanging down with fruit and flowers etc. at 6l.10s.each.208l.——

208l.——

The words "leather work," used in the above entry, are singularly suitable, for the whole composition looks more like something molded out of leather or plaster than cut out of a solid piece of wood. The vertical portion, applied to the pilasters, consists of a bunch of flowers, hops, and corn, somewhat in the manner of Grinling Gibbons, who has been often named as the artist. The above-mentioned pilasters divide the wall-space into 33 compartments, each of which is from 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. wide, and 9 ft. high, exclusive of the plinth and cornice, and fitted with six shelves, which are apparently at the original levels.

The gallery is approached by a staircase contrived in the thickness of the south-west pier. It is 5 ft. wide, and fitted with bookcases ranged against the wall in the same manner as those below, but they are loftier, and of plainer design. The balustrade, a molded cornice of wood, supported on pilasters of the same material, which recall those separating the compartments below, and the great stone piers, enriched with a broad band of fruit, flowers, and other ornaments set in a sunk panel, are striking features of this gallery.

The material used throughout for the fittings is oak, which fortunately has never been painted, and has assumed a mellow tone through age which produces a singularly beautiful effect.

If we now return to Cambridge, we shall find that the influence of Wren can easily be traced in all the library fittingsput up in the course of the 18th century. The first work of this kind undertaken was the provision of additional fittings to the library of Emmanuel College[510]between 1702 and 1707. The tall cases, set up at right angles to the walls in 1679, were moved forward, and shelves in continuation of them were placed against the side-walls. The same influence is more distinctly seen in the library of S. Catharine's Hall[511], which was fitted up, according to tradition, at the expense of Thomas Sherlock, D.D., probably while Master, an office which he held from 1714 to 1719. The room is 63 ft. 6 in. long by 22 ft. 10 in. wide; and it is divided by partitions into a central portion, about 39 ft. long, and a narrow room at each end, 12 ft. long. Each of these latter is lighted by windows in the north and south walls; the former has windows in the south wall only. The central portion is divided into three compartments by bookcases which line the walls, and project from them at right angles; in the two smaller rooms the cases only line the walls, the space being too narrow for any other treatment.

When the building of the new Senate House had set free the room called the Regent House, in which the University had been in the habit of meeting from very early times, it was fitted up, between 1731 and 1734, as part of the University Library[512]. Wren's example was followed as far as the nature of the room would permit. Wherever a blank wall could be found, it was lined with shelves, and the cases placed at right angles to the side-walls were continued over the narrow spaces left between their ends and the windows. One of these cases, from the south side of the room, is here shewn (fig. 131). The shelves under the windows were added subsequently. A similar arrangement was adopted for the east room in 1787-90.

At Clare College, at about the same date, the new library over the kitchen was fitted up with shelves placed against the walls. These fittings are excellent specimens, ornamented with fluted Ionic pilasters, an elaborate cornice, and pediments above the doors. It is worth noting, as evidence of the slowness with which new fashions are accepted, that the antiquary WilliamCole, writing in 1742, calls this library "a very large well-proportion'd Room à la moderne, wthye Books rang'd all round it & not in Classes as in most of yerest of yeLibraries in other Colleges[513]."

Fig. 131. Bookcase in the north room of the University Library, Cambridge, designed by James Essex, 1731-1734.Fig. 131. Bookcase in the north room of the University Library, Cambridge, designed by James Essex, 1731-1734.

The fashion of which I have been tracing the progress in England had been accepted during the same period in France, where some beautiful specimens of it may still be seen. I presume that the example was set by the wealthy convents, most of which had been rebuilt, at least in part, in the then fashionable classical style, during the seventeenth century[514]. At Rheims a library fitted up by the Benedictines of Saint Remi in 1784 now does duty as the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu. Fluted Corinthian columns supporting an elaborate cornice divide the walls into compartments, in which the books are ranged on open shelves. The room is 120 ft. long, by 31 ft. broad, with four windows on each side. With this may be compared the public library at Alençon, the fittings of which are said to have been brought from the abbey of the Val Dieu near Mortain at the Revolution. The room is 70 ft. long by 25 ft. wide. Against the walls are 26 compartments or presses, alternately open and closed. Each of these terminates in an ogee arch enriched with scrolls and a central shield. The whole series is surmounted by a cornice divided by console brackets, between which are shields, probably intended originally to carry the names of the subjects of the books.

Fig. 132. Interior of the Library of the Jesuits at Rheims, now the Lingerie de l'Hôpital Général.Fig. 132. Interior of the Library of the Jesuits at Rheims, now the Lingerie de l'Hôpital Général.

Lastly, I must mention the libraries of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette at Versailles. The walls are lined with a double row of presses, each closed by glass doors. The lower row is about four feet high, the upper row about ten feet high. The wood-work is painted white, and enriched with wreaths of leaves in ormolu. As a general rule the books are hidden from view by curtains of pleated silk.

I mentioned in a previous chapter[515]that additional space was provided for the library in a French monastery by raising the roof of an existing building, putting in dormer windows, and converting the triangular space so gained into a library by placing in it bookcases of a convenient height, and connecting them together by a ceiling. I have fortunately discovered one such library still in existence at Rheims. It belonged originally to the Jesuits, who had constructed it about 1678, and when the Order was expelled from France in 1764, and their House became the workhouse (hôpital général) of the town, it was fortunately made use of as thelingerie, or linen-room, without any material change. Even the table has been preserved. The view here presented of the interior (fig. 132) may serve to give a general idea, not merely of this library, but of others of the same class. The decoration of the ceiling is coarse but effective. On the coved portion of it, within the shields, are written the subjects of the books on the shelves beneath. I made a list of these and have printed them on the margin of my ground-plan (fig. 133). This plan also shews the arrangement of the bookcases. They are placed at a distance of five feet from the walls, and are returned to meet each window, thus forming convenient bays for private study. The space between the bookcases and the wall was used as a store-room[516].

Fig. 133. Ground-plan of the Library of the Jesuits at Rheims.Fig. 133. Ground-plan of the Library of the Jesuits at Rheims.

The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, at Paris, offered originally a splendid example of a library arranged in this manner. It consisted of two galleries, at right angles to each other, fitted up in the same style as the library at Rheims. The longest of these galleries was 147 ft. long by 24 ft. wide. The guidebooks prepared for the use of visitors to Paris in the middle of the 18th century dwell with enthusiasm on the convenience and beauty of this room. The books were protected by wire-work; between each pair of cases was a bust of a Roman emperor or an ancient philosopher; at the crossing of the two galleries was a dome which seemed to be supported on a palm-tree in plaster-work at each corner, out of the foliage of which peered the heads of cherubs; while the convenience of readers was consulted by the liberality with which the library was thrown open on three days in every week, and furnished with tables, chairs, a ladder to reach the upper shelves, and a pair of globes[517]. This library was begun in 1675, and placed, like that at Rheims, directly under the roof. The second gallery, which is shorter than the first, was added in 1726. It was not disturbed at the Revolution, nor under the Empire, though the rest of the abbey-buildings became the Lycée Napoléon. After the Restoration, when this school became the College Henri IV., the presence of the library was found to be inconvenient, and in 1850 it was removed to a new building close to the Pantheon. The galleries are now used as a dormitory for the school-boys, but the dome, with some of its decorations, still survives.

Another example of this arrangement, which seems to have been peculiarly French, is afforded by the library of Saint Germain-des-Près, the gradual extension of which I have already described[518]. The books were contained in oak presses set against the walls. Above them was a series of portraits representingthe most important personages in the Order of S. Benedict. This library was open to the public daily from 9 to 11 a.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m.[519]

I will conclude this chapter with a few words on the library of the most famous of all European monasteries, namely Monte Cassino, the foundation of which was undoubtedly laid by S. Benedict himself. I confess that I had hoped to find there a library which might either by its position or its fittings recall the early days of monasticism; but unfortunately the piety of the Benedictine Order has induced them to rebuild their parent house in a classical style, and to obliterate nearly every trace of the primitive building. The library, to which I was obligingly conducted by the Prior, is 60 ft. long by 30 ft. broad, with two large windows at the end opposite to the door. The side-walls are lined with bookcases divided by columns into four compartments on each side, after the fashion of Cardinal Mazarin's library. These columns support a heavy cornice with handsome ornaments. A band of woodwork divides the cases into an upper and lower range, but there is no trace of a desk. I could not learn the date at which these fittings had been constructed, but from their style I should assign them to the middle of the seventeenth century[520].

FOOTNOTES:[494]See above,p. 196.[495]See above,p. 224.[496]See above,p. 233.[497]For the history of the Escõrial, see Ford,Handbook for Spain, Ed. 1855, pp. 749-763, andDescripcion ... del Escorial, Fra de los Santos, fol. Madrid, 1657, with the English translation by G. Thompson, 4to. London, 1760.[498]I have to thank the librarian, Monsignore Ceriani, for kindly allowing this photograph to be taken for my use.[499]Gli Istituti Scientifici etc. di Milano.8vo. Milan, 1880, p. 123, note.[500]Boscha,De Origine et statu Bibl. Ambros.p. 19;ap.Grævius,Thes. Ant. et Hist. Italiæ, Vol.ix.part 6; see also the Bull of Paul V, dated 7 July 1608, approving the foundation and rehearsing the statutes, inMagnum Bullarium Romanum, 4to. Turin, 1867, Vol. xi. p. 511.[501]For the history of the Bibliothèque Mazarine see Franklin,Anc. Bibl. de Paris, Vol.iii.pp. 37-160.[502]Franklin,Anc. Bibl. de Paris, Vol.iii.pp. 55-6.[503]The minute of the conservators of the library authorising this change is printed by Franklin,ut supra, p. 117.[504]Macray,Annals, ut supra, p. 37.[505]Macray,ut supra, p. 80.[506]Elmes.Life of Sir C. Wren, pp. 180-184.Parentalia, p. 261.[507]The history of this library has been fully narrated in theArch. Hist., ut supra, Vol.ii.pp. 531-551. Wren's Memoir quoted below has been collated with the original in the library of All Souls' College, Oxford, where his designs are also preserved.[508]This plan has been reduced from one on a larger scale kindly sent to me by my friend Mr F. C. Penrose, architect to the Cathedral.[509]I have to thank the Dean and Chapter for leave to study these Accounts, and to have a photograph taken of the library.[510]Arch. Hist.Vol.ii.p. 710. Vol.iii.p. 468.[511]ib.Vol.iii.p. 468.[512]ib.Vol.iii.pp. 74, 470.[513]Arch. Hist.Vol.i.p. 113.[514]See the set of views of French Religious Houses calledLe Monasticon Gallicanum, 4to. Paris, 1882. The plates were drawn by Dom Germain 1645-1694.[515]See above, pp.106,114.[516]Jadart,Les Anciennes Bibliothèques de Reims, 8vo. Reims, 1891, p. 14.[517]Franklin,Anc. Bibl. de Paris, Vol.i.pp. 71-99. He gives a view of the interior of the library from a print dated 1773.[518]See above,p. 114.[519]Franklin,ut supra,i. pp. 107-134.[520]I visited Monte Cassino 13 April, 1898.

[494]See above,p. 196.

[495]See above,p. 224.

[496]See above,p. 233.

[497]For the history of the Escõrial, see Ford,Handbook for Spain, Ed. 1855, pp. 749-763, andDescripcion ... del Escorial, Fra de los Santos, fol. Madrid, 1657, with the English translation by G. Thompson, 4to. London, 1760.

[498]I have to thank the librarian, Monsignore Ceriani, for kindly allowing this photograph to be taken for my use.

[499]Gli Istituti Scientifici etc. di Milano.8vo. Milan, 1880, p. 123, note.

[500]Boscha,De Origine et statu Bibl. Ambros.p. 19;ap.Grævius,Thes. Ant. et Hist. Italiæ, Vol.ix.part 6; see also the Bull of Paul V, dated 7 July 1608, approving the foundation and rehearsing the statutes, inMagnum Bullarium Romanum, 4to. Turin, 1867, Vol. xi. p. 511.

[501]For the history of the Bibliothèque Mazarine see Franklin,Anc. Bibl. de Paris, Vol.iii.pp. 37-160.

[502]Franklin,Anc. Bibl. de Paris, Vol.iii.pp. 55-6.

[503]The minute of the conservators of the library authorising this change is printed by Franklin,ut supra, p. 117.

[504]Macray,Annals, ut supra, p. 37.

[505]Macray,ut supra, p. 80.

[506]Elmes.Life of Sir C. Wren, pp. 180-184.Parentalia, p. 261.

[507]The history of this library has been fully narrated in theArch. Hist., ut supra, Vol.ii.pp. 531-551. Wren's Memoir quoted below has been collated with the original in the library of All Souls' College, Oxford, where his designs are also preserved.

[508]This plan has been reduced from one on a larger scale kindly sent to me by my friend Mr F. C. Penrose, architect to the Cathedral.

[509]I have to thank the Dean and Chapter for leave to study these Accounts, and to have a photograph taken of the library.

[510]Arch. Hist.Vol.ii.p. 710. Vol.iii.p. 468.

[511]ib.Vol.iii.p. 468.

[512]ib.Vol.iii.pp. 74, 470.

[513]Arch. Hist.Vol.i.p. 113.

[514]See the set of views of French Religious Houses calledLe Monasticon Gallicanum, 4to. Paris, 1882. The plates were drawn by Dom Germain 1645-1694.

[515]See above, pp.106,114.

[516]Jadart,Les Anciennes Bibliothèques de Reims, 8vo. Reims, 1891, p. 14.

[517]Franklin,Anc. Bibl. de Paris, Vol.i.pp. 71-99. He gives a view of the interior of the library from a print dated 1773.

[518]See above,p. 114.

[519]Franklin,ut supra,i. pp. 107-134.

[520]I visited Monte Cassino 13 April, 1898.

PRIVATE LIBRARIES. ABBAT SIMON AND HIS BOOK-CHEST. LIBRARY OF CHARLES V. OF FRANCE. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS LIBRARY FROM ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS. BOOK-LECTERN USED IN PRIVATE HOUSES. BOOK-DESKS REVOLVING ROUND A CENTRAL SCREW. DESKS ATTACHED TO CHAIRS. WALL-CUPBOARDS. A SCHOLAR'S ROOM IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. STUDY OF THE DUKE OF URBINO. LIBRARY OF MONTAIGNE. LIBRARY OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA. CONCLUSION.

In the previous chapters I have sketched the history of library-fittings from the earliest times to the end of the eighteenth century. The libraries to which these fittings belonged were, for the most part, public, or as good as public. But, as in history we have recognised the important fact that a record of battles and sieges and enactments in Parliament gives an imperfect conception of the life of a people, so I should feel that this archeological subject had been insufficiently treated if I made no attempt to shew how private scholars disposed their books, or with what appliances they used them. For instance, in what sort of chair was the author of thePhilobiblonsitting when he wrote the last words of his treatise, 24 January, 1345, and how was his study in his palace at Auckland furnished? Further, how were private students bestowed in the fifteenth century, when a love of letters had become general? Lastly, how were libraries fitted up for private use in the succeeding century, when the great people of the earth, like the wealthy Romans of imperialtimes, added the pursuit of literature to their other fashions, and considered a library to be indispensable in their luxurious palaces?

In the hope of obtaining reliable information on these interesting questions, I have for some years past let no opportunity slip of examining illuminated manuscripts. I have gone through a large number in the British Museum, where research is aided by an excellent list of the subjects illustrated; in theBibliothèque Nationale, Paris; and in theBibliothèque Royale, Brussels, where the manuscripts are for the most part those which once belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy. I have been somewhat disappointed in this search, for, with the single exception of the illustration from Boethius (fig. 63), I have not found any library, properly so called. This is no doubt strange, having regard to the great variety of scenes depicted. It must be remembered, however, that these are used for the most part to illustrate some action that is going forward, for which a library would be a singularly inappropriate background. Single figures, on the other hand, are frequently shewn with their books about them, either reading or writing. Such illustrations most frequently occur inBooks of Hours, in representations of the Evangelists; or in portraits of S. Jerome, who is painted as a scholar at his desk surrounded by piles of books and papers; and I think we may safely take these as representations of ordinary scholars, because, by the beginning of the fifteenth century, when most of the pictures to which I refer were drawn, it had become the custom to surround even the most sacred personages with the attributes of common life.

In the twelfth century, when books were few, they were kept in chests, and the owners seem to have used the edge as a desk to lean their book on. My illustration (fig. 134) shews Simon, Abbat of S. Albans 1167-1183, seated in front of his book-chest[521]. The chest is set on a frame, so as to raise it to a convenient height; and the Abbat is seated on one of those folding wooden chairs which are not uncommon at the present day. Simon was a great collector of books: "their number,"writes his chronicler, "it would take too long to name; but those who desire to see them can find them in the painted aumbry in the church, placed as he specially directed against the tomb of Roger the hermit[522]."

Chests, as we have seen above at the Vatican library, were used for the permanent storage of books in the fifteenth century; and a book-chest frequently formed part of the travelling luggage of a king. For example, when Charles V. of France died, 16 September, 1380, at the Château de Beauté-sur-Marne, thirty-one volumes were found in his chamber "in a chest resting on two supports, which chest is by the window, near the fireplace, and it has a double cover, and in one of the divisions of the said chest were the volumes that follow." His son, Charles VI., kept the thirteen volumes which he carried about with him in a carved chest, within which was an inlaid box (escrin marqueté) to contain the more precious books[523].

Fig. 134. Simon, Abbat of S. Albans (1167-1183), seated at his book-chest. From MSS. Cotton.Fig. 134. Simon, Abbat of S. Albans (1167-1183), seated at his book-chest. From MSS. Cotton.

The earliest information about the furniture of a medieval private library that I have as yet discovered is contained in a fragment of an account-book recording the cost of fitting up a tower in the Louvre in 1367 and 1368, to contain the books belonging to Charles V. of France. Certain pieces ofwoodwork in the older library in the palace on the Isle de la Cité are to be taken down and altered, and set up in the new room. Two carpenters are paid (14 March, 1367) for "having taken to pieces all the cases (bancs) and two wheels (roes), which were in the king's library in the palace, and transported them to the Louvre with the desks (lettrins), and the aforesaid wheels, each made smaller by a foot all round; and for having put all together again, and hung up the desks (lettrins) in the two upper stages of the tower that looks toward the Falconry, to put the king's books in; and for having panelled the first of those two stories all round on the inside with wood from 'Illande,' at a total cost of fifty francs of gold. Next, because the seats were too old, they were remade of new timber which the aforesaid carpenters brought. Also [they were paid] for two strong doors for the said two stories 7 ft. high, 3 ft. broad, and 3 fingers thick." In the following year (4 May, 1368), a wire-worker (cagetier) is paid "for having made trellises of wire in front of two casements and two windows ... to keep out birds and other beasts (oyscaux et autres bestes), by reason of, and protection for, the books that shall be placed there." The ceiling is said to have been panelled in cypress wood ornamented with carvings[524].

The "tower that looks toward the Falconry" mentioned in the above description has been identified with the north-west tower of the old Louvre. The rooms fitted up as a library were circular, and about 14 feet in diameter[525].

The above description of a library will be best explained by an illumination (fig. 135) contained in Boccacio'sLivre des cas des malheureux nobles hommes et femmes, written andilluminated in Flanders for King Henry the Seventh, and now in the British Museum[526]. Two gentlemen are studying at a revolving desk, which can be raised or lowered by a central screw. This is evidently the "wheel" of the French King's library. Behind are their books, either resting on a desk hung against the wall, which is panelled, or lying on a shelf beneath the desk. This piece of furniture would be properly described either as abancor alettrin. It should be noted that care has been taken to keep the wheel steady by supporting iton a solid base, beneath which are two strong cross-pieces of timber, which also serve as a foot-rest for the readers. The books on the desk set against the wall are richly bound, with bosses of metal. Chaining was evidently not thought of, indeed I doubt if it was ever used in a private library. The window is glazed throughout. In other examples which I shall figure below we shall find a wire trellis used instead of glass for part at least of the window.

Fig. 135. Two men in a library. From a MS. of Les cas des malheureux nobles hommes et femmes in the British Museum.Fig. 135. Two men in a library. From a MS. of Les cas des malheureux nobles hommes et femmes in the British Museum.

My next illustration (fig. 136), also Flemish, is of the same date, from a copy of theMiroir historial[527]. It represents a Carmelite monk, probably the author of the book, writing in his study. Behind him are three desks, one above the other, hung against the wall along two sides of the room, with books bound and ornamented as in the former picture, resting upon them, and beneath the lowest is a flat shelf or bench on which a book rests upon its side. The desk he is using is not uncommon in these illustrations. It is fixed on a solid base, which is further strengthened, as in the example of the wheel-desk, by massive planks, to guard against the slightest vibration; and it can be turned aside by means of a limb—apparently of iron—which is first vertical, then horizontal, then vertical again. The Carmelite holds in his left hand an instrument for keeping the page perfectly flat. This instrument has usually a sharp point with which any roughness on the page can be readily removed. The volume he is using is kept open by two strings, to each of which a weight is attached. Behind the desk, covered with a cloth, is a chest secured by two locks. On this stands an object which appears to be a large magnifying glass.

Sometimes the desk was carried round three sides of the room, with no curtain to keep off dust, and with no shelf beneath it. The illustration (fig. 137) is from a French translation of Valerius Maximus (1430-75) in the Harleian Collection[528].

I now pass to a series of pictures which illustrate the daily life of a scholar or a writer who had few books, but who could live in a certain ease—allowing himself a chair and a desk. Of these desks there is an infinite variety, dictated, I imagine, by the fashion prevalent in particular places at particular times. I have tried to arrange them in groups.

Fig. 136. A Carmelite in his study. From a MS. of Le Miroir Historial in the British Museum.Fig. 136. A Carmelite in his study. From a MS. of Le Miroir Historial in the British Museum.

Fig. 137. Three musicians in a library. From a MS. of a French translation of Valerius Maximus, in the British Museum.Fig. 137. Three musicians in a library. From a MS. of a French translation of Valerius Maximus, in the British Museum.

In the first place the chair is usually a rather elaborate piece of furniture, with arms, a straight back, and, very frequently, a canopy. A cushion to sit upon is sometimes permitted, but, as a general rule, these chairs are destitute of stuffing, tapestry, or other device to conceal the material of which they are made. Occasionally the canopy is richly carved or painted in a pattern.

The commonest form of desk is a modification of the lectern-system. It consists of a double lectern, beneath which is a row of cupboards, or rather a shelf protected by several doors, one of which is always at the end of the piece of furniture. The triangular space under the lectern is also used for books. This device is specially commended by Richard de Bury in thePhilobiblon[529]. "Moses," says he, "the gentlest of men, teaches us to make bookcases most neatly, wherein they may be protected from any injury:Take, he says,this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God." My illustration (fig. 138) is taken from an edition of theShip of Fools, printed at Basle by Nicolas Lamparter in 1507. In this example the desk with its cupboards stands on a plinth, andthis again on a broad step. Both are probably introduced to ensure steadiness.

Fig. 138. A bibliomaniac at his desk. From the Ship of Fools.Fig. 138. A bibliomaniac at his desk. From the Ship of Fools.

The seated figure represents a bibliomaniac who treats his books as mere curiosities from which he derives no mental improvement. He has put on his spectacles and wielded his feather-brush, in order to dust the leaves of a folio with greater care. Under the cut are the following explanatory lines:

Qui libros tyriis vestit honoribusEt blattas abijt puluerulentulasNec discens animum litterulis colit:Mercatur nimia stultieiam stipe.

I append a rough translation:

Who clothes his books in Tyrian dyes,Then brushes off the dust and flies,Nor reads one line to make him wise,Spends lavish gold and—FOLLYbuys.

Such a desk as this was used in the succeeding century in at least two libraries belonging to ladies of high rank. The first belonged to Margaret of Austria, daughter of Maximilian, Emperor of Germany. She had been the wife of Philibert II., Duke of Savoy, and after his death, 10 September, 1504, her father made her regent of the Netherlands. She died at Malines 30 November, 1530, at the age of fifty. She seems to have been a liberal patroness of literature and the arts, and the beautiful church that she built at Brou in memory of her husband bears witness to her architectural taste and skill.

The inventory, out of which I hope to reconstruct her library, is dated 20 April, 1524[530]. It is headed: "Library," and begins with the following entry: "The first desk (pourpitre) begins over the door, and goes all round up to the fireplace." On this desk or shelf are enumerated fifty-two volumes, all bound in velvet with gilt bosses. This entry is succeeded by: "here follow the Books of Hours, being on a desk high up in continuation of the preceding one between the windows and the fireplace." This desk contains twenty-six volumes bound in velvet, red satin, or cloth of gold, with gilt bosses.

We come next to "the first desk below (d'ambas) beginning near the door at the first seat." This desk carries nine books, presumably on the sloping portion, because we presently come to a paragraph headed "here follow the books covered with leather &c., which are underneath the desks beginning near the door." The author of the inventory then returns to the first desk, and enumerates eleven volumes. He next goes round to "the other side of the said desk," and enumerates thirteenvolumes. In this way six desks are gone through. All have books bound in black, blue, crimson, or violet, velvet laid out upon them, while those in plainer dress are consigned to the shelves beneath. It should be added that the fourth desk is described as being near the fireplace (empres la chemynée).

The desks having been gone through, we come to "the books which are within the iron trellis beginning near the door." This piece of furniture contained twenty-seven volumes.

The number of books accommodated in the whole room was as follows:

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