Chapter IV (1)

THE FITTINGS OF MONASTIC LIBRARIES AND OF COLLEGIATE LIBRARIES PROBABLY IDENTICAL. ANALYSIS OF SOME LIBRARY-STATUTES. MONASTIC INFLUENCE AT THE UNIVERSITIES. NUMBER OF BOOKS OWNED BY COLLEGES. THE COLLEGIATE LIBRARY. BISHOP COBHAM'S LIBRARY AT OXFORD. LIBRARY AT QUEENS' COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. AT ZUTPHEN. THE LECTERN SYSTEM. CHAINING OF BOOKS. FURTHER EXAMPLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

How were the libraries mentioned in the preceding chapter fitted up? For instance, what manner of bookcases did Archbishop Chichele put into his library at Canterbury in 1414, or the "bons ouvriers subtilz et plains de sens" supply to the Abbat of Clairvaux in 1496? The primitive book-presses have long ago been broken up; and the medieval devices that succeeded them have had no better fate. This dearth of material need not, however, discourage us. We have, I think, the means of discovering with tolerable certainty what monastic fittings must have been, by comparing the bookcases which still exist in a more or less perfect form in the libraries of Oxford and Cambridge with such monastic catalogues as give particulars of arrangement and not merely lists of books.

The collegiate system was in no sense monastic, indeed it was to a certain extent established to counteract monastic influence; but it is absurd to suppose that the younger communities would borrow nothing from the elder--especially when we reflect that the monastic system, as inaugurated by S. Benedict, had completed at least seven centuries of successful existence before Walter de Merton was moved to found a college, and that many of the subsequent founders of colleges were more or less closely connected with monasteries. Further, as we have seen that study was specially enjoined upon monks by S. Benedict, it is precisely in the direction of study that we might expect to find features common to the two sets of communities. And, in fact, an examination of the statutes affecting the library in the codes imposed upon some of the earlier colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, leads us irresistibly to the conclusion that they were derived from monastic Customs, using the word in its technical sense, and monastic practice. The resemblances are too striking to be accidental.

I shall therefore, in the next place, review, as briefly as I can, the statutes of some of the above colleges, taking them in chronological order[258]; and I shall translate some passages from them.

But first let me mention that the principle of lending books to students under a pledge was accepted by the University of Oxford many years before colleges were founded. It is recorded that Roger L'Isle, Dean of York, in the early part of the thirteenth century, "bestowed several exemplars of the holy Bible to be used by the Scholars of Oxford under a pledge"; that the said books, with others, were "locked up in chests, or chained upon desks in S. Mary's Chancel and Church to be used by the Masters upon leave first obtained"; that certain officers were appointed to keep the keys of these chests, and to receive the pledges from those that borrowed the books; and that the books were so kept "till the library over the Congregation House was built, and then being taken out, were set up in pews or studies digested according to Faculties, chained, and had a keeper appointed over them[259]."

In the statutes of Merton College, Oxford, 1274, the teacher of grammar (_grammaticus_) is to be supplied with a sufficient number of books out of the funds of the House, but no other mention of books occurs therein[260]. The explanatory ordinances, however, given in 1276 by Robert Kilwardby (Archbishop of Canterbury 1273-79), direct that the books of the community are to be kept under three locks, and to be assigned by the warden and sub-warden to the use of the Fellows under sufficient pledge[261]. In the second statutes of University College (1292), it is provided, "that no Fellow shall alienate, sell, pawn, hire, lett, or grant, any House, Rent, Money, Book, or other Thing, without the Consent of all the Fellows"; and further, with special reference to the Library:

Every Book of the House, now given, or hereafter to be
given, shall have a high value set upon it when it is
borrowed, in order that he that has it may be more
fearful lest he lose it; and let it be lent by an
Indenture, whereof one part is to be kept in the common
Chest, and the other with him that has the Book: And let
no Book, belonging to the House, be lent out of the
College, without a Pawn better (than the Book), and this
with the Consent of all the Fellows.

Let there be put one Book of every Sort that the House
has, in some common and secure Place; that the Fellows,
and others with the Consent of a Fellow, may for the
Future have the Benefit of it.

Every Opponent in Theology, or Reader of the Sentences,
or a Regent that commonly reads (_regens et legens
communiter_), when he wants it, shall have any necessary
Book, that the House has, lent to him Gratis; and when
he has done with it, let him restore it to that Fellow,
who had formerly made choice of it[262].

The statutes of Oriel College, dated 1329, lay down the following rules for the management of books:

The common books (_communes libri_) of the House are to
be brought out and inspected once a year, on the feast
of the Commemoration of Souls [2 November], in presence
of the Provost or his deputy, and of the Scholars
[Fellows].

Every one of them in turn, in order of seniority, may
select a single book which either treats of the science
to which he is devoting himself, or which he requires
for his use. This he may keep, if he please, until the
same festival in the succeeding year, when a similar
selection of books is to take place, and so on, from
year to year.

If there should happen to be more books than persons,
those that remain are to be selected in the same
manner[263].

The last clause plainly shews how small the number of the books must have been when the statute was written. Their safety was subsequently secured by an ordinance of the Provost and Scholars, which, by decree of the Visitor, dated 13 May, 1441, received the authority of a statute. The high value set upon the books is shewn by the extreme stringency of the penalties imposed for wilful loss or failure of restitution. After describing the annual assemblage of the Provost and Fellows, as directed in the former statute, the new enactment proceeds as follows:

Any person who absents himself on that day, so that the
books selected by him are neither produced nor restored;
or who, being present, refuses to produce or to restore
them; or who refuses to pay the full value, if, without
any fraud or deception on his part, it should happen
that any one of them be missing; is to be deprived of
all right of selecting books for that year; and any
person who wittingly defers the aforesaid production or
restitution till Christmas next ensuing, shall, _ipso
facto_, cease to be a Fellow.

Further, any scholar who has pawned or alienated,
contrary to the common consent of the college, any book
or object of value (_jocale_) belonging to the college;
or who has even suggested, helped, or favoured, such
pawning or alienation, shall, _ipso facto_, cease to be
a member of the Society[264].

The statutes of Peterhouse, Cambridge, dated 1344, class the books of the Society with the charters and the muniments, and prescribe the following rules for their safe custody:

In order that the books which are the common property of
the House (_communes libri_), the charters, and the
muniments, may be kept in safe custody, we appoint and
ordain that an indenture be drawn up of the whole of
them in the presence of at least the major part of the
scholars, expressing what the books are, and to what
faculty they belong; of which indenture one part is to
be deposited with the Master, the other with the Deans,
as a record of the transaction.

The aforesaid books, charters, and muniments are to be
placed in one or more common chests, each having two
locks, one key of which shall for greater security be
deposited with the Master, the other with the Senior
Dean, who shall cause the books to be distributed to
those scholars who have need of them, in the manner
which has been more fully set forth in the section which
treats of the office of the Deans[265].

The section referred to prescribes that the Deans

are to distribute them [the books] to the scholars in
such manner as shall appear to them expedient; and
further, they shall, if they think proper, make each
scholar take an oath that he will not alienate any book
so borrowed, but will take all possible care of it, and
restore it to the Master and Dean, at the expiration of
the appointed time[266].

In 1473 Dr John Warkworth became Master. He was evidently a lover of books, for he gave to the Library fifty-five volumes, which he protected, after the fashion of an earlier age, by invoking a curse upon him who should alienate them. Moreover, during his Mastership, in 1480, the College enacted or adopted a special statute headed, _De libris Collegii_, which may be thus translated:

In the name of God, Amen. As books are the most precious
treasure of scholars, concerning which there ought to be
the most diligent care and forethought, lest, as
heretofore, they fall to decay or be lost, it is hereby
appointed, settled, and ordained, by the Master and
Fellows of the House or College of S. Peter in
Cambridge, that no book which has been chained in the
library there shall be taken away from, or removed out
of, the library, except by special assent and consent of
the Master and all the resident Fellows of the aforesaid
College--it being understood that by resident Fellows a
majority of the whole Society is meant.

Provided always that no book which has been given to the
library on condition of being kept perpetually chained
therein shall, by virtue of this statute, be on any
pretence removed from it, except only when it needs
repair.

Provided also that every book in the library which is to
be selected and distributed shall have a certain value
set upon it by the Master and the two Deans, and that
indentures shall be drawn up recording the same.

Once in every two years, in the Michaelmas Term, a fresh
selection and distribution shall be held of every book
which is not chained in the Library--the precise day to
be fixed by the Master and the Senior Dean.

No book so selected and distributed shall pass the night
out of College, except by permission of the Master and
the President and the other Dean who is not President;
provided always that the said book be not kept out of
the College for six months in succession.

If it should happen that a given book be not brought in
and produced on the aforesaid day of fresh selection and
distribution, then the person who is responsible for it
shall pay to the Master, or in his absence to the Senior
Dean, the full value of the said absent book, under pain
of being put out of commons until it be restored.

Every Fellow who is not present on the aforesaid day
shall appoint a deputy, who shall be prepared to bring
in any books which may have been lent to him, on the day
when a fresh distribution is to take place, under pain
of being put out of commons[267].

The statutes given in 1350 to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, by the Founder William Bateman (Bishop of Norwich 1344-56), contain rules which are more stringent than those already quoted, and were evidently written in contemplation of a more considerable collection of volumes. A list of the books which he himself presented to Trinity Hall is appended to his statutes, and a special chapter (_De libris collegii_) is allotted to the Library. This may be translated as follows:

On the days appointed for the general audit of accounts
[in the Michaelmas and Easter Terms] all the books which
have been received, or shall be received in future,
either from our own liberality, or from the pious
largess of others, are to be laid out separately before
the Master and all the resident Fellows in such manner
that each volume may be clearly seen; by which
arrangement it will become evident twice in each year
whether any book has been lost or taken away.

No book belonging to the aforesaid College may ever at
any time be sold, given away, exchanged, or alienated,
under any excuse or pretext; nor may it be lent to
anybody except a member of the College; nor may it be
entrusted in quires, for the purpose of making a copy,
to any member of the College, or to any stranger, either
within the precincts of the Hall or beyond them; nor may
it be carried by the Master, or any one else, out of the
Town of Cambridge, or out of the aforesaid Hall or
Hostel, either whole or in quires, except to the
Schools; provided always that no book pass the night out
of College, unless it be necessary to bind it or to
repair it; and when this happens, it is to be brought
back to College as soon as possible after the completion
of the binding or the repair.

Moreover, all the books of the College are to be kept in
some safe room, to be assigned for the College Library,
so that all the Scholars of the College may have common
access to them. We give leave, however, that the poor
scholars of the college may have the loan of books
containing the texts of Canon and Civil Law for their
private use for a certain time, to be fixed at the
discretion of the Master and the three Senior Fellows,
provided they be not taken out of College; but the books
of the Doctors of Civil and Canon Law are to remain
continuously in the said Library Chamber, fastened with
iron chains for the common use of the Fellows[268].

It is evident that this statute was regarded as a full and satisfactory expression of what was required, for it is repeated, with additions or omissions to suit the taste of the respective founders, in the statutes of New College (1400), All Souls' (1443), Magdalen (1479), Corpus Christi (1517), Brasenose (1521), Cardinal College (1527) and S. John's College (1555), at Oxford; and in those of King's College, Cambridge.

Among these changes a few are sufficiently important to require special notice. At New College William of Wykeham allows students in civil law and canon law to keep two text-books "for their own special use during the whole time they devote themselves to those faculties in our College, provided they do not possess such books of their own"; the "remaining text-books, should any be left over, and also the glosses or commentaries of the Doctors of civil and canon law, may be lent to the persons belonging to those faculties by the method of annual selection, as in the other faculties"; the "books which remain unassigned after the Fellows have made their selection are to be fastened with iron chains, and remain in the Common Library for the use of the Fellows[269]"; the wishes of donors, whether expressed by will or during their lifetime, are to be respected; and, lastly, the safety of the Library is to be secured by three locks, two large, and one small, of the kind called "a clickett." The keys of the two former are to be kept by the Senior Dean and the Bursar respectively; of the clickett each Fellow is to have a separate key. At night the door is to be carefully locked with all three keys[270].

At All Souls' College, the founder, Henry Chichele (Archbishop of Canterbury 1414-43), makes the books to be chained the subjects of definite choice. The principle of an annual selection is maintained, except for "those books which, in obedience to the will of the donors, or the injunction of the Warden, the Vice-Warden, and the Deans, are to be chained for the common use of the Fellows and Scholars." Further, the preparation of a catalogue is specially enjoined. Every book is to be entered in a register by the first word of the second leaf, and every book given to the Library is to bear the name of the donor on the second leaf, or in some other convenient position. The books are to be inspected once in every year, after which the distribution, as provided for by Bateman and Wykeham, is to take place. Each Fellow who borrows a book is to have a small indenture drawn up containing the title according to the first word of the second leaf, and an acknowledgment that he has received it. These small indentures are to be left in charge of the Warden, or, in his absence, of the Vice-Warden[271].

In the statutes of Magdalen College, the founder, William Waynflete (Bishop of Winchester 1447-87), maintains the provisions of Wykeham and Chichele, but introduces an injunction of his own, to the effect that every Fellow or Scholar who uses the Library is to shut the book he has consulted before he leaves and also the windows; and the last to use the Library at night is to go through the whole room and see that all the windows are shut and not to leave the door open--under a severe penalty[272].

At Corpus Christi College, the founder, Richard Fox (Bishop of Winchester 1501-28), insists upon safeguards against the indiscriminate chaining, of books:

No book is to be brought into the Library or chained
there, unless it be of suitable value and utility, or
unless the will of the donor have so directed; and none
is to be taken out of it, unless it so happen that there
be there already a considerable number on the same
subject, or that another copy in better condition and of
greater value, to take its place, have been presented by
some benefactor.

By this means those books which are of greater value, or
which contain material of greater utility to students in
each Faculty, will be stored up in the Library; while
those which are not fit for the Library, or of which a
sufficient number of copies already exist in it, may be
distributed to the Fellows of the College, according to
the system of indentures between the borrower and the
President, or in his absence the Vice-President, or one
of the Deans[273].

The Bishop was evidently afraid that the Library should be overcrowded, for he even allows books to be sold, in the event of their becoming so numerous as to be no longer of use to the Fellows for the purpose of being borrowed.

Lastly I will translate the following College Order or Statute which was in force at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Unfortunately it is without date, but from internal evidence may take rank with some of the earliest enactments already quoted.

Let there be in the aforesaid House a Keeper of the
Books, who shall take under his charge all the books
belonging to the community, and once in each year,
namely on the feast of the Translation of S. Thomas the
Martyr [7 July], or at the latest within the eight days
immediately following, let him render to the community
an account of the same, by exhibiting each book in order
to the Master and Fellows.

The inspection having been made, after the Fellows have
deliberated, let him distribute them to each Fellow in
proportion to his requirements. And let the said Keeper
have ready large pieces of board (_tabulas magnas_),
covered with wax and parchment, that the titles of the
books may be written on the parchment, and the names of
the Fellows who hold them on the wax beside it. When
they have brought their books back, their names shall be
erased, and their responsibility for the books shall
come to an end, the keeper remaining liable. So shall he
never be in ignorance about any book or its borrower.

No book is to be taken away or lent out of the House on
any pretext whatever, except upon some occasion which
may appear justifiable to the major part of the
community; and then, if any book be lent, let a proper
pledge be taken for it which shall be honourably
exhibited to the Keeper[274].

Let us consider, in the next place, what points of library-management have been brought into the most prominent relief by the above analysis of College statutes. We find that the "Common Books" of the House--by which phrase the books intended for the common use of the inmates are meant--are placed on the same footing as the charters, muniments, and valuables (_jocalia_). They are to be kept in a chest or chests secured by two or three locks requiring the presence of the same number of officials to open them. These volumes may not be borrowed indiscriminately, but each Scholar (Fellow) may choose the book he wants, and write a formal acknowledgment that he has received it, and that he is bound to restore it or pay the value of it, under a severe penalty. Once a year the whole collection is to be audited in the presence of the Master of the College and all the Fellows, when a fresh distribution is to be made. The books not so borrowed are to be put in "some common and secure place"; an arrangement which was subsequently developed into a selection of books required for reference, and the chaining of them in "the Library Chamber for the common use of the Fellows."

The Register of Merton College, Oxford, contains many interesting entries which shew that these directions respecting the choice and loan of books were faithfully observed. I will translate a few of them[275]:

On the twenty-fourth day of October [1483] choice was
made of the books on philosophy by the Fellows studying
philosophy.

On the eleventh day of November [1483], in the Warden's
lodging, choice was made of the books on theology by the
Fellows studying theology[276].

On the eighteenth day of March [1497] choice of books on
logic was held in the Common Hall[277].

The next entry is particularly valuable, as it proves that all the books on a given subject, no matter how numerous, were occasionally distributed:

On the twenty-sixth day of the same month [August, 1500]
choice was made of the books on philosophy. It was found
that there were in all 349 books, which were then
distributed among the Fellows studying philosophy[278].

In 1498 (14 December) the Warden wished to borrow a book from the library, whereupon a record of the following formalities was drawn up[279]:

On the same day a book of College Orders (on the second
leaf _ter posita_) was taken out of the library with the
consent of all the Fellows. And leave was given to the
Warden, in the presence of the four senior Fellows, to
make use of it for a season. As a caution for this book
the aforesaid Warden deposited a certain other book,
viz. S. Jerome's commentary on Matthew and the Epistles
of Paul (on the second leaf _sunt_). This book lay in
our possession as caution for the other book of College
Orders[280]; but, because this book was an insufficient
caution, there was deposited with it as a supplementary
caution another book, namely: Jerome on Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

The Warden kept the book for a year, at the expiration of which we find the following entry[281]:

On the last day but one of the same month [1499] the
Warden returned to the Vice-Warden the book of College
Orders (on the second leaf _ter posita_) which he had
had out of the library for his own use for a season on
depositing a sufficient caution.

Whereupon the Vice-Warden returned to him his cautions,
namely, the commentary of S. Jerome on Matthew (second
leaf _sunt_), and another, namely, S. Jerome's
exposition of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel (second
leaf, _Audi cela_).

Lastly, I will quote a record of the solemn reception of a gift to the library:

On the same day [2 August, 1493] a handsome book was
given to the College through John Godehew, Bachelor, by
two venerable men, Robert Aubrey and Robert Feyld, to be
chained in the common library of the House for the
perpetual use of those studying in it. It is Hugh of
Vienne on the Apocalypse, on the second leaf _quod
possessio eius_. Let us therefore pray for them[282].

These provisions savour of the cloister. The "common books" represent the "common press (_armarium commune_)" with which we are so familiar there; the double or triple locks with which the book-chests are secured recall the rules for safeguarding the said press; the annual audit and distribution of books is directed in Lanfranc's statutes for English Benedictines; the borrowing under a pledge, or at least after an entry made by the Librarian on his roll of the name of the book and the name of the brother who borrowed it, was universal in monasteries; and the setting apart of certain books in a separate room to which access was readily permitted became a necessity in the larger and more literary Houses. Lastly, the commemoration of donors of books is specially enjoined by the Augustinians[283].

This close similarity between monastic and secular rules need not surprise us. I have shewn in the preceding chapter how faithfully the Benedictine rules for study were obeyed by all the Monastic Orders; and I know not from what other source directions for library-management could have been obtained. Besides, in some cases the authors of the rules which I have been considering must themselves have had experience of monastic libraries. Walter de Merton is said to have been educated in an Augustinian Priory at Merton; Hugh de Balsham, founder of Peterhouse, was Bishop of Ely; William Bateman, whose library-statute was so widely applied, had been educated in the Benedictine Priory at Norwich, and his brother was an abbat; Henry Chichele was Archbishop of Canterbury, where, as I have shewn, a very extensive collection of books had been got together, to contain which worthily he himself built a library.

Secondly, monastic influence was brought directly to bear on both Universities through student-monks; and at Oxford, which was specially selected as the University for monastic colleges, the Benedictines founded Gloucester House, now Worcester College, so early as 1283. This college had a library, on the south side of the chapel, which was built and stocked with books at the sole charge of John Whethamstede, Abbat of S. Albans[284]--whose work in connexion with the library of that House has been already recorded[285]. Durham College, maintained by the Benedictines of Durham, was supplied with books from the mother-house, lists of which have been preserved[286]; and subsequently a library was built there to contain the collection bequeathed in 1345 by Richard de Bury (Bishop of Durham 1333-45)[287]. Lastly, Leland tells us that at Canterbury College in the same University the whole furniture of the library (_tota bibliothecae supellex_) was transferred from the House of Christ Church, Canterbury[288]. It is, I submit, quite inconceivable that the fittings supplied to these libraries could have been different from those commonly used in the monasteries of S. Albans, Durham, and Canterbury.

Further, it should be noted that the erection of a library proper was an afterthought in many of the older colleges, as it had been in the monasteries. For instance, at Merton College, Oxford, founded 1264, the library was not begun till 1377; at University College, founded 1280, in 1440; at Balliol College, founded 1282, in 1431; at Oriel College, founded 1324, in 1444; at Pembroke College, Cambridge, founded 1347, in 1452. William of Wykeham, who founded New College, Oxford, in 1380, was the first to include a library in his quadrangle; and, after the example had been set by him, the plan of every subsequent college includes a library of sufficient dimensions to last till the Reformation, if not till the present day.

The above dates, covering as they do at least two-thirds of the fifteenth century, shew that the collegiate libraries were being built at the same time as the monastic. This coincidence of date, taken in conjunction with the coincidences in enactment which I have already pointed out, seems to me to supply an additional argument in support of my theory that the internal fittings of collegiate and monastic libraries would be identical. Besides, no forms are so persistent as those of pieces of furniture. A workman, once instructed to make a thing in a particular way, carries out his instructions to the letter, and transmits them to his descendants.

Before we consider what these fittings were, I will briefly deal with some other questions affecting collegiate libraries, as, for instance, their size, position, and general arrangement. And first, as regards the number of books to be accommodated.

It happens, unfortunately, that very few catalogues have been preserved of the libraries referred to in the above statutes; but, if we may estimate the extent of the remainder from those of which we have some account, we shall see that the number of volumes contained in a collegiate library must have been extremely small. For instance, the catalogue[289] appended to Bishop Bateman's statutes, dated 1350, enumerates eighty-four volumes, classed under the following subjects, in two divisions[290], viz. those presented to the College for the immediate use of the Fellows (_A_); and those reserved for the Bishop's own use during his life (_B_):

_A_ _B_
Books on Civil Law 7 3
Books on Canon Law 19 13
Books on Theology 3 25
Books for the Chapel 7 7
-- --
36 48

At King's Hall, in 1394, eighty-seven volumes only are enumerated[291]; and even in the University Library not more than 122 volumes were recorded in 1424[292]. They were distributed as follows:

[Books on General Theology][293] 54
Books on Scholastic Theology (_Theologia disputata_) 15
Books on Moral Philosophy 5
Books on Natural Philosophy 12
Books on Medicine (_medicinalis philosophia_) 5
Books on Logic 1
Books on Poetry 0
_Libri sophisticales_ 1
Books on Grammar 6
Books on History (_Libri cronicales_) 0
Books on Canon Law 23
----
Total 122

The catalogue of the Library of Queens' College, dated 1472, enumerates one hundred and ninety-nine volumes[294]; the second catalogue of the University Library, dated 1473, three hundred and thirty volumes[295]; an early catalogue of the library of S. Catharine's Hall, one hundred and four volumes, of which eighty-five were given by the Founder[296]; and a catalogue of the old library of King's College, dated 1453, one hundred and seventy-four volumes. In these catalogues the books are not directly classed under heads, but arranged roughly, according to subject, in their respective cases[297].

At Peterhouse in 1418 we find a somewhat larger collection, namely, three hundred and eighty volumes, divided among seventeen subjects. The general heading of the catalogue[298] states that it contains "all the books belonging to the house of S. Peter in Cambridge, both those which are chained in the library, those which are divided among the Fellows, and those of which some are intended to be sold, while certain others are laid up in chests within the aforesaid house." This language shews that by the time the catalogue was made the collection had been divided into books for the use of the Fellows (_libri distribuendi_) and books chained in the library (_libri cathenati in libraria_); in other words, into a lending library and a library of reference. We are not told how this division had been made, or at what time; but it is evident that by 1418 it had become permanent, and no longer depended on the tastes or studies of the Fellows. There was one set of books for them to select from, and another for them to refer to; but the two were quite distinct[299].

In the next place I will analyse the catalogue in order to shew what subjects were represented, and how many volumes there were in each. And first of the contents of the library of reference:

Libri theologie cathenati 61
Isti sunt libri Naturalis Philosophie cathenati in librario 26
Libri Metaphisice 3
" Moralis Philosophie 5
" Astronomie 13
" Alkenemie 1
" Arsmetrice 1
" Musice 1
" Geometrie 1
" Rethorice 1
" Logice 5
" Gramatice 6
" Poetrie cathenati 4
" De Cronicis cathenati 4
" Medicine cathenati 15
" Iuris Ciuilis cathenati 9
" Iuris Canonici cathenati 18
Ex dono ducis exonie 1
" M. Joh. Sauage 2
Libros subscriptos donavit Mag. Edm. Kyrketon 7
" contulit M. W. Lichfeld 2
Ex dono M. W. Redyct 4
Libros subscriptos contulit M. Joh. Fayre 3
" contulit M. Will. More 13
" " M. John Ledes 14
----
220

The books that were to be divided among the Fellows are classed as follows:

Libri theologie assignati sociis 63
" Philosophie Naturalis Metaphisice et Moralis
diuisi inter socios 19
" Logice diuisi inter socios 15
" Poetrie et Gramatice assignati sociis 13
" Medicine 3
" Iuris Ciuilis diusi inter socios 20
" " Canonici diuidendi inter socios 19
" empti ad usum ... sociorum collegii cum pecuniis
eiusdem collegii 8
----
160

In framing these tables I have included among the _Libri cathenati_ those specially presented to the College, 46 in number; but I have not attempted to sort them according to subject. I have also assumed that any book or books representing a given class, if not represented in the lending library, as Astronomy, Arithmetic, Music, etc., would be chained for reference. The number of this class, 220, if added to the 160 of the other class, gives the required total, 380.

In addition to these tables it will be interesting to construct a third, containing the subject and number of the books represented in both collections:

Chained Lent

Theology 61 63
Natural Philosophy 26 }
Metaphysics 3 } 19
Moral Philosophy 5 }
Logic 5 15
Grammar 6 }
} 13
Poetry 4 }
Medicine 15 3
Civil Law 9 20
Canon Law 18 19
----------------
152 152

The subjects of the books included in this latter table represent, in a very clear and interesting way, the studies pursued at Peterhouse in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is prescribed by the statutes, dated 1344, that the scholars are to study Arts, Aristotelian Philosophy, or Theology; but that they are to apply themselves to the course in Arts until, in the judgment of the Master and Fellows, or at least of the larger and wiser portion of that body, they are sufficiently instructed to proceed to the study of Theology[300]. Two may study Civil Law or Canon Law, but no more at the same time; and one may study Medicine[301]. For both these lines of study special leave is required.

The course of Arts comprised Grammar, Logic, Aristotle, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astronomy. In the first of these, including Poetry, the lending library contained more volumes than the reference library; in Logic it had three times as many; in Philosophy (Aristotle and his commentators) it was well supplied; but, on the other hand, Music, Geometry and Astronomy were wholly wanting. Theology is represented by 63 volumes as against 61 in the reference library; Civil Law by 20 volumes against 9 in the reference library; and Canon Law by 19 against 18. In Medicine, however, there were only 3 against 15. By a curious coincidence the number of volumes in the two collections dealing with the subjects represented in both is the same. The subject most in request, as might have been expected, was Theology. Next to this come Civil Law and Canon Law. Medicine was evidently unpopular. I have no explanation to offer for the curious fact that Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Rhetoric are represented by only a single volume apiece in the library of reference[302].

These examples, which there is no reason to regard as exceptional, are sufficient to shew that an ordinary chamber would be large enough to contain all the volumes possessed by a college, even after some of the more generally useful books of reference had been chained to desks for the resort of students.

It has been already shewn that what Professor Willis calls "a real library--that is to say, a room expressly contrived for the purpose of containing books[303]"--was not introduced into the plan of colleges for more than a century after their first foundation. He points out that such rooms can be at once recognised by their equidistant windows, which do not, as a rule, differ from those of the ordinary chambers, except that they are separated by much smaller intervals. Examples of this arrangement are still to be seen at S. John's College, Jesus College, and Queens' College, Cambridge; but perhaps the most characteristic specimen of all is that which was built over the Hall at Pembroke College in the same University, by Laurence Booth (Master 1450-1480), the aspect of which has been preserved in Loggan's print, here reproduced (fig. 48)[304].

A, Chapel; B, Library; C, Hall; D, Master's Lodge; E, Kitchen; F, Master's Garden; G, Fellows' Garden.]

The upper chamber (_solarium_) which Thomas Cobham (Bishop of Worcester 1317-27) began to build over the old Congregation House on the north side of S. Mary's Church, Oxford, about 1320, for the reception of the books which he intended to present to the University, is the earliest of these libraries in existence. It still retains on the south side part of a range of equidistant single-light windows of the simplest character, which, as just stated, mark the destination of the apartment. This room is about forty-five feet long by eighteen feet broad, and, in its original state, had probably seven single-light windows on each side, and a window of two lights at the east end[305] (fig. 49). A long controversy between the University and Oriel College rendered the benefaction useless for more than forty years; and it was not until 1367 that the University passed a statute directing that Bishop Cobham's books are to be chained, in proper order; and that the Scholars who wish to use them are to have free access to them at convenient hours (_temporibus opportunis_). Lastly, certain volumes, of greater value, are to be sold, to the value of forty pounds, or more, if a larger sum can be obtained for them, for the purpose of purchasing an annual rent-charge of sixty shillings, to be paid to a chaplain, who is to pray for the soul of the aforesaid Thomas Cobham, and other benefactors; and who is to take charge of the books given by him and them, and of all other books heretofore given, or hereafter to be given, to the University[306]. The passing of this statute may probably be regarded as the first institution of the office of University Librarian. Notwithstanding this statute, however, the University did not obtain peaceful possession of their library until 1410, when the controversy was finally extinguished by the good offices of their Chancellor, Richard Courtenay[307].

From _The Church of S. Mary the Virgin, Oxford_, by T. G. Jackson, Architect.]

As a type of a collegiate library I will select the old library of Queens' College, Cambridge. This room, on the first floor of the north side of the quadrangle, forms part of the buildings erected in 1448. It is 44 ft. long by 20 ft. wide (fig. 50), and is lighted by eleven windows, each of two lights, six of which are in the south wall and five in the north wall. The windows in the south wall have lost their cusps, but they are retained in those in the north wall--and the library has in all points suffered less from modern interference than almost any other with which I am acquainted. The bookcases have been altered and patched more than once, in order to provide additional shelf-room; but at the bottom of the more modern superstructure part at least of the original medieval desk may be detected. If this fragment be carefully examined it will be found that there is on the inside of each end of the bookcase a groove which evidently once supported a desk 6 ft. 6 in. long, and of a height convenient for a seated reader to use[308] (fig. 51). The books lay on their sides on this desk, to which they were chained in a way that I shall explain directly, and a bench for the reader was placed between each pair of desks. In the plan (fig. 50) I have added the half-desk which once stood against the west wall; and I have lettered all the desks according to the catalogue made in 1472 by Andrew Docket, the first President.

[309]

It should be carefully noted, when studying this plan, that the distance between each pair of windows is not more than 2 feet, and that the end of the desk covers the whole of this space. If this fact be borne in mind when examining libraries that are now fitted up in a different way, it becomes possible to detect what the original method was.

I propose to name this system of fittings the lectern-system; and I shall shew, as we proceed, that it was adopted, with various modifications, in England, France, Holland, Germany and Italy.

Fortunately, one example of such fittings still exists, at Zutphen in Holland, which I visited in April, 1894. Shortly afterwards I wrote the following description of what is probably a unique survival of an ancient fashion[310].

The library in which these fittings occur is attached to the church of SS. Peter and Walburga, the principal church of the town. A library of some kind is said to have existed there from very early times[311]; but the place where the books were kept is not known. In 1555 a suggestion was made that it would be well to get together a really good collection of books for the use of the public. The first stone of the present building was laid in 1561, and it was completed in 1563. The author of the _Theatrum Urbium Belgicae_, John Blaeu, whose work was completed in 1649, describes it as "the public library poorly furnished with books, but being daily increased by the liberality of the Senate and Deputies[312]."

The room is built against the south choir-aisle of the church, out of which a door opens into it. In consequence of this position the shape is irregular, for the church is apsidal, and the choir-aisle is continued round part of the apse. It is about 60 feet long, by 26 feet broad at the west end. In the centre are four octagonal columns on square bases, supporting a plain quadripartite vault. The room is thus divided longitudinally into two aisles, with a small irregular space at the east end.

The diagrammatic ground-plan, here subjoined (fig. 52), will help to make this description clear. It makes no pretensions to accuracy, having been drawn from notes only[313].

There are two windows, each of three lights, at the west end of the room, and four similar windows on the south side, one to each bay. There is a fifth window, now blocked, at the south-east corner. Some of these windows contain fragments of richly coloured stained glass--among which the figure of a large green parrot is conspicuous; but whether these fragments were brought from the church, or are part of the glass originally supplied to the library, there is no evidence to shew. Most of these windows are partially blocked, having been damaged, it is said, in one of the numerous sieges from which Zutphen has suffered. The position of the church, close to the fortifications, as Blaeu's bird's-eye view shews, makes this story probable. The floor is paved with red tiles. The general appearance of the room will be understood from the view of the north aisle reduced from a photograph (fig. 53)[314].

From a photograph.]

.]

There are eighteen bookcases, or desks; namely, ten on the south side of the room, and eight on the north side (fig. 52). The material is oak; the workmanship very rude and rough. I will describe those on the south side first. Each is 9 feet long by 5 feet 5 1/4 inches high, measured from the floor to the top of the finial on the end; and the lower edge of the desk on which the books lie is 2 feet 6 1/4 inches above the floor; but the general plan, and the relative dimensions of the different parts, will be best understood from the photograph of a single desk at which a reader is seated (fig. 54), and from the elevation of one of the ends (fig. 55, A), beside which I have placed the elevation of one of the desks at Queens' College (B). The photograph shews that in fixing the height of the desk above the ground the convenience of readers has been carefully considered. The iron bar that carries the chains is locked into the ornamental upright, passes through a staple in the middle of the desk, and into the upright at the opposite end, which is left plain. This bar is half an inch in diameter, and one inch above the level of the top of the desk. It is prevented from bending by passing through a staple fixed in the centre of the desk. A piece of ornamental iron-work is fixed to the upright. It is made to represent a lock, but is in reality a mere plate of metal, and the tongue, which looks as though it were intended to move, is only an ornament, and is pierced by the keyhole. The lock is sunk in the thickness of the wood, behind this plate, and the bar, which terminates in a knob, is provided with two nicks, into which the bolts of the lock are shot when the key is turned (fig. 56). Between each pair of desks there is a seat for the reader.

The desks on the north side of the room differ slightly from those on the south side. They are rather larger, the ends are of a different shape and devoid of ornament (fig. 57), and there is a wider interval between the bar and the top of the desk. It seems to me probable that the more highly ornamented desks are those which were put in when the room was first fitted up, and that the others were added from time to time as new books had to be accommodated.

The books are attached to the desk by the following process. A chain was taken about 12 inches long, more or less, consisting of long narrow links of hammered iron. These links exactly resemble, both in shape and size, those of a chain which may still be seen in the library of the Grammar School at Guildford, Surrey[316]. This chain, of which a piece is here figured (fig. 58), was probably made in 1586, or only 23 years after the building of the library at Zutphen. It terminates, like those at Zutphen (fig. 59), in a swivel (to prevent entanglement), attached to the ring which is strung upon the bar. The attachment of the chain to the book was effected by means of a piece of metal bent round so as to form a loop through which the last link of the chain was passed. The ends of the loop, flattened out, were attached by nail or rivet to the edge of the stout wooden board which formed the side of the book. This mode of attachment will be best seen in the volume which I figure next (fig. 60)--a collection of sermons printed at Nuremberg in 1487. It is believed to have once belonged to a Dominican House at Bamberg, in the library of which it was chained[317].

The iron loop in this specimen (fig. 60) is fastened to what I call the right-hand board of the book; by which I mean the board which is to the right hand of a reader when the book lies open before him; but the selection of the right-hand or the left-hand board depended on individual taste. Further the mode of attachment is never the same in two examples. The iron and rivets are often clumsy, and do considerable damage to the leaves, by forcing them out of shape and staining them with rust.

In this method of chaining no provision is made for removing any book from the desk when not wanted, and placing it on a shelf beneath the desk, as was done in some Italian modifications of the system. Each volume must lie on the desk, attached by its chain, like a Bible on a church-lectern. The smallest number of volumes on any desk at Zutphen is six; the largest, eleven; the total, 316. Most of those on the south side of the room were printed during the first half of the sixteenth century; those on the north side are much later, some as late as 1630. I did not see any manuscripts.

If we now reconsider the indications preserved at Queens' College, it will, I feel sure, be recognised that the desks at Zutphen explain them, and enable us to realise the aspect of what I conceive to have been the most ancient method of fitting up a collegiate or a monastic library. When such a room first became necessary in a monastery, and furniture suitable for it was debated, a lectern would surely suggest itself, as being used in the numerous daily services, and proving itself singularly convenient for the support of books while they were being read.

Another example of such fittings was once to be seen at Pembroke College, Cambridge, in the library above the hall (fig. 48). In Dr Matthew Wren's account of that library already quoted there is a passage which may be translated as follows:

I would have you know that in the year 1617 the Library
was completely altered and made to assume an entirely
new appearance. This alteration was rendered necessary
by the serious damage which, to our great sorrow, we
found the books had suffered--a damage which was
increasing daily--partly from the sloping form of the
desks, partly from the inconvenient weight of the chains
(_tum ex declivi pluteorum fabrica, tum ex inepta mole
catenarum_)[318].

These desks were copied at S. John's College in the same University. A contract dated 20 June, 1516, provides that the contractor

shall make all the Desks in the Library wythin the said
college of good and substanciall and abyll Tymber of Oke
mete and convenient for the same Library, aftir and
accordyng to the Library within ... Pembroke Hall[319].

The Library here referred to was on the first floor to the south of the Great Gate of the college. It is now divided into chambers, but its original extent can be readily made out by its range of equidistant windows. The wall-spaces dividing these are 28 1/2 inches wide, practically the same as those at Queens' College.

At Peterhouse also a similar arrangement seems to have subsisted when the catalogue of 1418 was made. The very first book, a Bible, is said to stand "in the sixth lectern on the west side (_lectrino 6^o ex parte occidentali_)." The word _lectrinum_ is unusual, but it emphasizes the form of the desk more clearly than any other.

A splendid example of this type of case is to be seen at Lincoln (fig. 61), where three "stalls" or desks, belonging to the old library already described[320], are still preserved. Each is about 7 ft. long, 3 ft. broad, and 4 ft. 4 in. high to the top of the sloping portion. At each end, and in the centre, is a massive molded standard, 7 ft. 2 in. high, terminating in a boldly carved finial; and these three standards are connected together by a band of open-work, of a design similar to that of the cornice of the library. Half way between this band and the top of the desk is the bar to carry the chains, now of wood, but formerly of course of iron; and below this again is a shelf 18 in. wide, projecting slightly beyond the sloping portion of the desk. The edge of the desk is protected by a ledge, as usual, and under it is a second shelf extending the whole width of the piece of furniture. What was the use of these shelves? As the bar is above the desk, not below it, the books must have reposed, as a general rule, upon the desk, instead of being laid on their sides on the shelf below it when not wanted by a reader. The chains would not have been long enough to allow of any other arrangement. I think, therefore, that the lower shelf must have been a constructional contrivance, to assist in keeping the standards in their places. The narrow upper shelf, on the other hand, was probably intended for the convenience of the reader. He might place on it, temporarily, any book that he was not using, and which got in his way while he was reading one of those beside it; or, if he was making extracts, he might set his inkstand upon it.