Chapter VI (1)

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.

From a photograph.]

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]."

E. Wilson, Cambridge]

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.

From Letarouilly, _Le Vatican_, fol. Paris, 1882; as reproduced by M. Fabre.]

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 10_s._ 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 "

From a photograph taken by Danesi.]

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.

For the arrangement of the rest of the Library, the Accounts give a most important piece of information. They tell us that the whole of the seats for the Common Library, i.e. the Latin and Greek Libraries taken together, 25 in number, cost 300 ducats, of which sum the 10 long seats above mentioned absorbed 130 ducats, leaving 170 to pay for the remaining 15. From these data it is not difficult to calculate the cost of each palm, and from that the number of palms that 170 ducats would buy. I make this to be 510 palms, or about 373 feet[401].

It is, I think, obvious that there must have been some sort of vestibule just inside the door of entrance, where students could be received, and where they could consult the catalogue or the Librarian. Further, the catalogues shew that the seven desks arranged in this part of the Library were in all probability shorter than those of the opposite side, for they contained fewer volumes. If we allow each of them 21 ft. 4 in. in length, we shall dispose of 149 ft., which leaves 224 ft. for the 8 desks of the Greek Library, or 28 ft. for each, with one foot over.

_Greek Library._ In this room there were eight seats, and, as explained above, each was about 28 ft. long. The room being 28 ft. wide, this number, with a width of 3 ft. for each, is very convenient, and leaves a passage 4 ft. wide along the west wall. The length, moreover, does not interfere with the passage from door to door, and leaves a short interval between the ends of the desks and the opposite wall.

_Inner Library._ In this room space has to be provided for (1) six seats, each holding on an average about 30 volumes; (2) a press (_armarium_) with five divisions, and holding 938 volumes; (3) a settle (_spalera_); (4) 12 chests or coffers (_capsae_).

I have placed the _armarium_ at the end of the room, opposite the window. In this position it can be allowed to be 20 ft. in width with 5 divisions, each, we will suppose, about 4 ft. wide. Let us suppose further that it was 7 ft. high, and had 6 shelves. If we allow 8 volumes to each foot, each shelf would hold 32 volumes, and each division six times that number, or 192. This estimate for each division will give a total of 960 volumes for the five divisions, a number slightly in excess of that mentioned in Platina's catalogue.

After allowing a space 5 ft. wide in front of the press, there is plenty of room left for 6 desks, each 21 ft. long. I have placed the _spalliera_, with its four coffers (_capsae_) under the seat, below the window. This piece of furniture, in modern Italian _spalliera_, French _epauliere_, is common in large houses at the present day. It usually stands in an ante-room or on a landing of one of the long staircases. A portion at least of the _spalliere_ used in this Library are still in existence. They stood in the vestibule of the present Vatican Library until a short time ago, when the present Pope had them removed to the Appartamento Borgia, where they stand against the wall round one of the rooms. There are two distinct designs of different heights and ornamentation. The photograph here reproduced (fig. 100) was taken specially for my use. The _spalliere_ have evidently been a good deal altered in the process of fitting up, and moreover, as it is impossible to discover whether we have the whole or only a part of what once existed, it is useless to make any suggestion, from the length of the portions that remain, as to which room they may once have fitted. They are excellent specimens of inlaid work. That on the right, with the row of crosses along the cornice, is 6 ft. 2 in. high, and 66 ft. long. That on the left is 5 ft. 10 in. high, and 24 ft. 7 in. long. The capsae project from the wall 1 ft. 4 in., and are 2 ft. high. Their lids vary a little in length, from 3 ft. 11 in. to 4 ft. 10 in.

From a photograph.]

But the presence of a _spalliera_ is not the only peculiarity in the furniture of this room. Platina's catalogue shews that, connected in some manner with each seat, were two coffers (_capsae_): and we have seen that 12 such chests were brought into the Library in 1481. I have placed these in pairs at the ends of the desks opposite the settle (_spalliera_).

_Innermost Library_, or _Bibliotheca pontificia_. This Library contained 12 desks. These, from their number, must have stood east and west. There was also a _spalliera_, which held the Papal Registers. I have placed it in the recess on the north side of the room, which looks as though made for it.

It should be noted that there was a map of the world in the Library, for which a frame was bought in 1478[402]; and a couple of globes--the one celestial, the other terrestrial. Covers made of sheepskin were bought for them in 1477[403]. Globes with and without such covers are shewn in the view of the Library of the University of Leyden taken in 1610 (fig. 69); and M. Fabre reminds us that globes still form part of the furniture of the Library of the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, fitted up by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, 1630-40[404].

Comfort was considered by the provision of a brazier on wheels "that it may be moved from place to place in the Library[405]."

The following curious rule, copied, as it would appear, in the Library itself, by Claude Bellievre of Lyons, who visited Rome about 1513, shews that order was strictly enforced:

Nonnulla quae collegi in bibliotheca Vaticani. Edictum S.
D. N. Ne quis in bibliotheca cum altero contentiose
loquatur et obstrepat, neve de loco ad locum iturus
scamna transcendat et pedibus conterat, atque libros
claudat et in locum percommode reponat. Ubique volet
perlegerit. Secus qui faxit foras cum ignominia mittetur
atque hujusce loci aditu deinceps arcebitur[406].

Before concluding, I must quote an interesting description of this Library by Montaigne:

Le 6 de Mars [1581] je fus voir la librerie du Vatican
qui est en cinq ou six salles tout de suite. Il y a un
grand nombre de livres ataches sur plusieurs rangs de
pupitres; il y en a aussi dans des coffres, qui me
furent tous ouverts; force livres ecris a mein et
notamment un Seneque et les Opuscules de Plutarche. J'y
vis de remercable la statue du bon Aristide[407] a tout
une bele teste chauve, la barbe espesse, grand front, le
regard plein de douceur et de mageste: son nom est
escrit en sa base tres antique....[408]

Je la vis [la Bibliotheque] sans nulle difficulte;
chacun la voit einsin et en extrait ce qu'il vent; et
est ouverte quasi tous les matins, et si fus conduit
partout, et convie par un jantilhomme d'en user quand je
voudrois[409].