chapitre il

y a des livres enchainez sur des pupitres de bois, dans lesquels les religieux peuvent venir faire des lectures lorsqu'ils veulent....

Du grand cloitre on entre dans le cloitre du colloque, ainsi appelle, parce qu'il est permis aux religieux d'y parler. Il y a dans ce cloitre douze ou quinze petites cellules tout d'un rang, ou les religieux ecrivoient autrefois des livres: c'est pourquoy on les appelle encore aujourd'hui les ecritoires. Au-dessus de ces cellules est la bibliotheque, dont le vaisseau est grand, voute, bien perce, et rempli d'un grand nombre de manuscrits, attachez avec des chaines sur des pupitres, mais il y a peu de livres imprimez[239].

The plan of the substruction of this new library, as shewn on the ground-plan of Clairvaux given by Viollet Le Duc[240], is exactly the same as that of Citeaux (fig. 33) but on a larger scale. The library itself, as there, was approached by a newel stair at its south-west corner. This stair was hexagonal, and of a diameter sufficient to allow three men to ascend at the same time. The library was of great extent--being about 206 feet long by 56 feet broad--if the dimensions given in the above account be correct, and if I am right in supposing a pace (_passee_) to be equivalent to a modern _metre_; vaulted, and well lighted. The Queen's secretary seems to have been specially struck by the beauty, the size, and the decoration of the windows. The floor was paved with encaustic tiles.

It will be interesting to note how, in some Houses, the library slowly expanded itself, occupying, one after another, every coign of vantage-ground. An excellent example of this growth is to be found in the abbey of Saint Germain des Pres, Paris; and fortunately there are several views, taken at different periods before the Revolution, on which the gradual extension of the library can be readily traced. I append a portion of two of these. The first (fig. 36), dated 1687, shews the library over the south walk of the cloister, where it was placed in 1555. It must not, however, be supposed that no library existed before this. On the contrary, the House seems to have had one from the first foundation, and so early as the thirteenth century it could be consulted by strangers, and books borrowed from it. The second view (fig. 37), dated 1724, shews a still further extension of the library. It has now invaded the west side of the cloister, which has received an upper storey; and even the external appearance of the venerable Frater, which was respected when nearly all the rest of the buildings were rebuilt in a classical style, has been sacrificed to a similar gallery. The united lengths of these three rooms must have been little short of 384 feet. This library was at the disposal of all scholars who desired to use it. When the Revolution came it contained more than 49,000 printed books, and 7000 manuscripts[241].

[Illustration: Fig. 36. Part of the Abbey of S. Germain des Pres, Paris.

From a print dated 1687; reproduced in _Les Anciennes Bibliotheques de Paris_, par Alf. Franklin, Vol. I. p 126.]

1 Porta major monasterii. 2 Atrium ecclesie. 3 Regalis basilica. 4 Sacrarium. 5 Claustrum parvum B. M. 7 Dormitorium. 8 Bibliotheca. 9 Dormitoria R. Patrum Congregationis. 10 Aulae Hospitum. 12 Refectorium.

[Illustration: Fig. 37. Part of the Abbey of S. Germain des Pres, Paris.

From a print in _Histoire de l'Abbaye Royale de Saint Germain des Prez_, par Dom Jacques Bouillart, fol. Paris, 1724, lettered "l'Abbaye ... telle qu'elle est presentement."]

A. Porte Exterieure. B. Maisons de l'enclos. C. Parvis de l'Eglise. D. L'Eglise. F. Saciristie. G. Petit Cloitre. H. Grand Cloitre. I. Bibliotheque. K. Dortoir. L. Refectoire. M. Cuisine. Z. Dortoir des Hotes.

I now pass to Cathedrals, which vied with monasteries in the possession of a library; and, as might be expected, the two sets of buildings throw light on each other. I regret that it has now become impossible to discover the site or the extent of such a library as that of York, which was well stocked with books so early as the middle of the eighth century; or of that of Notre Dame de Paris, which was a centre of instruction as well as of learning; but some good examples of capitular libraries can be found in other places; and, like those of the monasteries, they were for the most part built in the fifteenth century. I will begin with the library of Lincoln Cathedral, part of which is still in existence[242].

The Cathedral of Lincoln was founded at the close of the eleventh century, and in the middle of the twelfth we find the books belonging to it kept in a press (_armarium_). We learn this from the heading of a list[243] of them when placed in the charge of Hamo, Chancellor 1150-1182, written on the first page of a copy of the Vulgate, the first volume in the collection:

Quando Hamoni cancellario cancellaria data fuit et librorum cura commissa, hos in armario invenit libros et sub custodia sua recepit, scilicet:

Bibliothecam in duobus voluminibus [etc.].

The list which follows enumerates 42 volumes, together with a map of the world. To this small collection there were added in Hamo's time, either by his own gift or by that of other benefactors, 31 volumes more; so that before his death the press contained 73 volumes, probably a large collection for that period. Besides these, there were service-books in the charge of the bursar (_thesaurarius_), and song-books in that of the precentor. The three collections were probably kept in the church.

The first indication of a separate room to contain books is afforded by the gift of a volume by Philip Repyndon, Bishop 1405-1419, in which year he resigned. It is given after his resignation, "to the new library to be built within the Church of Lincoln." Again, Thomas Duffield, formerly Chancellor, who died in 1426, bequeathed another book "to the new library of the aforesaid church." The erection of the new library may therefore be placed between 1419 and 1426.

A catalogue, now in the muniment room at Lincoln, which, on internal evidence, may be dated about 1450, enumerates 107 works, of which 77 (more or less) have been identified as still in the library. The heading, which I will translate, refers to a chaining of the books which had recently taken place, possibly after the construction of the cases which I shall describe in a subsequent chapter.

It is to be noted that in this indenture are enumerated all the books in the library of the church of blessed Mary of Lincoln which have lately been secured with locks and chains; of which indenture one part is stitched into the end of the black book of the aforesaid church, and the other part remains in ...[244].

The library--a timber structure--was placed over the northern half of the east walk of the cloister. At present only three bays at the north end remain; but there were originally two bays more, at the south end, between the existing structure and the Chapter-House. These were destroyed in 1789, when the following Chapter Order was made (7 May):

That the old Library adjoining to the Chapter House shall be taken down, and the part of the Cloysters under it new leaded and the walls compleated, and the Stair case therto removed, and a new Stair Case made, agreable to a plan and estimate of the Expence thereof.

I will now briefly describe the room, with the assistance of the plan (fig. 38)[245], and the view of the interior (fig. 39).

[Illustration: Fig. 39. Interior of the Old Library, Lincoln Cathedral.

The open door leads into Dean Honywood's Library, as described in