Libraries -- History; Library architecture -- History; Library fittings and supplies -- History
At Queens' College, Cambridge, the catalogue, dated 1472, enumerates 192
volumes, divided over 10 desks and 4 half-desks, each called a step
(_gradus_). There were (avoiding fractions) 8 books on each half-desk, and
15 on each complete desk; so that by comparing the plan (fig. 50) and
elevation of a desk (fig. 51) with the views of the library at Zutphen, a
good idea of a college library in the fifteenth century can be obtained.
Before I leave the lectern-system, I will describe two eccentric specimens
of it. The first is still to be seen at Trinity Hall, Cambridge; the
second once existed at the University of Leyden.
[Illustration: Fig. 66. Elevation of a book-desk and seat in the Library
of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.]
[Illustration: Fig. 65. General view of the Library at Trinity Hall,
Cambridge.]
[Illustration: Fig. 68. A French Library of 1480.
From MS. 164 in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.]
The library of Trinity Hall is thoroughly medieval in plan, being a long
narrow room on the first floor of the north side of the second court, 65
feet long by 20 feet wide, with eight equidistant windows in each
side-wall, and a window of four lights in the western gable. It was built
about 1600, but the fittings are even later, having been added between
1626 and 1645 during the mastership of Thomas Eden, LL.D. They are
therefore a deliberate return to ancient forms at a time when a different
type had been adopted elsewhere.
There are five desks and six seats on each side of the room, placed, as
usual, at right angles to the side-walls, in the inter spaces of the
windows, and in front of the windows, respectively. Their arrangement, and
the details of their construction, will be understood from the general
view (fig. 65), and from the elevation (fig. 66).
These lecterns are of oak, 6 feet 7 inches long, and 7 feet high, measured
to the top of the ornamental finial. There is a sloping desk at the top,
beneath which is a single shelf (fig. 66, A). The bar for the chains
passes under the desk, through the two vertical ends of the case. At the
end farthest from the wall, the hasp of the lock is hinged to the bar and
secured by two keys (fig. 67). Beneath the shelf there is at either end a
slip of wood (fig. 66, B), which indicates that there was once a moveable
desk which could be pulled out when required. The reader could therefore
consult his convenience, and work either sitting or standing (fig. 65).
For both these positions the heights are very suitable, and at the bottom
of the case was a plinth (fig. 66, C), on which he could set his feet. The
seats between each pair of desks were of course put up at the same time as
the desks themselves. They shew an advance in comfort, being divided into
two, so as to allow support to the reader's back.
[Illustration: Fig. 67. Lock at end of book-desk. Trinity Hall.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account