I will conclude this chapter with a few words on the library of the most famous of all European monasteries, namely Monte Cassino, the foundation of which was undoubtedly laid by S. Benedict himself. I confess that I had hoped to find there a library which might either by its position or its fittings recall the early days of monasticism; but unfortunately the piety of the Benedictine Order has induced them to rebuild their parent house in a classical style, and to obliterate nearly every trace of the primitive building. The library, to which I was obligingly conducted by the Prior, is 60 ft. long by 30 ft. broad, with two large windows at the end opposite to the door. The side-walls are lined with bookcases divided by columns into four compartments on each side, after the fashion of Cardinal Mazarin's library. These columns support a heavy cornice with handsome ornaments. A band of woodwork divides the cases into an upper and lower range, but there is no trace of a desk. I could not learn the date at which these fittings had been constructed, but from their style I should assign them to the middle of the seventeenth century[520]. FOOTNOTES: [494] See above, p. 196. [495] See above, p. 224. [496] See above, p. 233. [497] For the history of the Escorial, see Ford, _Handbook for Spain_, Ed. 1855, pp. 749-763, and _Descripcion ... del Escorial_, Fra de los Santos, fol. Madrid, 1657, with the English translation by G. Thompson, 4to. London, 1760. [498] I have to thank the librarian, Monsignore Ceriani, for kindly allowing this photograph to be taken for my use. [499] _Gli Istituti Scientifici etc. di Milano._ 8vo. Milan, 1880, p. 123, note. [500] Boscha, _De Origine et statu Bibl. Ambros._ p. 19; _ap._ Graevius, _Thes. Ant. et Hist. Italiae_, Vol. IX. part 6; see also the Bull of Paul V, dated 7 July 1608, approving the foundation and rehearsing the statutes, in _Magnum Bullarium Romanum_, 4to. Turin, 1867, Vol. xi. p. 511. [501] For the history of the Bibliotheque Mazarine see Franklin, _Anc. Bibl. de Paris_, Vol. III. pp. 37-160. [502] Franklin, _Anc. Bibl. de Paris_, Vol. III. pp. 55-6. [503] The minute of the conservators of the library authorising this change is printed by Franklin, _ut supra_, p. 117. [504] Macray, _Annals_, ut supra, p. 37. [505] Macray, _ut supra_, p. 80. [506] Elmes. _Life of Sir C. Wren_, pp. 180-184. _Parentalia_, p. 261. [507] The history of this library has been fully narrated in the _Arch. Hist._, ut supra, Vol. II. pp. 531-551. Wren's Memoir quoted below has been collated with the original in the library of All Souls' College, Oxford, where his designs are also preserved. [508] This plan has been reduced from one on a larger scale kindly sent to me by my friend Mr F. C. Penrose, architect to the Cathedral. [509] I have to thank the Dean and Chapter for leave to study these Accounts, and to have a photograph taken of the library. [510] _Arch. Hist._ Vol. II. p. 710. Vol. III. p. 468.