I now pass to a series of pictures which illustrate the daily life of a scholar or a writer who had few books, but who could live in a certain ease--allowing himself a chair and a desk. Of these desks there is an infinite variety, dictated, I imagine, by the fashion prevalent in particular places at particular times. I have tried to arrange them in groups. [Illustration: Fig. 136. A Carmelite in his study. From a MS. of _Le Miroir Historial_ in the British Museum.] [Illustration: Fig. 137. Three musicians in a library. From a MS. of a French translation of _Valerius Maximus_, in the British Museum.] In the first place the chair is usually a rather elaborate piece of furniture, with arms, a straight back, and, very frequently, a canopy. A cushion to sit upon is sometimes permitted, but, as a general rule, these chairs are destitute of stuffing, tapestry, or other device to conceal the material of which they are made. Occasionally the canopy is richly carved or painted in a pattern. The commonest form of desk is a modification of the lectern-system. It consists of a double lectern, beneath which is a row of cupboards, or rather a shelf protected by several doors, one of which is always at the end of the piece of furniture. The triangular space under the lectern is also used for books. This device is specially commended by Richard de Bury in the _Philobiblon_[529]. "Moses," says he, "the gentlest of men, teaches us to make bookcases most neatly, wherein they may be protected from any injury: _Take_, he says, _this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God_." My illustration (fig. 138) is taken from an edition of the _Ship of Fools_, printed at Basle by Nicolas Lamparter in 1507. In this example the desk with its cupboards stands on a plinth, and this again on a broad step. Both are probably introduced to ensure steadiness. [Illustration: Fig. 138. A bibliomaniac at his desk. From the _Ship of Fools_.] The seated figure represents a bibliomaniac who treats his books as mere curiosities from which he derives no mental improvement. He has put on his spectacles and wielded his feather-brush, in order to dust the leaves of a folio with greater care. Under the cut are the following explanatory lines: Qui libros tyriis vestit honoribus Et blattas abijt puluerulentulas Nec discens animum litterulis colit: Mercatur nimia stultieiam stipe. I append a rough translation: Who clothes his books in Tyrian dyes, Then brushes off the dust and flies, Nor reads one line to make him wise, Spends lavish gold and--FOLLY buys.