The Care of Books Part 18

[155] Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 227.

[156] Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 227. Tu, quicunque studebis in hoc libro, prospice, et leviter atque dulciter tractes folia, ut cavere possis rupturam propter ipsorum tenuitatem; et imitare doctrinam Jesu Christi, qui c.u.m modeste aperuisset librum Ysaie et attente legisset, tandem reverenter complicuit ac ministro reddidit. This injunction occurs, in substance, in the _Philobiblon_ of Richard de Bury, ed. Thomas, p. 241.

[157] _Opera Thomae a Campis_, fol. 1523. Fol. XLVII.

[158] Amice qui legis, retro digitis teneas, ne subito litteras deleas, quia ille h.o.m.o qui nescit scribere nullum se putat habere laborem; quia sicut navigantibus dulcis est portus, ita scriptori novissimus versus.

Calamus tribus digitis continetur, totum corpus laborat. Deo gratias. Ego, in Dei nomine, Vuarembertus scripsi. Deo gratias. From a MS. in the Bibl.

Nat. Paris (MS. Lat. 12296) from the Abbey of Corbie: "les caracteres denotent l'epoque carlovingienne." Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 121.

[159] On the curse invariably used at S. Victor's, see Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 227 _note_.

[160] Hic est liber Sancti Maximini Miciacensis monasterii, quem Petrus abbas scribere jussit et proprio labore providit atque distinxit, et die caenae domini super sacrum altare sancti Stephani Deo et sancto Maximino habendum obtulit, sub hujusmodi voto ut quisquis eum inde aliquo ingenio non reddituius abstulerit, c.u.m Juda proditore, Anna et Caiapha atque Pilato d.a.m.nationem accipiat. Amen. From a Benedictine House at Saint Mesmin, Loiret. Delisle, _ut supra_, III. 384. M. Delisle considers that the words "providit atque distinxit" mean "a ete revue et ponctuee."

[161] Quem si quis vel dolo seu quoquo modo isti loco substraxerit anime sue propter quod fecerit detrimentum patiatur, atque de libro viventium deleatur et c.u.m iustis non scribatur. From the Missal of Robert of Jumieges, ed. H. Bradshaw Soc., 8vo. 1896, p. 316.

[162] Hic est liber sancti Albani quem qui ei abstulerit aut t.i.tulum deleverit anathema sit. Amen. I owe this quotation to the kindness of my friend Dr James.

[163] _Cat. des MSS. des Departements_, 4to. Vol. I. p. 128 (No. 255).

[164] Quicunque hunc t.i.tulum aboleverit vel a prefata ecclesia Christi dono vel vendicione vel accommodacione vel mutacione vel furto vel quocunque alio modo hunc librum scienter alienaverit malediccionem Ihesu Christi et gloriosissime Virginis matris ejus et beati Thome martiris habeat ipse in vita presenti. Ita tamen quod si Christo placeat qui est patronus ecclesie Christi eius spiritus salvus in die judicii fiat. Given to me by Dr James, from a MS. in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

[165] I have to thank my friend Dr Venn for this quotation. He tells me that it was first pointed out by Dr Swete in _The Caian._ II. p. 127.

[166] See above, p. 71.

[167] Delisle, _ut supra_, II. 124.

[168] _Ibid._ p. 239.

[169] _Ibid._ p. 365. Edwards, _Memoirs of Libraries_, I. 283.

[170] _Supplement to Bentham's Ely_, by Wm Stevenson, 4to. 1817, p. 51. I have to thank my friend the Rev. J. H. Crosby, Minor Canon of Ely Cathedral, for a transcript of Bp Nigel's deed.

[171] _Monumenta Moguntina_, ed. Jaffe, 8vo. Berlin, 1866, in _Bibl. Rer.

Germ._ Vol. III. p. 301; quoted in Bede's works, ed. Plummer, p. xx.

[172] See Church's _S. Anselm_, ed. 1885, p. 48. The words are: Nunc hyemali frigore rigens, aliis occupationibus vacabo, praesentemque libellum hic terminare fatigatus decerno. Redeunte vero placidi veris sereno, etc.

_Hist. Eccl._ Pars II. lib. IV.

[173] This couplet, written on the fly-leaf of a MS. in the library of the University of Cambridge (Hh. VI. II), was pointed out to me by my friend F. J. H. Jenkinson, M.A., Librarian.

[174] Herimanni liber de restauratione S. Martini Tornacensis: ap. Pertz, _Mon. Germ._ XIV. 313.

[175] See above, p. 37.

[176] See _Dictionnaire du Mobilier_, par Henri Havard, S. V. _Armoire_, and the pa.s.sages there quoted.

[177] See above, p. 71.

[178] The Cistercian Customs prescribe the possession of nine volumes at least, chiefly service-books, before a house can be founded. _Doc.u.ments_, p. 253.

[179] _Origines Francaises de l'Architecture Gothique en Italie_, par G.

Enlart, 8vo. Paris, 1894. p. 9. This valuable work contains a full and accurate description, copiously ill.u.s.trated, of Fossa Nuova and other abbeys in remote parts of Italy.

[180] _The Monastery and Cathedral of Worcester_, by John Noake, Lond., 1866, p. 414.

[181] _Chronica monasterii de Melsa._ Rolls Series, Vol. III. App. p.

lx.x.xiii.

[182] The word _theca_ signified in cla.s.sical Latin a case or receptacle in which any object was kept. In medieval Latin it was specially used (_fide_ Ducange) for the chest in which the bodies or bones or relics of saints, were kept. In this catalogue it is obvious that it may mean either a shelf or a cupboard.

[183] Sunt enim in libraria de Tychefeld quatuor columpnae pro libris imponendis, unde in orientali fronte due sunt videlicet prima et secunda.

In latere vero australi est tercia. Et in latere boreali est quarta. Et earum singule octo habent gradus [etc.].

[184] _Trans. c.u.mb. and West. Antiq. and Archaeol. Soc._ Vol. XVI. p. 259.

I take this opportunity of thanking my friend Mr Hope for allowing me to use his plan of Furness Abbey, and also for pointing out to me the evolution of the Cistercian book-rooms which I have done my best to describe in the text.

[185] _Calder Abbey: its Ruins and its History._ By A. G. Loftie, M.A.

[186] Mr Hope tells me that he has lately re-examined these recesses, and failed to discover traces of furniture or fittings of any kind within them.

[187] _Voyage Litteraire_, Paris, 1717, Vol. I. p. 101.

[188] _Cat. des Ma.n.u.scrits des Bibliotheques Publiques de France._ Departements, Tom. V. Catalogue des Ma.n.u.scrits de Citeaux, No. 635 (p.

405). Parvus liber incathenatus ad a.n.a.logium cathedre ex opposito capituli.

[189] _The Rites of Durham_, ed. Surtees Soc. 1844, p. 70.

[190] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. x.x.xIII.

pp. 15-49.

[191] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. x.x.xIII.

pp. 21, 22.

[192] _Notes on the Abbey Buildings of Westminster_, Arch. Journ. x.x.xIII.

p. 16.

[193] MSS, Mus. Brit. MSS. Cotton, Otho. c. XI. fol. 84.

[194] See a paper by myself in _Camb. Ant. Soc. Proc. and Comm._ IX. pp.

47-56.

[195] _Voyage Litteraire_, ed. 1717. Part I. 297.

[196] _Dictionnaire du Mobilier_, s. v. _Armoire_.

[197] Viollet-le-Duc, _ut supra_, p. 4, where full details of the press at Obazine are given. The photograph from which my ill.u.s.tration has been made was specially taken for my use through the kind help of my friend Dr James, who had seen the press in 1899.

[198] Viollet-le-Duc, _ut supra_, p. 14. I have myself examined this press. My friend Mr Hope informs me that there is a press of this character in the nether vestry at S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, described by him in _Inventories of the parish church of S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich_, Norf. and Norw. Archaeol. Soc, XIV. p. 29.