The Care of Books Part 45

From a MS. of _Fais et Gestes du Roi Alexandre_, in the British Museum.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 140. S. Jerome writing.

From an oil painting by Benedetto Bonfigli, in the Church of S. Peter at Perugia.]

I now return to the wheel-desk, of which I have already figured one specimen (fig. 135). A piece of furniture consisting of one or more tables which could be raised or depressed by means of a central screw, was very generally used by scholars in the Middle Ages. I shall present a few of the most common forms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 142. S. Luke writing his Gospel.

From the Dunois _Horae_, a MS. in the possession of H. Y. Thompson, Esq.]

My first specimen is from a ma.n.u.script in the British Museum, written and illuminated in England in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is called _Fais et Gestes du Roi Alexandre_[532]. The picture (fig. 141) represents Alexander as a little child, standing in front of his tutor, who is seated in one of the chairs I described above. On the learned man's right is his book-desk. A circular table with a rim round it to prevent the books falling off, is supported on a central pedestal, which contains the screw. The top of the said screw is concealed by the little Gothic turret in the centre of the table. This turret also supports the book which the reader has in use.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 143. A lady seated in her chair reading.

From a MS. written in France, early in the fifteenth century.]

My next example is from a miniature in a volume of Hours known as the Dunois _Horae_, also written in the middle of the fifteenth century. It has been slightly enlarged in order to bring out the details more clearly. The subject is S. Luke writing his Gospel, but the background represents a scholar's room. There is a bookcase of a very modern type, a table with two folio volumes lying upon it, and in the centre a hexagonal book-desk, with a little Gothic turret as in the last example. Round the screw under the table are four cylindrical supports, the use of which I fail to understand, but they occur frequently on desks of this type. The whole piece of furniture rests on a heavy cylindrical base, and that again on a square platform.

I now pa.s.s to a variety of the screw-desk, which has a small book-rest above the table. The whole structure rests upon a prolongation of the solid platform on which the reader's chair is placed, so that it is really exactly in front of the reader. My ill.u.s.tration (fig. 143) is from "The booke of the n.o.ble ladyes in frensh," a work by Boccacio; it was written in France early in the fifteenth century[533].

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 144. Screw-desk.

From a fifteenth century MS. in the Bibliotheque de l'a.r.s.enal, Paris.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 145. Hexagonal desk, with central spike, probably for a candle.

From a French MS. of _Le Miroir Historial_.]

These double desks are exceedingly common, and I might fill a large number of pages with figures and descriptions of the variety which the ingenuity of the cabinet-makers of the fifteenth century managed to impart to combinations of a screw and two or more tables. I will content myself with one more example (fig. 144) which shews the screw exceedingly well, and the two tables above it. The uppermost of these serves as a ledge to rest the books on, as does also the hexagonal block above it which conceals the top of the screw[534].

We meet occasionally with a solid desk, by which I mean one the level of which cannot be altered. In the example here given (fig. 145) from a French MS. of _Le Miroir Historial_, there is a central spike which I suspect to have been intended to carry a candle[535].

In some examples of these book-desks the pedestal is utilized as a book-cupboard (fig. 146). The picture which I have selected as shewing a desk of this peculiarity is singularly beautiful, and finished in the highest style of art available at the end of the fifteenth century in France. It forms half of the frontispiece to a fine ma.n.u.script of Boccacio's _Livre des cas des malheureux n.o.bles hommes et femmes_[536].

The central figure is apparently lecturing on that moving theme, for in front of him, in the other half of the picture, is a crowd of men exhibiting their interest by the violence of their gestures. On his left is the desk I mentioned; it stands on an unusually firm base, and one side of the vertical portion is pierced by an arch, so as to make the central cavity available for putting books in. From the centre of the table rises a tall spike, apparently of iron, to which is attached a horizontal arm, bearing a lighted lantern. On the table, in addition to three books, is an inkstand and pen-case. In front of the lecturer is a carved chest, probably one of those book-coffers which I have already mentioned. The chair and canopy are richly carved, and the back of the seat is partially covered by a piece of tapestry. Further, the lecturer is allowed the unusual luxury of a cushion.

I will next deal with the appliances for reading and writing directly connected with the chairs in which scholars sat, and I will begin with the desk.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 146. A lecturer addressing an audience.

From a MS. of _Livre des cas des malheureux n.o.bles hommes et femmes_, written in France at end of fifteenth century.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 148. The author of _The Chronicles of Hainault_ in his study (1446).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 150. A writer with his desk and table.

From a MS. of _Le Livre des Proprietes des Choses_ in the British Museum.]

The simplest form of desk is a plain board, set at a suitable angle by means of a chain or cord extending from one of its corners to the back of the chair, while the opposite corner rests against a peg driven into the arm of the chair. This arrangement, variously modified, occurs very frequently; sometimes there are two pegs and two chains, but what I may term the normal form is shewn in my ill.u.s.tration (fig. 147)[537]. It is difficult to understand how the desk was kept steady.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 147. S. Mark writing his Gospel.

From a MS. _Hours_ written in France in the fifteenth century.]

The author whose study I shall figure next (fig. 148) is engaged in writing the Chronicles of Hainault[538]. His desk rests securely on two irons fastened to the arms of his chair. On his right is a plain lectern with an open volume on each side of it, and behind are two or more shelves set against the wall with books lying on their sides. On his left is a chest, presumably a book-chest, with books lying on its closed lid. One of these is open. He has prudently placed his chair near the window in such a position that the light falls upon his work from the left. It should be noted that the upper part of the window only is glazed, the lower part being closed by shutters. When these are thrown back, the lights are seen to be filled to half their height with a trellis, such as was ordered for the French king's library.

My third example of a chair fitted with a desk (fig. 149) is taken from _Les Miracles de Notre Dame_[539], a ma.n.u.script which belonged to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and was written for him at the Hague in 1456.

The ill.u.s.tration represents S. Jerome seated in his study. From arm to arm of the chair extends a desk of a very firm and solid construction. The ends of this desk apparently drop into the heads of the small columns with which the arms of the chair terminate. The saint has in his left hand a pointed _stylus_, and in his right a pen, which he is holding up to the light. On the desk beside the ma.n.u.script lies an ink-horn. To the right of the saint's chair is a hexagonal table with a high ledge round it. There is no evidence that this table has a screw; but the small subsidiary desk above it seems to be provided with one. It will be observed that the support of this desk is not directly over that of the table beneath it.

The desk is provided with two slits--an ingenious contrivance for dealing with a roll. On the table, besides an open book, are a pair of spectacles, four pens, a small box which may contain French chalk for pouncing, and what looks like a piece of sponge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 149. S. Jerome in his study.

From _Les Miracle de Nostre Dame_, written at the Hague in 1456.]

I now figure two different sets of library appliances. The first (fig.

150) is from a ma.n.u.script of the _Livre des Proprietes des Choses_, in the British Museum, written in the fifteenth century[540]. The writer is seated in one of those low chairs which occur very frequently in miniatures, and look as if they were cut out of a single block of wood.

His desk, which is quite independent of the chair, is of the simplest design, consisting of a piece of wood supported at an angle on two carved uprights. On his left stands a very elegant piece of furniture, a table with a desk at a considerable height above it--so high, in fact, that it could only be used standing. This upper desk is fitted with a little door as though it served as a receptacle for small objects.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 151. S. Luke writing his Gospel.

MSS. Douce, Bodl. Lib. Oxf., No. 381.]

The second example (fig. 151) shews S. Luke sitting on a bench writing at a table[541]. The top, which is very ma.s.sive, rests on four legs, morticed into a frame. In front of this table is a desk of peculiar form; the lower part resembles a reversed cone, and the upper part a second cone of smaller diameter, so as to leave s.p.a.ce enough between the two bases for a ledge to rest books on. Round the base of the desk three quaint lions do duty as feet. These lions occur again beneath the frame of the picture, and may be connected with a former possessor of the ma.n.u.script. The pedestal of the desk is a twisted column, which, like the base, and indeed the whole structure, looks as though it were made of bra.s.s.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 152. S. Augustine at his desk.

From a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi at Florence.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 153. S. Jerome reading.

From an oil painting by Catena, in the National Gallery, London.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 154. A writer at work.

From a French translation of Valerius Maximus, written and illuminated in Flanders in 1479, for King Edward IV.]

I now pa.s.s to a totally different way of fitting up a study, which seems to have been common in Italy, to judge by the number of paintings in which it occurs. It consists of a ma.s.sive desk of wood, one part of which is set at right angles to the other, and is connected in various ways with shelves, drawers, pigeon-holes, and other contrivances for holding books and papers. In the example I here figure (fig. 152), from a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi (1412-1469) representing S. Augustine's vision of the Trinity, there are two small recesses above the desk on the saint's right, both containing books, and behind the shorter portion of the desk, three shelves also with books on them. Attached to the end of the desk is a small tray, probably to contain pens.

A similar desk occurs in the beautiful picture by Catena in the National Gallery[542], representing S. Jerome reading, of which I give a reproduction on a reduced scale (fig. 153). This picture also contains an excellent example of a cupboard in the thickness of the wall, a contrivance for taking care of books as common in the Middle Ages as it had been in Roman times[543].

Cupboards in the thickness of the wall are also to be seen in the frontispiece (fig. 154) to a copy of a French translation of Valerius Maximus[544], written in Flanders in 1479 for King Edward IV. The writer--probably intended for the author or the translator of the book--is seated at a desk, consisting of a plank set at an angle and capable of being turned aside by means of a central bracket, like that used by the Carmelite (fig. 136). Observe the two weights hanging over the edge of the desk and the ends of the two horns, intended to hold ink, projecting through it. The window, as in the picture representing the author of the Chronicles of Hainault at work, is glazed in the upper part only, while in the lower are two framed trellises of wire-work. Behind the writer are two cupboards in the thickness of the wall. One of these is open, and shews books lying on their sides, upon which are some pomegranates. I cannot suggest any reason for the introduction of these fruits, except that from their colour they make a pleasing variety; but I ought to mention that they occur very frequently in miniatures representing a writer at work. On the other side of the window is a small hanging cupboard. Here again a fruit is introduced on the lowest shelf. Round the room is a settle, raised above the floor on blocks at intervals. The seat is probably a chest, as in the settles described above in the Vatican Library.

The last picture (fig. 155) in this series of ill.u.s.trations represents what I like to call a scholar's room, at the beginning of the fifteenth century[545]. The owner of the apartment is busily writing at a desk supported on a trestle-table. He holds a _stylus_ in his left hand, and a pen in his right. The ink-horn he is using is inserted into the desk.

Above it are holes for two others, in case he should require ink of different colours. Above the inkstand is a pen stuck in a hole, with vacant holes beside it. The page on the desk is kept flat by a weight.

Above this desk is a second desk, of nearly equal size, on which lies an open book, kept open by a large weight, extending over two-thirds of the open pages. Behind the writer's chair is his book-chest. The background represents a well-appointed chamber. The floor is paved with encaustic tiles; a bright fire is burning on the hearth; the window, on the same plan as that described in the last picture, is open; a comfortable--not to say luxurious--bed invites repose. The walls are unplastered, but there is a hanging under the window and over the head of the bed.

With this simple room, containing a scholar's necessaries and no more, I will contrast the study of the Duke of Urbino.

This beautiful room, which still exists as the Duke left it, is on an upper floor of the castle, commanding from its balcony, which faces the south, an extensive view of the approach to the Castle, the city, and the country beyond, backed by the Apennines. It is of small size, measuring only 11 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. 4 in., and is somewhat irregular in shape. It is entered by a door from the Duke's private apartment. The floor is paved with rough tiles set in patterns. The walls are panelled to a height of about eight feet. The bare s.p.a.ce between the top of the panel-work and the ceiling was probably hung with tapestry. The ceiling is a beautiful specimen of the most elaborate plaster-work, disposed in octagonal panels.