Old English Libraries

Appendix D. List of the Principal Reference Works 286

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

PAGE WRITING IN THE BOOK OF KELLS 14 From THOMPSON’S Greek and Latin Palæography

WRITING IN BOOK OF ARMAGH 15 From THOMPSON’S Greek and Latin Palæography

WRITING IN GRÆCO-LATIN ACTS, PROBABLY USED BY BEDE 27 From MS. Bodl. Laud. Gr. 35, f. 63

WRITING IN BENEDICTIONAL OF ST. ETHELWOLD 43 From Archæologia, xxiv.

PLAN OF SCRIPTORIUM, BIRKENHEAD PRIORY 74 Redrawn from Trans. of the Lancashire and Cheshire Historic Society

ANCIENT STALL, OR CARRELL, IN BISHOP’S CANNINGS CHURCH, WILTS 77 From COX AND HARVEY’S English Church Furniture

TABLET CASE AND WAXED TABLET 84 From COFFEY’S Celtic Antiquities in the Museum of the R.I.A.

PLAN SHOWING DISPOSITION OF BOOKS IN CISTERCIAN HOUSES 93 Redrawn from GASQUET’S English Monastic Life

PLAN SHOWING PROBABLE SITUATION OF LIBRARY OF WELLS CATHEDRAL IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 122 Redrawn from Canon CHURCH’S Chapters in the History of Wells Cathedral

BEREBLOCK VIEW OF DUKE HUMFREY’S LIBRARY 140 From MS. Bodl. 13

AUTOGRAPH OF DUKE HUMFREY OF GLOUCESTER 191 From MS. Harl. 1705. f. 96a

RECORD OF SALE OF BOOK CAPTURED AT POITIERS 234 From MS. Reg. 19, D ii. opposite f. 1

LIST OF PLATES

ABBOT WHETHAMSTEDE Frontispiece From MS. Cott. Nero, D vii. f. 27a

PLATE FACING PAGE

I. (a) ANCIENT SATCHEL OF IRISH MISSAL, CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD 12 By permission of the Governing Body

(b) COVER OF STOWE MISSAL 12 Museum of Royal Irish Academy, Dublin (A.D. 1023-1052)

II. ILLUMINATED PAGE OF BOOK OF KELLS 14 From WESTWOOD’S Facsimiles

III. THE SHRINE OF THE CATHACH PSALTER, ELEVENTH CENTURY 16 From The Connoisseur, by permission of the Editor

IV. CUMDACH OF ST. MOLAISE’S GOSPELS: FRONT AND BOTTOM 20 From COFFEY’S Celtic Antiquities in Museum of Royal Irish Academy, by permission of the Council

V. BENEDICTIONAL OF ST. ETHELWOLD: NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST 42 From Archæologia, xxiv.

VI. BENEDICTIONAL OF ST. ETHELWOLD: THE ASCENSION 44 From Archæologia, xxiv.

VII. (a) ABBOT ROGER DE NORTHONE WITH HIS BOOKS 48 From MS. Cott. Nero, D vii. f. 18b

(b) ABBOT GARIN WITH HIS BOOKS 48 From MS. Cott. Claud., E iv. pt. i., f. 125a

VIII. ABBOT SIMON OF ST. ALBANS AT HIS BOOK-CHEST 50 From MS. Cott. Claud., E iv. pt. i. f. 124

IX. GREY FRIARS, LONDON (CHRIST’S HOSPITAL): OLD HALL AND WHITTINGTON’S LIBRARY 54 From Trollope’s History of Christ’s Hospital

X. GREY FRIARS CATALOGUE OF CONVENTUAL LIBRARIES 58 From MS. Bodl. Tanner, 165, f. 119

XI. TWELFTH CENTURY ILLUMINATION FROM BURY ST. EDMUND’S ABBEY 64 From MS. 2, f. 281b, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by permission of the Master and Fellows

XII. WESTMINSTER ILLUMINATION, THIRTEENTH CENTURY 68 From MS. Reg. 2 A xii. f. 14, Brit. Mus.

XIII. THE CLOISTERS, GLOUCESTER, SHOWING CARRELLS 76 From MURRAY’S Cathedrals

XIV. A SCRIBE AND HIS TOOLS, FROM A VERY ANCIENT MS. 82 From MS. Harl. 2820, f. 120

XV. FURNESS ABBEY: CLOISTERS AND CHAPTER HOUSE 94

XVI. FACSIMILE OF LIBRARY CATALOGUE OF SYON MONASTERY 104 From BATESON’S Catalogue of Syon Monastery

XVII. MEDIEVAL BINDING: MR. YATES THOMPSON’S HEGESIPPUS 108 From BATESON’S Mediæval England

XVIII. ANCIENT BOOK-BOX IN EXETER CATHEDRAL 110 Photo by HEATH & BRADNEE, Exeter

XIX. CHAINED BOOKS, HEREFORD CATHEDRAL LIBRARY 116 By permission of the Dean of Hereford

XX. OLD LIBRARY, LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 118 Photo by G. HADLEIGH, Lincoln. By permission of the Dean of Lincoln

XXI. WELLS CATHEDRAL: LIBRARY OVER CLOISTER 122 Photo by T. W. PHILLIPS, Wells

XXII. ST. MARY’S CHURCH, OXFORD: FIRST HOME OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 132

Photo by H. W. TAUNT, Oxford

XXIII. (a) ILLUMINATOR OF ST. ALBANS 134

From MS. Cott. Nero, D iii. f. 105

(b) DOCUMENT BEARING THE NAMES OF MEMBERS OF THE BOOK-TRADE, c. 1180 134

From BARNARD’S Companion to English History

XXIV. (a) DUKE HUMFREY AND ELEANOR OF GLOUCESTER JOINING THE CONFRATERNITY OF ST. ALBANS 138

From MS. Cott. Nero, D vii. f. 154a

(b) ANCIENT ROOF OF DUKE HUMFREY’S LIBRARY 138

Photo by JAS. HUTT, M.A.

XXV. DUKE HUMFREY’S LIBRARY, OXFORD 142

Photo by H. W. TAUNT

XXVI. LIBRARY OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD 144

Photo by H. W. TAUNT

XXVII. MERTON COLLEGE LIBRARY, OXFORD 152

Photo by H. W. TAUNT

XXVIII. PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE 156

From LOGGAN’S Cantab. Illus.

XXIX. LIBRARY OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD, FROM MASTER’S GARDEN 170

Photo by H. W. TAUNT

XXX. CARMELITE IN HIS STUDY 184

From MS. Reg. 14 E i. f. 3, Brit. Mus.

XXXI. A SCRIBE (ST. MARK WRITING HIS GOSPEL), FROM THE BEDFORD HOURS 196

From Add. MS. 18850, f. 24, Brit. Mus.

XXXII. A SCRIBE AT WORK, FROM EADWINE’S PSALTER, c. 1150 202

From BATESON’S Mediæval England

XXXIII. ENGLISH ILLUMINATED WORK UNDER FRENCH INFLUENCE, FROM TENISON PSALTER 214

From MS. Add. 24686, f. 12, Brit. Mus.

XXXIV. FRESCO OF THE SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS, BY T. GADDI, CHURCH OF S. M. NOVELLA, FLORENCE 222

Photo by ALINARI

XXXV. ANCIENT VELLUM BOOK-MARKER 230

From MS. 49, Corpus Christi College, Camb., by permission of the Master and Fellows

OLD ENGLISH LIBRARIES

CHAPTER I. Introductory--the Use of Books in Early Irish Monasteries

INTRODUCTORY--THE USE OF BOOKS IN EARLY IRISH MONASTERIES

“What tyme þat abbeies were first ordeyned and monkis were first gadered to gydre.” --Inscribed in MS. of Life of Barlaam and Josaphat, Peterhouse, Camb.

§ I

To people of modern times early monachism must seem an unbeautiful and even offensive life. True piety was exceptional, fanaticism the rule. Ideals which were surely false impelled men to lead a life of idleness and savage austerity,--to sink very near the level of beasts, as did the Nitrian hermits when they murdered Hypatia in Alexandria. But this view does not give the whole truth. To shut out a wicked and sensual world, with its manifold temptations, seemed the only possible way to live purely. To get far beyond the influence of a barbaric society, utterly antagonistic to peaceful religious observance, was clearly the surest means of achieving personal holiness. Monachism was a system designed for these ends. Throughout the Middle Ages it was the refuge--the only refuge--for the man who desired to flee from sin. Such, at any rate, was the truly religious man’s view. And if monkish retreats sheltered some ignorant fanatics, they also attracted many representatives of the culture and learning of the time. This was bound to be so. At all times solitude has been pleasant to the student and thinker, or to the moody lover of books.

By great good fortune, then, the studious occupations which did so much to soften monkish austerities in the Middle Ages, were recognised early as needful to the system. Even the ascetics by the Red Sea and in Nitria did not deprive themselves of all literary solace, although the more fanatical would abjure it, and many would be too poor to have it. The Rule of Pachomius, founder of the settlements of Tabenna, required the brethren’s books to be kept in a cupboard and regulated lending them. These libraries are referred to in Benedict’s own Rule. We hear of St. Pachomius destroying a copy of Origen, because the teaching in it was obnoxious; of Abba Bischoi writing an ascetic work, a copy of which is extant; of anchorites under St. Macarius of Alexandria transcribing books; and of St. Jerome collecting a library summo studio et labore, copying manuscripts and studying Hebrew at his hermitage even after a formal renunciation of the classics, and then again, at the end of his life, bringing together another library at Bethlehem monastery, and instructing boys in grammar and in classic authors. Basil the Great, when founding eremitical settlements on the river Iris in Pontus, spent some time in making selections from Origen. St. Melania the younger wrote books which were noted for their beauty and accuracy. And when Athanasius introduced Eastern monachism into Italy, and St. Martin of Tours and John Cassian carried it farther afield into Gaul, the same work went on. In the cells and caves of Martin’s community at Marmoutier the younger monks occupied their time in writing and sacred study, and the older monks in prayer. Sulpicius Severus (c. 353-425), the ecclesiastical historian, preferred retirement, literary study, and the friendship and teaching of St. Martin to worldly pursuits. At the famous island community of Lérins, in South Gaul, were instructed some of the most celebrated scholars of the West, among them St. Hilary. “Such were their piety and learning that all the cities round about strove emulously to have monks from Lérins for their bishops.” Another centre of studious occupation was the monastery of Germanus of Auxerre; while near Vienne was a community where St. Avitus (c. 525) could earn the high reputation for holiness and learning which won him a metropolitan see. Many other facts and incidents prove the literary pursuits of the Gallic ascetics; as, for example, the reputation the nuns of Arles in the sixth century won for their writing; and the curious story of Apollinaris Sidonius driving after a monk who was carrying a manuscript to Britain, stopping him, and there and then dictating to secretaries a copy of the precious book which had so nearly escaped him.

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