But brothers whose work was highly valued were allowed
a small writing-room or scriptoriolum. Nicholas, Bernard's
secretary, had a room on the right of the cloister with its
door opening into the novices' room--a cell, he says, "not
to be despised; for it is . . . pleasant to look upon, and
comfortable for retirement. It is filled with most choice
and divine books . . . is assigned to me for reading, and
writing, and composing, and meditating, and praying, and
adoring the Lord of Majesty."[1] Perhaps Nicholas's room
was like that shown in one manuscript, where we see a
monk seated on a stool before a reading-stand of odd shape.
The table, which is the top of a hexagonal receptacle for
parchment and writing materials, or books, can be moved
up and down on the screw. Above the screw is a bookrest;
at the foot a pedestal, with the ink-bottle upon it.
Apparently the room also contains cupboards for storing
books. Nicholas, however, was favoured, for in the same
passage he refers to the older monks reading the "books
of divine eloquence in the cloister." In Cistercian monasteries
certain monks were so favoured, although they were
not allowed to use their studies during the time the monks
were supposed to be in the cloister.
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