Over the door, on a shelf or in
a cupboard, were four Psalters; thirty-six books were on
the top shelf on the other side of the room; the remainder,
to the number of about 270, were on other shelves marked
by letters of the alphabet.[4]
[1] Sandys, i. 266.
[2] Archaeol. Jour. (1848), v. 85.
[3] Lancs. and Ches. Hist. Soc., xix. 106.
[4] Chron. mon. de Melsa, iii. lxxxiii,
At the Premonstratensian Abbey of Titchfield the
books were stored in a small room, in four cases, each
having eight shelves. We do not positively know that
a separate room existed at the Benedictine house of
Christ Church, Canterbury, before the fifteenth century,
"yet," as Dr. James says, "the form of Prior Eastry's
catalogue, with its division into Demonstrations and
Distinctions, irresistibly suggests that the collection must
in his time [1284-1331] have occupied a special room,
of which the two Demonstrations represent the two sides.
The Distinctions would be narrow vertical divisions of
these, and each of them would have its numerous subdivisions
into Gradus. As the best English equivalent
of Demonstratio I would suggest the word Display,'
which fairly gives the idea of a wall-surface covered with
books; and I figure the building to myself as an enlarged
example of those Cistercian bookrooms with which
Dr.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159