In more skilful hands
possibly a coherent story might be wrought out of these
pieces justificatives; but the author is too well aware of
the difficulty of arranging and selecting from the mass of
material, remembers too well the tale of mistakes thankfully
avoided, and is too apprehensive that other errors
lurk undiscovered, to be confident that he has succeeded
in his aim. Whether the story is worth telling is another
matter. Surely it is. To be able to follow the history
of the Middle Ages, to become acquainted with the people,
their mode of life and customs and manners, is of profound
interest and great utility; and it is by no means the least
important part of such study to discover what books they
had, how extensively the books were read, and what
section of the people read them.
Let us here sum up the information given in detail in
the foregoing pages; adding thereto some other facts of
interest. And first, what of the character of the medieval
library?
During the earlier centuries monastic libraries contained
books which were deemed necessary for grammatical
study in the claustral schools, and other books,
chiefly the Fathers, as we have seen, which were regarded
as proper literature for the monk.
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