The History of Libraries: Part Two

So, where we last left off, the Library of Alexandria burned down. The sad part is, Rome sort of went along with it, but that's a different story altogether.

But that's a different story.

Skipping to the Early Middle Ages, monastery libraries developed, such as one of the most important ones at the Abbey of Montecassino in Italy. Books, being priceless tomes of knowledge, were usually chained to the shelves, reflecting the fact that manuscripts, which were created via the labour-intensive process of hand copying, were valuable possessions. And when I mean valuable, I mean... Valuable. Worth their weight in silver, perhaps.

Yeah, this is back in the days before the printing press. Don't know what a printing press is?

This. This is a printing press.

Back in the day, if you wanted to read the Bible, there were a few things to consider. 

1. You probably couldn't read it. 

2. You needed to go to church to hear the Bible being read.

Did you want your own Bible?

Too bad. Before the days of the printing press, you couldn't have one, unless you were... You know, the church. This is partially a literacy thing, and partially a "Books are wicked expensive" thing. The church had money and educated people who could read latin. If you weren't part of the church, you had to go to church every Sunday and hoped that the Priest was translating the latin correctly. 

Okay, so you're not a part of the church. And you want a book that's NOT the Bible. Do you have money? Good. Do you have a lot of money? Perhaps. Can you wait 20 years? Didn't think so. 

Imagine taking a book, copying it page for page, and making sure that there are absolutely no mistakes. That's what creating a book was like before the printing press. The only book available back then was the Bible. Really, if you wanted anything else, you weren't in much luck, as other books were kept in these libraries. And you couldn't really take these books with you. Well, you could... I guess.  

Many libraries loaned books if provided with security deposits (usually money or a book of equal value). Lending was a means by which books could be copied and spread. In 1212 the council of Paris condemned those monasteries that still forbade loaning books, reminding them that lending is one of the chief works of mercy. Good on the Catholic Church, I suppose.

The early libraries located in monastic cloisters and associated with scriptoria were collections of lecterns with books chained to them. Shelves built above and between back-to-back lecterns were the beginning of book presses. The chain was attached at the fore-edge of a book rather than to its spine. Book presses came to be arranged in carrels (perpendicular to the walls and therefore to the windows) in order to maximize lighting, with low bookcases in front of the windows.

However, it would be the printing press that would change the library forever.

To be Continued...

Don't worry. I can't wait either.