Old English Libraries, The Making, Collection, and Use of Books

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OLD ENGLISH LIBRARIES
THE MAKING, COLLECTION, AND USE OF BOOKS
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES

by ERNEST A. SAVAGE

PREFACE

WITH the arrangement and equipment of
libraries this essay has little to do: the
ground being already covered adequately
by Dr. Clark in his admirable monograph on The
Care of Books. Herein is described the making,
use, and circulation of books considered as a means
of literary culture. It seemed possible to throw a
useful sidelight on literary history, and to introduce
some human interest into the study of bibliography,
if the place held by books in the life of the Middle
Ages could be indicated. Such, at all events, was
my aim, but I am far from sure of my success in
carrying it out; and I offer this book merely as
a discursive and popular treatment of a subject
which seems to me of great interest.

The book has suffered from one unhappy circumstance.
It was planned in collaboration with my
friend Mr. James Hutt, M.A., but unfortunately,
owing to a breakdown of health, Mr. Hutt was only
able to help me in the composition of the chapter
on the Libraries of Oxford, which is chiefly his work.
Had it been possible for Mr. Hutt to share all the
labour with me, this book would have been put
before the public with more confidence.

More footnote references appear in this volume
than in most of the series of "Antiquary's Books."
One consideration specially urged me to take this
course. The subject has been treated briefly, and
it seemed essential to cite as many authorities as
possible, so that readers who were in the mood might
obtain further information by following them up.

In a book covering a long period and touching
national and local history at many points, I cannot
hope to have escaped errors; and I shall be grateful
if readers will bring them to my notice.

I need hardly say I am especially indebted to
the splendid work accomplished by Dr. Montague
Rhodes James, the Provost of King's College, in
editing The Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and
Dover, and in compiling the great series of descriptive
catalogues of manuscripts in Cambridge and
other colleges. I have long marvelled at Dr. James'
patient research; at his steady perseverance in an
aim which, even when attained--as it now has been--
could only win him the admiration and esteem of
a few scholars and lovers of old books.

I have to thank Mr. Hutt for much general
help, and for reading all the proof slips. To Canon
C. M. Church, M.A., of Wells, I am indebted for
his kindness in answering inquiries, for lending me
the illustration of the exterior of Wells Cathedral
Library, and for permitting me to reproduce a plan
from his book entitled Chapters in the Early History
of the Church of Wells. The Historic Society of
Lancashire and Cheshire have kindly allowed me
to reproduce a part of their plan of Birkenhead
Priory. Illustrations were also kindly lent by the
Clarendon Press, the Cambridge University Press,
Mr. John Murray, Mr. Fisher Unwin, the Editor
of The Connoisseur, and Mr. G. Coffey, of the Royal
Irish Academy. A small portion of the first chapter
has appeared in The Library, and is reprinted by
kind permission of the editors. Mr. C. W. Sutton,
M.A., City Librarian of Manchester, has been in
every way kind and patient in helping me. So too
has Mr. Strickland Gibson, M.A., of the Bodleian
Library, especially in connexion with the chapter on
Oxford Libraries. Thanks are due also to the
Deans of Hereford, Lincoln, and Durham, to Mr.
Tapley-Soper, City Librarian of Exeter, and to
Mr. W. T. Carter, Public Librarian of Warwick;
also to my brother, V. M. Savage, for his drawings.
The general editor of this series, the Rev. J. Charles
Cox, LL.D., F.S.A., gave me much help by reading
the manuscript and proofs; and I am grateful to him
for many courtesies and suggestions.

ERNEST A. SAVAGE

CONTENTS

I. THE USE OF BOOKS IN EARLY IRISH MONASTERIES

II. THE ENGLISH MONKS AND THEIR BOOKS

III. LIBRARIES OF THE GREAT ABBEYS--BOOK-LOVERS AMONG
THE MENDICANTS--DISPERSAL OF MONKISH LIBRARIES

IV. BOOK MAKING AND COLLECTING IN THE RELIGIOUS
HOUSES

V. CATHEDRAL AND CHURCH LIBRARIES

VI. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: OXFORD

VII. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: CAMBRIDGE

VIII. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: THEIR ECONOMY

IX. THE USE OF BOOKS TOWARDS THE END OF THE
MANUSCRIPT PERIOD

X. THE BOOK TRADE

XI. THE CHARACTER OF THE MEDIEVAL LIBRARY, AND
THE EXTENT OF CIRCULATION OF BOOKS

OLD ENGLISH LIBRARIES

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY--THE USE OF BOOKS IN
EARLY IRISH MONASTERIES

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

Section 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.[1] 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 Lerins, 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 Lerins for their bishops."[2] 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.[3]

[1] Healy, 46.

[2] Healy, 50.

[3] Sandys, i. 245

Section II

Monachism of this Eastern type came from Gaul to
Ireland.[1] St. Patrick received his sacred education at
Marmoutier; under Germanus at Auxerre; and possibly
at Lerins. His companions on his mission to Ireland, and
the missionaries who followed him, nearly all came from
the same centres. Naturally, therefore, the same practices
would be observed, not only in regard to religious discipline
and organisation, but in regard to instruction and study.
Even the mysterious Palladius, Patrick's forerunner, is said
to have left books in Ireland.[2] But the earliest important
references to that use of books which distinguishes the
educated missionary from the mere fanatical recluse are in
connexion with Patrick. Pope Sixtus is said to have
given him books in plenty to take with him to Ireland.
Later he is supposed to have visited Rome, whence he
brought books home to Armagh.[3] He gave copies of
parts of the Scriptures to Irish chieftains. To one Fiacc
he gave a case containing a bell, a crosier, tablets, and a
meinister, which, according to Dr. Lanigan, may have been
a cumdach enclosing the Gospels and the vessels for the
sacred ministry, or, according to Dr. Whitley Stokes,
simply a credence-table.[4] He sometimes gave a missal
(lebar nuird). He had books at Tara. On one occasion
his books were dropped into the water and were "drowned."
Presumably the books he distributed came from the Gallic
schools, although his followers no doubt began transcribing
as opportunity offered and as material came to hand.
Patrick himself wrote alphabets, sometimes called the
"elements"; most likely the elements or the A B C of the
Christian doctrine, corresponding with the "primer."[5]

[1] On the connection between Eastern and Celtic monachism, see
Stokes (G.T.).

[2] Stokes (W.), T. L., i. 30; ii. 446.

[3] Ib. ii. 421; ii. 475.

[4] D. N. B., xliv. 39; Stokes (W.), T. L., i, 191.

[5] Abgitorium, abgatorium; elementa, elimenta. Stokes (W.), T.
L., i. cliii.; also). 111, 113, 139, 191, 308, 320, 322, 326,
327, 328.

This was the dawn of letters for Ireland. By disseminating
the Scriptures and these primers, Patrick and
his followers, and the train of missionaries who came
afterwards,[1] secured the knowledge and use of the Roman
alphabet. The way was clear for the free introduction of
schools and books and learning. "St. Patrick did not do
for the Scots what Wulfilas did for the Goths, and the
Slavonic apostles for the Slavs; he did not translate the
sacred books of his religion into Irish and found a national
church literature.... What Patrick, on the other hand, and
his fellow-workers did was to diffuse a knowledge of Latin
in Ireland. To the circumstance that he adopted this line
of policy, and did not attempt to create a national
ecclesiastical language, must be ascribed the rise of the
schools of learning which distinguished Ireland in the
sixth and seventh centuries."[2]

[1] In 536, fifty monks from the Continent landed at
Cork.--Montalembert, ii. 248n. Migrations from Gaul were frequent
about this time.

[2] Bury, 217; cp. 220.

Mainly owing to the labours of Dr. John Healy, we
now know a good deal about the somewhat slow growth
of the Irish schools to fame; but for our purpose it will do
to learn something of them in their heyday, when at last
we hear certainly of that free use of books which must
have been common for some time. From the sixth to the
eighth century Ireland enjoyed an eminent place in the
world of learning; and the lives and works of her scholars
imply book-culture of good character. St. Columba was
famed for his studious occupations. Educated first by
Finnian of Moville, then by another tutor of the same
name at the famous school of Clonard, he journeyed to
other centres for further instruction after his ordination.
From youth he loved books and studies. He is represented
as reading out of doors at the moment when the murderer
of a young girl is struck dead. In later life he realized
the importance of monastic records. He had annals
compiled, and bards preserved and arranged them in the
monastic chests. At Iona the brethren of his settlement
passed their time in reading and transcribing, as well as in
manual labour. Very careful were they to copy correctly.
Baithen, a monk on Iona, got one of his fellows to look
over a Psalter which he had just finished writing, but
only a single error was discovered.[1] Columba himself
became proficient in copying and illuminating. He could
not spend an hour without study, or prayer, or writing, or
some other holy occupation.[2] He transcribed, we are told,
over three hundred copies of the Gospels or the Psalter--a
magnification of a saint's powers by a devout biographer,
but significant as it testifies to Columba's love of
studious labours, and shows how highly these ascetics
thought of work of this kind. On two occasions, being a
man as well as a saint, he broke into violence when crossed
in his love of books. One story tells how he visited a holy
and learned recluse named Longarad, whose much-prized
books he wished to see. Being denied, he became wroth
and cursed Longarad. "May the books be of no use to
you," he cried, "nor to any one after you, since you withhold
them." So far the tale is not improbable, but a little
embroidery completes a legend. The books became unintelligible,
so the story continues, the moment Longarad
died. At the same instant the satchels in all the Irish
schools and in Columba's cell slipped off their hooks on to
the ground.

[1] Joyce, i. 478

[2] Adamnan, lib. ii. c. 29, iii. c. 15 and c. 23.

A quarrel about a book, we are told, changed his
career. He borrowed a Psalter from Finnian of Moville,
and made a copy of it, working secretly at night. Finnian
heard of the piracy, and, as owner of the original, claimed
the copy. Columba refused to let him have it. Then
Diarmid, King of Meath, was asked to arbitrate. Arguing
that as every calf belonged to its cow, so every copy of a
book belonged to the owner of the original, he decided in
Finnian's favour. Columba thought the award unjust, and
said so. A little later, after another dispute with Diarmid
on a question of monastic immunity, he called together his
tribesmen and partisans, and offered battle. Diarmid was
defeated. For some reason, not quite clear, these quarrels led
to Columba's voluntary exile(c. 563). He sailed from Ireland,
and landed upon the silver strand of Iona, and to the end of
his days his work lay almost entirely amid the heather-covered
uplands and plains of this little island home.[1] Iona became
a renowned centre of missionary work, quite overshadowing
in importance the earlier "Scottish" settlement
of Whitherne or Candida Casa. Pilgrims went thither
from Ireland and England to receive instruction, and
returned to carry on pioneer work in their own homeland.
Thence went forth missionaries to carry the Christian
message throughout Scotland and northern England.
Perhaps, too, here was planned the expedition to far-off
Iceland. "Before Iceland was peopled by the Northmen
there were in the country those men whom the Northmen
called Papar. They were Christian men, and the people
believed that they came from the West, because Irish
books and bells and crosiers were found after them, and
still more things by which one might know that they were
west-men, i.e. Irish."[2]

[1] Dr Skene says the Psalter incident "bears the stamp of
spurious tradition"; so does the Longarad story; but it is
curious how often sacred books play a part in these tales.

[2] Henderson, Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland, 5-6.

Not only to the far north, but to the Continent, did the
Irish press their energetic way. In Gaul their chief missionary
was Columban (c. 543 - 615), who had been educated at
Bangor, then famous for the learning of its brethren. His
works display an extensive acquaintance with Christian
and Latin literature. Both the Greek and Hebrew
languages may have been known to him, though this
seems improbable and inconceivable.[1] In his Rule he
provides for teaching in schools, copying manuscripts, and
for daily reading.[2]

[1] Moore, Hist. of Ireland, i. 266.

[2] Healy, 379; Stokes (M.) 2, 118. Ergo quotidie jejunandum
est, sicut quotidie orandum est, quotidie laborandum, quotidie
est legendum.

The monasteries of Luxeuil, Bobio, and St. Gall,
founded by him and his companions on their mission in
Gaul and Italy, became the homes of the most famous
conventual libraries in the world--a result surely traceable
to the example set by the Irish ascetics, and to the tradition
they established.[1]

[1] A ninth century catalogue of St. Gall mentions thirty-one
volumes and pamphlets in the Irish tongue--Prof. Pflugk-Harttung,
in R. H. S. (N. S.), v. 92. Becker names only thirty, p. 43. At
Reichenau, a monastery near St. Gall, also famous for its
library, there were "Irish education, manuscripts, and
occasionally also Irish monks." "One of the most ancient
monuments of the German tongue, the vocabulary of St. Gall,
dating from about 780, is written in the Irish character."

Other Irish monks are better known for their literary
attainments than for missionary enterprise. St. Cummian,
in a letter written about 634, displays much knowledge of
theological literature, and a good deal of knowledge of a
general kind.[1] Another monk named Augustine (c. 650)
quotes from Eusebius and Jerome in a work affording many
other evidences of learning.[2] Aileran (c. 660), abbot of
Clonard, wrote a religious work which proves his acquaintance
with Jerome, Philo, Cassian, Origen, and Augustine.[3]

[1] D.C.B. sub nom.

[2] Stokes (G. T.), 221.

[3] Ib. 220.

An Englishman supplies valuable evidence of the state of
Irish learning. Aldhelm's (c. 656-709) works prove him to
have had access in England to a good library; while in one
learned letter he compares English schools favourably with
the Irish, and declares Theodore and Hadrian would put Irish
scholars in the shade. Yet he is on his mettle when communicating
with Irish friends or pupils; he clearly reserves
for them the flowers of his eloquence.[1] The Irish schools
were indeed successful rivals of the English schools, and
Irish scholars could use libraries as good, or nearly as good,
as that at Aldhelm's disposal. At this time the attraction
which Ireland and Iona had for English students was extra-
ordinary. English crowded the Irish schools, although
the Canterbury school was not full.[2] The city of Armagh
was divided into three sections, one being called Trian-
Saxon, the Saxon's third, from the great number of Saxon
students living there.[3]

[1] Haddan, 267.

[2] Hyde, 221.

[3] Joyce, Short Hist of I., 165.

In 664 many English, both high and low in rank, left
their native land for Ireland, where they sought instruction
in sacred studies, or an opportunity to lead a more ascetic
life. Some devoted themselves faithfully to a monkish
career. Others applied themselves to study only, and for
that purpose journeyed from one master's cell to another.
The Irish welcomed all comers. All received without
charge daily food: barley or oaten bread and water, or
sometimes milk--cibus sit vilis et vespertinus--a plain meal,
once a day, in the afternoon. Books were supplied, or
what is more likely, waxed tablets folded in book form.
Teaching was as free as the open air in which it was
carried on.[1]

[1] Bede, H. E., iii. 27; Healy, 101; Stokes (G. T.), 230.

Among the English at one time or another taking advantage
of Irish hospitality were Gildas (c. 540), first native
historian of England;[1] Ecgberht, presbyter, a Northumbrian
of noble birth; Ethelhun, brother of Ethelwin, bishop
of Lindsay; Oswald, king of Northumbria; Aldfrith,
another Northumbrian king, who was educated either in
Ireland or Iona; Alcuin, who received instruction at
Clonmacnoise;[2] one named Wictberht, "notable . . . for his
learning and knowledge, for he had lived many years as
a stranger and pilgrim in Ireland"; and St. Willibrord, who
at the age of twenty journeyed to Ireland for purposes of
study, because he had heard that learning flourished in
that country.[3]

[1] Camb. Lit., i. 66.

[2] Healy, 272.

[3] Alcuin, Willibrord, c. 4.

Section III

Most of the references we have made above belong to
the sixth and seventh centuries, usually regarded as the
best age of Irish monachism. But the Irish enjoyed their
reputation unimpaired for a long time. Just before and
after the Northmen descended on their land in 795, we find
them making their mark abroad, not so much as missionaries
but as scholars and teachers.[17]

[1] See full account, R. H. S. (N. S.), v. 75.

A few instances will suffice. "The Acts of Charles,
written by a monk of St. Gallen late in the ninth century,
tells us of two Scots from Ireland,' who lighted with the
British merchants on the coast of Gaul,' and cried to the
crowd, If any man desireth wisdom, let him come unto us
and receive it, for we have it for sale.' They were soon invited
to the court of Charles. One of them, Clement, partly
filled the place of Alcuin as head of the palace school."[1]
His reputation soon became widespread, and the abbot of
Fulda sent several of his most capable monks to him to
learn grammar.[2] His companion, Dungal, went on to Italy.
He enjoyed a full share of the learning of his time; was a
student of Cicero and Macrobius; knew Virgil well; and
had some Greek.[3] A few fine books were bequeathed
by him to the Irish monastery of Bobio, where copies
were written and distributed through Italy. According
to the learned Muratori, in one of these manuscripts
is an inscription proving Dungal's ownership.[4] One
of the books so bequeathed was the famous Antiphonary
of Bangor, now in the Ambrosian library at Milan.

[1] Sandys, i. 480.

[2] R. H. S. (N. S.), v. 90.

[3] Sandys, i. 480; Stokes (M.) 2, 210.

[4] "Sancte Columba tibi Scotto tuns incola Dungal
Tradidit hunc librum, quo fratrum corda beentur.
Qui leges ergo Deus pretium sit muneris, org."--Healy, 392.

Clement and Dungal were not the only Irishmen of
note on the Continent. One, Dicuil, was an exponent of
geography. He founded his treatise (c. 825) on Caesar,
Pliny, and Solinus; he quotes and names many other
writers, including fourteen Greek; and generally impresses
us with his earnest studentship. An Irish monk named
Donatus wandered to Italy and became bishop of Fiesole
(c. 829); he, too, was a scholar acquainted with Virgil, a
teacher of grammar and prosody, and a lecturer on the
saints.[1] Sedulius, the commentator, an Irish monk of
Liege, copied Greek psalters, wrote Latin verses, knew
Cicero's letters, the works of Valerius Maximus, Vegetius,
Origen, and Jerome; was well acquainted with mythology and
history, and perhaps had some Hebrew.[2] Another Irishman,
John the Scot (Joannes Scotus Erigena), became the most
eminent scholar of his time: he alone, among all the learned
men Charles the Bald had about him, was able to translate
from Greek (c. 858-860). Well might Eric of Auxerre, writing
to Charles, express his astonishment at this train of
philosophers from Ireland, that barbarous land on the
confines of the world.[3] All these wanderers, and many
more, must have been responsible for the dissemination of
the books produced by Irish hands; and, in fact, many
manuscripts of Celtic origin and early in date, are still on
the Continent, or have been found there and brought to
Ireland.[4]

[1] Stokes (M.)2, 206-7, 247.

[2] Sandys, i. 463.

[3] Moore, Hist. of I., i. 299; Boll. Iul. t. vii. 222.

[45] The following, among others, are still on the Continent:
Gospels of Willibrord (Bibl. Nat. Lat. 9389, 739), Gospel of St.
John (Cod. 60 St. Gall c. 750-800); Book of Fragments (No. 1395,
St. Gall, c. 750-800); The Golden Gospels (Royal library,
Stockholm, 871); Gospels of St. Arnoul, Metz
(Nuremberg Museum, 7th c.).--Cp. Maclean, 207-8; Hyde, 267.

In some respects the evidence of book-culture in
Ireland in these early centuries is inconsistent. The jealous
guard Longarad kept over his books, the quarrel over
Columba's Psalter, and the great esteem in which scribes
were held,[1] suggest a scarcity of books. The practice of
enshrining them in cumdachs, or book-covers, points to a
like conclusion. On the other hand, Bede tells us the
Irish could lend foreign students books, so plentiful were
they. His statement is corroborated by the number of
scribes whose deaths have been recorded by the annalists,
the Four Masters, for example, note sixty-one eminent
scribes before the year 900, forty of whom belong to the
eighth century.[17] In some of the monasteries a special
room for books was provided. The Annals of Tigernach
refer to the house of manuscripts.[3] An apartment of this
kind is particularly mentioned as being saved from the
flames when Armagh monastery was burned (1020).
Another fact suggesting an abundance of books was the
appointment of a librarian, which sometimes took place.[4]
Although a special book-room and officer are only to be
met with much later than the best age of Irish monachism,
yet we may reasonably assume them to be the natural
culmination of an old and established practice of making
and using books.

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