John Willis Clark

“ In the Latin Library, this pavement is so much worn by long use, that the design can hardly be made out; but in the Greek Library, and in the Bibliotheca secreta beyond, the tiles are nearly as fresh as when they were laid down [27] . The pattern is worked in pale blue or pale green upon a ground which has become, by lapse of time, of a yellowish colour, like ivory. The tone of the whole is deliciously soft. The purchase of these tiles is not mentioned in the Accounts of Sixtus IV., and it most probably took place after his death. ”

“ It will be noticed that each desk is fully furnished with volumes laid out upon it, and that these vary in number and size, and have different bindings. It may be argued that the artist wished to compliment his patrons by making the most of their property; but I should be inclined to maintain that this was the normal condition of the Library, and that the books, handsomely bound and protected by numerous bosses of metal, usually lay upon the desks ready for use. ”

“ Sixtus IV., like his predecessor Nicholas V., intended the library attached to the Holy See to be of the widest possible use. In the document appointing Demetrius of Lucca librarian, after Platina's death, he says distinctly that the library has been got together "for the use of all men of letters, both of our own age, or of subsequent time [79] ;" and that these are not rhetorical expressions, to round a phrase in a formal letter of appointment, is proved by the way in which manuscripts were lent out of the library, during the whole time that Platina was in office. ”

“ The desks are of a convenient height for a reader to use, as shewn by the three students at work in different parts of the Library. The books lie on sloping desks with a ledge in front to prevent them from slipping off. Each desk has a single shelf, and the seat is attached to the desk as at Cesena and Florence, instead of being a separate piece of furniture, as would have been the case in England. ”

“ The arrangement of each room is not quite so simple as it might appear at first sight; and, besides the desks, there are other pieces of furniture to be accounted for. We will therefore go through the rooms in order with the ground plan (fig. 2) . On this plan the cases are coloured gray, the reader's seats are indicated by transverse lines, and the intervals are left white.
Latin Library. The Accounts tell us that there were 10 seats on the left hand of the Latin Library, and that these were longer than the rest, measuring 38 palms each, or about 27 ft. ”

“ The building is entered from the Cortile del Papagallo through a marble doorway (fig. 2, A) in the classical style surmounted by the arms of Sixtus IV. On the frieze are the words SIXTUS PAPA IIII. The doorcase is doubtless that made in 1476; but the door, with its gilt nails and other adornments, has disappeared. Within the doorway there has been a descent of three steps at least to the floor of the Library [39] . The four rooms of which it was once composed are now used as the Floreria or Gardemeuble of the Vatican Palace ”

“ The Bibliotheca secreta is 20 ft. wide by 38 ft. 6 in. long. This additional length is due to the thinness of the south wall, observable in this room and the next. It is evident that this wall is not an outside wall. In all probability the building containing the Library was always returned along the east side of the Cortile del Papagallo; but I am not able to say for how great a distance. The room is lighted by a single window in the north wall (fig. 2, F) , of the same size and shape as the rest. The light is sufficient, even under present conditions. ”

“ The most important item is the insertion of a window "on the side next the court." The name of an architect, Donatus, is mentioned once in the course of the work, but whether he was acting professionally, or merely lent one of his workmen, does not appear [20] .
The glazing of the windows was entrusted to a German, who is called simply Hormannus, i.e. Hermann. It may be concluded from the first of the following extracts (which is also the first in the Accounts referring to glass) that the work was actually done in the Library, with glass bought partly in Rome, partly in Venice. ”

“ It is, I think, obvious that there must have been some sort of vestibule just inside the door of entrance, where students could be received, and where they could consult the catalogue or the Librarian. Further, the catalogues shew that the seven desks arranged in this part of the Library were in all probability shorter than those of the opposite side, for they contained fewer volumes. If we allow each of them 21 ft. 4 in. in length [68] , we shall dispose of 149 ft., which leaves 224 ft. for the 8 desks of the Greek Library, or, 28 ft. for each, with one foot over. ”

“ If we allow 8 volumes to each foot, each shelf would hold 32 volumes, and each division six times that number, or 192. This estimate for each division will give a total of 960 volumes for the five divisions, a number slightly in excess of that mentioned in Platina's catalogue.
After allowing a space 5 ft. wide, in front of the press, there is plenty of room left for 6 desks, each 27 ft. long. The last seat, that on the west side next the passage leading to the end of the room, might be the spalliera, with its four coffers (capsæ) under the seat. ”

“ Globes with and without such covers are shewn in the view of the Library of the University of Leiden taken in 1610; and M. Fabre reminds us that globes still form part of the furniture of the Library of the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, fitted up by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, 1630–40 [72] . ”

“ The lunettes have been ornamented on the same system as those of the Latin Library, but without figures; and their decoration still exists, though much damaged by time and damp. Below the lunettes the walls are covered with whitewash, under which some decoration is evidently concealed. The whitewash has peeled off in some places, and colour is beginning to make its appearance. ”

“ The shelf for the books, and the desk and seat for the reader, were combined, and pieces of furniture were produced such as we can still see at Cesena where the library was fitted up by Malatesta in 1452, and at Florence, where the bookcases were designed by Michael Angelo about 1530. No one, however, can study the two sets carefully, without being convinced that the older served as a model for the more modern. ”

“ Between this date and 11 April 1476, 1100 pounds of lead were bought at different times; and there is a single payment for coals (15 January) . The work was completed by the beginning of May, 1476, when the last payment was made to Hermann, ending with the significant words "there is no more for him to have (nil amplius restat habere) ." His own wages, from September 1475 to May 1476, exclusive of the purchase of materials, had amounted to 56 ducats.
The door at the principal entrance to the Library from the Cortile del Papagallo was decorated with special care. ”

“ The room being 32 ft. 6 in. wide, space is left for a passage along the south wall to the door (a) of the Librarian's room, and also for another along the opposite ends of the desks.
For the arrangement of the rest of the Library, the Accounts give a most important piece of information. They tell us that the whole of the seats for the Common Library, i.e. the Latin and Greek Libraries taken together, 25 in number, cost 300 ducats, of which sum the 10 long seats above-mentioned absorbed 130 ducats, leaving 170 to pay for the remaining 15 [66] . ”

“ Great care was evidently bestowed upon them, and the engagement of foreign artists, with the purchase of glass at Venice, because, apparently, none good enough could be found in Rome, are proofs that something specially beautiful was intended. ”

“ If they disobey they are ipso facto excommunicated. If they are clerics they shall be incapable of holding livings, and if laymen, of holding any office. Those who have knowledge of such persons are to inform against them. The effect produced by this document has not been recorded; nor are we told what the extent of the loss was. It could hardly have been very extensive, for a catalogue which Platina prepared, or perhaps only signed, on the day of his election, enumerates 2527 volumes, of which 770 were Greek and 1757 Latin [16] . ”

“ After stating that "certain ecclesiastical and secular persons, having no fear of God before their eyes, have taken sundry volumes in theology and other faculties from the library, which volumes they still presume rashly and maliciously to hide and secretly to detain"; such persons are warned to return the books in question within forty days. ”

“ If these payments be analysed it will be seen that the bronze nails, ring, and knocker cost 18 ducats and a half; that Andrew of Milan was paid 11 ducats and 5 carlini for gilding the said nails, with 3 ducats and a half more for gilding the knocker and its appurtenances; and that Paul and Dionysius received 25 ducats for painting the door and the grille behind it: total, 58 ducats—only 7 ducats less than the sum paid to the brothers Ghirlandajo for decorating the whole of the Common Library. ”

“ The workmen employed were Giovannino and his brother Marco.
Master Giovannino of Florence and Master Marco his brother, a carpenter, received xxv ducats in part payment for the desks which are being made in the library now added by His Holiness our Master, 18 July, 1480 [53] . These workmen received 100 ducats up to 7 April, 1481, but the account was not then settled. Up to this period the bookcases had cost the large sum of 580 ducats or, if the value of the ducat be taken at six shillings and sixpence, £188 10s. of our money. ”

“ Elevation of book-desks and reader's seats, Cesena.
Fig. 7. Elevation of book-desks and reader's seats, Biblioteca Laurentiana, Florence.
the reader's seat being westward of it. A difficulty now arises. It is stated in the Accounts that ten banchi are paid for, but all the catalogues mention only nine. I suggest that the explanation is to be found in the fact that ten pieces of furniture do occur between the pier and the wall, the first of which is a shelf and desk, and the last a seat only. This arrangement is to be seen in the Medicean Library at Florence. ”

“ The nine seats (banchi) of the left side of the Latin Library are gone through in the same way as the first, with the result that each is shewn to have two shelves. The total number of books is 457, or 27 more than in 1481. ”

“ Dedi eidem Francisco fabro lignario pro catenis librorum e Mediolano avectis ducatos xxi, erant autem docenæ centum xxxxiiii, dedi autem dimidium ducatum pro qualibet docena, adduntur superiores soluti medio, et erit Integra solutio catenarum omnium die vii Junii 1476 [54] .
It is worth notice that so simple an article as a chain for a book could not be bought in Rome; but had to be sent for from Milan; where, by the way, the dues exacted by the government made the purchase irksome and costly. The total number of chains bought was 1728, and the total cost 102 ducats, or rather more than £33. ”

“ Christoforus prior S. Balbine habuit Agathium Historicum ex banco viiio cum cathena... Restituit die xx Octobris post mortem Platyne. When no chain is mentioned are we to understand that the book was not so protected, and that there were in the library a number of books without chains, perhaps for the purpose of being more conveniently borrowed?
A few words should be added on the staff of the library. At first—that is during the year 1475—Platina had under his orders three subordinates, Demetrius, Salvatus, and John. These are called writers (scriptores) or keepers (custodes) ”

“ In December, 1477, a German glass painter, called simply Conrad, is employed upon the windows, and in May, 1478, he, or his workmen, make a wooden trellis to protect the glass:
Habuit Conradus Theutonicus qui restituit fenestras vitreas et tres denuo [de novo] fecit ducatos duos et carlenos quinque die xi decembris 1477. Item dedi ducatum unum his qui fecerunt fenestras ex ramo pro tutella fenestrarum vitrearuin die viiii maii 1478. ”

“ Marble was bought for the doorcase, and the door itself was studded with 95 bronze nails, which were gilt, as were also the ring and knocker, and the frame of trellised ironwork (cancellus) , which hung within the outer door. ”

“ This arrangement appears to have been confirmed by a Bull of Sixtus IV. before the end of 1477 [83] ; and it subsisted till 1480, when the Pope formally appointed Demetrius keeper, with a salary of three gold ducats a month, and other emoluments, the amount of which is not specified [84] . Shortly afterwards (28 April, 1481) the Pope appointed a second keeper, Jean de Chadel of Lyons [85] .
These officers and Platyna appear to have lived together in the rooms adjoining the Latin Library, as shewn by the accounts for the purchase of beds, furniture, and the like [86] ”