ibraries--the public libraries of
the Middle Ages--literature found a home, until the invention of printing
handed over to the world at large the duties which had been so well
discharged by special communities. This investigation is full of
difficulty; and, though I hope to arrive at some definite conclusions
respecting the position, size, dimensions, and fittings of monastic
libraries, I must admit that my results depend to a certain extent on
analogy and inference. It should be remembered that in England the
monasteries were swept away more than three centuries ago by a sudden
catastrophe, and that those who destroyed them were far too busy with
their own affairs to place on record the aspect or the plan of what they
were wrecking. In France again, though little more than a century has
elapsed since her monasteries were overwhelmed by the Revolution, and
though descriptions and views of many of her great religious houses have
been preserved, and much has been done in the way of editing catalogues of
their manuscripts, there is still a lamentable dearth of information on my
particular subject.

I shall begin by quoting some passages from the Rules and Customs of the
different Orders, which shew (1) that reading was encouraged and enforced
by S. Benedict himself, with whom the monastic life, as we conceive it,
may be said to have originated; (2) that subsequently, as Order after
Order was founded, a steady development of feeling with regard to books,
and an ever-increasing care for their safe-keeping, can be traced.

The Rule of S. Benedict was made public early in the sixth century; and
the later Orders were but offshoots of the Benedictine tree, either using
his Rule or basing their own statutes upon it. It will therefore be
desirable to begin this research by examining what S. Benedict said on the
subject of study, and I will translate a few lines from the 48th chapter
of his Rule, _Of daily manual labour_.

Idleness is the enemy of the soul; hence brethren ought,
at certain seasons, to occupy themselves with manual
labour, and again, at certain hours, with holy
reading....

Between Easter and the calends of October let them apply
themselves to reading from the fourth hour till near the
sixth hour.

From the calends of October to the beginning of Lent let
them apply themselves to reading until the second
hour.... During Lent, let them apply themselves to
reading from