is low:
Nor can he on his flock their due bestow.

No example of an English book-press has survived, so far as I know, but it
would be rash to say that none exists; nor have I been so fortunate as to
find one in France, though I have taken a great deal of pains to obtain
information on the subject. In default of a press made specially to hold
books, I must content myself with representations of two well-known pieces
of furniture--both preserved in French churches.

The first (fig. 26) stands in the upper sacristy of the Cathedral of
Bayeux, over the south transept. The name usually given to it, _le
Chartrier de Bayeux_, implies that it was made to hold documents. M.
Viollet-le-Duc does not accept this view, but considers that it contained
reliquaries, with which he probably would not object to associate other
articles of church-plate.

[Illustration: Fig. 26. Part of the ancient press in Bayeux Cathedral,
called _Le Chartrier de Bayeux_.

From a photograph.]

[Illustration: Fig. 27. Press in the church at Obazine, Central France.

From a photograph.]

It is of oak, very coarse, rough, and massive. It is 9 ft. 3 inches high,
from floor to top, 17 ft. 2 inches long--(it was originally 3 ft.
longer)--and 3 ft. deep. There are two rows of cupboards each 3 ft. 8
inches high, with massive doors that still preserve their original
ironwork. The whole piece of furniture has once been painted, indications
of which still exist, but the subjects can no longer be made out. M.
Viollet-le-Duc[196], who possibly saw the paintings when they were in a
better state of preservation than when I examined them in 1896, decides
that they once represented the translation of relics.

My second example (fig. 27) is in the church of Obazine in Central France
(Departement de la Correze). It is far simpler and ruder than the press in
Bayeux Cathedral; and the style of ornamentation employed indicates a
somewhat earlier date; though M, Viollet-le-Duc places the construction of
both in the first years of the 13th century. It is 6 ft. 7 in. high, by 7
ft. broad, and 2 ft. 7 in. deep. The material is oak, which still bears a
few traces of having once been painted[197].

These pieces of furniture were certainly not made specially for books;
but, as they belong to a period when the monastic system was in full,
vigorous, life, it is at least probable that they resemble those used by
monks to contain their books. I have shewn in the previous c