e desks were copied at S. John's College in the same University. A
contract dated 20 June, 1516, provides that the contractor

shall make all the Desks in the Library wythin the said
college of good and substanciall and abyll Tymber of Oke
mete and convenient for the same Library, aftir and
accordyng to the Library within ... Pembroke Hall[319].

The Library here referred to was on the first floor to the south of the
Great Gate of the college. It is now divided into chambers, but its
original extent can be readily made out by its range of equidistant
windows. The wall-spaces dividing these are 28 1/2 inches wide,
practically the same as those at Queens' College.

At Peterhouse also a similar arrangement seems to have subsisted when the
catalogue of 1418 was made. The very first book, a Bible, is said to stand
"in the sixth lectern on the west side (_lectrino 6^o ex parte
occidentali_)." The word _lectrinum_ is unusual, but it emphasizes the
form of the desk more clearly than any other.

[Illustration: Fig. 61 Single desk in the old Library, Lincoln Cathedral.]

A splendid example of this type of case is to be seen at Lincoln (fig.
61), where three "stalls" or desks, belonging to the old library already
described[320], are still preserved. Each is about 7 ft. long, 3 ft.
broad, and 4 ft. 4 in. high to the top of the sloping portion. At each
end, and in the centre, is a massive molded standard, 7 ft. 2 in. high,
terminating in a boldly carved finial; and these three standards are
connected together by a band of open-work, of a design similar to that of
the cornice of the library. Half way between this band and the top of the
desk is the bar to carry the chains, now of wood, but formerly of course
of iron; and below this again is a shelf 18 in. wide, projecting slightly
beyond the sloping portion of the desk. The edge of the desk is protected
by a ledge, as usual, and under it is a second shelf extending the whole
width of the piece of furniture. What was the use of these shelves? As the
bar is above the desk, not below it, the books must have reposed, as a
general rule, upon the desk, instead of being laid on their sides on the
shelf below it when not wanted by a reader. The chains would not have been
long enough to allow of any other arrangement. I think, therefore, that
the lower shelf must have been a constructional contrivance, to assist in
keeping the standards in their places. The narrow upper she