13TH - 19TH CENTURIES
[ 13TH ]
out with
monastic libraries
RURALLY LOCATED, LESS APPEALING
Not as many young people were choosing the monastic life.
Intellectual life was shifting.
(Murray, 2009, p. 61)
(Hobson, 1970, p.10)
Wells Cathedral Library
Wells, England (1407)
in with cathedral libraries
LOCATED IN BUSTLING CITIES
Cathedrals had schools that included religious training, but they also taught civil lawn and medicine to sons of nobles and merchants
(Murray, 2009, p. 61)
[ 14 TH & 15 TH ]
cupboard SYSTEM
books not the show piece
When cupboards were in use, their outer decoration that was the most important surface to decorate. Cupboards could be anywhere from completely full to totally empty, as the books themselves, nor their number were the focus, unlike in later periods.
(Campbell, 2013, p. 106)
Studiolo:
“tiny rooms created for Italian princes, richly decorated library rooms, ornate panelling concealing cupboards”
(Campbell, 2013, p. 106)
Ducal palace, Gubbio, Italy;
On display: Metropolitan Museum of Art
lectErn SYSTEM
banchi: italian for bench/pew
FEATURED LIBRARY
Biblioteca
Malatestian
Oldest library space in the Western world to retain its original fittings and collection. The oldest surviving “medieval” library was not built in the middle ages, but the Renaissance. (Campbell, 2013, p. 73-74)
Cesena, Italy (1452)
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
"Two rows of banchi: look and arranged like pews in a church. Seat in front forms the support for the sloping reading desk of the one behind. Just visible below each sloping desk there is a single shelf on which the books sit. Position of each book is fixed, chained to the desk."
(Campbell, 2013, 74)
Used in colleges and universities, and
soon was replicated in public and
private libraries all over England.
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Stalls split the library room into confined bays to give readers a semi-private, carrel type space.
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(Campbell, 2013, p. 118)
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featured example: virtual tour
OLD QUEEN'S COLLEGE LIBRARY
Cambridge, United Kingdom
stall SYSTEM
ORIGIN: england
16th& early 17th century
OTHER 13-16th century VIRTUAL LIBRARY TOURS
BIBLIOTECA MARCIANA, Venice, Italy (1564)