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Chained volume of theological treatises in Latin
Lumen Animæ, Auctoritates de Vitiis et Virtutibus and others 15th century
Add MS 30049
By permission of The British Library

 

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The British Library
London
United Kingdom

Chained book
15th century

In the Middle Ages there were few books, and those that did exist were usually kept locked in chests or cupboards, or chained to desks in a church. As book collections grew larger, they began to be kept on shelves, which made efficient use of available space. The need for security remained, however, as books were still scarce and expensive, and it was the practice of many European libraries to chain books to shelves to prevent them from being stolen.

Chaining books resulted in books either lying on desks or reading shelves known as lecterns, or being shelved with their spines at the back, a method that endured well into the seventeenth century. When chaining of books began to die out, it became common practice to shelve books with their spine out. Chaining was not entirely abandoned, however. Some collections of chained books survive today, and in fact the chaining of some books continued until the first half of the nineteenth century.

The chains usually varied in length from about 1 to 1.5 metres in length, although some were shorter. The links ranged in size from 3.5 to 7.5 centimetres in length. The chains had to be long enough for the books to be lifted from the shelf and placed on desks or reading shelves attached to the bookcases. Chains were attached using a ring held by a length of thin brass that was bent around the edge of the book’s cover and riveted in place. The other end of the chain would then be attached to a rod, which in turn would be secured by a hasp, a hinged device attached to the wood of the furniture, and then locked.

This collection of theological treatises and other material in Latin, gathered and recorded during the fifteenth century, is a fine example of a chained book. Its long chain would have allowed it to be read easily on a lectern even if it was kept on a high shelf.