 |
|
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
|
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.
|