College and Research Libraries By R O B E R T O. D O U G A N Some Thoughts of a Rare Book Librarian TH E U N I T E D S T A T E S of America has been for me a l a n d of pleasant sur- prises. If I h a d been told in D u b l i n a year ago t h a t I w o u l d at the same time in 1958 be addressing m e m b e r s of the A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y Association in San Francisco,1 I w o u l d simply n o t have be- lieved it. T o be invited to the l i b r a r i a n - ship of the H u n t i n g t o n was t h e first pleasant surprise, a n d t h a t was closely followed by a second: your i n v i t a t i o n to address this meeting. I have been h o n o r e d by b o t h invitations, a n d I feel t h a t this is the time to t h a n k you most w a r m l y f o r the fact t h a t I a m h e r e as your guest. I am p a r t i c u l a r l y glad, too, to have this o p p o r t u n i t y , at the very b e g i n n i n g of my life in this country, of m e e t i n g so m a n y of you whose work is w i t h the manuscripts, r a r e books, a n d special collections in t h e great libraries of the U n i t e d States. T o k n o w t h a t I a m one of you will go a long way to- wards m a k i n g me feel at h o m e in a strange, yet b e a u t i f u l a n d f r i e n d l y l a n d , a n d I look f o r w a r d to the privilege of m e m b e r s h i p in your association in gen- eral a n d to this newly-formed section of it in p a r t i c u l a r . I n t h e short time I have been h e r e —some six weeks—I have been endeav- o r i n g to get a c q u a i n t e d w i t h the think- ing a n d p l a n n i n g which have gone to- wards the creation of this section w i t h i n A C R L . I have r e a d of the establishment in 1954 of a C o m m i t t e e o n R a r e Books, 1 P a p e r p r e s e n t e d b e f o r e t h e A C R L R a r e B o o k s Sec- t i o n on J u l y IS a t S a n F r a n c i s c o . Mr. Dougan is Librarian, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, Cali- fornia. Manuscripts, a n d Special Collections (and I q u o t e ) : " t o p r o m o t e wider un- d e r s t a n d i n g of the value of r a r e books to scholarly research a n d to c u l t u r a l g r o w t h ; to encourage a m o r e e n l i g h t e n e d a p p r o a c h to the care, use, a n d recogni- t i o n of r a r e books in all libraries, a n d to p r o v i d e a m e e t i n g place f o r the dis- cussion of p r o b l e m s c o m m o n to the r a r e book l i b r a r i a n , " a n d I m u s t say it was h e a r t - w a r m i n g to see the light of day b r e a k i n g t h r o u g h the rarified atmos- p h e r e w h i c h has so o f t e n s u r r o u n d e d such collections. I have r e a d w i t h great interest the Symposium o n R a r e Book Libraries a n d Collections in Library Trends of April, 1957, a n d it was good to h e a r Dr. L a w r e n c e C. W r o t h , your very distinguished doyen of r a r e book l i b r a r i a n s h i p saying: " T h e r a r e book library exists to i n f o r m , enlighten, a n d delight its readers t h r o u g h collecting books, preserving them, a n d m a k i n g t h e m available f o r use." A n d h e was ably followed by Mr. T . R . Adams, w i t h m a n y of whose sentiments I a m wholly in agreement. W h e n you kindly invited me to ad- dress this meeting, the suggestion was m a d e t h a t I m i g h t in my talk "contrast t h e p r o b l e m s involved in o p e r a t i n g a great British research library w i t h those of a n A m e r i c a n research library," b u t f o r t u n a t e l y this topic was n o t insisted on a n d I was generously given my own choice of subject. I was very glad of t h e latter a l t e r n a t i v e because in the short time I have been h e r e I could h a r d l y d o justice to the f o r m e r . I h o p e you will forgive m e for n o t a n n o u n c i n g a def- inite topic as the subject of this pa- per, a n d t h a t you will accept "Some 388 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES T h o u g h t s of a R a r e Book L i b r a r i a n " as a h e a d i n g f o r w h a t I have g a t h e r e d to- gether f o r this occasion. T h i s will in- volve a certain a m o u n t of personal reminiscence, I a m a f r a i d , b u t in so f a r as it is p e r t i n e n t to the l i b r a r i a n s h i p of r a r e books, manscripts, a n d special col- lections I trust I may receive your in- dulgence. W h e n I use the term " r a r e b o o k " I d o so for the sake of simplification, a n d i n t e n d by it the inclusion of m a n u s c r i p t s a n d special collections. T h o u g h u n f a m i l - iar to me, this c o n n o t a t i o n is, I u n d e r - stand, f a m i l i a r to you; in t h e great libraries of t h e British Isles such as the British M u s e u m , the N a t i o n a l Libraries of Scotland a n d Wales, a n d in several of the university libraries, m a n u s c r i p t s are d e p a r t m e n t a l i z e d . U n d e r the chief l i b r a r i a n there is a keeper of m a n u - scripts, w h o has the care of everything w r i t t e n by h a n d , w h e t h e r in book f o r m or as d o c u m e n t s or archives; as his op- posite n u m b e r there is a keeper of p r i n t e d books who, if he is n o t himself a specialist in the old a n d the rare, has members of his staff whose business it is to care f o r such. I n the H u n t i n g t o n we have a keeper or c u r a t o r of m a n u - scripts, b u t the p r i n t e d books are divided i n t o two categories: r a r e a n d reference, a n d each d e p a r t m e n t has its c u r a t o r . T o those of us here, a n d I h o p e to the vast m a j o r i t y of the m e m b e r s of o u r profession, it is obvious t h a t the c u r a t o r s h i p of r a r e books calls f o r partic- u l a r qualifications, some of which may be a c q u i r e d t h r o u g h t r a i n i n g a n d ex- perience, b u t we must all have basically t h a t a t t i t u d e towards a book w h i c h I do n o t t h i n k I can describe better t h a n a n e n q u i r i n g m i n d . I suppose t h a t most l i b r a r i a n s are in the profession because they have a care f o r books, b u t to have a n e n q u i r i n g m i n d a b o u t the books we h a n d l e is m o r e t h a n caring; it should a m o u n t to a n u n a s h a m e d affection f o r SEPTEMBER 1958 t h e m . Since 1935, times, I h o p e , have changed, b u t it was a l a r m i n g to h e a r a college l i b r a r i a n in the east of the U.S.A. l a m e n t i n g the necessity f o r " p r o m o t i o n a l activities" in his library in the following words: "If h e is n o t already one, he [the l i b r a r i a n ] will be forced to become a professional book- lover. Book-loving is n o d o u b t a n o b l e passion, praiseworthy in businessmen a n d o t h e r amateurs, b u t o u t of place in the t e m p e r a m e n t of the l i b r a r i a n . " (I owe the q u o t a t i o n to the late D r . R a n d o l p h G. Adams's provocative " L i b r a r i a n s As Enemies of Books," p u b - lished in The Library Quarterly, V I I (1937). Times, indeed, m u s t have changed; a new a n d r e f r e s h i n g a t t i t u d e to the book has been b o r n a n d n u r t u r e d , a n d a g a t h e r i n g such as this, impossible then, has become a live reality today. For you are r a r e book librarians, are you not? Because you care for more t h a n the mere mechanics of l i b r a r i a n s h i p a n d the c o m p i l a t i o n of statistics; you care for books themselves, books w h i c h en- shrine the t h o u g h t s of master minds, books which have been in the v a n g u a r d of the m a r c h of civilization, a n d books which are the very w a r p a n d woof of history itself. B u t t h e r e is more to it even t h a n t h a t : you h a n d l e the first editions of these books—and w h a t a story each could tell! You h a n d l e copies of books which have been in the librar- ies of great m e n . A n d you h a n d l e the very sheets of p a p e r a n d v e l l u m leaves on which m e n a n d w o m e n have first c o m m i t t e d their t h o u g h t s to writing. T h e basic duty, a n d indeed privilege, of a l i b r a r i a n is to place a book in the h a n d s of the person w h o needs to read i t — n o t literally, of course, b u t the mechanics of o u r profession should all lead to t h a t end. W e a n d the book ful- fill o u r respective f u n c t i o n s . T h e great b u l k of the work d o n e in o u r libraries is just t h a t . T h e accessioning, catalog- 389 ing a n d classification of o u r n u m e r o u s day-to-day acquisitions f o r the use of o u r m a n y readers is a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a n d r o u t i n e work which calls f o r the ac- curate use of o u r professional abilities. Catalogers have no time to look beyond title pages a n d p e r h a p s prefaces, a n d the careful e x a m i n a t i o n of the books themselves a n d of the very copies they h a n d l e is n o t r e q u i r e d of t h e m . T h e work of m a k i n g books accessible m u s t go on. W e r a r e book librarians, however, have a d d i t i o n a l responsibilities a n d in their f u l f i l l m e n t we justify o u r a p p o i n t - ments n o t only to the libraries which we serve, b u t also to the world of schol- arship in general. W e h a n d l e a r a r e book, a n d instinc- tively we t u r n to the title page, b u t we have only just begun. T o us it is n o t just a n o t h e r copy of, say, the first e d i t i o n of Alice in Wonderland. W h a t has this copy got to tell us? Is the b i n d i n g orig- inal, or has the book been r e b o u n d ? Is this copy complete? For it must be carefully collated a n d c o m p a r e d w i t h the bibliography. C a n you lay your h a n d s on a s t a n d a r d bibliographical de- scription? I n o t h e r words, have you your reference books to h a n d ? F r o m w h a t li- brary d i d this copy come? Is there any o w n e r s h i p inscription anywhere? Is it, by any chance, a p r e s e n t a t i o n copy f r o m the a u t h o r , a n d if so, can you by research establish the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the d o n o r a n d the recipient? T h e s e are all questions you automatically ask o n these occasions, are they not? A n d they spring f r o m the e n q u i r i n g m i n d which should be f u n d a m e n t a l in o u r h a n d l i n g of the books which come i n t o o u r collections. Sometimes the research started in an a t t e m p t to answer these questions is ex- citing as well as r e w a r d i n g . T h e study of an old b i n d i n g a n d its end-papers and any early o w n e r s h i p a n d m a r g i n a l an- n o t a t i o n s o f t e n lead to the personal history of the book itself, and this in- f o r m a t i o n can be of considerable im- p o r t a n c e to the s t u d e n t of history, sociology, a n d even of science, b u t also we may find notes of value to the s t u d e n t employed o n b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l research. O n e well-known e x a m p l e comes to m i n d : the d a t e of p r i n t i n g of the Gutenberg Bible is n o t k n o w n , b u t we d o know t h a t it could n o t have been p r i n t e d a f t e r 1456. Why? Because it was noticed one day t h a t the copy of this book in the B i b l i o t h e q u e N a t i o n a l e in Paris bore an inscription by its r u b r i c a t o r giving n o t only his name, b u t also the date when he finished his work: August, 1456. For the first h u n d r e d years or so of their history p r i n t e d books were n o t m a r k e t e d as b o u n d volumes; they were sold by the quire, a n d the cost of the book d e p e n d e d on the n u m b e r of quires a n d the size of them. T h e purchaser saw to the b i n d i n g . Here, then, in the first stage of a book's history something a b o u t its first owner may be learned f r o m its b i n d i n g ; was he a collector, or was the book f o r use in a monastic, cathe- dral, or university library? A n d the end-papers, which are o f t e n scraps of vellum m a n u s c r i p t s or p r i n t e r ' s waste in the binder's workshop, can sometimes a d d corroborative evidence. H o w o f t e n on these end-papers one finds the words: "sum liber . . ." followed by a n a m e . It is the book itself speaking. Let us listen to the true story of a book which, f r o m m a n u s c r i p t d a t a on the title page a n d a study of the b i n d i n g , I was able to piece together some years ago.2 T h i s book which came i n t o my h a n d s to catalog a n d describe is a small folio v o l u m e c o n t a i n i n g t h e Gospels and Epistles in Low G e r m a n . It was p r i n t e d in Liibeck in 1506 and it is illustrated w i t h some fifty woodcuts; a fine e x a m p l e of an early sixteenth-century G e r m a n woodcut book, a n d u n d o u b t e d l y of con- 2 T h i s s t o r y was first told in The Library Review, no. 84, Glasgow, 1947. 390 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES siderable rarity. T h e first t h i n g I noticed was t h a t the b i n d i n g of p l a i n b r o w n calf was n o t c o n t e m p o r a r y b u t belonged to the e i g h t e e n t h century. I n the com- p a r t m e n t s of the back, f o r m e d by raised bands, I noticed a l t e r n a t i n g impressions in gold of the Royal Crown a n d T u d o r Rose, a n d r i g h t at the foot, in small letters: " G . I I I . " A little u n u s u a l , per- haps, b u t n o d o u b t capable of a simple e x p l a n a t i o n . Let us have a look at the title page. T h e first t h i n g to strike o n e here is the British M u s e u m d u p l i c a t e s t a m p a n d the date, 1787; this means t h a t the book h a d been in the B.M. in the e i g h t e e n t h century, a n d w h e n it was discovered to be a d u p l i c a t e it was sold. H o w d i d it get to the British Museum? T h e Royal Crown a n d " G . I I I " provide the clue, f o r the old Royal L i b r a r y was presented to the B.M. in 1757, a n d o n e of the M u s e u m ' s binders at a little later date n o d o u b t p u t the letters " G . I I I " (George I I I ) on the back to indicate at a brief glance the royal origin of the volume. B u t w h a t a b o u t the T u d o r Rose? Let us look at t h a t title page again; there is something else there as well as t h a t ugly old B.M. stamp. (Incident- ally, why have so-called librarians in the past so o f t e n disfigured b e a u t i f u l old books a n d manuscripts w i t h hideous stamps, laid on w i t h the strength a n d lack of precision of post office clerks, to the r u i n a t i o n of a d e l i g h t f u l title page or frontispiece illustration? T h e y certainly showed t h a t they h a d no af- fection f o r the precious books of which they were n o m i n a l l y the curators.) Yes, w h a t is that on the title page? A scribble, a n d in English too. A n d to j u d g e f r o m the color of the ink a n d the h a n d w r i t i n g , c o n t e m p o r a r y w i t h the d a t e of p r i n t i n g . W h a t does it say? Listen: " H e n r y is my best f r i e n d . " H e n r y . . . T u d o r Rose . . . H e n r y . . . 1506 . . . W h y , t h a t m u s t be H e n r y V I I I ! Let us compare o t h e r auto- g r a p h s of his. Yes, there does n o t seem m u c h d o u b t . Is there an e x t a n t catalog of H e n r y V I I I ' s library, a n d w o u l d we find this book in it? I n the P u b l i c R e c o r d Office in L o n d o n there is a catalog of H e n r y V I I I ' s library at his Palace of Westminster in the Augmentation Office Records, vol. 160, a n d sure enough, on fol. 110 recto, line 10, we r e a d Epistole et Evangelia in lingua Germanica. Moreover, all the books f r o m this library bore a n u m b e r entered on the r i g h t h a n d top corner of the title—other examples can be seen a m o n g the Royal L i b r a r y books at the British M u s e u m ; this book has "no. 317." A f t e r the days of H e n r y V I I I the book r e m a i n e d w i t h the o t h e r books in the Royal L i b r a r y a n d descended t h r o u g h successive generations of royal owners to George I I . A b o u t this time it was r e b o u n d in plain calf, a n d dec- o r a t e d w i t h the Royal Crown o n the back a n d the T u d o r Rose to show that it came f r o m the library of the T u d o r kings. Let us look at the " G . I I I " again; it is not very distinct . . . has it been superimposed on something else? Yes, we can distinctly trace: " H . V I I I . " So, w h e n it was r e b o u n d in p l a i n calf the b i n d e r letter " H . V I I I " to preserve the record t h a t this book was originally in a b i n d i n g m a d e f o r H e n r y V I I I . T h i s gold " H . V I I I " has been t a m p e r e d with by a later b i n d e r at the British M u s e u m w h o tried to alter it i n t o " G . I I I " to make it c o n f o r m w i t h o t h e r books in the Royal Library, b u t he was n o t very successful as the original " H . V I I I " can be seen q u i t e easily beneath. Yes, old books can tell us a lot if we listen; more t h a n any o t h e r objects of a n t i q u a r i a n interest. H e r e we have on its own showing the story of this o n e f r o m 1506 or t h e r e a b o u t s to 1787. I t m i g h t be possible to find o u t w h a t hap- pened to it next, b u t n o t f r o m a n y t h i n g it can tell us itself. I n the latter p a r t SEPTEMBER 1958 391 of last century the book belonged to W i l l i a m Morris a n d t h e n to C. F a i r f a x Murray, a great collector of early illus- t r a t e d books; b o t h their bookplates are m o u n t e d inside t h e f r o n t cover. No- w h e r e does it a p p e a r to have been re- corded, however, t h a t this was H e n r y V I I I ' s copy w i t h his a u t o g r a p h ; it is indeed very d o u b t f u l if it w o u l d have been sold by the British M u s e u m in 1787 h a d this been realized, a n d it looks as if this is one m o r e e x a m p l e of t h e careless discarding of duplicates by a l i b r a r i a n u n e q u i p p e d w i t h a n e n q u i r i n g m i n d ! T h e book has now f o u n d its fit- t i n g h o m e once m o r e in the Royal Li- brary at W i n d s o r Castle. I n the history of book collecting there have been m a n y such examples of dis- coveries m a d e t h r o u g h the careful ex- a m i n a t i o n of copies in h a n d . Sometimes, however, it is the text itself a n d the p a p e r it is p r i n t e d o n t h a t call for o u r a t t e n t i o n a n d , to come d o w n to m u c h later times, w h o a m o n g the older l i b r a r i a n s here could n o t have been thrilled by t h e e n q u i r i n g m i n d s of J o h n C a r t e r a n d G r a h a m Pollard, w h o in 1934 unveiled the forgeries of T . J . Wise in their Enquiry (note the word) into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets, which is o n e of the best detective stories I know? T h e a p p r o a c h of the e n q u i r i n g m i n d , which seeks to get on i n t i m a t e terms w i t h the books we h a n d l e , leads n a t u - rally, as I said earlier, to affection a n d therefore care for their physical well- being. W e learn to h a n d l e them care- fully, treat t h e m properly, a n d to see t h a t others d o so too. I n my experience, the m a j o r i t y of advanced scholars w h o need access to o u r original m a n u s c r i p t a n d p r i n t e d sources are sufficiently in- d e b t e d to books a n d p a p e r s to respect their fragility a n d to avoid h a r m to them, b u t u n h a p p i l y there are excep- tions. T h e y can o f t e n be detected at the outset by the n a t u r e of their e n q u i r y , a n d such was t h e case at the H u n t i n g - ton L i b r a r y a few weeks ago. W e re- ceived a request f r o m a visiting r e a d e r to see all o u r Books of H o u r s , because he was interested in the iconography of a p a r t i c u l a r , r a t h e r out-of-the-way saint. H i s i n t e n t i o n was to leaf t h r o u g h t h e m all in his search for this saint, involving himself as well as the library staff in considerable labor, to say n o t h i n g of possible d a m a g e to the delicate minia- tures which are characteristic of these books. If he h a d really k n o w n w h a t h e was doing, he w o u l d have asked to see only those m a n u s c r i p t s which were for use in t h a t p a r t i c u l a r area of E u r o p e where t h a t saint was venerated. A n d so, of course, f o r the sake of preserving o u r whole collection f r o m unnecessary wear a n d tear, h e was limited to t h a t selection. T h i s anecdote has firmly directed my t h o u g h t s to the care of manuscripts, a n d I feel t h a t this may be t h e a p p r o p r i a t e m o m e n t to accept a suggestion t h a t I m i g h t say a few words a b o u t t h e han- d l i n g of the f a m o u s Irish manuscripts in T r i n i t y College, D u b l i n , w i t h which I a m n a t u r a l l y f a m i l i a r as I p r e p a r e d an e x h i b i t i o n a n d catalog of t h e m some five years ago. T h e most r e n o w n e d , t h o u g h n o t the oldest, is of course the Book of Kells, a n d as I was intimately concerned w i t h its r e b i n d i n g a n d sub- sequent display you may like to h e a r a b o u t that. T h i s is the most elaborately o r n a m e n t e d a n d decorated m a n u s c r i p t in the world, a n d a l t h o u g h its text is q u i t e simply t h a t of the Four Gospels in L a t i n , it is surprising w h a t a lot of mis- conceptions a n d mystery s u r r o u n d it. Maybe its e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y rich a n d e x u b e r a n t decoration bemuses the spirit —as it has bemused m i n e m o r e t h a n once—or maybe it is t h a t " s o m e t h i n g I r i s h " a b o u t it! I n fact, though, it is be- lieved t h a t the scribes a n d artists pur- 392 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES posely went o u t of their way to s u r r o u n d parts of the sacred w o r d w i t h these ex- t r a o r d i n a r y p a t t e r n s a n d designs in o r d e r to create mysteries which only the i n i t i a t e d could solve. F r o m t h e high- spirited American, w h o hailed m e out- side the library w i t h the words: "Say, where's Kelly's book?" to the d e m u r e middle-aged English g e n t l e m a n , who, a f t e r gazing reverently u p o n it f o r a while a n d f a i l i n g to make a n y t h i n g o u t of the text, asked if there was a good English translation, the Book of Kells provides the Mecca f o r all visitors to D u b l i n in general a n d to T r i n i t y Col- lege in particular. I n 1952 the book was displayed on a fairly steep inclined p l a n e in its show- case a n d the sewing of t h e leaves in the old binding, which h a d d o n e d u t y for little m o r e t h a n fifty years, was giv- ing way, the process b e i n g accelerated by the gravitational p u l l of the heavy vellum leaves. T h e loosening b i n d i n g was, of course, h a v i n g a b a d effect on the leaves themselves, which r u b b e d together whenever the book was o p e n e d a n d shut. A n d so, in your care of m a n u - scripts, especially i l l u m i n a t e d ones, may I suggest t h a t you e x h i b i t t h e m prefer- ably on a flat, or only slightly sloping surface. If you must e x h i b i t t h e m prac- tically vertical they must be adequately s u p p o r t e d , w i t h the leaves of each p a r t of the o p e n e d book tightly w r a p p e d a n d s u p p o r t e d as well, so t h a t the force of gravity does n o t cause t h e m to p u l l at the b i n d i n g . T h e search for a b o o k b i n d e r w i t h sufficient experience in the h a n d l i n g of vellum (which presents q u i t e different problems f r o m paper) led eventually to Mr. Roger Powell, w h o was at o n e time associated w i t h the late Douglas Cocke- rell, the m a n w h o b o u n d the Codex Sinaiticus for the British M u s e u m . Since it was deemed inadvisable to allow t h e Book to leave T r i n i t y College, a work- shop was e q u i p p e d in the library itself; this also h a d the advantage t h a t prob- lems which arose in t h e course of the work could be dealt w i t h p r o m p t l y . W h e n the book was p u l l e d it was f o u n d t h a t a considerable n u m b e r of originally p a i r e d leaves h a d become dissociated f r o m their p a r t n e r s — p r e s u m a b l y some time ago, because the b a r b a r o u s prac- tice of oversewing h a d been resorted to in earlier r e b i n d i n g s — a n d the first great p r o b l e m raised its head. T h e pair- ing u p of the single leaves by means of linen guards, which h a d to be sewn o n because there is n o k n o w n adhesive to stick a n y t h i n g to v e l l u m p e r m a n e n t l y , would lead to considerable swelling at t h e back of the book w h e n t h e leaves were g a t h e r e d i n t o sections f o r sewing, a n d the result would be a wedge-shaped volume, very thick at the back a n d taper- ing to the fore-edge; a n object n o t only unsatisfactory as a binding, for it could never be m a d e rigid e n o u g h to prevent the leaves' r u b b i n g together w h e n han- dled, b u t it w o u l d be unsightly a n d un- gainly i n t o the bargain. I n t h e e n d it was decided to compensate f o r the thick back by inserting sections of b l a n k vel- l u m on single guards, thereby increasing the thickness of the book at the fore- edge w i t h o u t a d d i n g m o r e t h a n a frac- tion to the thickness of the back. If this were d o n e between the sections or gatherings of the book, there w o u l d be the m i n i m u m interference w i t h the text, b u t of course a very thick v o l u m e of more t h a n seven inches in d e p t h would be the result. A n d so the proposal was a d o p t e d t h a t each Gospel be b o u n d separately, b u t u n i f o r m l y w i t h the others, a n d t h a t the whole Book of Kells in its f o u r volumes be provided w i t h a comprehensive case. B u t before the sewing-on of the guards could begin, the b o o k b i n d e r a n n o u n c e d t h a t it was necessary, first of all to flat- ten the leaves. Vellum, as you know, is SEPTEMBER 1958 393 susceptible to climatic conditions a n d we knew t h a t certain leaves were creased or otherwise o u t of shape, b u t immediate- ly we h e a r d they were to be flattened we were n a t u r a l l y a l a r m e d because we could only t h i n k of pressure f r o m above a n d below a n d possible i r r e p a r a b l e d a m a g e to the decorated pages. Flatten- ing was effected by d a m p e n i n g each leaf (or pair of leaves, w h e r e t h e p a i r still existed) between b l o t t i n g p a p e r , a n d exerting gentle tension f r o m edge to edge while it dried. T h e result in every case was most satisfactory; the leaves were n o t only flattened b u t freshened. Finally the f o u r volumes were ready f o r casing. Simple b i n d i n g cases of oak boards w i t h pigskin backs were made, each reinforced w i t h a d d i t i o n a l pigskin b a n d s at the top a n d b o t t o m of the back. T h e finished volumes resemble very closely m a n y of t h e simple fifteenth- century " h a l f - b i n d i n g s " t h a t have sur- vived to this day, a n d so, it is h o p e d these too will last five h u n d r e d years. Clasps were n o t fitted to the boards at the fore-edges, as these w h e n fastened exert only d i m i n i s h i n g pressure f r o m the edge to t h e back. Instead, each v o l u m e is enclosed in a carrying case fitted w i t h a lid a n d spring which, w h e n secured, exerts a u n i f o r m pressure over the whole v o l u m e w h e n it lies closed. I h o p e I have n o t wearied you w i t h these descriptive details, b u t I do believe they contain m a n y points of interest to all of us whose business it is to care f o r the physical well-being of o u r books a n d manuscripts. W e were so satisfied w i t h Mr. Powell's e x p e r t work on t h e Book of Kells, t h a t he was subsequently en- trusted w i t h the r e b i n d i n g of the eighth- century Book of D u r r o w (estimated to be a b o u t a h u n d r e d years older t h a n the Book of Kells, a n d the first fully decorat- ed Irish m a n u s c r i p t of the Gospels), the Book of D i m m a (also eighth-century) a n d the Book of A r m a g h , which dates f r o m a b o u t 807. W h i l e the Book of Dur- row was u n b o u n d , it was p h o t o g r a p h e d for the facsimile e d i t i o n to be p u b l i s h e d by the same firm which issued the Book of Kells facsimile in 1950. A n d since the p h o t o g r a p h e r ' s task was eased in this way I t h i n k the results will be more satis- factory. A n d I should m e n t i o n , since it is a p o i n t w h i c h will occur to you as r a r e book librarians, t h a t once the fac- simile is p u b l i s h e d T r i n i t y College does n o t allow r e p h o t o g r a p h i n g of the orig- inal for any purpose, n o r the h a n d l i n g of m a n u s c r i p t s by visiting scholars unless they can prove their absolute need to see the original to clear u p some palaeog- r a p h i c a l p o i n t . I can tell you t h a t it was a n a b s o r b i n g a n d exciting experience to go t h r o u g h the newly-bound book to select the 304 openings which are needed in order to display a different one for every day in the year t h a t the library is o p e n . (We were always r e p u t e d to " t u r n a page every day," b u t , in fact, it is only since the book has been r e b o u n d t h a t this practice has been m a i n t a i n e d . ) It was really a m a t t e r of m a k i n g u p my m i n d w h a t to leave out; some pages show m o r e signs of wear, or are m u c h less decorative t h a n others. I n the end, however, the thirty-six openings to be o m i t t e d were decided u p o n . My experience was this, a n d it is o n e t h a t has not, to my knowl- edge, been n o t e d before: each Gospel begins quietly w i t h comparatively little i l l u m i n a t i o n — e x c e p t , of course, for the gorgeous o p e n i n g page, for it is the or- d i n a r y text pages I am talking a b o u t — b u t as the Gospel story u n f o l d s itself, so the d e c o r a t i o n increases in q u a n t i t y , a n d as we reach the events of Holy W e e k a n d the Passion, the colorful initial letters occur every few lines a n d become m o r e e l a b o r a t e a n d e x u b e r a n t in design, as if the artists were carried a l o n g by an urge to glorify in their own way the story of (Continued on page 430) 394 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES of R o c h e s t e r P r e s s f o r t h e A s s o c i a t i o n of Col- l e g e a n d R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s , 1958. (ix, 116 1. d i a g r . , t a b l e s . 2 8 c m . A C R L M I C R O C A R D S E R I E S , n o . 95) T h e s i s (M.S. i n L . S . ) — C a t h o l i c U n i - v e r s i t y of A m e r i c a , 1957. B i b l i o g r a p h y : 1. 103-105. 3 c a r d s . $.75. T h e p u r p o s e of t h i s s t u d y is t o r e l a t e t h e h i s t o r y of t h e f o u n d i n g of t h e S y r i a n P r o t e s - t a n t C o l l e g e L i b r a r y a n d its g r o w t h a n d d e - v e l o p m e n t i n t o t h e m o d e r n u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y s y s t e m w h i c h exists a t t h e A m e r i c a n U n i v e r - sity of B e i r u t t o d a y . I t p r o p o s e s , m o r e o v e r , t o s h o w t h e i n f l u e n c e w h i c h t h e U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y ' s E a s t e r n e n v i r o n m e n t h a s h a d u p o n t h e g o a l s w h i c h it h a s set, t h e p r o b l e m s i t h a s f a c e d , t h e b o o k c o l l e c t i o n s it h a s f o r m e d , a n d t h e services it h a s r e n d e r e d n o t o n l y t o B e i r u t a n d t h e U n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i t y b u t t o t h e e n t i r e M i d d l e E a s t . Rare Book Librarian (Continued from page 394) the approaching climax of Christ's work on earth. I could go on talking about the Book of Kells, but with one more point, which I feel is not inappropriate, I will con- clude that topic and, indeed, my talk. W e do not know where the Book of Kells was written; as a Scot perhaps I may be excused for a certain bias towards Iona, off the west coast of Scotland, where there was a scriptorium. T h e r e is no evidence of any scriptorium having existed in Kells, b u t lack of evidence is no proof. We do know that the Book was kept in the town of Kells, which is in County Meath, now in the R e p u b l i c of Ireland, at least f r o m the year 1006, when we have the first historical record of its existence in the account given of its t h e f t f r o m the great church of Kells and its subsequent recovery half-buried in the ground, right through the middle-ages down to the mid-seventeenth century. And then, according to the general be- lief, it came to T r i n i t y College along with Archbishop Ussher's other books in 1661. And what was the basis for this belief? Why, the Archbishop had written his name in the Book on fol. 334 verso! Yes, that is true, b u t it is not an owner- ship inscription; it is merely a signed attestation that he h a d counted the leaves a n d f o u n d them to be so-and-so many, just as you or I today might col- late a book in our library and note and initial our findings in pencil on the in- side of the f r o n t or back cover. Nowa- days, if someone credited us with the ownership of a book in which we h a d jotted and initialed the collation, we would question that person's sanity. You see it is possible to make wrong infer- ences, and our e n q u i r i n g minds must always be critical about everything we find in getting to know our books. So I end on a note of warning, but don't let that discourage you. Get to know all about your books and cherish them, for you are the custodians of our inheri- tance. 430 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES