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The Study and the Sofa

The Study and the Sofa By the time of the Restoration it had begun to dawn on men's minds that wellbound books, standing upright on shelves with their spines outward, provided not merely the handiest arrangement for the reader, but a decorative feature of considerable beauty for the room. The new fashion had its birth, as I have said, in France. The first great library to be shelved with the spines outwards was that of the historian Jacques de Thou d. 1617. In 1627, when Gabriel Naud published his Avis pour dresser une Bibliothque it was the general custom there he notes that they do not now place their Books upon Desks as the ancients did but upon shelves that hide all the Walls. Evelyn published his translation of Naud in 1661, and by then the new fashion was becoming general in England. The change can be traced by current fashions in binding. Volumes intended for storage flat had their sides decorated with elaborate panels, or with cameos and bosses. Those intended for upright storage had designs and lettering or labels on foreedge or spine. Foreedge decoration gave way gradually to spine decoration in the middle of the 17th century, reaching its full development with Samuel Mearne, Charles II's binder. Storage with foreedge outwards was common in English libraries up to the Restoration it was not discontinued at Cambridge University Library till 1706. It is sometimes said that it was a relic of the earlier custom of chaining books. Normally the chain was attached to the lower foreedge of the cover or the top foreedge if the book was kept on a lectern, and this means that the foreedge must face outwards. Very occasionally the chain was attached to the joint of the cover and spine, so that the book stood with the spine outwards, but this was rare. However, foreedge arrangement was so general in preRestoration private libraries in England in which chains would rarely if ever have been used that I find it difficult to regard it merely as a relic of the chained book. In a small collection, I doubt if people bothered which way the book stood. Foreedge arrangement may have some slight practical convenience, for it saves turning the book round when you take it down from the shelf. The deciding factor is probably the title label. If this is on the foreedge, the book is placed with the foreedge showing if it is on the spine, it is placed with spine to the front. Aesthetically the title fits better on the spine, and is more legible and convenient thus. The fashion thus became universal. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Library Review Emerald Publishing

The Study and the Sofa

IRWIN, RAYMOND
Library Review , Volume 19 (4): 5 – Apr 1, 1963
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0024-2535
DOI
10.1108/eb012394
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

By the time of the Restoration it had begun to dawn on men's minds that wellbound books, standing upright on shelves with their spines outward, provided not merely the handiest arrangement for the reader, but a decorative feature of considerable beauty for the room. The new fashion had its birth, as I have said, in France. The first great library to be shelved with the spines outwards was that of the historian Jacques de Thou d. 1617. In 1627, when Gabriel Naud published his Avis pour dresser une Bibliothque it was the general custom there he notes that they do not now place their Books upon Desks as the ancients did but upon shelves that hide all the Walls. Evelyn published his translation of Naud in 1661, and by then the new fashion was becoming general in England. The change can be traced by current fashions in binding. Volumes intended for storage flat had their sides decorated with elaborate panels, or with cameos and bosses. Those intended for upright storage had designs and lettering or labels on foreedge or spine. Foreedge decoration gave way gradually to spine decoration in the middle of the 17th century, reaching its full development with Samuel Mearne, Charles II's binder. Storage with foreedge outwards was common in English libraries up to the Restoration it was not discontinued at Cambridge University Library till 1706. It is sometimes said that it was a relic of the earlier custom of chaining books. Normally the chain was attached to the lower foreedge of the cover or the top foreedge if the book was kept on a lectern, and this means that the foreedge must face outwards. Very occasionally the chain was attached to the joint of the cover and spine, so that the book stood with the spine outwards, but this was rare. However, foreedge arrangement was so general in preRestoration private libraries in England in which chains would rarely if ever have been used that I find it difficult to regard it merely as a relic of the chained book. In a small collection, I doubt if people bothered which way the book stood. Foreedge arrangement may have some slight practical convenience, for it saves turning the book round when you take it down from the shelf. The deciding factor is probably the title label. If this is on the foreedge, the book is placed with the foreedge showing if it is on the spine, it is placed with spine to the front. Aesthetically the title fits better on the spine, and is more legible and convenient thus. The fashion thus became universal.

Journal

Library Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Apr 1, 1963

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