July

Claude Clement, Musei, siue bibliothecae tam privatae, quàm publicae extructio, instructio, cura, usus

The July rare book of the month is Claude Clement’s Musei, siue bibliothecae tam privatae, quàm publicae extructio, instructio, cura, usus, printed in Lyon in 1635. This is a work about libraries and librarianship, using the library at El Escorial in Spain as an example of an ideal library. El Escorial is a vast complex comprised of historically significant architecture from the Spanish Renaissance period. It was originally built as a monastery, royal palace and royal mausoleum near Madrid. The monastery was built to commemorate King Philip II’s 1557 defeat of the French army of Duke Anne de Montmorency. The building was originally known as San Lorenzo el Real and took twenty-one years to build (1563-1584). It contains one of the greatest libraries in the world, which was completed in 1592 (although books and manuscripts first arrived there in 1575) as well as frescoes by Pellegrino Tibaldi and Federico Zuccaro. Later frescoes were painted by El Greco, Luca Giordano and Claudio Coello. The library tables were designed to allow users to consult a variety of works, not just books, and thus were of a larger size than normally found in libraries of the time.

Robert Ashley (1565-1641), the founder of Middle Temple library, visited the Escorial library in 1618 and described it as “a glorious golden librarie of Arabian bookes”. Ashley mentions the library again in the preface to his translation of Almansor the learned (1627) where he describes the work as part of “an Arabian historie concerning the losse of Spaine by Roderigo king of the Gothes, which … was translated into Spanish out of the Arabian copie remayning in the Escurial”.

The book was written by Claude Clement, a French Jesuit priest who was interested in the organisation of libraries, in particular the Escorial library. Clement taught Greek and Latin at the imperial college in Madrid and is often referred to as Claudio Clemente. The title page consists of an engraved illustration, which is a fairly common feature of 17th century books. The illustration incorporates portraits of Philip II and Philip IV and elements of Greek mythology. The work outlines how portraits, statutes, inscriptions and emblems in a library can be used to inspire and instruct those using the collections. According to Erin M. Grant “Clement’s [programme] of author portraits was intended to help users locate books in the library’s collection by placing images of authors next to their works on the shelves”. It discusses the importance of including coins, globes, maps, musical and scientific instruments, in addition to books in a library’s collections. The work highlights the importance of classification techniques, librarianship, and how to best organise and decorate a library to inspire learning. Clement’s classification system was “based on the Escorial’s arrangement of books devised by Benito Arias Montano, divided literature into twenty-four major disciplines” (Grant). It also discusses the place of ‘useless’ and forbidden books in a library, such as those on magic, heretical works, and plagiarised works. Lastly, Clement gives guidance on the care and handling of books.

The copy at Middle Temple is in its 18th century binding, which shows evidence of once having been chained (the library was chained during the 18th century). It also shows its 1734 classmark- ‘B side 1 Seat Letter D Number 18’ and a later 19th century one- ‘t.b.1’. The first library catalogues consisted of hand-written manuscript ledgers. The first printed catalogue, Bibliotheca illustris Medii Templi Societatis was commissioned privately by Bartholomew Shower in 1700 (link). Our copy was donated to the library in 1834 by Robert Maitland. The first printed catalogued commissioned by the Inn was not printed until 1734, entitled Catalogus librorum bibliothecae Honorabilis Societatis Medii Templi, Londoni. These are the earliest printed library catalogues at the Inns of Court.

Although the book is in relatively sound condition, it does require some conservation work, at a cost of £200.00 If you would be interested in sponsoring Musei, siue bibliothecae tam privatae, quàm publicae extructio, instructio, cura, usus, contact the library at: library@middletemple.org.uk, 020 7427 4830. We will send you before-and-after photos of the conservation work and will place a bookplate commemorating your donation in the book.

Renae Satterley (r.satterley@middletemple.org.uk), Librarian, July 2016