vious that the new presses
or cases must either be placed in the cloister or be easily accessible
from it. The time had not yet come when the collection could be divided,
and be placed partly in the cloister, partly in a separate and sometimes
distant room. This want of book-room was supplied in two ways. In
Benedictine and possibly in Cluniac houses the books were stored in
detached wooden presses, which I shall describe presently; but the
Cistercians adopted a different method. At the beginning of the twelfth
century, when that Order was founded, the need of additional book-space
had been fully realised; and, consequently, in their houses we meet with a
special room set apart for books. But the conservative spirit which
governed monastic usage, and discouraged any deviation from the lines of
the primitive plan, made them keep the press in the wall close to the door
of the church; and, in addition to this, they cut off a piece from the
west end of the sacristy, which usually intervened between the south
transept and the Chapter-House, and fitted it up for books. This was done
at Fossa Nuova. The groundplan (fig. 21) shews the press which I have
already figured, and the book-room between the transept and the
Chapter-House, adjoining the sacristy. It is 14 ft. long by 10 ft. broad,
with a recess in its north wall which perhaps once contained another
press.

[Illustration: Fig. 21. Groundplan of part of the Abbey of Fossa Nuova.

To shew the book-room and book-press, and their relations to adjoining
structures: partly from M. Enlart's work, partly from my own
measurements.]

There is a similar book-room at Kirkstall Abbey near Leeds, built about
1150. The plan (fig. 22, A) shews its relation to the adjoining
structures. The _armarium commune_ (_ibid._ B) is a little to the north
of the room, as at Fossa Nuova. A room in a similar position, and destined
no doubt to the same use, is to be seen at Beaulieu, Hayles, Jervaulx,
Netley, Tintern, Croxden, and Roche.

[Illustration: Fig. 22, Groundplan of part of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire.

A, book-room: B, _armarium commune_.]

The catalogue of the books at the Abbey of Meaux in Holderness[181],
founded about the middle of the 12th century, has fortunately been
preserved; and it tells us not only what books were kept in one of these
rooms, but how they were arranged. After the contents of the presses in
the church, which contained chiefly service-books, we come to the "com