nal shelf
(_ibid._ C, D). At present the number has been further increased by the
addition of a fourth shelf above the desk (_ibid._ A, B), and two below it
(_ibid._ I, K, L, M). The desks have been altered by a change in the
position of the bracket, and by the suppression of the slit through which
the chains usually passed, as I shall explain below.

The system of chaining used for the lectern-system required modification
and extension to suit this new arrangement of shelves. At Corpus Christi
College most of the iron-work remains (fig. 70); but it is necessary to go
elsewhere to find chained books actually in use. Of such chaining I know
no better example than the Chapter Library in Hereford Cathedral, from a
study of which I will describe the system, and shew that it is the same as
that employed at Corpus Christi College and elsewhere.

The Chapter Library at Hereford was originally over the west cloister, and
there is evidence that it was being fitted up in 1394, when Walter de
Rammesbury, B.D., gave L10 for the desks[334]. The original building has
long since been destroyed, and the books were transferred from one place
to another until the present beautiful structure was built on the old site
in 1897.

[Illustration: Fig. 73. Part of a bookcase in the Chapter Library,
Hereford.]

Throughout these changes some very ancient bookcases have been preserved.
They have been taken to pieces and altered several times, but are
probably, in the main, those put up in 1394. Above all, one of them
possesses, in thorough working order, the system of chaining, parts of
which are to be met with on the cases at Oxford which we have been
considering. Of the accompanying illustrations the first (fig. 72) gives a
general view of the most complete case, that which now contains the
manuscripts, and the second (fig. 73) shews one compartment of the same
case with the books, chains, desk etc. This case is 9 ft. 8 in. long, 2
ft. 2 in. wide and 8 ft. high, exclusive of the cornice. The material is
unplaned oak, very rough; the ends are 2-3 in. thick, made of three planks
fastened together with strong wooden pegs. The desk has been a good deal
altered, and is now inconveniently low, but, as the books were chained, it
is evident that there must always have been desks on each case, and
moreover the hook which held them up is still to be seen in several
places. The frames to contain the catalogue, which closely resemble those
at Oxford, ar