reception of the head of the socket in which the
bar rests (fig. 77); and just below the middle shelf it drops into a lock
and is secured by a key (fig. 73). A second hasp, similarly constructed,
secures the lowest of the three bars; but, as that bar is behind, and not
in front of, the shelf to which it belongs, the arrangements described
above are reversed. One lock and key serves for the ironwork belonging to
the three shelves.

[Illustration: Fig. 77. Iron bar, with part of the iron plate or hasp
which is secured by the lock and keeps the bar in place: Hereford.]

The chains are made of links of hammered iron as shewn in the sketch (fig.
78) which represents a piece of one of the actual size. There is usually a
swivel in the centre, probably to prevent twisting. They vary somewhat in
length, and in the length of the links, according to the shelf on which
the books to which they belong are ranged, it being obviously necessary to
provide for the convenient placing of a book on the desk when a reader
wished to consult it. The most usual dimensions are 3 ft. 4 in., 3 ft. 6
in., 4 ft. 3 in.

The removal of any of the volumes, or the addition of a new one, must have
been a tedious and inconvenient operation. The bar would have to be
withdrawn, and all the rings set free. Moreover, if this change had to be
effected in one of the compartments remote from the end of the case which
carried the lock, the bar belonging to each of the other compartments
would have to be withdrawn before the required volume could be reached.

[Illustration: Fig. 78. Piece of chain, shewing the swivel: Hereford.

Actual size.]

If the views (figs. 70, 71) of the book-cases at Corpus Christi College,
Oxford, be attentively examined, it will be seen that the ironwork exactly
resembles that at Hereford. We find similar sockets to contain the bars at
the junction of the horizontal shelves and vertical uprights, and a
similar system of iron hasps to prevent the bars from being withdrawn.

The desk for the reader would of course vary according to individual
taste. As a general rule it was attached to the ends of the case by strong
hinges, so that it could be turned up and got out of the way when any
alteration in the ironwork had to be carried out. Iron hooks to hold it up
were not unfrequently provided. One of these, from the Bodleian Library,
is here figured (fig. 79). It was also usual to provide a slit in this
desk, about 2 in. wide, as close