. This catalogue, after a brief preface stating that
it includes "all the books belonging to the library of the Holy Convent of
S. Francis at Assisi, whether they be chained, or whether they be not
chained," begins as follows:

In the first place we make a list of the books which are
chained to benches (_banchi_) in the Public Library as
follows, and observe that all the leaves of all the
books which are in this catalogue, whether they are in
quires of 12, 10, 8, or any other number of leaves
larger or smaller,--every one of these books contains
the denomination of the quires, as appears in the first
quire of each book on the lower margin: all the quires
being marked at beginning and end in black and red with
the figure here shewn, and the number of the quire
within it.

[Illustration]

Moreover, the letters of the alphabet that are placed on
the top of the covers ought all to be fairly large and
entirely black, as marked below [in this catalogue] at
the end of each book[363].

This introduction is succeeded by the list of books. They are chained to
nine benches on the west side of a room, and to the same number on the
east side. The total is 170.

The second part of the catalogue has the following heading:

In the name of the Lord, Amen. Here begins the list of
all the books which are in the Reserved Library
(_libraria secreta_) of the Holy Convent of S. Francis
at Assisi, appointed to be lent to prelates, masters,
readers, bachelors, and all other brethren in orders,
according as the amount of knowledge or line of study of
each demands them.

This part of the collection is contained in eleven presses (for which the
unusual word _solarium_[364] is used) arranged along the east and west
walls of a room, but whether the same as the last we are not informed. The
number of manuscripts is 530.

A considerable number of the manuscripts here registered still exists.
They are well taken care of in the Town Hall, and a list of them has been
privately printed. Several are in their original condition, bound in
boards about a quarter of an inch thick, covered with white leather. The
title, written on a strip of parchment, is pasted on the top of the
right-hand board. It usually begins with a capital letter in red or black,
denoting the desk or press in which a given MS. would be found, thus:

F Postilla Magistri
Nic