e deskes against the walls,
and being high may be afforded to be large, and being
wide may haue stone mullions and the glasse pointed,
which after all inventions is the only durable way in
our Climate for a publique building, where care must be
had that snowe driue not in....

The general design seems to have been borrowed from that of the Library of
S. Mark at Venice, begun by Sansovino in 1536. The Italian architect, like
Sir Christopher Wren, raised his library on a cloister, which is in the
Doric style, while the superstructure is Ionic. The Venetian example is
more ornate, and there are statues upon every pier of the balustrade. The
arcades are left open, because there was not the same necessity for
accommodating the level of the floor to that of older buildings, and also
because the wall opposite to the windows had to be left blank on account
of the proximity of other structures. No consideration for fittings such
as influenced Wren could have influenced the Italian architect.

The style of Wren's work will be understood from the elevation of a bay on
the east side (fig. 127), drawn to scale from the existing building. If
this be compared with the original design (fig. 126), it will be seen that
the style there indicated has been closely followed.

We will now consider the fittings. A long stretch of blank wall having
been provided both along the sides and at the ends of the room, Wren
proceeded to design a masterly combination of the old and new methods of
arranging bookcases. As he says in another passage of the same memoir,
when describing this part of his design:

The disposition of the shelues both along the walls and
breaking out from the walls ... must needes proue very
convenient and gracefull, and the best way for the
students will be to haue a litle square table in each
Celle with 2 chaires. The necessity of bringing windowes
and dores to answer to the old building leaues two
squarer places at the endes and 4 lesser Celles not to
study in, but to be shut up with some neat Lattice dores
for archives.

The bookcases, designed by himself, were executed under his direction by
Cornelius Austin, a Cambridge workman. My illustration (fig. 128) shews
one of the "4 lesser Celles" with one of its doors open, and next to it a
"Celle" for students with table, revolving desk, and two stools. These
pieces of furniture were also designed by Wren.

[Illustr