s and three intervals = 13 ft. I pointed out
above that 43 ft. at least might be allowed for the shelf extending from
the door to the fireplace. Of this I have absorbed 23 ft., leaving 20 ft.
for the distance from the door to the corner of the room. As we are not
told anything about the position of the door my estimate of the size of
the room cannot be carried further.

A similar arrangement obtained in the library of Anne de France, daughter
of Louis XI., or as she is usually called Anne de Beaujeu[531]. Her
catalogue made 19 September, 1523, records 314 titles, which I need hardly
say represent a far larger number of books. They were arranged like those
of the Duchess Margaret, on eleven desks (_poulpitres_). These were set
round a room, with the exception of two which were placed in the middle of
it. It is interesting to note respecting one of these, that it had a
cupboard at the end, for the contents are entered as follows: _au bout
dudit poulpitre sont enclos les livres qui s'ensuivent_, and sixteen
volumes are enumerated. There was also a shelf set against the wall,
described as _le plus hault poulpitre le long de la dite muraille_, which
contained fifty-five volumes. This desk was probably high up, like the
one in the library of the Duchess Margaret. The books upon it are noted as
being all covered with red velvet, and ornamented with clasps, bosses, and
corner-pieces of metal. There were also in this library an astrolabe, and
a sphere with the signs of the Zodiac.

[Illustration: Fig. 139. S. John writing his Gospel.

From a MS. _Hours_ in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.]

A desk, similar in general character to that figured in the _Ship of
Fools_, but of a curiously modern type, occurs in an Hours in the
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, executed about 1445 for Isabel, Duchess of
Brittany. The picture (fig. 139) represents S. John writing his Gospel.

A modification of this form of desk was common in Italy. It is often used
by painters of the fifteenth century in pictures of the Annunciation,
where it does duty as a prie-dieu. The example I have selected (fig. 140)
is from a painting by Benedetto Bonfigli, in the church of S. Peter at
Perugia. It represents S. Jerome writing. A small circular revolving desk,
at the left-hand corner of the larger desk, holds the work he is copying
or referring to. On the desk near the inkstand lies the pointed _stylus_
mentioned above. Below the cupboard containing books is a