While debate has raged over the past two centuries as to which is the oldest library in the world, there is no doubt that the one at Merton College in Oxford is one of the contenders for the title (although in true British style, Merton College’s librarian, Dr Julia Walworth, downplays such claims to antiquity). We learn from this entertaining article from the BBC that:
“The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a decree in 1276 introducing this requirement, which marked the beginning of the library at Merton College. It has been running continuously ever since. To put that length of time in context, Merton’s library predates the Aztec Empire. Its unbroken history stretches from before the Black Death to beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. And its users have encompassed everyone from famous 14th-Century mathematicians to Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien.”
Even more interestingly, we learn that 700 years ago i.e. before printing was invented, books were so valuable that they were kept under lock & key in wooden chests: “At Merton College in Oxford, there is an antique chest. In the Middle Ages, three key-holders had to be summoned to reveal the riches within. But this treasure wasn’t gold or jewels. It was books.
Such strict security may sound overly cautious for mere parchment. But in an era before the printing press, books were a valuable commodity. They could take months to produce, as the entire text had to be painstakingly written out by hand. So, just as universities solicit cash from their alumni today, Merton College insisted its 13th-Century fellows donated books.”
Merton College was also one of the first libraries in the world to display books horizontally: “Merton’s book treasury moved closer to becoming a modern library in the 1370s, when a purpose-built room was constructed to house the growing collection. It was here that Merton introduced a vital improvement in book storage. “Horizontal shelves were installed for placing books upright,” Walworth says. “Merton is the first recorded use in Britain of this method of storing books.”
Curiously, Merton’s books were shelved with their spines inwards and their titles inked on the paper facing out. This was due to the continued use of chains, which were clipped on the fore-edge of each book’s cover. “The fellows were aware that chained books had a better chance of survival than books that went out on loan,” Walworth explains.”
Over the past two centuries, the Merton College Library’s legend grew especially in the English-speaking world thanks to a succession of literary legends referencing it in classic works of fiction: “In the 20th Century, writers like Rudyard Kipling and John Buchan referenced it in works of historical fiction, bolstering its reputation as a particularly venerable library….
This growing perception of Merton’s longevity was even referenced in F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby. In the book, the multi-millionaire title character fills his mansion with imitations of history’s most prestigious rooms. So, it’s only natural that his books live in a recreation he refers to as “the Merton College Library”. As Walworth puts it, “Merton’s library had become a byword for the ‘best’ ancient library” by that time. She even points out that Fitzgerald’s fictional scenario had roots in reality. “The dining clubs at Princeton University have historical imitation rooms. One of them is based on the Merton College Library.””
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