Fig. 135. Two men in a library. From a MS. of Les cas des malheureux nobles hommes et femmes in the British Museum.
My next illustration ([fig. 136]), also Flemish, is of the same date, from a copy of the Miroir historial[527]. It represents a Carmelite monk, probably the author of the book, writing in his study. Behind him are three desks, one above the other, hung against the wall along two sides of the room, with books bound and ornamented as in the former picture, resting upon them, and beneath the lowest is a flat shelf or bench on which a book rests upon its side. The desk he is using is not uncommon in these illustrations. It is fixed on a solid base, which is further strengthened, as in the example of the wheel-desk, by massive planks, to guard against the slightest vibration; and it can be turned aside by means of a limb—apparently of iron—which is first vertical, then horizontal, then vertical again. The Carmelite holds in his left hand an instrument for keeping the page perfectly flat. This instrument has usually a sharp point with which any roughness on the page can be readily removed. The volume he is using is kept open by two strings, to each of which a weight is attached. Behind the desk, covered with a cloth, is a chest secured by two locks. On this stands an object which appears to be a large magnifying glass.
Sometimes the desk was carried round three sides of the room, with no curtain to keep off dust, and with no shelf beneath it. The illustration ([fig. 137]) is from a French translation of Valerius Maximus (1430-75) in the Harleian Collection[528].
I now pass to a series of pictures which illustrate the daily life of a scholar or a writer who had few books, but who could live in a certain ease—allowing himself a chair and a desk. Of these desks there is an infinite variety, dictated, I imagine, by the fashion prevalent in particular places at particular times. I have tried to arrange them in groups.
Fig. 136. A Carmelite in his study. From a MS. of Le Miroir Historial in the British Museum.