[178] The Cistercian Customs prescribe the possession of nine volumes at least, chiefly service-books, before a house can be founded. Documents, p. 253.
[179] Origines Françaises de l'Architecture Gothique en Italie, par G. Enlart, 8vo. Paris, 1894. p. 9. This valuable work contains a full and accurate description, copiously illustrated, of Fossa Nuova and other abbeys in remote parts of Italy.
[180] The Monastery and Cathedral of Worcester, by John Noake, Lond., 1866, p. 414.
[181] Chronica monasterii de Melsa. Rolls Series, Vol. III. App. p. lxxxiii.
[182] The word theca signified in classical Latin a case or receptacle in which any object was kept. In medieval Latin it was specially used (fide Ducange) for the chest in which the bodies or bones or relics of saints, were kept. In this catalogue it is obvious that it may mean either a shelf or a cupboard.
[183] Sunt enim in libraria de Tychefeld quatuor columpnæ pro libris imponendis, unde in orientali fronte due sunt videlicet prima et secunda. In latere vero australi est tercia. Et in latere boreali est quarta. Et earum singule octo habent gradus [etc.].
[184] Trans. Cumb. and West. Antiq. and Archæol. Soc. Vol. XVI. p. 259. I take this opportunity of thanking my friend Mr Hope for allowing me to use his plan of Furness Abbey, and also for pointing out to me the evolution of the Cistercian book-rooms which I have done my best to describe in the text.
[185] Calder Abbey: its Ruins and its History. By A. G. Loftie, M.A.
[186] Mr Hope tells me that he has lately re-examined these recesses, and failed to discover traces of furniture or fittings of any kind within them.
[187] Voyage Littéraire, Paris, 1717, Vol. I. p. 101.