Private library

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Libraries, Private. In the 16th and 17th c. Parisian book-owners, like the owners of manuscripts in the Middle Ages, belonged to clearly defined social groups. These included above all the legal profession and the educated clergy. Private libraries were the exclusive possessions of the wealthy and powerful, who stocked their shelves with Counter-Reformation theology and works of classical antiquity. In 16th-c. Amiens, similarly, only 20 per cent of inventoried estates belonged to book-owners. Over 70 per cent of lawyers and nobles owned books in Amiens, but only one-twelfth of merchants and artisans. Their small private libraries were principally composed of books of hours ( livres d'heures).

In the 18th c., however, the presence of books was increasingly noticeable in the households of the petite bourgeoisie. This emerges from studies of inventaires après décès (post-mortem inventories), a limited source, since not everyone was fortunate enough to have an estate to bequeath and because notaries who compiled the inventories tended to discard any literary matter which had no material value. The possession of a library did not always indicate a keen reader. Some libraries were accumulated by collectors, others for decoration, others were inherited and virtually ignored. They did not even indicate literacy. One Breton nobleman, de Combles, who asked the Revolutionary authorities to return his confiscated library, was incapable of signing the letter of application.

The possession of books varied from place to place. In Châlons-sur-Marne, only one inventory in ten revealed the presence of books at the end of the 18th c., which is a warning not to overestimate the size of the book-buying public in the provinces. In Lyon, 20 per cent of artisans owned books, and three-quarters of members of the liberal professions did so, sometimes owning ten times as many as the artisans. In the capital, familiarity with literary culture was more widespread: 35 per cent of the post-mortem inventories of the Parisian lower classes contained books in 1780. Moreover, the number of books found in each individual library multiplied considerably during the 18th c. Works of piety and religion abounded on Paris bookshelves [see Devotional Writing], and the total number of books inventoried in 18th-c. Paris expanded fivefold.

The reading public was proportionately larger in Paris than in the provinces then, but it was still circumscribed within social limits. The clergy, for example, almost always had a well-stocked library, which tended to have very traditional contents. Monastic collections, like that of the Franciscan library at Sospel, contained biblical and patristic texts, works of theology, hagiography, and church history. Occasionally, religious libraries held a copy of the Encyclopédie, as did the Benedictines of Mont Saint-Michel in their well-stocked library of 4, 630 volumes. The Carthusians were especially well-provided-for. At Solignac, the 13 monks each had 80 volumes of piety, theology, or religious history in their own cells.

The liberal professions, too, would own good libraries, and their books might include not only works necessary for professional consultation, but also classical literature and works of history, and their family might well include novel-readers. Artisans could be expected to own fewer books, and their literary tastes were mixed and elusive for historians. In early 19th-c. Paris, books were owned by 60 per cent of the liberal professions, 35 per cent of business men (négociants), but only 6 per cent of shopkeepers.

Books remained rare and precious items in peasant households. In the countryside of the Mâconnais in the 19th c. only 12 per cent of all post-mortem inventories revealed the presence of any books, and these were usually to be found in the country houses of urban business men. The peasant's ‘library’ might contain almanacs, which, like other household objects, would hang from the ceiling on a nail. In the Rouergue the peasant's library would consist of a piece of wood suspended over the main table, on which would be stored the family's reading-matter: almanacs and perhaps a missal.

The last century has seen a great increase in book-buying. In 1981 a Ministry of Culture survey reported that 80 per cent of the French population were book-owners, and about one-half of them owned more than 100 books each. Levels of book-ownership are still determined by social and educational factors. The absence of books at home is particularly marked in rural households and among people over the age of 70. Novels make up the largest part of private libraries today, although two-thirds of French readers own dictionaries and encyclopedias, and half of them own works of history.

[Martyn Lyons]

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A private library is a library under the care of private ownership, as compared to that of a public institution, and is usually only established for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public libraries, some people use stamps, stickers, or embossing to show ownership of the items. Some people sell their private libraries to established institutions such as the Library of Congress, or, as is often the case, bequeath them thereto after death, through a will.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Rome 1.2 Renaissance Europe 1.3 Modern era 2 Library (domestic room) 3 Famous private libraries 4 See also

History

The earliest libraries belonged to temples or administration bodies, resembled modern archives, and were usually restricted to nobility, aristocracy, scholars, or theologians. Examples of the earliest known private libraries include one found in Ugarit (dated to around 1200 BC) and the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh (near modern Mosul, Iraq), dating back to the 7th century BC.

Rome

Nearly every house of nobility had a library and virtually every one was split into two rooms: one for Latin texts and one for Greek texts. Rome may very well have been the birth place of specialized libraries, with evidence of early medical and legal libraries.

In the 5th century BC, on the island of Cos outside the city of Pergamum, a medical school complex with a library was built in the sanctuary of Asclepius. This is the first medical school known to have existed, and subsequently it could be credited with the first specialized library.

Renaissance Europe

The library of the Abbey of Melk, rehoused in the 18th century

The Golden Age brought with it a renewed interest in conserving the new ideas being put forth by the great thinkers of the day. The Kings of each European country created impressive libraries some of which have become the national libraries of today.

The National Library of France in Paris (Bibliothèque Nationale de France) was started in 1367 as the Royal Library of King Charles V. In Florence, Italy, Cosimo de Medici had a private library which formed the basis of the Laurentian Library. The Vatican library was also started in the 15th century.

The creation and expansion of universities prompted the gifting of private libraries to university libraries. One notable donation was by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester to Oxford University in the early 15th century.

Modern era

Group tours the nonprofit Foundation for Economic Education library, best known for Austrian economics collections

Private libraries in the hands of individuals have become more numerous with the introduction of paperback books. Some nonprofit organizations maintain special libraries, which are often made available to researchers by appointment. Nearly every law firm and some hospitals maintain either a law library or a medical library for staff use. Most of the English speaking world categorizes these libraries as special libraries. Many large corporations maintain libraries that specialize in collections specific to research specific to the areas of concern to that organization. Scientific establishments are especially apt to have a library to support scientists and researchers. Manufacturing facilities are also likely to have an engineering library to help with troubleshooting and the assembly of complicated parts. Those libraries are generally not open to the public. The librarians and other staff of special libraries often join the Special Libraries Association.

Library (domestic room)

The word library also refers to a room in a private house in which books are kept. Generally it is a relatively large room that is open to all family members and household guests, in contrast to a study, which also often contains a collection of books, but is usually a private space intended to be used by one person.

Famous private libraries

• Queen Elizabeth II's library in Windsor castle
• Tianyi Pavilion – The oldest private library in Asia; located in Zhejiang, China
• Library of Sir Thomas Browne
• Bibliotheca Lindesiana
• Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman Library; located in Aligarh, India

See also

• Carnegie Library
• Private libraries of Hong Kong
• Private libraries of Singapore

v t e Rooms, spaces, and architectural elements Public areas Airport lounge Auditorium Cafeteria Classroom Changing room Conference hall Doctor's office Function hall Mailroom Library Lobby Office Refectory Restroom Security Waiting room Passages and spaces Alcove Atrium Balcony Breezeway Corridor Deck Elevator Emergency exit Escalator Entryway / Genkan Foyer Hallway Loft Loggia Nook Patio Pedway Pergola Porch porte-cochère Portico Ramp Secret passage Skyway Spear closet Stairway Terrace Veranda Vestibule Wheelchair ramp Utility and storage Attic Basement Box Room / Carport Cloakroom Closet Electrical room Equipment room Furnace room / Boiler room Garage Janitorial closet Laundry room / Utility room Mechanical room / floor Pantry Root cellar Semi-basement Studio Server room Wardrobe Workshop Vault Wine cellar Wiring closet / Demarcation point Shared residential rooms Billiard room Bonus room Common room Conversation pit Den Dining room Drawing room Family room Great room Hearth room Home office Kitchen Kitchenette Library Living room / Lounge / Sitting room Man cave Media room or Home theater Mehmaan khana Recreation room Shrines Snug Study Sunroom / Solarium Private rooms Bathroom / Toilet (room) Bedroom / Guest room Boudoir Cabinet Jack and Jill bathroom Nursery Safe room State room Suite Walk-in closet Great house areas Ballroom Butler's pantry Buttery Drawing room Fainting room Great chamber Great hall Larder Long gallery Lumber room Parlour Root cellar Salon Saucery Scullery Servants' hall Servants' quarters Smoking room Solar Spicery Still room Undercroft Other areas Barn Boathouse Conservatory Gym Loading dock Moon gate Outhouse Secondary suite Shed Stable Storm cellar or Storm room Architectural elements Arch Ceiling Colonnade Column Courtyard Fireplace Floor Gate Lighting Ornament Swimming pool Vault Wet bar Roof Related terms Building Furniture House House plan Rooms

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