St. Paul's Cathedral Library

• Above picture from: http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerID=27433oOH1QXTGfJUU5XiLE4TBvERKbu0
  

July 7, 2008
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerID=27433oOH1QXTGfJUU5XiLE4TBvERKbu0

St. Paul's Cathedral Library was our first class tour. Our guide for the tour was the librarian Joe Wisdom, who was beyond a doubt one of the most interesting individuals that I have ever met. His politeness, humor, and knowledge were simply incredible.

Our tour began by ascending a winding stair known as the Dean's Stair. (The Dean is the senior clergyman, and he could ascend those stairs to his cathedral or upward to the triforium.) Mr. Wisdom explained quite a lot about various aspects of the architecture - how there were few icons because of the Reformation, for example. He also pointed out Baroque and Rococo elements in the architecture. He said that when some of the wooden aspects like the doors were last restored, they were changed back to the color that Christopher Wren would have likely known.

At the top of the staircase was the library office, on which there was a Latin inscription stating "Of making many books there is no end". Mr. Wisdom continued to point out various aspects of Cathedral trivia as we continued. He said that in Wren's day, the cathedral space would have been used as a market place. He also pointed out the emblem of the cathedral: crossed swords with a D (the crossed swords are the symbol of St. Paul because of the manner of his death). Mr. Wisdom took us past a couple of stranded pulpits - they had talked of turning that area of the triforium into a museum, but it has yet to happen.

We then entered one of two library chambers. Mr. Wisdom pointed out the books in the stonework, which declared the function of the room. This room was going to house the copyright deposit library, but Zion College ended up housing it instead. Christopher Wren's model of the cathedral went in this room when it was rejected elsewhere. Most of the actual Wren drawings aren't on display in that room, however, because there is no real environmental monitoring in that room. Only engravings (not washes) are displayed in that room because of the damage that the light could inflict. Someone had requested that Wisdom display other drawings in that room, but he refused because of professional interest, as the drawings could have been ruined by being displayed in such conditions. There is also a stained glass window in that room that was the only bit of Victorian stained glass in the cathedral not bombed out in World War II due to its relocation.

Next we proceeded to the actual library, which had a "Beware Pigeons" sign on the door. Mr. Wisdom discussed some of the challenges of keeping historical and ancient documents safe from the elements, which includes intruding pigeons. The library itself was very crowded with two floors of books. Mr. Wisdom once again discussed the architecture of the room. He thought that the vaulted ceiling was good for ideas (a mental space, as it were), and he went into a detailed analysis concerning the elaborate scrollwork on the stone columns on the wall, especially concerning one section containing books, a skull, wheat, and grapes. The books (one of them likely a music part book) show that the room is devoted to learning, and they support the wheat and the grapes - representing Communion, liturgy, and belief - which triumph over death, as represented by the skull. On the opposite wall was an hourglass symbolizing time.

The books themselves were organized on shelves that were numbered and lettered (the numbers on columns and the letters on individual shelves). The library is in south light, which is not as good for conservation, but it is good light for reading. Housing historic documents in a historic building makes both the conservation of space and stock necessary. They monitor the environmental factors carefully to study the effects on the building and books.

The collection is not entirely theology (which Mr. Wisdom called 'the Queen of the sciences'), although the core of it consists of bibles and liturgies. The centerpiece of the collection is Tyndale's New Testament, which greatly influenced the common language. Tyndale wanted all men and women to be able to hear the word of God in their own tongue, and he died for his beliefs. This library also contains everything from the lives of the saints, the journal of the Houses of Lords and Commons, Greek classics, civil history, law, botany, medicine, and the Arts. The library came from the collections of several individuals. They don't get rid of duplicates because, as Mr. Wisdom pointed out, duplicates of books that old aren't really duplicates, as how much the book was used or what environmental conditions it was in greatly alters the book. They also collect items found between the pages of books, such as goose feathers and plants, and they note their location within the work in case they had some significance. They continue to add new material concerning alumni, anything about Wren or the cathedral in the city, and books by important members of the church. The library also houses unusual oddiments that no one knew what else to do with (so they sent it to the library) - an example being the Arms of William III.

Their classification system consists of numbered columns and lettered shelves with the big books on the bottom and the little books on top. Through various catalogs and research, they are also able to work out how the library looked at different stages in history. They use a database, shelf lists, old catalogs, lists of donations and purchases, and shelf or press marks (call numbers).

Conservation is a challenge, as the room is compromised. In the 19th century, many volumes were rebacked with poorer quality leather. There were also exposed to fireplaces, open windows, visitors, and sunlight, so now the boards are off again. They only intervene to stabilize the condition of the books (they don't try to make the spine leather match, as it is conservation and not restoration). As Mr. Wisdom said, they do as much as necessary but as little as possible. They also have to be careful with the tight spines of the books. He showed us a 1649 Lutheran bible that had a crease in the leather from the wooden board's reaction to the spine being too tight as well as the constant pressure of the clasps and hinges. He also showed us their earliest manuscript, a psalter from the late 12th or early 13th century. Mr. Wisdom said that in the event of a fire or other disaster, they would rescue first texts that were the oldest, those that were most used, and those that contained beliefs that are shared with other faiths.

Anyone can use the library, whether in person or by e-mail, telephone, or letter.

A bit of trivia: the curving staircase appeared in both one of the Harry Potter films and also in The Madness of King George.

Mr. Wisdom told us that libraries are not just books or buildings or people, which I thought was very...err...wise.