The EmbroideressFriday, June 06, 2008
How We Arrange Our Treasures
I recently wrote of how I shelve my books (by author) but some needleworkers prefer to shelve their collections by technique.
A truly quixotic sort of shelving was adopted by Sir Robert Cotton whose splendid collection became a core addition to the British Library.
He shelved his library in a series of bookcases surmounted by busts of the Roman emperors. This left the Lindesfarne Gospels with a pressmark of Nero D. iv which remains its designation at the British Library. This pressmark was acquired because the gospels were shelved as the fourth manuscript on the fourth shelf under Nero.
I think any system must work if it is practical for the daily user of a collection, don't you?
A truly quixotic sort of shelving was adopted by Sir Robert Cotton whose splendid collection became a core addition to the British Library.
He shelved his library in a series of bookcases surmounted by busts of the Roman emperors. This left the Lindesfarne Gospels with a pressmark of Nero D. iv which remains its designation at the British Library. This pressmark was acquired because the gospels were shelved as the fourth manuscript on the fourth shelf under Nero.
I think any system must work if it is practical for the daily user of a collection, don't you?
Labels: British Library, Library Catalog, Lindesfarne Gospels
Comments:
I Never knew that! Thanks for the tit bit - I love bits of information like this they texture my life.
As to its usefulness as a classification systeme I guess if you are theo only person who uses the library its fine but f the library is used by others a system that everyone understands is needed
As to its usefulness as a classification systeme I guess if you are theo only person who uses the library its fine but f the library is used by others a system that everyone understands is needed
Hmmm...I tend to group books by topic: 'poetry', or 'biography' or 'painting/drawing' or 'quilting' or 'knitting' or 'embroidery'. Of course, each has sub-topics, like 'quilt art' vs. 'quilting' as a whole...
I agree about the practicality of the arrangement; it has to suit the user. Still, I find it amusing that Nero had any sort of 'connection' (however loose!) to the Gospels!!
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I agree about the practicality of the arrangement; it has to suit the user. Still, I find it amusing that Nero had any sort of 'connection' (however loose!) to the Gospels!!
# posted by 
: 1:40 AM
: 1:40 AM