|
A shelf of "old library" books
organised into the sequence in which have been found in the library of
1691. These volumes, being smaller (mostly duodecimo format),
would have been found on one of the upper shelves of the tier, with
larger books, quartos and folios on the lower shelves |
Research to date suggest that each of the lettered sections (A, B,
C, etc, through to AZ) corresponds to a vertical tier of shelving, which
means that there were 46 tiers to start with; and, if working hypotheses
about the later addition of sections BA-BS are correct, another 18 being
added (or at least filled) somewhat later. Within each of these tiers
the books were arranged by size, in up to seven shelves. It is clear
that the shelves were numbered from the bottom, since the larger books
are in the lowest numbered shelves.
In section AT the bottom shelf was at least 36 centimetres high, and
the total shelf height for the seven shelves in the tier was at least
142 centimetres; allowing for clearances and the thickness of the
shelves, we must assume that the tiers were about 2 metres high (not all
that different from Glasgow University Library now). At least some
shelves in the Library were considerably longer than modern Library
shelves: in Section AT they must have been at least 115 centimetres wide
(the modern standard is 90 centimetres). This implies very strong
shelves, and high cost, since apparently, the oak which would have been
the appropriate material was difficult to acquire in Scotland. |
The shelving in the 1691 Glasgow
University Library was similar in height to current library shelving
(pictured) but wider and made of oak |
