DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65479#0155
THE LIBRARY AT HAM HOUSE
ENTERING from the Long Gallery we reach the Library, and at
first there is but little evidence of the treasures which are within.
The Library is approached through a small ante-room known as
the Library Closet, in which are a few pictures, including two flower-pieces
and several prints. Here also are two fine brass-bound treasure-chests
mounted on stands or tables. At the end of the Library Closet a door
opens into the Library itself.
This little room is perhaps the smallest of the libraries of Europe,
and yet in proportion to its size it contains books of greater value than
any other. The Library is lighted by two small windows, which are
generally kept closely shuttered, so that neither the light nor the heat of
the sun may injure the books. In the centre of the room is one great
table, upon which are laid some of the folios and larger books. There is
a quaint set of oaken steps with a most convenient seat at the top with a
shelf attached, so that the reader may rest a volume upon the shelf and
enjoy it at leisure.
Few people are allowed to enter the Library at Ham House, and
there is an air of antiquity about it, a sense of quiet and of repose, situated
as it is in a far corner of the building, where few sounds can penetrate
through the double doors.
All around on the closely-filled shelves are the books, some bound
in brown or crimson and glowing with gold, some covered with white
vellum or with parchment. There is not a modern book to be seen,
nothing breaks the harmony; all speak of a by-gone age, of an antique
world. Here are the choice productions of the earliest presses, the
editiones principes of the great classics, the books of the early dramatists,
all the volumes which the book-collector of a past age loved to acquire,
and which a great nobleman who valued books delighted to have in his
library. Here again are books upon which the book-lovers of France
have placed their coats of arms and their names. Here they rest, fitting
133
ENTERING from the Long Gallery we reach the Library, and at
first there is but little evidence of the treasures which are within.
The Library is approached through a small ante-room known as
the Library Closet, in which are a few pictures, including two flower-pieces
and several prints. Here also are two fine brass-bound treasure-chests
mounted on stands or tables. At the end of the Library Closet a door
opens into the Library itself.
This little room is perhaps the smallest of the libraries of Europe,
and yet in proportion to its size it contains books of greater value than
any other. The Library is lighted by two small windows, which are
generally kept closely shuttered, so that neither the light nor the heat of
the sun may injure the books. In the centre of the room is one great
table, upon which are laid some of the folios and larger books. There is
a quaint set of oaken steps with a most convenient seat at the top with a
shelf attached, so that the reader may rest a volume upon the shelf and
enjoy it at leisure.
Few people are allowed to enter the Library at Ham House, and
there is an air of antiquity about it, a sense of quiet and of repose, situated
as it is in a far corner of the building, where few sounds can penetrate
through the double doors.
All around on the closely-filled shelves are the books, some bound
in brown or crimson and glowing with gold, some covered with white
vellum or with parchment. There is not a modern book to be seen,
nothing breaks the harmony; all speak of a by-gone age, of an antique
world. Here are the choice productions of the earliest presses, the
editiones principes of the great classics, the books of the early dramatists,
all the volumes which the book-collector of a past age loved to acquire,
and which a great nobleman who valued books delighted to have in his
library. Here again are books upon which the book-lovers of France
have placed their coats of arms and their names. Here they rest, fitting
133