Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/26

2 Sixtus V. from the designs of Domenico Fontana. The latter, indeed, is a typical example; the great hall is a stately vaulted room, 232 feet in length, 48 feet wide, and 29 feet high. It is decorated with frescoes, and contains many magnificent specimens of sculpture, porcelain, and other works of art, but the books are placed in cabinets

and presses, with doors, so that one might walk through the room without knowing the purpose for which it was really erected.

In these old libraries the method of shelving generally adopted was that of erecting high book-cases around the walls of each room. The nuisance of having to use long ladders to reach the top