Our trip to St. Paul’s Cathedral Library was special because it isn’t normally open to the public, just researchers and special appointments, and because we got to take pictures in it, which is forbidden. I’d love to post a picture on here, but we promised not to post them on the web! Going up the stairs that didn’t seem to have any support was a little unnerving; but when he told us that the staircase was used in a Harry Potter film I thought it was cool J
Their library collection was pretty much destroyed by the London fire in 1666. Starting with almost nothing, they began collecting materials from other libraries, people in the town, and grew tremendously with Henry Compton’s gift of almost two thousand books in 1712. The collection has old Bibles, choir books, theological books, and more; the items there aren’t necessarily “library” materials, but encompass a series of church-related cultural deposits. The temperature in the room stays around 18.5 C to preserve the books, though our guide was quick to point out that library temperatures vary greatly due to the types of materials they contain.
Joseph Wisdom, who gave us a tour, is the only qualified librarian for the entire collection. A group of volunteers help him in conservation and shelving matters, and cleaning crews are allowed to do minimal work – not too much, lest they ruin something in the collection. I’m surprised that there’s only one librarian for a collection so large and valuable; honestly, it doesn’t seem very smart. If something were to happen to the one librarian, or if he left, it would be hard to train someone completely new.
I really enjoyed how Mr. Wisdom took the time to point out carvings in the walls and molding and elaborate, or guesstimate, on their meanings. For instance, the skull, grain, grapes, and book in the library that represent holy communion, God’s word, and Jesus’ victory over death. Many times I’ve admired the carvings and marvelled at how they were done, but I don’t ever stop to think about what they mean. From now on I plan to study those more to see if I can decipher the subtle meanings intended by the artists.
