St. Paul's Cathedral Library, or, the Wisdom Tour

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“And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh”- Ecclesiastes 12:12

Our class visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral library was nothing short of magical. As overwhelming as the exterior of the church is, the highly decorated, nearly gaudy interior of the cathedral was not adequate preparation for the more subtle joys of the space that we were to view. Perhaps our introduction to Joseph Wisdom, the librarian at St. Paul’s, should have been my first clue that we were about to embark upon an extraordinary few hours. I wish that Mr. Wisdom could be my guide for all of London, maybe even for all of life. He was delightful and extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of the cathedral, but most especially the library.

Mr. Wisdom began by pointing out a book carved into the stone over a main entryway. He would go on to point out countless other books in the decorations of the church and the specific spaces that we visited. The multitude of books as decoration indicated that the study of the holy texts of the Church was an important cornerstone of the practice of religion and the exercise of faith there. Through large, heavy double doors was the entrance to the old deanery and the beginning of a cantilevered, curvilinear stone staircase spiraling upward, which, when viewed from below, was more than mildly reminiscent of the inside of a shell, and which led to the triforium. We climbed up the stairs and noted, when we entered the third floor, that the inner space of the triforium was much less highly decorated than the outer, more visible portion—right down to the difference between the decorations on the outside and inside of the same door.

From the outer triforium we went into the space that was originally designated as one of two library chambers, or, as the original documents refer to it, “the library in the northwest tower,” which houses Christopher Wren’s original full-scale model of the cathedral. Wren’s sketches, some from books, hang on the walls of the room around the model, but the model itself is dominating. Wren decreed that his great model should be placed here after it was rejected for display at the British Museum.

Finally, we left the display room and filed into one of the most breathtaking spaces I have ever encountered. The St. Paul’s Cathedral Library (it deserves all caps) is perfect. Mr. Wisdom referred to the inner surfaces as the fabric of the room, and, although I had never encountered that terminology to describe the makeup, the feel of a place, I understood it in the context of this place. The library has two levels, open to the center of the room, with dark wood surrounding, with highly decorated friezes supporting the molding along the edge of the very softly and upwardly curved ceiling, and with books—row upon row of very, very old books, mostly in brown leather binding, infused with the knowledge of the centuries. I asked Mr. Wisdom about the median date of the origin of the books in the library, and he said it was probably around the mid-1700’s. The books on the bottom level, where we stood and discussed the issues surrounding the care of several hundred year old books, range from the 16^th through early 18^th centuries. The books are arranged by size and cataloged with shelf marks or pressmarks—which makes perfect sense, if you keep an amazing catalog. The main issues facing the library deal mostly with restoration and preservation, or how to keep the books as close to their original condition as possible in a room that was not designed to be temperature and humidity controlled.

Mr. Wisdom said quite a few things about his library, and about libraries in general, that will stay with me. When we first entered the library, he said that libraries are not just books, that they are not just places, that they are not just people—libraries are all that and much more. Libraries are not, however, computers, and he noted the lack of technology in the library space, and I agreed that the fabric of the room benefited from that. He suggested that the space of a library can directly influence the work produced in that space, and that a beautiful, calming space could inspire great work. Mr. Wisdom also showed us his burning building book, a psalter from the late 12^th or early 13^th century. He described the book as the library’s oldest book, a holy book that is shared with another faith, and one that is at the heart of the purpose of the St. Paul’s Library. This, he suggested, would be a good criteria for our own burning building books.

The St. Paul’s Cathedral library was an eye-opening introduction to British Libraries. It remains to be seen whether the rest of our journey can top it!