St. Paul's Cathedral, July 7th, 2008

Sir Christopher Wren
Said, "I am going to dine with some men.
If anyone calls,
Say I am designing St Paul's.
- Edmund Clerihew Bentley

I very much enjoyed our first class excursion to St. Paul's Cathedral just over the Thames (via crossing the millenium bridge near Tate Modern) on the north bank at the edge of the city proper. The cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1675, although he began designing plans for the cathedral in 1669. His first two plans were rejected for being either too radical or non-Anglican (pro-Catholic, et cetera). Building of the cathedral began in June of 1675, and was completed in October of 1708 under the guidance of head stone mason, Thomas Strong. Wren also completed the "Great Model" which can still be seen (and which we did see) in the 1st chamber or the "library in the northwest tower," which is not now, nor in the past, used as a library, despite the decorative design of the stone in the room which implies a library by virtue of the many books carved into the stone at the tops of the pillars. The model is made of oak and plaster, and depicts St. Paul's Cathedral as Wren would have liked it to be. The model serves as a three-dimensional blueprint of how to repair/upkeep the cathedral should the building incur any damage. The design is English Baroque, and reflects Anglican sensibilies, like simple, curlinear shapes, and a lack of overt religious or "Catholic-looking" religious iconography (like the crucifixion).

The library itself is not very big--really just an open two-story room--but is crammed tight with books organized by size to maximize shelf space in numbered banks in the walls. The books do not have call numbers as we know them in the states, but instead utilize "shelf marks" or "press marks" that let the librarian know in which bank a particular book belongs. Books may be shelved near each other even if they are not of related topics. The librarian, Joseph Wisdom, works in a unique setting in which modern technology is juxtaposed with "historical fabric." Essentially, the materials he works with may be centuries old, as is the cathedral library itself, but modern technology, like the internet and email, play continually growing roles in how the library functions day-to-day.
The library is not exclusively religious, but also contains works by Newton, Greek and Latin Classics, civil histories, ecclesiastical histories, medicine texts, arts & science, and others. The materials came from the private libraries of donors. Now, a key aspect in dealing with these old materials is preservation, conservation, and restoration. According to Mr. Wisdom, conservation is doing "as much as is necessary, but as little as possible," while retoration implies overhauling the book to make it aestethtically pleasing in addition to simply preserving it.

I really enjoyed visiting this library, because, as an historical institution, it faces challenges and special needs unique to older collections. The United States, as a relatively young country, does not really have libraries that face the same issues a library like this one does. I enjoyed hearing about how the books are preserved and organized, because it is so different from what we're accustomed to in the States. St. Paul's is an absolute gorgeous cathedral. Although the cantilevered staircase leading up to the library did make me a bit dizzy, the engineering of it is still pretty impressive.