From the book Introduction to Librarianship

1. CHAPTER 5
FROM THE AGE OF
ENLIGHTENMENT TO
THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY
PREPARED BY:
MS. CLAIRINE L. ELLO

2.  The RENAISSANCE (rebirth or revival), with its high
artistic and literary achievement, also laid the
foundations of the scientific revolution of the
seventeenth century. Humanists had gradually
developed a critical approach to the study and
comparison of ancient manuscripts and to the
interpretation of the history.
 In the revival of learning, scientific as well as
philosophical, literary and artistic works were
recovered, stimulating the study of astronomy,
mathematics, medicine and physics.

3.  The discovery of AMERICA and of the new
routes to the EAST led to the scientific
construction of MAPS. The PRINTING PRESS,
itself a scientific achievement, provided the
medium for quickly disseminating all
knowledge.

4. GALILEO
KEPLER
FRANCIS BACON
DESCARTES
Scientific era

5. Practical applications of science,
increase in trade and commerce
gave rise to a new moneyed class of
doctors, merchants, lawyers, and
other professional groups.

6. By the end of 17th Century:
 The decline in the power of the clergy was seen in
the secularization of society, “THE EMPHASIS ON
REASON OVER FAITH” and in the questioning,
rather than the uncritical acceptance, of authority.
 It was a PERIOD OF EXPLORATION, TERRITORIAL
EXPANSION and COLONIZATION.

7.  The general spirit of inquiry and research, which was
depending upon access to materials of all kinds,
stimulated the formation of libraries made up of
printed works as well as hand-written manuscripts.
 One analyst of the times has noted that “
CERTAINLY, IN ANY LISTING OF THE FACTORS
WHICH, AT THAT CRITICAL PERIOD IN
HISTORY CONTRIBUTED TO A SETTLED ORDER IN
THINGS OF THE MIND, TO THE OVERTHROW OF
SUPERSTITION AND THE GROWTH OF
TOLERANCE, LIBRARIES WILL HAVE TO BE
RANKED HIGH.”

8. Some Great National Libraries:
Prussian State Library in Berlin
(1659)
Kongelige Bibliotek in
Copenhagen (1661)
National Library of Scotland
(1682)

9. 1662
 Under LOUIS XIII, the first catalog of the
Bibliotheque du Roi (the French Royal Library)
was drawn up by NICOLAS RIGAULT.
 And in the reign of LOUIS XIV, under the
direction of COLBERT, the library almost
doubled in size.

10. 1642
 The Library of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris was
collected and arranged by GABRIEL NAUDE.
Its collection soon numbered 40,000 volumes
and it was open to all who wanted to go
there and study.

11. 1598
 SIR THOMAS BODLEY began the work of
rebuilding the library at Oxford and open it in
1602 with 2,000 volumes. He later persuaded
the STATIONER’S COMPANY to deposit in it a
free copy of every book published in England
and left to it a considerable legacy of land
and property.

12. That libraries were an important part of a 17th
century, life is seen in the statement of
JOHANNES LOMEIER that “ONE MAY
SCARCELY FIND ANY MODERATELY
CITY, SCARCELY ANY COMMUNITY,
GYMNASIUM, UNIVERSITY OR
WHERE A LIBRARY HAS NOT BEEN SET
APART FOR THE PUBLIC USE OF THE
STUDIOUS.”

13. 1602
JUSTUS LIPSIUS published his
DE BIBLIOTHECIS SYNTAGMA, which
Irwin describes as “the foundation of
all modern histories of libraries”.

14. 1627 (Justus Lipsius)
 NAUDE’S ADVIS POUR DRESSER UNE BIBLIOTHEQUE was
published. It pertains to the systematic organization of
libraries in which he discussed the reasons for establishing a
library, the size, quality and arrangement of the collection,
the kind of building required, and the library’s basic purpose.
 He remarked that “in vain does he strive to carry out the
preceding suggestions or go to any great expense for books
who does not intend to devote them to the public use and
never to withhold them from the humblest of those who may
reap benefit thereby…”

15. 1650
 JOHN DURIE, Keeper of the Royal Library,
made the first contribution to library
economy in England with his THE REFORMED
LIBRARIE KEEPER, in which he outlined a plan
for expanding the Royal Library into a “truly
national collection”

16. 1697
 RICHARD BENTLEY added to the literature of
libraries his PROPOSAL FOR BUILDING A
ROYAL LIBRARY.

17.  Principles which should govern the
development of a large scholarly research
library were set forth by LEIBNIZ, who
administered the library of Wolfenbuttal in
Germany. His principles which are still valid,
included firm financial support with regular
appropriations, continuing and systematic
acquisition of all major works of learning, and
classification of all works for greater
accessibility.

18.  The zeal for research extended to all fields of
knowledge and was reflected in the diversity
of the great libraries of the time. It found
expression also in the national institutions and
societies which were organized to pursue
research and to provide the necessary
materials A notable is the ROYAL SOCIETY in
LONDON, founded in 1662, as a cooperative
endeavor of scientists, historians and
philosophers.

19. The appearance of the parish library in
the late 17th century is evidence of the
importance which the Anglican Church
attached to the continuing education of
its ministers. Established by Reverend
THOMAS BRAY and others in England, it
was designed to aid the rural Anglican
clergy in carrying out its educational, as
well as its spiritual mission.

20. The eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries

21. The scientific thought and progress of
the 17th century gathered momentum in
the 18th century, bringing greater
advances in both the pure and applied
sciences and leading to the mechanical
inventions and technological
achievements which resulted in the
industrial revolution and the rise of the
working class.

22. In the last quarter of the century,
 The Revolution of the American Colonies
focused attention on the democratic concept
of the worth and dignity of the individual and
the French Revolution proclaimed the
importance of the common man.

23. 1789 (French Revolution)
 Church libraries became national property and the
libraries of the émigrés (immigrants) were
confiscated. Great numbers of books were taken
from their owners and placed in the “depots
litteraires”, which had been established to receive
them. Many books were assigned to university
libraries, but the largest share was given to the
French Royal Library, which became national
property and was renamed LA BIBLIOTHEQUE
NATIONALE.

24.  By the time of the Revolution, in addition to being open to
scholars, the library was open to the public on two days a
week for five hours, and during the Revolution a regulation
of 25 Fructidor, AN IV opened the library every day for four
hours. The government after the Revolution were interested
in the growth of the Bibliotheque Nationale as were the
sovereigns of the Ancient Regime, and through
governmental appropriations, legal deposit, gifts and
legacies the Library continued to GROW. The publication
of catalogs, began in 1622, continued, and in 1897, the
CATALOGUE GENERAL DES LIVRES IMPRIMES: AUTEURS
was begun.

25. During 18th & 19th centuries, national libraries
were established throughout Europe:
 La Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence
 Kungliga Biblioteket in Stockholm
 Koninklijke Biblioteek in The Hague
 Universitets-biblioteket in Oslo
 La Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique in Brussels
 Ethnike Bibliotheke tes Hellados in Athens
 La Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid
 The National Library of Ireland in Dublin
 La Bibliotheque Nationale Suisse in Bern

26. SAMUEL PEPYS
 Many private libraries were established. The
most famous private library of this period in
England, and the only one to survive in its
original state, was that of Samuel Pepys with
its 3,000 volumes arranged in 11 carved
mahogany cases.

27. THOMAS RAWLINSON
 There were some eccentric book collectors,
too. Thomas Rawlinson who was called a
‘universal scholar as far as title pages go”, had
his rooms so full of books that he had to
sleep in the passage.

28. JOHN BAGFORD
Another collector who collected only the
title pages of books.

29. EDWARD GIBBON
Many large libraries, rich in materials for
research, were assembled. Edward
Gibbon owned a library of nearly 7,000
volumes, which he systematically
collected in order to write THE DECLINE
AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

30. SIR HANS SLOANE
 Sir Hans Sloanes’ library numbered more
than 40,000 printed works and 3,576
manuscripts, including all fields of knowledge.

31. ROBERT & EDWARD HARLEY
The libraries of Robert and Edward
Harley, Earls of Oxford, contained
thousands of printed books and
pamphlets and several thousand
manuscripts.

32.  The Sloan and Harlean collections and that of
Sir Robert Cotton, together with the Royal
Library which had existed from the reign of
Henry VII, formed the foundation of the
BRITISH MUSEUM, which was incorporated in
1753. Other collections of the royal family,
famous collections from many sources, and
books provided by the copyright deposit law
added to the size and importance of the
Museum’s holdings.

33. SIR ANTHONY PANIZZI
 Sir Anthony Panizzi who became Keeper of the Printed
Books in 1837, the British Museum became an institution
for the “diffusion of culture” and a national library in the
sense that it preserved all English books and most of the
important foreign literature. He made sure of a large
and regular yearly budget, reorganized the library,
designed its new building, which included a reading
room separate from the rooms used for shelving, and
began the complete revision of the catalog. By 1870 the
holdings had reached a MILLION VOLUMES.

34.  Reading became fashionable for women in the 18th century; the
habit of reading spread to the lowest social classes; and interest in
reading for instruction, for political purposes, and for recreation was
widespread. Bookshops, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets,
coffeehouses, book clubs and learned societies and institutions
served some of the intellectual, literary and social needs of the
people; but to meet all the new demands for books from people
who were unable to buy them, a new kind of library was developed:
the LENDING or CIRCULATING LIBRARY, begun by
booksellers who loaned books on payment of a small fee.

35. The LENDING LIBRARY
 It is a commercial enterprise more concerned
with making money for its owner than with
the education of its readers. Its chief item was
the novel, and most of the patrons were
women. The first lending library was opened
in Edinburgh in 1726 and in London in the
1730s.

36. 1804
 The three (3) largest lending libraries in
Dresden had a combined stock of 60,000
volumes and by the end of the 18th century,
lending libraries had become a common
feature of every town in Western Europe.

37. 1850
 The English Parliament passed the first PUBLIC
LIBRARIES ACT, allowing local councils to organize
libraries and support them by taxation but limiting
the amount that could be spent for that purpose.
The first public library was established at
Manchester with EDWARD EDWARDS as librarian.

38. EDWARD EDWARDS
 Edwards, who had been influential in securing the
passage of the Public Libraries Act, set forth some
general principles of library service which have been
followed ever since: Library service must be given
freely to any citizen who wants to use it; library
service is a local responsibility and the cost is borne
collectively by all who pay taxes whether they use it
or not; books of all kinds and on all aspects of a
question should be included in the collection.

39.  During the first 20 years of the Public Libraries Act,
only 35 new libraries were established.
 With the passage of the 1870 Education Act and
the organization of the Library Association in 1877
for the purpose of encouraging the establishment
of public libraries, the public library movement was
greatly acceclerated.

40.  The closing years of the 19th century were
characterized by the expansion of the public library
service in Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries
and Germany and by the growth of all established
libraries throughout Europe, especially the great
national and university libraries.

41. There are five fundamental
characteristics shared by public libraries.
The first is that they are generally
supported by taxes (usually local,
though any level of government can
and may contribute); they are governed
by a board to serve the public interest;
they are open to all, and every
community member can access the
collection; they are entirely voluntary in
that no one is ever forced to use the
services provided; and public libraries
provide basic services without charge.