The Philobiblon
by Richard de Bury
Chapter I
That the treasure of wisdom is chiefly contained
in books
The desirable treasure of wisdom and science, which all
men desire by an instinct of nature, infinitely surpasses
all the riches of the world; in respect of which precious
stones are worthless; in comparison with which silver is as
clay and pure gold is as a little sand; at whose splendour
the sun and moon are dark to look upon; compared with whose
marvellous sweetness honey and manna are bitter to the
taste. O value of wisdom that fadeth not away with time,
virtue ever flourishing, that cleanseth its possessor from
all venom! O heavenly gift of the divine bounty, descending
from the Father of lights, that thou mayest exalt the
rational soul to the very heavens! Thou art the celestial
nourishment of the intellect, which those who eat shall
still hunger and those who drink shall still thirst, and the
gladdening harmony of the languishing soul which he that
hears shall never be confounded. Thou art the moderator and
rule of morals, which he who follows shall not sin. By thee
kings reign and princes decree justice. By thee, rid of
their native rudeness, their minds and tongues being
polished, the thorns of vice being torn up by the roots,
those men attain high places of honour, and become fathers
of their country, and companions of princes, who without
thee would have melted their spears into pruning-hooks and
ploughshares, or would perhaps be feeding swine with the
prodigal.
Where dost thou chiefly lie hidden, O most elect
treasure! and where shall thirsting souls discover thee?
Certes, thou hast placed thy tabernacle in books, where
the Most High, the Light of lights, the Book of Life, has
established thee. There everyone who asks receiveth thee,
and everyone who seeks finds thee, and to everyone that
knocketh boldly it is speedily opened. Therein the cherubim
spread out their wings, that the intellect of the students
may ascend and look from pole to pole, from the east and
west, from the north and from the south. Therein the mighty
and incomprehensible God Himself is apprehensibly contained
and worshipped; therein is revealed the nature of things
celestial, terrestrial, and infernal; therein are discerned
the laws by which every state is administered, the offices
of the celestial hierarchy are distinguished, and the
tyrannies of demons described, such as neither the ideas of
Plato transcend, nor the chair of Crato contained.
In books I find the dead as if they were alive; in books
I foresee things to come; in books warlike affairs are set
forth; from books come forth the laws of peace. All things
are corrupted and decay in time; Saturn ceases not to devour
the children that he generates; all the glory of the world
would be buried in oblivion, unless God had provided mortals
with the remedy of books.
Alexander, the conqueror of the earth, Julius, the
invader of Rome and of the world, who, the first in war and
arts, assumed universal empire under his single rule,
faithful Fabricius and stern Cato, would now have been
unknown to fame, if the aid of books had been wanting.
Towers have been razed to the ground; cities have been
overthrown; triumphal arches have perished from decay; nor
can either pope or king find any means of more easily
conferring the privilege of perpetuity than by books. The
book that he has made renders its author this service in
return, that so long as the book survives its author remains
immortal and cannot die, as Ptolemy declares in the Prologue
to his Almagest: He is not dead, he says, who has given life
to science.
Who therefore will limit by anything of another kind the
price of the infinite treasure of books, from which the
scribe who is instructed bringeth forth things new and old?
Truth that triumphs over all things, which overcomes the
king, wine, and women, which it is reckoned holy to honour
before friendship, which is the way without turning and the
life without end, which holy Boethius considers to be
threefold in thought, speech, and writing, seems to remain
more usefully and to fructify to greater profit in books.
For the meaning of the voice perishes with the sound; truth
latent in the mind is wisdom that is hid and treasure that
is not seen; but truth which shines forth in books desires
to manifest itself to every impressionable sense. It
commends itself to the sight when it is read, to the hearing
when it is heard, and moreover in a manner to the touch,
when it suffers itself to be transcribed, bound, corrected,
and preserved. The undisclosed truth of the mind, although
it is the possession of the noble soul, yet because it lacks
a companion, is not certainly known to be delightful, while
neither sight nor hearing takes account of it. Further the
truth of the voice is patent only to the ear and eludes the
sight, which reveals to us more of the qualities of things,
and linked with the subtlest of motions begins and perishes
as it were in a breath. But the written truth of books, not
transient but permanent, plainly offers itself to be
observed, and by means of the pervious spherules of the
eyes, passing through the vestibule of perception and the
courts of imagination, enters the chamber of intellect,
taking its place in the couch of memory, where it engenders
the eternal truth of the mind.
Finally we must consider what pleasantness of teaching
there is in books, how easy, how secret! How safely we lay
bare the poverty of human ignorance to books without feeling
any shame! They are masters who instruct us without rod or
ferule, without angry words, without clothes or money. If
you come to them they are not asleep; if you ask and inquire
of them they do not withdraw themselves; they do not chide
if you make mistakes; they do not laugh at you if you are
ignorant. O books, who alone are liberal and free, who give
to all who ask of you and enfranchise all who serve you
faithfully! By how many thousand types are ye commended to
learned men in the Scriptures given us by inspiration of
God! For ye are the minds of profoundest wisdom, to which
the wise man sends his son that he may dig out treasures:
Prov. ii. Ye are the wells of living waters, which father
Abraham first digged, Isaac digged again, and which the
Philistines strive to fill up: Gen. xxvi. Ye are indeed the
most delightful ears of corn, full of grain, to be rubbed
only by apostolic hands, that the sweetest food may be
produced for hungry souls: Matt. xii. Ye are the golden pots
in which manna is stored, and rocks flowing with honey, nay,
combs of honey, most plenteous udders of the milk of life,
garners ever full; ye are the tree of life and the fourfold
river of Paradise, by which the human mind is nourished, and
the thirsty intellect is watered and refreshed. Ye are the
ark of Noah and the ladder of Jacob, and the troughs by
which the young of those who look therein are coloured; ye
are the stones of testimony and the pitchers holding the
lamps of Gideon, the scrip of David, from which the
smoothest stones are taken for the slaying of Goliath. Ye
are the golden vessels of the temple, the arms of the
soldiers of the Church with which to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked, fruitful olives, vines of Engadi,
fig-trees that are never barren, burning lamps always to be
held in readiness--and all the noblest comparisons of
Scripture may be applied to books, if we choose to speak in
figures.
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- The Philobiblon
by Richard de Bury
Prologue
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