Today we met in the morning as a class and worked for a little in the computer lab across the way. Following that, I took the tube to Covent Garden to visit a shop I saw while on the LondonAlive! walk with Dr. Mays. I wandered around and found many great little shops. I will head back at some point to do some souvenir shopping - even finding the shops themselves and meeting the owners/operators was like finding little treasures.
We met as a class again at about 13:00 in the courtyard before heading over to tour St. Paul's Library with Dr. Wisdom. Because our class is so big, we had to break up into two groups. I went with the first group up to the library. In order to reach that building, we passed through a "gallery" of art, statuary and stones from the building that were either the remains of the cathedral from the 1666 fire or were part of construction. The stones are in the process of being cataloged.
Prior to reaching the library, we visited a room that was initially designed to be part of the library but currently houses Sir Christopher Wren's scale model of St. Paul's along with some artifacts related to Wren and the construction/design process. We know that the room was intended to be part of the library due to the distinctive carvings on sections of the wall depicting books, quills, flowers and fruit. We were next lead into the library. The same carvings were in evidence, but there was also a gallery built all around the room. The shelves were floor to ceiling and were crammed full of volumes. There were also volumes littering almost every surface in the room. I was surprised to find a 13th ce illuminated psalter sitting on a pillow out in the air. The ink of the text included both the black and red letters. The illumination on the left page was gorgeous. I had never thought to be that close to such a work - one of those experiences not to be forgotten. Unfortunately, photographs were not permitted. The room smelled almost like a humidor from the out-gassing of the old volumes' paper and leather. Oddly enough, that room is in use by staff and scholars. There is currently no separate reading room and Dr. Wisdom seemed disinclined to add one. He stated that his reasoning was two-fold: security issues and environmental issues. The library at St. Paul's is open to anyone who has a reasonable request for access. The library at St. Paul's was initially conceived of as a "public" library as there were none in existence at the time Sr. Christopher Wren designed the building. However, the initial design was rejected as the diocese felt it too much like St. Peter's (a catholic church). An image of the model is available at http://www.wmf.org/UK_St_Pauls_2007.html. The site is the World Monument Fund whose five-fold mission is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of and education about historic monuments world wide.
We learned that while the original collection was burned in the fire in 1666, the collection is quite sizable. Today, due to space constraints, very few volumes are accepted into the collection; however, those who wish to make donations (e.g. a family bible) that are not eligible for acceptance - the staff volunteers to find an appropriate repository for the donation. Additionally, the items that are accepted include items regarding individuals instrumental to St Paul's, its history and construction. They also try to maintain some congruence with the collection that is housed separately regarding the construction, survey and fabrication of the building itself. We were told that preservation has been an ongoing program since the collection was rebuilt following the fire of 1666. Cataloging is a fairly recent phenomenon with approximately 85% of items cataloged through the importation of MARC and AACR records with addition of local information. All of the librarians, historically, at St. Paul's were members of the clergy until about the middle of the 20th ce. There are records of the names of all librarians dating back to the 17th ce.
After the tour, our group had the opportunity to tour the cathedral. Some of us opted to climb to the top of the dome. There were about 538 steps to the top. The last leg of the journey from the Whispering Gallery to the top was comprised mostly of very narrow wrought iron spiral staircases. That was an extremely nerve wracking, not to mention exhausting, trip. I have to say that the view to the top was worth every step.
Following our jaunt to the top of the dome, we descended to the crypts below and stopped in the gift shoppe and the cafe to refresh ourselves before heading back to prepare for the welcome reception. Once again, Dr. Mackaman recalled us to our duty in being here as part of the BSP and we were treated to oration by Mr. Wiltshire and the chaplain of Kings College before adjourning to a light repast of tapas and drinks.
Following the reception, I took the opportunity to walk along the Strand and back down along the South Bank. I stopped to watch the sun sink below the skyline on a bench watching the party boats drift past. Altogether an extremely full and satisfying day. Additional information about the cathedral and library can be found at http://www.stpauls.co.uk/
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