The chained medieval library at Hereford Cathedral, England.
The chaining of books was the most widespread and effective security system in European libraries from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, and Hereford Cathedral’s 17th-century Chained Library is the largest to survive with all its chains, rods and locks intact.
Most of the volumes in the collection date to acquistions made in the 1100s, although the oldest book in the collection, the “Hereford Gospels,” dates to about the year 800.
The books are shelved with their foredges, rather than their spines, facing the reader (the wrong way round to us); this allows the book to be lifted down and opened without needing to be turned around – thus avoiding tangling the chain.
