libraries for your campaign world

[fireinthedust]

Check out this link

The pictures are great for a library in a campaign world, or just books in general. If you're thinking about, say, the Daunton library, or some other city library. Also if the PCs have entered a castle, or keep, or other place where a wealthy NPC has a collection of books in a nice room.

If you're going to spend money on expensive books in a medieval setting, you'd want a nice place to keep them, no?

Any other links for useful photos? Or ideas for what adventures could happen in and around libraries?

 

[Keith Robinson]

There's some pretty damn impressive pictures there, I must admit.

Thanks for the link.

Heres the Library of Congress:

And here's one of Charles Dickens library:

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Swiped for the Arcana Wiki!

 

[Kaodi]

Those are some magnificent pictures, but I will say that I think most of them are actually far too grand for most libraries in a D&D game. Not in terms of architecture or decor, but in terms of scale. My guess is that you would have to be something on the order of an Emperor to even have a faint hope of assembling a library as grand as those we have today.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Those are some magnificent pictures, but I will say that I think most of them are actually far too grand for most libraries in a D&D game. Not in terms of architecture or decor, but in terms of scale. My guess is that you would have to be something on the order of an Emperor to even have a faint hope of assembling a library as grand as those we have today.

Depends on whether or not the printing press has been invented in a particular D&D setting - if so, it wouldn't be too expensive to fill it up.

And even non-Emperor noble rulers tended towards building monumental architecture - and there's an advantage to being known as a patron of the arts.

 

[Kaodi]

...if so, it wouldn't be too expensive to fill it up.

The thing is, I do not think it is a cost issue, per se. The challenge is in finding enough actual unique works to fill it up.

 

[Eridanis]

I see the pictures are from Candida Hofer's book, Libraries. It's been in my Amazon queue for about two years now; when I get a spare $70, I know I'll be picking it up.

 

[Armadillo]

Another end of the scale, libraries of Timbuktu:

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

The thing is, I do not think it is a cost issue, per se. The challenge is in finding enough actual unique works to fill it up.

Again, it depends on how long ago the printing press was invented. Something like the library of Charles Dickens could be done very easily. Larger libraries would be possible after the printing press has been around for a century or so - there was a real explosion of literacy and books at the time.