While the “stall-system” was being generally adopted in England and in France, a different plan was being developed in Italy. It consisted in a return to the “lectern-system,” with the addition of a shelf below the lectern, on which the books lay on their sides when not wanted; and an ingenious combination of a seat for the reader with the desk and shelf.

The earliest library fitted up in this manner that I have been able to discover is at Cesena, a city of north Italy between Forli and Ravenna. It is practically in its original condition.

In the fifteenth century Cesena was governed by the powerful family of Malatesta, one of whom, Domenico Malatesta Novello, built the library in 1452, and placed it under the charge of the convent of S. Francesco. Two burghers were associated with the Friars in this duty. The library was always public. It was designed by Matteo Nuzio of Fano, a celebrated architect of the day, as we learn from an inscription originally inserted into the wall on the right of the door of entrance, but now placed inside the library:

The general plan and arrangement will be readily understood from the ground-plan (fig. 91) and the longitudinal section the MSS. in the library in 1780; and also from the general view of the interior (fig. 93).