Editing Gabriel Naudé (section)

== ''Advice on establishing a library'' ==
''Advice'', written as a set of instructions for a private collector, was based on Naudé's own experience and research. In the introduction to his book, Naudé wrote that he is not an expert in the field of librarianship but he presented what he believed to be the most important ideas. He based some of the opinions in ''Advice'' on his own experience in Mesme's library, and wrote out for Mesme the accepted practices and principles of librarians of the time. Chapters each covered topics such as number of books, selecting the books, procuring the books, and so forth.

Naudé's first chapter poses the question, "Why establish a library?" He answered the question with a simple message; there is no greater honor than building a great library and sharing it with the public. Naudé believed libraries should model themselves after the best libraries of the world. The first task is to create a plan. Before a person can erect a library, he must educate himself on the subject of collecting and organizing books. A person must also seek the guidance of those who have already built their own libraries or are in the process. He suggested studying and copying the catalogues of other libraries.

Naudé devoted an entire chapter to book selection, remarked upon throughout. The first authors who need to be purchased are those considered experts in their respective fields. Regardless whether they are ancient or modern works, if a book were held in high regard by practitioners of a particular field then it should be present in any collection. In addition, any well known interpretations or commentaries that exist are a necessity. Naudé suggested purchasing books in the original languages because meaning can often be lost in translation. He stood strongly against censorship of any kind. Naudé believed that every book has a reader regardless of the subject, and that information should be free and available. Readers could always find use of a book, even if that use were to refute the ideas presented on its pages. Certain books are popular at times but later forgotten: he argued that it would be beneficial to a library if there were multiple copies of these books to accommodate the popular tastes of the times.

In his chapter on book acquisition, Naudé offered concise tips. The easiest way is to purchase another library in its entirety. Naudé went on to praise secondhand book sellers who often provided good books at cheap prices. Naudé himself browsed book-binding and printing shops for used paper, and once had discovered a rare manuscript that a book binder was using as scrap paper.

Naudé included a chapter in ''Advice'' for arranging the books. In discussing arrangement he quoted [[Cicero]]'s ''[[De Oratore]]'': "It is order that gives light to memory" (from De Oratore 2.353<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cicero |year=1967 |title=Memory Passages in Cicero's de Oratore |url=https://www.laits.utexas.edu/memoria/Cicero.html |access-date=9 December 2023 |website=University of Texas, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services}}</ref>). He gave instructions that he considered logical. His subject headings included theology, philosophy, jurisprudence, medicine, history, mathematics and humanities. Naudé would add other subject headings in later years, but these categories best represented the known body of knowledge in the world. Each section, he said, should be divided into subheadings and begin with the principal authors followed by the commentaries.<ref name=":0" />

Translated into many different languages (including English, German, Danish, Italian, and Modern Greek) and boasting at least 37 different editions, this book is widely regarded as a foundational text for the study of Library Science and Naudé's seminal work. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Naudé |first=Gabriel |url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL23306625M/Instructions_concerning_erecting_of_a_library?mode=all |title=Instructions concerning erecting of a library: presented to My Lord the President De Mesme |last2=Taylor |first2=Archer |date=1903 |publisher=Printed for Houghton, Mifflin at the Riverside Press |location=Cambridge, Mass}}</ref>