"A library alone isn’t enough..."

A recent addition to our collection of illustrated law books is Johann Werle’s Album Juridicum (Augsburg, 1733), a collection of legal maxims arranged by topic. The frontispiece depicts the author seated in his library as a latter-day St. Jerome. He points to a diagram outlining the book’s contents.

At the top of the diagram is the Latin maxim, “Bibliotheca sola non sufficit; unde disce piger”, which, roughly translated, means “A library alone is not enough; learn, you lazy man!” Words to live by.

MIKE WIDENER
Rare Book Librarian