The book cycle describes the life of each book within a Great Hermetic library. In overview, it begins when a text is selected for inclusion. A copy of the text is then acquired. Next, this copy is prepared for its role in the collection, a process called accessioning. The book is then, used; it is read, studied from, perhaps used as a bargaining chip if it contains rare or valuable information. Finally, when no longer useful to their owners, books are selected for disposal, and disposed of.

Lesser libraries will exhibit similar behaviour but inevitably with some of the niceties cut back.

Selection

Ars Magica Primer
Game Setting
	Mythic Europe
The Order of Hermes
	The Order of Hermes; The Code of Hermes; The Peripheral Code; Hermetic Book Cycle

A covenant's Librarian might seek particular texts to add to a Hermetic library for a variety of reasons. The first task for many young covenants is to assemble collection of sufficient breadth in Arts that it is possible for the covenant's magi to train new apprentices. On the other hand, covenants whose member are particularly interested in specific theories of one particular Art usually find their library developing a depth of books on that particular topic. Beyond these trends, the specialisations of a Library reflect the interests, current or historical, of the magi of the covenant.

Magic is rarely used in book selection, although some of the spells described in later sections c assist a magus to peruse a library and find the works he would like copies of.

Standard Texts

For nine of the Arts, there is a basic text that, over time, has come to be accepted as the preferred primer for a magus seeking the competence necessary to train an apprentice. These texts, called the Primers or Roots of the Arts, are widely and cheaply available. A Redcap can arrange the delivery of any of these texts, for a very small consideration.

In eight of the Arts, there are summae that are widely accepted as the finest works yet produced. These works, called the Pillars or Branches of the Arts, are sometimes purchased by young covenants from established libraries, but this is unusual. In the ritual of the Order it accepted that these, the purest expressions of the Arts they concern, should be given as gifts, because the information they contain is of such great value that they cannot be met in kind. It is, however a delicate matter for a young covenant to convince an older one to patronise them with such a valuable gift and, surreptitiously, they often offer payments and services in exchange for the gift of one of summae.

Many magi seek to pen a standard text, but fail to produce work that gains this highest level of acclaim. Many libraries contain these informative, but non-definitive, works. Some are excellent but lack the historical romance that has made foundational texts definitive in the minds of magi. Two Roots of the Arts have been superseded, each time by a magus of renown and intelligence. The Branches of the Arts have changed over time, as Hermetic magic has gradually increased its reach. Some of these titles hold. such awe, however, that the works that have replaced them have retained their original titles and nominal authors.

There are no standard tractatus, but dedicated students of various subjects consider certain florilegia (collections of Tractatus) worthy of particular note. These books are far rarer than the Roots and Branches, but can be accessed in libraries that specialise in the sacrilegious theme, or magi can pay for a copy while the text is being created.

Certain magi consider the root and branch symbolism employed in the advertising of standard texts to be a vestigial Druidical practice. They refer instead to the Foundations and Pillars of the Arts.

Acquisition

The Order of Hermes supports a vibrant book trade through two main branches: sale of finished books, and scribal hospitality. Books are sold through the Redcap system, supplemented by exchanges that occur at Tribunal meetings. Scribal hospitality occurs when a magus is allowed to copy from the library of a covenant to which he does not belong. Hospitality is usually offered in exchange for a payment or service.

The sale of Hermetic books

Many Hermetic books are sold through exchanges of letters, carried by Redcaps. Some Redcaps provide other ancillary services to the book trade. Some assess goods for sale on behalf of distant clients, or act as neutral parties between a pair of interested vendors. A few act as procurers, finding desired materials for a small fee. House Mercere's covenants also sometimes act as scribal centres. There are four main methods of postal sale.

Sale by public offer occurs when covenants make known the catalogue of books they have available, and invite buyers. Public offers often persist over lengthy periods. Some covenants, for example, provide their sodales with a list at each Tribunal meeting. Some public offers specify the price the seller requires, others invite negotiation.

Sale by tender occurs when a covenant circulates the desire to possess a certain work, or books of a particular type, and invites contact by potential suppliers. These offers are usually accompanied by an indication of the price the covenant would consider fair, but it is not unusual for a potential seller to contact the tendering covenant and suggest an alternative price or method of payment. Alternately, covenants who do not wish to advertise their requirements can usually hire a Redcap to discretely ask nearby covenants if they have a particular book available. Negotiations for sale by tender can be complex and protracted. It is common for several covenants to answer each call, and the tendering covenant may hold a glacial auction by mail, pressuring the sellers to reduce their price.

Sale by exchange occurs when a covenant advertises that it wishes to trade one class of text for a second class of text. This sort of barter can lead to extended negotiations, on delivery dates and confirmation of the quality of the copies to be traded by a third party trusted by both vendors. Even the choice of quality assessor is often a matter of haggling.

Sale by subscription occurs when a magus announces his intention to create a spell or device and invites magi to pay, in advance, for access to a Lab Text when it becomes available. Some magi seeking subscriptions offer a flat price, for example, a pawn of vis per subscriber. Other magi, performing more difficult and expensive research, sometimes encourage the formation of purchasing consortia by offering proportional payments. For example, a magus might agree to release his new Ritual in exchange for twenty-five pawns of vis. Covenants spread across Europe may form a buying cartel, splitting the costs in various ways. These consortia are maintained by side agreements. For example, a vis-rich covenant may pay a large proportion of the price in exchange for a series of political concessions, acts of assistance with vexing problems, and payments in kind. This allows poor, Spring covenants to join purchasing consortia.

No matter the method of sale, books are often sold at Tribunal. Many of these sales are prearranged, by the methods that are described above, and completed at the Tribunal meeting, when each party has the opportunity to inspect the goods of their correspondent. Other covenants bring surplus copies to sell to whoever desires to buy. Many covenants, not wanting the possible expense of unsold stock, create exemplars and take orders during tribunal for later delivery. These books are prepared to a series of informal standards, with the finer books, intended to be used for study, commanding higher prices than those intended as originals, from which working copies are to be made.

Definitions of Categories of Value

It is theoretically possible for a peerlessly capable Hermetic teacher, writing in the best of circumstances, to create a summa with a quality score of approximately (41 - level). In the history of the Order, this has never happened.

A very few summae, those most prized in the Order, have been created by exceptionally powerful magi, with excellent reputations, later in life. Perfect, clarified copies of these books have qualities of (35 - level).

Most of the summae traded within the Order are written by specialists in an Art, but with no particular skill in teaching. These summae have qualities somewhere between (31 - level) and (28 - level).

A few books are written by magi with weaker skills than these authors. These books are called "vain summae," because these immodest people do not understand why their books, poor and weak as they are, should not sit alongside better work. These summae have qualities of (25 - level) or below.

Discarded summae are usually damaged versions of the types above. They are stripped of their resonant materials before sale and usually have qualities between (18 - level) and (15 - level).

A tractatus written by a legendary teacher could, theoretically, have a quality of around 17. Generally, however, an excellent tractatus has a quality of around 14, a sound tractatus approximately 11, and a vain tractatus around six. Damaged tractatus may have quality scores as low as one.

Scribal hospitality

Many Hermetic covenants allow visitors to stay for a time and study or copy works from their library, usually in exchange for payment. Hermetic magi call this scribal hospitality. Hermetic study tends to be strongly affected by astrological factors, so most guests measure their stays in seasons. The facilities available to guests vary, depending on the wealth of the host covenant and their desire to pay for luxurious quarters.

Many covenants that engage in the book trade employ a stationer. Those covenants that trade away many copies of their books usually allow the stationer to co-ordinate the production and purchase of scribal supplies, the scribal process, and the dispatching of books to purchasers. Those covenants that sell scribal hospitality usually charge for materials like quills, vellum, and ink, and the stationer responsible for ensuring the availability of these supplies. Stationers often have frequent dealings with Redcaps.

A reading room is a portion of the library that is sectioned off from the collection, in which visitors are permitted to peruse books. It is usually appointed with comfortable chairs and lecterns (literally "reading stands"), since magi prefer to read books that are resting on a sloped surface. Some covenants permit scholars to dine in the reading room, the slope of the lectern forcing them to keep their food and books on separate tables. Many reading room sunlit. There are many styles of reading room; the different structures are responses to varying Hermetic views on how to prevent visitors from harming staff and damaging books.

One model, which is traditional in some of Durenmar's collections, involves visitors requesting materials by sliding a wax slate down an incline in the wall, into an adjoining room. The book is then slid down a similar incline onto a padded table in the reading room. This prevents. eye and voice contact between the visitor and staff, reducing the possibility of casual mind control. These measures have probably been unnecessary since the invention of the Aegis of the Hearth centuries ago, but the tradition remains. As a counter-example, the reading rooms for the covenant of Valnastium lie on a lawn in a section of the gardens. These are intermittently protected by weather magic. All reading rooms contain some measure to reduce the possibility of theft.

A scriptoriolum is a scribal carrel - a tiny room in which a scribe may work undisturbed. Carrels were a monastic invention, developed in response to the problems caused by autodictation. Mundane copyists have only used silent reading for around the last century; before that time the usual method of making copies was for the scribe to read the book aloud, to himself, then copy what had been said. When many scribes were working together in a room, this made the scriptorium so noisy that many monasteries developed languages of hand-signals to allow communication in the scriptorium to continue. Autodictation continues in many institutions, and separating the scribes in tiny rooms, so that they work without disturbing each other, is popular in some monasteries.

A suite of scriptoriola is more expensive to build, and to run, than a scriptorium. Each carrel requires a supply of stationery and illumination fuel. These are usually kept centrally, in a room near the suite, or in armarii along the hallway formed by the carrels. Some covenants refuse to allow their own staff to use carrels, because it prevents them from being observed, to ensure diligence. These covenants may allow visitors to use scriptoriola because the magi do not care if their guests waste their time.

Some covenants include suites for use by visiting scribes. These quarters vary in complexity from a single room in which the visitor sleeps, writes, reads, and, if he wishes, eats, up to elaborate apartments, which contain separate rooms for sleeping, bathing, writing, eating, and keeping a servant. Redcaps often use visitor's suites, if they are available.

Covenants with visitor's suites need to balance the cost of enchanting a second building with library-related magic against the risk of having strangers live within the library building for extended periods. Some young covenants rely upon their Aegis of the Hearth and locked armarii exclusively and so see no harm in allowing visitors to stay in the library building. Some mature covenants have their guest chambers some distance from the inner ward.

Accession

Accession is the process of preparing books for use by readers, so that they become part of the library. Two processes comprise accession: the physical preparation of the book and the classification of the book. In Hermetic Libraries physical preparation is performed first. Sometimes, when a book is scribed for sale to a library, much of its shelf preparation is performed before its transfer since shelf-readied books are more durable, and so travel better.

Shelf-readying

Shelf-readying consists of a series of steps, many of which can be performed in any order. Covering is the process of surrounding the pages of the book, to protect them from damage. Hard covers, like those that contain wooden boards, gently prevent pages from developing a wavy cross-section as they age. Pages not kept under pressure thicken on the edge furthest from the spine, so that the book develops a wedge shape. The edge can become up to three times thicker than the spine. Many covers tie or lock shut, which assists the covers to remain in place. Some books are uncovered, and instead are kept in boxes or pouches.

Numbering occurs when each book is given unique identifying number, which assists librarians in assessing the completeness and orderliness of the collection. In many libraries, the accession number is used as a shelving aid. The numbers are given to books as they are purchased, and the books are shelved in this chronological order, using their numbers, within their Art or subject.

Ownership marks are used to identify books' owners. Some Hermetic librarians insert an illustrated leaf, called a bookplate, at the start or end of every book in their collection. Some bookplates are made by carving a negative image into a black of wood, then dipping this black into ink and stamping it onto the parchment, a process called xylography. Many Hermetic libraries instead press a design into the leather covers of their books. This is often their covenant sigil. Many donors to libraries mark books similarly, particularly specialists in area that the library is renowned for and at is impolite to remove these marks.

A voucher is a slip of parchment, usually kept within the book, that remains with the library if the book is removed. The voucher briefly acts as an arcane connection to the book, due to the law of contagion. In Hermetic libraries that allow lending, the vouchers are usually small envelopes, which the borrowing magus signs, then fills with either a lock of hair, which acts as a connection for The Inexorable Search or a quantity of Vis, which is forfeited for poor behaviour. Libraries reinsert their vouchers into the books as they are returned, so many books contain lists of signatures that chart each copy's history.

Chaining is the practice of securing the book to iron rail that runs along the top of a series of lecterns in the library. Chaining is a security measure. The chain is often attached by a flap to the upper corner of the front cover furthest from the spine. In this position, it is less likely to tangle with adjoining chains.

Catalogue as proxy

A library's catalogue -the list of books the library contains - acts as an arcane connection to the library, and allows a magus to cast spells upon the whole collection. It is a connection to each book the library contains, and to all of the books collectively. Individual books are not connected to the library of which they are part once they are removed from the Library building; they are connected to the catalogue instead. This provides the library with an added layer of security against magical attack and botched spells. Many libraries keep multiple copies of their catalogue, since they arc sometimes destroyed instead of the library by botched spells. Only the most recently scribed copy may act as a proxy for the library, and then only if it is accurate.

The ritual that binds libraries to their catalogue was invented during the second century of the Order's history. A magus performing it requires and a pawn of Vim Vis. It needs to be performed again whenever every copy of the library's catalogue has been destroyed. This ritual is the ancestor of the ritual that fixes Arcane Connections.

Use

Hermetic libraries serve two main purposes, study and research. They allow students to develop their abilities, and allow researchers to uncover answers to questions.

Study

The rules assume that a student is reading in optimal conditions. A magus working in poor conditions suffers a quality penalty of up to -6, at the GM's discretion. Conversely, magi gain no mechanical advantage from using magic to control the environment of their reading room - they are assumed to have well-lit, warm rooms. Smokeless lights, floating books, and magically-refilled ink-wells make their work more comfortable than that of their mundane equivalents, but does not allow them to gain additional mechanical advantage. Certain magi go so far as to demand Spartan writing areas since they find the rigour of it prevents them from being distracted.

Research

A magus seeking a fact in a library makes an Intelligence + Ability roll, with a bonus modified by the library holdings.

Sample Library bonuses are as follows.

+5 for a peerless collection on a subject
+4 for a collection that is specialised in the subject but not unique
+3 for a collection like that of a powerful Autumn covenant with no particular interest in the subject
+2 for a collection like that of an average Summer covenant with no particular interest in the subject
+l for a library with only a few books on the subject

A library may also have a bonus due to the presence of a significant magical item. For example, a hypothetical library lit using a lamp made from the skull of Chiron, the centaur who taught human medicine might have a +3 on all medical research rolls.

De-selection

Books are removed from Hermetic libraries because they are no longer useful to the magi. Some books become so damaged through use and age that they are retired. Other books are no longer interesting, because the needs of the magi have changed since the books were acquired. When one of the magi living in a covenant dies, the items which favour their Arts are sometimes no longer needed, and are traded away to provide materials which suit the current magi. When all magi who are interested in a given tractatus are finished reading it, it is often traded away. When a particular project is finished, the materials required for it are no longer needed. For example, primers used to round out the Arts of a mage determined to train an apprentice are often sold away after the magus completes his studies, although sometimes they are kept and passed on to the apprentice.

Disposal

Books are disposed of in several ways. Those that are still useful to magi, but simply no longer desired by the inhabitants of a particular covenant, are sold using one of the methods described in the acquisition section. Those that are physically robust, but cannot be sold, can have their text removed so that they can be reused. These blanked books are called palimpsests. Books that have suffered serious damage are stripped for their materials. The final, ignominious end of many magical texts is the gelatine pot, where they are boiled down to make magically resonant glue and ink-binding agents.

The residue of magical books sometimes distorts the environment in which it is placed. A few covenants keep retired book rooms, while others incinerate their retired books, then dump the ashes in the sea. Many older covenants have stories about how an unusual feature is due to old books being buried at a certain site, or books being burned in a chimney whose dust was emptied in a certain garden.

Hermetic Book Cycle

Contents