Putting Art in its Place: the “Modern System of the Arts” in Bibliographies and Bibliothecae

The desire to gather, organize and classify knowledge has long manifested itself. In a library the books are arranged on the shelves in order to facilitate their retrieval. Similarly, in the large catalogues of books and bibliographies compiled over the centuries (“libraries without walls”), references are organised alphabetically or thematically (or using a combination of both). This article attempts to identify and examine the position of the arts within the major bibliographical systems, bibliographies and bibliothecae that have been published since the mid-sixteenth century. It therefore asks which arts were included, and questions how far we can identify a “modern system of the arts”. It also identifies the disciplines with which the arts were most frequently identified and connected (mechanical arts, sciences, literature and poetry). Careful reading and analysis of the bibliographies also raises related questions concerning the readership of artistic literature.