Books were so valuable in medieval and renaissance times that libraries often chained their books to the shelves. Even today, an occasional medieval book will come up for auction at rare book sales with a bit of the chain attached. Those bits of chain cause the price of the book to skyrocket.
The library pictured here is on the grounds of St. Walburga’s church in the Netherlands. Originally built in 1561, it has opted to keep the chains in accordance with tradition. What a wonderful memory of a bygone era!