A library, he urged, should be furnished with all principal authors,
ancient and modem, obscure or well~known, religious or secular, in
the best editions. This inclusiveness was not the recommendation of
most of Naude's contemporaries. Even Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-
1613), founder of the famous Bodleian Library at Oxford, did not
accept modem literature and considered some authors--Shakespeare
for example-frivolous. Gabriel Naude, on the other hand, was lib~
eral and against exclusion based on personal taste or orthodoxy. His
concept, that a library should inform and delight all, was quite rev~
olutionary, and by no means would be followed by all librarians in
coming generations.
Books in foreign languages should be acquired in both the original
language and the best possible translations "for the use of many per~
sons who have not the knowledge of foreign tongues". Special atten~
tion must be given to controversial subjects, and no efforts spared to
have present in the library the pros and cons of these. We should: