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We can only conjecture why they chose to write on the books in this way. It has been said that they were following the examples of libraries that held chained books (University or Monastery libraries) or it might simply have been that they were fed up of having to peer so closely at the shelves to read the titles of the books. They also stored books spine down in chests. In many cases of early books there was no title on the spine anyway.

In the Tomb of Lucy III in the Church at Charlecote you can see books stacked anyhow, vertically and horizontally, but many with the cut edge of the pages facing out.