THE LIBRARY AND KNOWLEDGE AND LIFE 209 



of Eden's happy vales, and since then the children of Eve, and 

 especially those of them who are librarians or book-lovers, have 

 sighed for this lost paradise of thought and knowledge. Certain it is 

 that since the fall of man the Bibliotheca Universalis has never taken 

 material form, and as the years widen the circle of knowledge it 

 recedes further and further into the land of dreams and the speed 

 at which it retires increases, so it would seem, with each new genera- 

 tion. The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica appeared 

 in 1771, and filled three quarto volumes. In a century and a 

 quarter the three have grown to thirty-six. It is a significant fact 

 that this period wherein the boundaries of learning have been so 

 widely enlarged is also the period in which libraries, great and small, 

 have increased with marvelous rapidity. It used to be an article 

 of undergraduate faith that the Bodleian contained a copy of every 

 printed book, but no library now, not even the largest, dare claim 

 completeness in every direction, and huge specialist libraries have 

 been created. But happily there is a constant stream of literature 

 in which this specialist learning, in a condensed and quintessential 

 form, finds its way to the general library. 



The nearest approach to the ideal library is in the attempt to sup- 

 ply, with generous liberality, the literature of all lands and subjects, 

 to be seen in the great national collections provided mainly at the 

 cost of the state, though often enriched by the munificence of indi- 

 viduals. The British Museum is the most familiar type of such an 

 institution, and may probably, alike in extent and in freedom of 

 access, claim the premier position. France might possibly, in some 

 respects, challenge the claim, and other European nations are proud 

 of their vast repositories of literary treasure. In the Library of 

 Congress, America, though later in the race than some of her com- 

 peers, is, with amazing energy, building up a great national library, 

 and, happily unfettered by conventions, is working with a skill and 

 individuality that insures success. But in the nature of things the 

 newer institutions are at a disadvantage. No modern library can 

 duplicate the treasures of the Vatican. Every great library rejoices 

 in the possession of gems that are unique. Happily in these latter 

 days the arts of exact and faithful reproduction have made it possible 

 to have trustworthy facsimiles prepared. These simulacra can 

 never have the interest of the originals, but they suffice for the pur- 

 poses of scholarship and they have a further value as a precaution 

 against the loss to learning that would follow from the accidental 

 destruction of the originals. It is much to be desired that all manu- 

 scripts of great importance should be facsimiled. In this direction 

 we may commend the action of Italy in the magnificent publication 

 of the manuscript of her mighty son Leonardo da Vinci, who com- 

 bined the talents of painter, poet, and engineer; whose well-stored 



