May 5, 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



337 



LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 5. 1855. 

 NOTICES OF ANCIENT LIBRARIES, NO. II. 



It is impossible to say when collections of books 

 were first made, and deposited in such places as 

 w'ere both safe and convenient for reference. The 

 germ of the system, however, may be contained in 

 God's command to Moses respecting the ark, for 

 the secure preservation of the divine law, Exo- 

 dus XXV. 16. 



We read of a libx'ary at Babylon and at Ecba- 

 tana in Ezra vi. 1, 2. Both the LXX. and the 

 Vulgate have the wox'd "library" in v. 1. 



It is extremely probable that libraries existed 

 at both these places down to about a.d. 170; for 

 we find references to the books of the Chaldeans 

 at Babylon, and at Ecbatana, in the unpublished 

 dialogue on Fate by Bardesanes the Gnostic (Add. 

 MSS. in Brit. Museum, No. 14658.). 



The school of the Jews at Tiberias possessed a 

 library of books. (Epiphan. Hcer., 30.) 



Sigonius says that the school of the Jews at 

 Jerusalem included forty colleges, and that every 

 college had its own library. 



There is a passage in Sallust (Bell. Jug., xvii.) 

 which alludes to what appears to have been a 

 collecti(m of Punic books belonging to Hiempsal, 

 from which some curious items of information are 

 derived. 



The Egyptians founded libraries at an early 

 period ; and probably, as in the case of the He- 

 brews, Persians, and other ancient nations, there 

 were regular establishments or record offices, with 

 appropriate oflScers, for the composition of public 

 documents, the compilation and conservation of 

 the annals of the slate, &c. Diodorus Siculus 

 relates, that Osyraandyas, who reigned in Egypt 

 at a very remote period, erected a building, in one 

 part of which the judges used to assemble, and 

 their president was surrounded with books. 



Not far from this, there was a magnificent 

 library, which claims to be tlie most ancient on 

 record. Over its entrance was this inscription : 

 "The treasury of remedies for the soul's diseases." 



The Etruscans would seem to have had a litera- 

 ture, though the term " Etruscan books," used by 

 Cicero, may be a name merely for a certain class 

 of works on divination, &c., which by some were 

 collecled and studied. (De Bivin., i. 33., ii. 23. ; 

 De Hariiap. liesp., 25.) 



The libraries of the Ptolemies at Alexandria, 

 which some say contained near 700,000 volumes, 

 and which were partially destroyed in the first 

 Alexandrine war, and totally so by the Saracens' 

 A.D. 642, are well known. Josephus gives the 

 number of volumes at 500,000; Seneca at 400,000. 

 (De Tranquill. Anim., 9.) 



Serenus Samonicus, a physician, who lived 

 under Severus and Caracalla, is reported to have 

 possessed a library of 62,000 volumes, which he 

 bequeathed to Gordiau the younger, of whose 

 father he had been the friend. (Petrarch- de 

 Berried. Up: Fort., i. 43.) 



Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., iii. 9.) speaks of the 

 writings of Josephus as being (translated aod) 

 deposited in a library at Rome, 



Constantius, son of Constantino, founded a 

 public library at Constantinople. (Berington.) 



At that time other cities also had public li- 

 braries, particularly Antioch. (Ibid. p. 60.) 



In the Persian war against Chosrces, says Be- 

 rington, literature suffered an irreparable loss in 

 the destruction of libraries and of the general 

 means of mental cultivation ; but he gives no 

 authorities (p. 357.). 



Constantine Porpbyrygenitus caused diligeftt 

 search to be made for the writings of such ancient 

 authors as, notwithstanding the recent labours of 

 Photius, were in danger of being lost. (Ibid. 

 p. 372., Bogue's edit.) 



In the time of Pepin, Rome was very poor in 

 books, as Paul I. could find the monarch nothing 

 but an Antiphonale and a Responsale, a Grarti" 

 matica Aristotelis (not extant), and the books of 

 Dionysius the Areopagite, geometry, orthography, 

 and grammar. (Ibid. p. 83.) 



The Saracens under Almanzor, whose court was 

 at Bagdad, collected from Constantinople and 

 elsewhere the volumes of Grecian learning, which 

 they translated into Arabic in the eighth century. 



In the ninth century, Almamon similarly dis- 

 tinguished himself. 



Great libraries were also formed, both ai Cairo 

 and at Cordova. The royal library of the Fati- 

 mltes is said to have contained 100,000 MSS., and 

 the Spanish collection was yet more numerous. 



The Saracens also opened above seventy public 

 libraries in Andalusia. 



Alhakeni, son of Abdalrahman, allured many 

 learned men from the East by the offer of great 

 rewards ; and his collection of books, which had 

 been amassed at a great expense, was extensive 

 beyond belief. Not fewer than 600,000 volunaes 

 were formed into a library, and a mere catalogue 

 of works filled forty-four volumes. The academy 

 of Cordova was opened under the auspices of 

 Alhakem ; and in other cities many colleges were 

 erected, and libraries opened ; while more thai^ 

 three hundred writers employed their talents oa 

 various subjects of erudition. (Tenth Century.) 



Aishali of Cordova left behind her an extensive 

 and well-selected library. (Tenth Century.) 



With the fall of Granada its libraries were dis- 

 persed. 



In addition to the places named, the Saracens 

 founded a library at Fez. 



The library at Constantinople cowetattly (em- 



