68 Mr. Richard R. Holmes [Feb. 17, 



The total number of volumes in the library at the time of the 

 King's decease was between eighty and ninety thousand, all fine, in 

 good condition, and splendidly bound. It was feared at one time that 

 the whole might leave the country, as overtures for its acquisition 

 were made by a great foreign potentate ; but the wise counsels of the 

 Ministry of the new Sovereign had their weight, and this noble col- 

 lection is now worthily housed in the National Museum, where it is 

 kept apart as the " King's Library." 



Under the same roof is also preserved the great Numismatic Cabinet 

 formed by the King, and presented to the nation in 1823 by George IV. 

 It contained specimens of Greek, Koman, English and foreign coins 

 and medals, many of singular beauty, and of the greatest rarity. These 

 are no longer kept by themselves in one collection, as in the case of 

 the books, but have been dispersed through the various cabinets of 

 the Museum, according to their proper classification, but each one 

 has a special ticket with it, showing the source from which it came. 

 The value of the whole must have been very great, amounting to at 

 least sixty thousand pounds. 



At the same time that the King was laying the foundation of his 

 library, he was making other and no less important additions to his 

 treasures. In 1762, a gentleman writing from Kome says, " Nothing 

 gives me more satisfaction than to find so many fine things purchased 

 for His Majesty the King of Great Britain lately in Italy. He is 

 now master of the best collection of drawings in the world, having 

 purchased two or three capital collections in Rome, the last belong- 

 ing to Cardinal Albani, for 14,000 crowns, consisting of S00 large 

 volumes, one-third of which are original drawings by the first Masters, 

 the others, collections of the most capital engravings ; and lately there 

 has been purchased for His Majesty all the museum of Mr. Smith, 

 consisting of his library, prints, drawings, designs, &c. I think it is 

 highly probable that the Arts and Sciences will flourish in Great 

 Britain under the protection and encouragement of a monarch who is 

 himself an excellent judge of merit and taste in the vertu." Sir 

 Horace Mann tells the same tale in one of his letters from Florence 

 to Horace Walpole. " Have you heard what a quantity of things have 

 been bought and are buying for the King ? Cardinal Albani's col- 

 lection of drawings and prints were paid 14,000 crowns (about three 

 thousand guineas). Mr. Smith's whole collection and library has 

 been purchased at the price of 20,000?. sterling, and Mr. Dalton is 

 now in Venice packing it up. Many expensive things of that sort 

 were lost in a ship that took fire at sea some months ago, the crew of 

 which saved their lives by becoming prisoners to the Spaniards at 

 Carthagena. In short, I believe that there is no ship departs from 

 any port in Italy that has not something for the King." It was at 

 that time a splendid opportunity for a collector ; the artistic treasures 

 amassed in the seventeenth contury by Princes and Cardinal nephews, 

 by the Barberini, Giustiniani, Odescalchi, and others, were, owing to 

 the increasing pecuniary embarrassments of the great families, being 

 dispersed in every direction, though much, particularly of sculpture, 



