704 HISTORY OF THE SMITHSONIAN EXCHANGES. 



In 1883 lie went to Vienna and addressed tlie Count Maurice of Die- 

 tricbsteiu, director general of the Imperial Museum, who replied, on 

 the Gth of December, 1833, by letter, that the preparation of a catalogue 

 of duplicates in the library would require more time than he could just 

 then devote to the subject; but that, nevertheless, Mr. Vattemare mifht 

 depend on his assistance, and he further expressed his belief that, 

 through Mr. Vattemare's intervention, the librarj^ would be greatly 

 benefited. 



He had now received favorable consideration from a number of sov- 

 ereigns and governments which were waiting for France to take the 

 initiative. Knowing that in laying his propositions before his govern- 

 ment he must be prepared to support them in an incontrovertible man- 

 ner by facts, and possessing now oCBcial evidence of the favorable re- 

 ception accorded them abroad, Mr. Vattemare returned to Paris in 

 November, 1835. 



In his first petition to the two Chambers he set forth the fact that 

 '• all the large establishments founded by the munificence of govern- 

 ments in the interest of science and arts, namely, museums, collections, 

 galleries, and libraries, possessed, besides the treasures they displayed, 

 many others, which by reason of their abundance were condemned to 

 be usfeless. The duplicates which formed this precious waste, the'sa- 

 vant saw with regret, buried in the dust of forgetfulness"; and "there 

 was not one large city in Europe which did not possess a considerable 

 number of such duplicates. The library at Munich had 200,000; Jena, 

 12,000; St. Petersburg, 54,000; Vienna, more than 30,000, which in- 

 cludes a large number of these 'incurables,' which were hidden away 

 in store-rooms. At Vienna 25,000 duplicates were encumbering the en- 

 tomological section of the Brazilian museum. Any attempt at enumera- 

 tion would be imperfect, for everywhere there would be discovered, in 

 addition to those collections of books intended for study or exhibited 

 as curiosities to the public, hidden collections, unknown libraries and 

 museums, treasures lost to science and the world," &c. 



The report on this petition was made to both Chambers in March, 

 1836. The proposition was favorably received. Two years, however, 

 elapsed without any action being taken, the government being en- 

 grossed by j)olitical events. 



Mr. Vattemare, becoming impatient at the delay, resolved to go to 

 England for the purpose of propagandism. He,laid his project before 

 the Marquis of Landsdowne in May, 1838, and succeeded in establishing 

 an exchange with the British Museum. 



After his return to Paris, IMr. Vattemare addressed a second petition 

 to the Chambers on February 2, 1839, in which he stated an important 

 fact. He said : " For two years the system of exchanges of duplicates 

 has been in operation to some extent. Austria, Prussia, and England 

 have obtained important results, and the greater number of the dupli- 

 cates at Vienna, Berlin, and Munich, of whose existence mention was 



