PAPYRI OF HERCULANEUM. 31 



MRS. F. 



In order that I may be able to give you a more detailed 

 account of tlje various modes and materials employed for 

 transmitting knowledge before the discovery of printing, I 

 have brought down some notes which I made upon the subject 

 many years since: but, before we leave the subject of Manu- 

 scripts, I must tell you something of the papyri discovered at 

 Herculaneum. 



HENRIETTA. 



Thank you, aunt; I should so much like to know all about 

 the Herculaneum and Pompeii MSS. 



Herculaneum. 



MRS. F. 



Not Pompeii, Henrietta, for those which were found in 

 that city fall into powder as soon as touched. Those of 

 Herculaneum alone are in a state to be unrolled, and the diffi- 

 culty and delicacy of the undertaking render it a most lar 

 borious and ingenious operation. 



ESTHER. 

 Where were these papyri found ? 



MRS. F. 



In prosecuting the excavations at Herculaneum, the work- 

 men cam.e, in 1753, to a small room which had presses all 

 round it, and one in the centre, containing books on both 

 sides, but the wood of the press was so completely carbonised 

 that it fell into pieces when touched. 



