PAPYRI OF HERCULANEUM. 35 



ESTHER. 



Then, what is done with those that are unrolled to prevent 

 such an accident. 



They are put into frames with glasses over them, and are 

 eventually hung up in the Museum. One has been left in 

 its whole length in order to give an idea of the original form 

 and extent of the MSS. ; but this system has not been fol- 

 lowed, it being found more convenient for the draughtsmen 

 and interpreters, to divide the papyrus into several fragments, 

 as they require to turn the page in different lights in order 

 the better to decipher the characters. The manuscript is 

 first passed to the draughtsman, who copies the characters 

 with the greatest exactness, so as to render it a complete fac- 

 simile of the original ; his copy is then submitted to the in- 

 spection of the interpreters, who having approved of it, pass 

 it to the engraver ; he, having engraved it, returns it to the 

 interpreters, who then publish it in their learned and elabo- 

 rate work. Here is a little specimen, which, although you 

 do not understand Greek, will show you the method of pro- 

 ceeding. 



HENRIETTA. 



How many manuscripts are unrolled? 



MRS. F. 



Of the 1756 papyri found at Herculaneum, 210 have been 

 entirely and usefully unrolled;* 127 have been partly opened; 

 but the work has been suspended from finding them illegible; 

 and 205 could not be unrolled because they were not suffi- 

 ciently compact to bear the application of the goldbeater's 

 skin; 27 have been presented by the government to England 

 and France ; 23 have been used for the purposes of experi- 

 ment ; and 1164 remain untouched : so they may yet contain 

 much that is valuable and interesting, f 



* This is the report of 1835. 



t See Officina de' Papiri descritta dal Canonico de Jorio. 



