36 PAPYRUS PAPER MADE AT MEMPHIS. 



FREDERICK. 



What are the subjects of those which have heen unrolled! 



MRS. F. 



This library was found in what appears to have been the 

 country house of an Epicurean philosopher, and the works 

 which have been as yet deciphered are naturally those of his 

 school : all, I believe, are writings which were before un- 

 known to the moderns; and when we reflect upon the number 

 yet to be unrolled, we may hope that great riches are still 

 concealed in this unique collection. Whatever may be, how- 

 ever, the intrinsic value of the writings already published, 

 they may yet serve to elucidate others of greater interest; and 

 therefore, the plan which the academy adopt, of publishing 

 every fragment which they unroll, is the most prudent, the 

 most useful, and the most likely to lead to beneficial results. 



ESTHER. 



W T here was papyrus paper first manufactured, mamma'? 



MRS. F. 



That is unknown ; but there existed manufactories of it at 

 Memphis 300 years before the reign of Alexander. After- 

 wards, and at the time of the conquest of Egypt by the 

 Romans, it was chiefly made at Alexandria. Till this con- 

 quest, however, the paper was of an inferior quality, but the 

 Roman artists paid great attention to its improvement; and it 

 was exported in large quantities from Egypt. The possession 

 of that country by the Saracens interrupted and diminished 

 the export, and few manuscripts on papyrus are of a later 

 date than the eighth or ninth century. 



ESTHER. 



Of what part of the plant was it made? 



MRS. F. 



The learned differ upon this point ; but I believe the most 

 received opinion is, that it was made from the stalk (the 



