724 



LIBRARY. 



Librry. thought to be exaggerated. Almost the whole books 

 ""V" ' published in Spain, as well as the best foreign works, 

 are purchased tor the library. A porter is stationed at 

 the door to see that the injunctions respecting the dress 

 of its visitors are observed : Fischer's Travels, p. 1 93. 

 In some of the Spanish libraries the books are arran- 

 ged with the front, or edge, presented to view, instead 

 of the back as with us. 



Libraries in Although there are many extensive and valuable li- 

 K ranee, brnries in France, those of Paris are the most distill' 

 guished, particularly the National Library, which is 

 unrivalled in the world. This immense depot of litera- 

 ture, formerly called the King's Library, is of obscure 

 origin. It appears that Charles V. had a library of 910 

 volumes, in the fourteenth century, which is said to 

 have contained originals, or translations, of the Greek 

 and Roman Classics: but it' was entirely dissipated. 

 Another collection, founded by Loijis XI. was enlarged 

 by Francis I. who had a decided predilection for Greek 

 literature. Not content with directing his ambassadors 

 at the various European courts to procure Greek MSS. 

 in the course of their respective missions, he sent three 

 travellers to the Levant for that special purpose, who 

 brought home 400 volumes. The celebrated Budaeus 

 was appointed librarian by that sovereign ; which of- 

 fice he held until he died, in 1540. In l66'l, the li- 

 brary consisted of 16,746 printed and manuscript trea- 

 tises. The acquisitions of the National Library have 

 been numerous, from the accession of other entire libra- 

 ries, and of late they have been very numerous, both by 

 purchase and plunder. It is entitled to two copies of eve- 

 ry work published in the kingdom. In the year 1785, it 

 contained 200,000 printed volumes, 60,000 manuscripts, 

 5000 volumes of prints, and 2000 engravings ; since 

 which period it has been much increased. Its contents 

 are at present computed to be 350,000 printed books ; 

 between 70,000 and 80,000 manuscripts, and, it is com- 

 puted, 50,000 portraits. There is no complete catalogue 

 of this vast collection. A catalogue of the manuscripts 

 in ten folio volumes, under a systematic arrangement, 

 was published during the reign of Louis XVI. Recourse 

 must be had to the library itself, or its catalogues, to form 

 any correct opinion of its contents, which, in general, may 

 be said to consist of all thatis interesting, rare, and pre- 

 cious, in literature. The MSS. embrace every different 

 branch of learning of all ages. A written roll of papyrus, 

 taken from the hand of a mummy in Egypt, was present- 

 ed to it by Buonaparte, after he left that country in 

 1801 . A manuscript, containing the works of Pruden- 

 tius, who was born in the year 348, in rustic capitals, is 

 supposed to be contemporary with that author. The Na- 

 tional Library is rich in early printed works, and those 

 on vellum ; and all the arts and sciences are copiously 

 treated of, together with history, in the modern part of 

 the collection. By good fortune, it has constantly been 

 committed to the charge of learned individuals ; and it 

 is now divided into two departments, each under skil- 

 ful superintendence. It is conducted on the most li- 

 beral principles ; open five hours daily, and so com- 

 pletely accessible to the public, that it is supposed about 

 200 persons are constantly engaged here during sum- 

 mer, and about 50 during winter. Not more than 10 

 or 12 antiquaries are usually occupied with the manu- 

 scripts. Known literary characters are allowed the use 

 of books at their own residence, which is seldom pro- 

 ductive of inconvenience to others, from there being 

 frequently several copies of a work ; and losses to the 

 library are very rare : Essai Historique sur la Biblio- 

 iheque du Rot; Pinkerton's Recollections, vol. ii. Above 



10 other public libraries are open in Paris ; and before I. fetry. 

 the Revolution there were 32 of celebrity. . 1< "V~ 



The collection next in extenVand value to the Na- Germany. 

 tional Library of France, is the Imperial Librafry of 

 Vienna, contained in an edifice 242 feet long, of 'fine 

 architecture, and decorated with columns and pilasters. 

 It was founded by the Emperor Maximilian, in 1480, 

 and enriched by subsequent accessions, among which 

 is the entire collection of Prince Eugene. The con- 

 tents of the Imperial Library, above twenty years ago, 

 were computed at 300,000 printed books, and from 

 12,000 to 1,5,000 manuscripts, all arranged according 

 to size. Besides these there are TOO large volumes of 

 prints, 200 of which are occupied by portraits, from 

 every country, and of all periods. In this superb as- 

 semblage of literature, there are above 7000 volumes 

 printed in the fifteenth century, many of them of ex- 

 cessive rarity, and almost unique at the present day. 

 One of the scarcest works is the Christianismce Restitu- 

 lio, by Servetus, printed in 1553, in octavo, of which 

 it is said only another copy was known to exist in the 

 library of M. Gaignat, at Paris, where it was pur- 

 chased for 200. The one in the Imperial Library was 

 presented by a nobleman to Joseph II., who bestowed 

 on him a diamond, worth 10,000 crowns, in return. 

 Here are preserved a celebrated manuscript of Livy, 

 conjectured to belong to the fifth century ; a fragment 

 of St. Mark and St. Luke, in gold and silver charac- 

 ters ; and a Mexican manuscript, in coloured figures, 

 executed on a human skin, deemed unique in its kind. 

 An extraordinary specimen of chirography, by a Jew, 

 is seen on a single page, eight inches long, by rather 

 more than six broad, whereon are written, without con- 

 tractions, and very legible by the naked eye, the Pen- 

 tateuch and Book of Ruth in German ; Ecclesiastes in 

 Hebrew ; the Canticles in Latin ; Esther in Syriac ; 

 and Deuteronomy in French. The last line consists of 

 305 letters. This library is open daily, and is much 

 frequented : Voyage de deux Fran$ais, torn. v. 



The library at Dresden is kept in a handsome edi- Dresden; 

 fice, which forms a hollow quadrangle, almost square, 

 with seventeen windows on two of the external sides, 

 and fifteen on the two others ; and on the internal side 

 are eleven windows by seven. The ground floor is re- 

 served for antiques, and the books are lodged in the first 

 and second storey. Two very spacious galleries and 

 ten chambers occupy the first ; the second consists of 

 one gallery and nine apartments. In this library are 

 above 150,000 printed volumes, and 5000 manuscripts. 

 One of the latter is in Mexican characters, on the hu- 

 man skin, which Thevenot has explained to be a calen- 

 dar, and some fragments of the history of the Incas. 

 There are also a fine copy of the Koran, which belong, 

 ed to Bajazet II. and was taken from a Turk by a 

 Saxon officer at the last siege of Vienna ; and the original 

 MS. of the Reveries of Marshal Saxe, bearing to have 

 been written by him in thirteen nights, and concluded in 

 December, 1733, while labouring under a fever. Among 

 the printed books are 600 of the Aldine editions, and 

 many on vellum. A copious collection of antiquities 

 is preserved in twelve apartments under the library, 

 below which are eighteen vaulted cellars, stored with 

 a vast quantity of valuable porcelain, of foreign, and 

 likewise home manufacture, for which the city is so 

 famous. 



The library of the University of Gottingen is said to Gottingfn. 

 exceed 150,000 volumes : That of Munich amounts to Munich. 

 100,000, including a valuable collection of manuscripts. 

 At Stutgard, the late King of Wirtemberg commenced Stutgard. 



