Part 657

"Even so inveterate a hater of literature as the Calif, who conquered Alexandria and gave its precious volumes to the flames, would have appreciated such a library as the Vatican. Not a book is to be seen—not a shelf is visible, and there is nothing to inform the visitor that he is in the most famous library in the world. … The eye is bewildered by innumerable busts, statues, and columns. The walls are gay with brilliant arabesques, and the visitor passes through lofty corridors and along splendid galleries, finding in every direction something to please and interest him. … The printed books number about 125,000 volumes and there are about 25,000 manuscripts. The books and manuscripts are enclosed in low wooden cases around the walls of the various apartments, the cases are painted in white and gold colors, and thus harmonize with the gay appearance of the walls and ceilings. … The honor of founding the Vatican Library belongs to Pope Nicholas V., who, in 1447, transferred to the Palace of the Vatican the manuscripts which had been collected in the Lateran. At his death the library contained 9,000 manuscripts, but many of them were dispersed under his successor, Calixtus III. Sixtus IV. was very active in restoring and increasing the library. In 1588, the present library building was erected by Sixtus V., to receive the immense collection obtained by Leo X. In the year 1600 the value of the library was greatly augmented by the acquisition of the collection of Fulvius Ursinus and the valuable manuscripts from the Benedictine Monastery of Bobbio, composed chiefly of palimpsests. … {2013} The next acquisition was the Library of the Elector Palatine, captured in 1621, at Heidelberg, by De Tilley, who presented it to Gregory XV. It numbered 2,388 manuscripts, 1,956 in Latin, and 432 in Greek. In 1658 the Library founded by Duke Federigo de Urbino—1,711 Greek and Latin manuscripts—was added to the valuable collection. One of the most valuable accessions was the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden, containing all the literary works which her father, Gustavus Adolphus, had captured at Prague, Bremen, etc., amounting to 2,291 manuscripts, Greek and Latin. In 1746 the magnificent library of the Ottobuoni family, containing 3,862 Greek and Latin manuscripts, enriched the Vatican collection. After the downfall of Napoleon and the restoration of the peace of Europe in 1815, the King of Prussia, at the suggestion of Humboldt, applied to Pope Pius VII for the restoration of some of the manuscripts which De Tilley had plundered from the Heidelberg Library. The Pope, mindful of the prominent part taken by Prussia in the restoration of the Papal See, immediately complied with the royal request, and many manuscripts of great value to the German historians were sent back to Germany."

_E. L. Didier, The Vatican Library (Literary World, June 28, 1884)._

The following recent statistics of other Italian libraries are from "Minerva," 1893-94: Florence National Central Library, 422,183 printed books, 398,845 pamphlets and 17,386 manuscripts; Rome, National Central Library of Victor Emmanuel, 241,978 books, 130,728 pamphlets, 4,676 manuscripts; Naples University Library, 181,072 printed books, 43,453 pamphlets, and 109 manuscripts; Bologna University Library, 251,700 books, 43,633 pamphlets and 5,000 manuscripts; Pavia University Library, 136,000 books, 80,000 pamphlets and 1,100 manuscripts; Turin National Library, 196,279 printed books and 4,119 manuscripts; Venice, National Library of St. Mark, 401,652 printed and bound books, 80,450 pamphlets, and 12,016 manuscripts; Pisa University Library, 108,188 books, 22,960 pamphlets and 274 manuscripts; Genoa University Library, 106,693 books, 46,231 pamphlets, and 1,586 manuscripts; Modena, the Este Library, 123,300 volumes, and 5,000 manuscripts; Padua University Library, 135,837 volumes, 2,326 manuscripts, and 63,849 pamphlets, etc.; Palermo National Library, 177,892 volumes and pamphlets, and 1,527 manuscripts; Palermo Communal Library, 209,000 books, 16,000 pamphlets, etc., 3,000 manuscripts; Parma Palatine Library, 250,000 books, 20,313 pamphlets, etc., 4,769 manuscripts; Siena Communal Library 67,966 volumes, 26,968 pamphlets, 4,890 manuscripts.

LIBRARIES: Austria-Hungary.

The principal libraries in the Empire are reported to contain as follows: Vienna University Library, 416,608 volumes, 373 incunabula, 498 manuscripts; Vienna Imperial and Royal Court Library, 500,000 volumes, 6,461 incunabula, and 20,000 manuscripts; Budapest University Library, 200,000 volumes, 1,000 manuscripts; Hungarian National Museum, 400,000 volumes and 63,000 manuscripts, mostly Hungarian; Czernowitz University Library, 64,586 volumes and over 30,000 pamphlets, etc.; Graz University 131,397 volumes of books and 1,708 manuscripts; Innspruck University Library, 135,000 printed books, including 1,653 incunabula, and 1,046 manuscripts; Cracow University Library, 283,858 volumes and 5,150 manuscripts; Lemberg University Library, 120,900 volumes; Prague University Library, 211,131 volumes, 3,848 manuscripts.

_Minerva, 1893-94._

LIBRARIES: Switzerland.

The principal libraries of Switzerland are the following: Basle Public Library, 170,000 volumes of printed books and about 5,000 manuscripts; Berne City Library, 80,000 volumes and a valuable manuscript collection; Berne University Library, 35,000 volumes; St. Gall "Stiftsbibliothek," about 40,000 volumes, including l,584 incunabula, and 1,730 manuscripts; Lucerne Cantonal Library, 80,000 volumes; Zurich City Library, 130,000 volumes.

_Minerva, 1893-94._

LIBRARIES: Holland.

The following statistics of libraries in Holland are given in the German handbook, _"Minerva," 1893-94: Leyden University Library_, 190,000 volumes of printed books and 5,400 manuscripts, of which latter 2,400 are oriental; Utrecht University Library, 200,000 volumes, besides pamphlets; Groningen University Library, 70,000 volumes.

LIBRARIES: Belgium.

Brussels Royal Library, 375,000 volumes, and 27,000 manuscripts; Ghent, Library of the City and University of Gand, 300,000 volumes.

LIBRARIES: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The principal libraries of the Scandinavian kingdoms contain as follows: Christiania University Library, 312,000 volumes; Gothenburg City Library, about 60,000 volumes; Copenhagen University Library 300,000 books and 5,000 manuscripts; Lund University Library, 150,000 volumes; Stockholm Royal Library, 300,000 printed books and 11,000 manuscripts; Upsala University Library, 275,000 volumes and 11,000 manuscripts.

_Minerva, 1893-94._

LIBRARIES: Spain.

The principal libraries in Spain are the following: Barcelona Provincial and University Library, 54,000 volumes; Madrid University Library, 200,761 volumes and 3,000 manuscripts; Madrid National Library, 450,000 volumes and 10,000 manuscripts; Salamanca University Library, 72,000 volumes and 870 manuscripts; Seville University Library, 62,000 volumes; Valencia University Library, 45,000 volumes; Valladolid University Library, 32,000 volumes.

_Minerva, 1893-94._

LIBRARIES: Russia.

"The most notable [Russian] libraries are those founded by the government. Of these, two deserve special attention: the library of the Academy of Sciences and the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg. Books taken by the Russian armies from the Baltic provinces at the beginning of the eighteenth century formed the foundation of the first. The Imperial Library was the result of the Russian capture of Warsaw. Count Joseph Zalussky, bishop of Kiev, spent forty-three years collecting a rich library of 300,000 volumes and 10,000 manuscripts, devoting all his wealth to the purchase of books. His brother Andrew further enriched the library with volumes taken from the museum of the Polish king, John III. In 1747 Joseph Zalussky opened the library to the public, and in 1761 bequeathed it to a college of Jesuits in Warsaw. Six years later (1767) Zalussky was arrested and his library removed to St. Petersburg. The transfer took place in bad weather and over poor roads, so that many books were injured and many lost in transit. When the library reached St. Petersburg it numbered 262,640 volumes and 24,500 estampes. Many had been stolen during the journey, and years later there were to be found in Poland books bearing the signature of Zalussky. {2014} To the Imperial Library Alexander I. added, in 1805, the Dubrovsky collection. … Dubrovsky gathered his collection during a twenty-five years' residence in Paris, Rome, Madrid, and other large cities of Europe. He acquired many during the French revolution. … The Imperial Library possesses many palimpsests, Greek manuscripts of the second century, … besides Slavonian, Latin, French, and Oriental manuscripts. … The library is constantly growing, about 25,000 volumes being added every year. In income, size, and number of readers it vastly surpasses all private libraries in Russia, the largest of which does not exceed 25,000 volumes. In later years the village schools began to open libraries for limited circles of readers. Small libraries were successfully maintained in cities and the demand for good reading steadily increased among the people."

_A. V. Babine, Libraries in Russia, (Library Journal, March, 1893)._

The principal libraries of Russia reported in the German yearbook "Minerva" 1893-94 are the following: Charkow University Library, 123,000 volumes; Dorpat University Library, 170,000 volumes, and 104,700 dissertationen; Helsingfors University Library 170,000 volumes; Kasan University Library, 100,000 volumes; Kiev University Library, 118,000 volumes; Moscow University Library, 217,000 volumes; Odessa University Library, 102,000 volumes; St. Petersburg University Library, 215,700 volumes; St. Petersburg Imperial Public Library, 1,050,000 volumes, 28,000 manuscripts.

LIBRARIES: England: The King's Library and the British Museum.

"No monarch of England is known to have been an extensive collector of books (in the modern acceptation of the term) except George III., or, if the name of Charles I. should be added, it must be in a secondary rank, and with some uncertainty, because we have not the same evidence of his collection of books as we have of his pictures, in the catalogue which exists of them. A royal library had, indeed, been established in the reign of Henry VII.; it was increased, as noticed by Walpole, by many presents from abroad, made to our monarchs after the restoration of learning and the invention of printing; and naturally received accessions in every subsequent reign, if it were only from the various presents by which authors desired to show their respect or to solicit patronage, as well as from the custom of making new year's gifts, which were often books. There were also added to it the entire libraries of Lord Lumley (including those of Henry, Earl of Arundel, and Archbishop Cranmer), of the celebrated Casaubon, of Sir John Morris, and the Oriental MSS. of Sir Thomas Roe. Whilst this collection remained at St. James's Palace, the number of books amassed in each reign could have been easily distinguished, as they were classed and arranged under the names of the respective sovereigns. In 1759 King George II. transferred the whole, by letters patent, to the then newly-formed establishment of the British Museum; the arrangement under reigns was some time after departed from, and the several royal collections interspersed with the other books obtained from Sir Hans Sloane, Major Edwards, and various other sources. … George III., on his accession to the crown, thus found the apartments which had formerly contained the library of the Kings of England vacated by their ancient tenants. … Sir F. A. Barnard states that 'to create an establishment so necessary and important, and to attach it to the royal residence, was one of the earliest objects which engaged his majesty's attention at the commencement of his reign;' and he adds that the library of Joseph Smith, Esq., the British Consul at Venice, which was purchased in 1762, 'became the foundation of the present Royal Library.' Consul Smith's collection was already well known, from a catalogue which had been printed at Venice in 1755, to be eminently rich in the earliest editions of the classics, and in Italian literature.' Its purchase was effected for about £10,000, and it was brought direct to some apartments at the Queen's Palace commonly called Buckingham House. Here the subsequent collections were amassed; and here, after they had outgrown the rooms at first appropriated to them, the King erected two large additional libraries, one of which was a handsome octagon. Latterly the books occupied no less than seven apartments. … Early in the year 1823, it was made known to the public that King George IV. had presented the Royal Library to the British nation. … Shortly after, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated in the House of Commons that it was his majesty's wish that the library should be placed in the British Museum, but in a separate apartment from the Museum Library."

_Gentleman's Magazine, 1834, pages 16-22._

"In the chief countries of the Continent of Europe … great national Museums have, commonly, had their origin in the liberality and wise foresight either of some sovereign or other, or of some powerful minister whose mind was large enough to combine with the cares of State a care for Learning. In Britain, our chief public collection of literature and of science originated simply in the public spirit of private persons. The British Museum was founded precisely at that period of our history when the distinctively national, or governmental, care for the interests of literature and of science was at its lowest, or almost its lowest, point. As regards the monarchs, it would be hard to fix on any, since the dawn of the Revival of Learning, who evinced less concern for the progress and diffusion of learning than did the first and second princes of the House of Hanover. As regards Parliament, the tardy and languid acceptance of the boon proffered, posthumously, by Sir Hans Sloane, constitutes just the one exceptional act of encouragement that serves to give saliency to the utter indifference which formed the ordinary rule. Long before Sloane's time … there had been zealous and repeated efforts to arouse the attention of the Government as well to the political importance as to the educational value of public museums. Many thinkers had already perceived that such collections were a positive increase of public wealth and of national greatness, as well as a powerful instrument of popular education. It had been shewn, over and over again, that for lack of public care precious monuments and treasures of learning had been lost; sometimes by their removal to far-off countries; sometimes by their utter destruction. Until the appeal made to Parliament by the Executors of Sir Hans Sloane, in the middle of the eighteenth century, all those efforts had uniformly failed. But Sir Hans Sloane cannot claim to be regarded, individually or very specially, as the Founder of the British Museum. His last Will, indeed, gave an opportunity for the foundation. {2015} Strictly speaking, he was not even the Founder of his own Collection, as it stood in his lifetime. The Founder of the Sloane Museum was William Courten, the last of a line of wealthy Flemish refugees, whose history, in their adopted country, is a series of romantic adventures. Parliament had previously accepted the gift of the Cottonian Library, at the hands of Sir John Cotton, third in descent from its Founder, and its acceptance of that gift had been followed by almost unbroken neglect, although the gift was a noble one. Sir John, when conversing, on one occasion, with Thomas Carte, told the historian that he had been offered £60,000 of English money, together with a carte blanche for some honorary mark of royal favour, on the part of Lewis XIV., for the Library which he afterwards settled upon the British nation. It has been estimated that Sloane expended (from first to last) upon his various collections about £50,000; so that even from the mercantile point of view, the Cotton family may be said to have been larger voluntary contributors towards our eventual National Museum than was Sir Hans Sloane himself. That point of view, however, would be a very false, because very narrow, one. Whether estimated by mere money value, or by a truer standard, the third, in order of time, of the Foundation-Collections,—that of the 'Harleian Manuscripts,'—was a much less important acquisition for the Nation than was the Museum of Sloane, or the Library of Cotton; but its literary value, as all students of our history and literature know, is, nevertheless, considerable. Its first Collector, Robert Harley, the Minister of Queen Anne and the first of the Harleian Earls of Oxford, is fairly entitled to rank, after Cotton, Courten, and Sloane, among the virtual or eventual co-founders of the British Museum. Chronologically, then, Sir Robert Cotton, William Courten, Hans Sloane, and Robert Harley, rank first as Founders; so long as we estimate their relative position in accordance with the successive steps by which the British Museum was eventually organized. But there is another synchronism by which greater accuracy is attainable. Although four years had elapsed between the passing—in 1753—of 'An Act for the purchase of the Museum or Collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, and for providing one general repository for the better reception and more convenient use of the said Collections, and of the Cottonian Library and of the additions thereto,' and the gift—in 1757—to the Trustees of those already united Collections by King George II. of the Old Royal Library of the Kings his predecessors, yet that royal collection itself had been (in a restricted sense of the words) a Public and National possession soon after the days of the first real and central Founder of the present Museum, Sir Robert Cotton. But, despite its title, that Royal Library, also, was—in the main—the creation of subjects, not of Sovereigns or Governments. Its virtual founder Was Henry, prince of Wales [son of James I.]. It was acquired, out of his privy purse, as a subject, not as a Prince. He, therefore, has a title to be placed among the individual Collectors whose united efforts resulted—after long intervals of time—in the creation, eventually, of a public institution second to none, of its kind, in the world."

_E. Edwards, Founders of the British Museum, book 1, chapter 1._

"Montague House was purchased by the Trustees in 1754 for a general repository, and the collections were removed to it. … On the 15th of January, 1750, the British Museum was opened for the inspection and use of the public. At first the Museum was divided into three departments, viz., Printed Books, Manuscripts, and Natural History; at the head of each of them was placed an officer designated as 'Under Librarian.' The increase of the collections soon rendered it necessary to provide additional accommodation for them, Montague House proving insufficient. The present by George III. of Egyptian Antiquities, and the purchase of the Hamilton and Townley Antiquities, made it moreover imperative to create an additional department—that of Antiquities and Art—to which were united the Prints and Drawings, as well as the Medals and Coins, previously attached to the library of Printed Books and Manuscripts. The acquisition of the Elgin Marbles in 1816 made the Department of Antiquities of the highest importance, and increased room being indispensable for the exhibition of those marbles, a temporary shelter was prepared for them. This was the last addition to Montague House. When, in 1823, the library collected by George III. was presented to the nation by George IV. it became necessary to erect a building fit to receive this valuable and extensive collection. It was then decided to have an entirely new edifice to contain the whole of the Museum collection, including the recently-acquired library. Sir R. Smirke was accordingly directed by the Trustees to prepare plans. The eastern side of the present structure was completed in 1828, and the Royal Library was then placed in it. The northern, southern, and western sides of the building were subsequently added, and in 1845 the whole of Montague House and its additions had disappeared; while the increasing collections had rendered it necessary to make various additions to the original design of Sir R. Smirke, some of them even before it had been carried out."

_J. W. Jones, British Museum: a Guide, pages ii-iii._