BOOK V. Chapter III. Libraries of France. existed in most other parts of Continental Europe. But, unquestionably, the circumstances connected with the The Provincial suppression of the Religious Communities have had a predominating effect in modelling the constitution and organization of the Town Libraries of France, and in fixing their relations with the Government and its functionaries. To some extent such relations are still controlled Legal status of by those Decrees of the Constituent Assembly, passed in 1789 and 1790, which prescribed certain measures for the preservation, scheduling, and legal custody of the manuscripts and books of the suppressed Monasteries. The Legislative Assembly, in its turn, directed, with greater detail, the continuation of the work. It anticipated, indeed, (on paper), sixty-six years ago (Febr. 1792) that general catalogue of the literary wealth of France which is at length being steadily converted into fact. Another decree of the Convention (7 Messidor, An II.—1793) fixed the distinction between Libraries and Record Repositories (Dépôts d'Archives), and laid a foundation for that systematic transmission of books to provincial Libraries, on which the French Institute reported three years later, and which by subsequent legislation and official practice has become a permanent source of increase. The government of Napoleon (20 Febr. 1809) declared all Manuscripts in Libraries (whether belonging to the Departments or to the Towns,) and in all other 1 Collection complète des Lois, Décrets, etc., 14 Nov. 1789; 20-26 Mars, 13-19 Oct., 28 Oct. et 5 Nov. 1790; Ibid. 2-4 Janv., 8 Févr. 1792; Messidor, An II.; 26 Fruct. An V. etc. Comp. Dictionnaire de l'Administration Française, § Bibliothèques Publiques. the Provincial Libraries. БООК У. Chapter III. Libraries of France. public establishments, to be the property of the State, The Provincial and directed that none such should be printed without the sanction of the Minister of the Home Department. This, I believe, continues to be the letter of the law, but in practice the Councils (General or Communal) decide on such points in all ordinary cases. By a law of 11 Oct. 1832, all Libraries accessible to the Public were placed under the inspection of the Minister of Public Instruction. By another law, of the 22nd Febr. 1839, that Minister had the right of appointing Librarians. But on this point a modification was soon effected by M. Villemain for the purpose of transferring such appointments (in the case of towns to the Mayor of the town in which the Library existed. In other cases, and until the 9th March 1852, certain boards and functionaries, subordinated to that Minister, had the right to nominate. By the Decree of that date such nomination ceased; Keepers were thenceforth to be apppointed by the highest power, (then, "le Chef de l'État,”) on the proposition of the Minister, and subordinate functionaries by the Minister as its delegate ("par délégation du Chef" &c.) In other respects the Libraries, whether belonging to towns or otherwise, continue to be governed in accordance with previous legislation. All those of importance share, in greater or less degree, in the distribution of the public books, consisting (1) of those deposited by copy tax; (2) of those subscribed for, by way of an "Encouragement to learning" (somewhat more truthfully so called than a copy-tax can be); and (3) of those printed at the Imperial Printing Office. BOOK V. Chapter III. Libraries of France. the towns of the South. The Libraries of the South of France are proportionately fewer in number than those of the Northern de- The Provincial partments, but, for the most part, they are larger and richer, as well as of older date. That of Lyons is a The Libraries of noble collection, and abounds in interesting associations. It was first established by the town itself about 1530, shortly after the foundation of the College of the Trinity, within the walls of which it was placed. In 1644, it sustained considerable damage by fire, but was restored by the Consulate (or Municipality) without delay. In 1659, Marc Antoine Mazerot added his collection to the Town Library, by bequest, and his example was imitated by Camille de Neuville, Archbishop of Lyons, in 1693, and by the Advocate Perrachon in 1700. The Archbishop's books were superbly bound, and by timely precautions they were, in great measure, saved from the destruction which, a century afterwards, befell so many others in the terrible siege. In 1728, the Library received a curious accession. Father Parennin, one of the authors of the Lettres Édifiantes, presented to the town (in which he had received his education,) a General History of China, in thirty volumes, printed with great splendour at Pekin, together with an epitome, in French, in four additional volumes, from the pen of Father de Maillac. From this MS. was printed the well-known Histoire Générale de la Chine which appeared in 1777, and the subsequent years. But the Consuls carried their generous complaisance a little too far, when they presented the original MS. to its editor, the Abbé Grosier. Lyons. BOOK V. Chapter III. Libraries of France. The Town Librarians of Lyons. Among the Librarians of Lyons during this long The Provincial period may be mentioned Antoine Milieu, a Lyonnese poet; Claude François Menêtrier, the historian of Lyons; Dominique de Colonia (expressly to converse with whom our own Atterbury is said to have made a visit to Lyons); and Father Tolomas, the Jesuit who excited D'Alembert's indignation by attacking the Encyclopædia in a public oration. At this time, the Lyons Library was under the charge of the Jesuits. When they were suppressed, it seems to have suffered considerable losses. At Aix, choice MSS. exist (or have existed) which once belonged to Lyons. One precious volume, at least, a Bible of the 12th Century, superbly written on vellum,—has found its way to the Demidoff collection at Moscow. The losses of 1793-94. At the period of the lamentable scenes of 1793-94, M. Roubiez was Librarian, and became one of the victims. The Library suffered severely during the siege. The roof was in several places crushed by cannon-balls and shells. The presses were pierced. Many books were destroyed. But this was not the worst: When Lyons had fallen, certain emissaries of the Committee of Public Safety visited the Library. A rebellious city, they said, was no place for Libraries and Museums. They were empowered to carry to Paris the best MSS. and books, for the aggrandizement of the National Collection. Some fifteen or sixteen cases of books are said to have been removed under such pretexts. But (according to Delandine,) only one of these reached Paris. This measure was followed up by the BOOK V. Chapter III. Libraries of conversion of the Library into a Barrack for volunteers, and general orders were issued for the destruction of The Provincial all books of devotion. As the execution of these orders was entrusted to persons of whom some could not read, it was expansively construed. At the beginning of the Empire, the Library presented a sad picture of devastation. The losses were then partly repaired by the aggregation of some other collections which had been less. unfortunate. The most important of these were the Adamoli Library, and that of the Advocates. Aubert. The collection last-named had been founded by Pierre The Library of Aubert, a distinguished lawyer and man of letters. He ⚫ bequeathed it for public use, at his death, in 1733. His friend and colleague, Claude Brossette, gave another valuable collection during his life time, as an addition to Aubert's. Pierre Adamoli. The commencement of the Library of Pierre Adamoli The Library of was nearly synchronical with the bequest by Aubert. From 1734 to the period of his death in 1769, the collection and care of his books seems to have been the leading incident of his life, and though the Library was neither a large nor a very choice one, it attracted much attention. The owner bequeathed it to the town; made express stipulations as to its free accessibility; and also conditioned that the Librarian should be "neither a monk nor a bookseller." The collection had the good fortune to be left, locked up and undisturbed, in the garrets of a large monastic building, during the troubles of the Revolution. Under Napoleon, it was added to the Library of the Town; but in 1827 it became part of another collection,-the "Library of the Palace Vol. II. 21 |