AMONGST the Libraries of Italy, that of the Vatican, BOOK V. Chapter IV. Italy. at Rome, stands pre-eminent, not more for the grand- The Libraries of eur and magnificence of its habitation, than for the inestimable treasures with which it is enriched: Several Italian cities possess larger collections. But in integral worth none of them can compare with this. Pope Nicholas V. (1447), learned himself, and a distinguished patron of letters, is justly considered as the founder of the Vatican Library; for of the collections of his predecessors little remained when he ascended the papal throne, the books having been either lost or destroyed by the frequent removals from Rome to Avignon, and from Avignon to Rome. This pontiff added above 5000 BOOK V. Chapter IV. Italy. manuscripts to the fragments of the original collection, The Libraries of placing all in the Vatican; and Calixtus III. is said to have enriched it with many volumes saved from the Libraries of Constantinople, when that city fell into the hands of the Ottomans. The collection, however, suffered an almost total dispersion at the sacking of Rome, by the Duke of Bourbon, in the year 1527. Pope Sixtus V., rebuilt the Library in 1588, and considerably augmented the collection. From this period it continued to increase in steady progression, receiving additions, under almost every successive Pope,-Julius II., perhaps, excepted,-sometimes of considerable collections; owing not only to the favour of the Pontiffs and of various princes, but also to the well-directed zeal of its Librarians, many of whom have been men of eminent talents as well as of high rank and extensive influence. Under Gregory XV. an important but wrongful addition was made by Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, who, yielding to urgent entreaties and cunning devices, presented to that Pontiff the old Library of Heidelberg, belonging to the Elector Palatine, which had been part of the plunder seized by Tilly at the capture of Heidelberg in 1622. Among other important additions that have a claim to notice are, the greater part of the Library of Urbino, founded by Duke Frederick; a portion of the collection of the Benedictine monastery of Bobbio, composed chiefly of palimpsests; and the books Accession of and manuscripts of Christina, Queen of Sweden, comprising the treasures taken at Prague, Wurtzburg, and Bremen, by her father, Gustavus Adolphus. After her death at Rome, they came, by succession, to the family Queen Christina's Library. THE LIBRARY OF CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN. 351 BOOK V. Chapter IV. Italy. of Ottoboni. Pope Alexander VIII., as head of that family, in 1690, placed 1900 of the MSS. in one of the The Libraries of galleries of the Vatican, and gave it the appellation of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in honour of the Queen, who had received the additional name of Alexandrina on abjuring the Lutheran religion. All the MSS. in the Vatican, anterior to the ninth century, and those with the choicest illuminations, to the number of about 500, were selected and conveyed to Paris in the year 1797, but the greater part were restored in 1815. Of the Palatine MSS., about 900 volumes, more than nine-tenths of them German, but among which were some early Greek MSS., were at length returned (in 1816) to the University of Heidelberg, where they now remain. 1 1 Serapeum (1845), vi, 157-158. The best account of the transfer and subsequent fortunes of the Palatine collection-not the least curious episode in the remarkable history of the Vatican Library-may be found in Dr. Anton Ruland's elaborate essay, entitled, Zur Geschichte der alten nach Rom entführten Bibliothek zu Heidelberg, which OCcupied several numbers of the Serapeum in 1856 (xvii, 185-191; and 193-235). The reader should also consult, besides the well-known work of Wilken (into whose hands the partial restitution of 1816 was made), Theiner's Schenkung der Heidelberger Bibliothek ... und ihre Versendung nach Rom; mit Original-Handschriften, published at Munich in 1844; but, in reading this work of the worthy Oratorian priest, he will do well to have beside him the keenly critical articles which appeared in the Serapeum of the following year (vi, 1-11; 113-127; 129-159), from the pens of Dr. Gessert (of Munich), and of Dr. Bähr (of Heidelberg). Dr. F. L. Hoffman has also contributed an interesting paper (including an early Palatine catalogue), towards the elucidation of a subject which has always had special attractions for bibliographers, in the same Journal for 1850, xi, 161-173; 177-188; 193-208). Allatius wrote in Italian a tract on the conveyance of the Palatine Library to Rome, under his direction, which tract was translated into Latin by Quade, and published at Gryphiswald. (Leonis Allatii Instructio de Bibliothecâ Palatinâ Romam transportandâ, 1708, 4to.) The writer takes pride in the fact that not a leaf of the Library was lost on the road. BOOK V. Chapter IV. Italy. The magnificent Library of the Vatican consists of The Libraries of three divisions or compartments, besides the vestibule; the anteroom, the double gallery, and the great saloon or hall. The vestibule contains Chinese works relating to geography and chronology, together with two columns bearing ancient inscriptions. The anteroom is appropriated to the two keepers of the Library, and the secretaries, or interpreters, usually seven in number, who speak the principal languages of Europe, and who attend for the convenience of learned foreigners. In this apartment are also accommodated those engaged in translating from the Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Greek, and Latin languages; and it is open daily for the use of students, Sundays, Thursdays, and very numerous holidays excepted. Passing from the anteroom, the visitor enters a double gallery of 220 feet in length, on either side of which are arranged the Greek and Latin MSS. of the ancient Papal collection, which strangers at first conceive to be the whole Library; but at its extremity there opens up, in almost interminable perspective, another gallery of about 1000 English feet in length. As the visitor enters this gallery, or "great hall of the Vatican," he has on his right hand the Palatine and Urbino collections of MSS., and, beyond them, the general Library of printed books; whilst, on his left, extend in succession the Oriental MSS.,1 the MSS. of Christina, the Ottoboni MSS., those 1 Of the Oriental MSS. there is a valuable catalogue by J. S. Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino - Vaticana, Roma, 1719-28, 3 vols. folio. It is continued by Angelo Mai, in the fifth and subsequent volumes of his Nova Collectio Scriptorum Veterum. In Montfaucon's Biblio BOOK V. Chapter IV. Italy. bequeathed by the Marquis Capponi, and (last of all) the choice collection of printed books on the fine arts, The Libraries, of nearly 5000 in number, formed by Count Cicognara, and purchased by Leo XII. for £4000. The subjoined diagram will shew, at a glance, the main features of and Extent and Ar These galleries and apartments, all vaulted painted with varied effect by painters of different eras and talents, constitute the receptacle of this noble Library. The books are nearly all kept in close cases; so that in the Vatican the stranger seeks in vain for that imposing display of volumes which he may have seen and admired in other Libraries. Their number has never been officially and precisely recorded; and such is the discrepancy of the various accounts, that the printed books, by some reckoned not to exceed 30,000 1 theca Bibliothecarum Manuscriptorum nova, (Paris, 1739, 2 vols. folio), is given a catalogue of Queen Christina's manuscripts. Sir George Head, writing of repeated visits made to the Vatican in 1840 and 1841, says roundly, "The reputed contents of the whole establishment amount to 30,000 printed books, and 23,580 MSS. (Rome, a Vol. II. 23 rangement of the Vatican Library. |