Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/535

ENGLAND.] of the Eastern empire had driven many Greek scholars from Constantinople into western Europe, where they had directed the studies and formed the taste of the zealous students of the Greek language and literature. The enthusiasm of the Italian princes extended itself beyond; the Alps. Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, amassed a collection of splendidly executed and magnificently bound manuscripts, which at his death are said to have reached the almost incredible number of 50,000 volumes. The library was not destined long to survive its founder. There is reason to believe that it had been very seriously despoiled even before it perished at the hands of the Turks on the fall of Buda in 1527. A few of its treasures are still preserved in some of the libraries of Europe. While these munificent patrons of learning were thus taking pains to recover and multiply the treasures of ancient literature by the patient labour of transcribers and calligraphers, an art was being elaborated which was destined to revolutionize the whole condition of literature and libraries. With the invention of printing, so happily coinciding with the revival of true learning and sound science, the modern history of libraries may be said to begin.

These are most conveniently described in geographical order, and a general survey on this method will be found in the tables at the end of this article. The following sketch supplies additional details.

The British Museum ranks in importance before all the great libraries of the world, with the single exception of the Bibliotheque Rationale at Paris, and far excels the latter institution in the systematic arrangement and accessibility of its contents. Recent changes have some what limited its former universality of character, but it still remains the grand national repository of literature and archaeology. The library consists of over 1,550,000 printed volumes and 50,000 manuscripts. This extra ordinary opulence is principally due to the enlightened energy of the late Sir Antonio Panizzi. The number of volumes in the printed book department, when he took the keepership in 1837, was only 240,000; and during the nineteen years he held that office about 400,000 were added, mostly by purchase, under his advice and direction. It was Panizzi likewise who first seriously set to work to see that the national library reaped all the benefits be stowed upon it by the Copyright Act.

The foundation of the British Museum dates from 1753, when effect was given to the bequest (in exchange for £20,000 to be paid to his executors) by Sir Hans Sloane, of his books, manuscripts, curiosities, &c., to be held by trustees for the use of the nation. A bill was passed through parliament for the purchase of the Sloane collections and of the Harleian MSS., costing £10,000. To these, with the Cottonian MSS., acquired by the country in 1700, was added by George II., in 1757, the royal library of the former kings of England, coupled with the privilege, which that library had for many years enjoyed, of obtaining a copy of every publication entered at Stationers Hall. This addition was of the highest importance, as it enriched the museum with the old collections of Archbishop Cranmer, Henry prince of Wales, and other patrons of literature, while the transfer of the privilege with regard to the acquisition of new books, a right which has been maintained by successive Copyright Acts, secured a large and continuous augmentation, the yearly average of which has now reached 8000 or 9000 volumes. A lottery having been authorized to defray the expenses of purchases, as well as for providing suitable accommodation, the museum and library were established in Montague House, and opened to the public 15th January 1759. In 1763 George III. presented the well-known Thomason collection (in 2220 volumes) of books and pamphlets issued in England between 1640 and 1662, embracing all the controversial literature which appeared during that period. The Rev. C. M. Cracherode, one of the trustees, bequeathed his collection of choice books in 1799; and in 1820 Sir Joseph Banks left to the nation his important library of 16,000 volumes. Many other libraries have since then been incorporated in the museum, the most valuable being George III.'s royal collection (15,000 volumes of tracts, and 65,259 volumes of printed books, including many of the utmost rarity, which had cost the king about £130,000), which was presented (for a pecuniary consideration, it has been said) by George IV. in 1823, and that of the Right Honourable Thomas Grenville (20,240 volumes of rare books, all in fine condition and binding), which was acquired under bequest in 1846. The Cracherode, Banksian, King's, and Grenville libraries are still preserved as separate collections. Other libraries of minor note have also been absorbed in a similar way, while, at least since the time of Panizzi, no opportunity has been neglected of making useful purchases at all the British and Continental book auctions.

The collection of English books is far from approaching completeness, but, apart from the enormous number of volumes, the library contains an extraordinary quantity of rarities. Few libraries in the United States equal either in number or value the American books in the museum. The collection of Slavonic literature, due to the initiative of the late Mr Watts, is a remarkable feature; after that of the St Petersburg Imperial Library it is believed to be the largest in existence. Indeed, in cosmopolitan interest the museum is without a rival in the world, possessing as it does the best Hungarian collection out of that country,, the best Dutch library out of Holland, and in short the best library in any European language out of the territory in which the language is vernacular. The Hebrew books number over 12,000, the Chinese nearly 27,000, and the printed books in other Oriental languages about 13,000 volumes. Periodical literature has not been forgotten, and the series of newspapers is of great extent and interest. Great pains are taken by the authorities to obtain the copies of the newspapers published in the United Kingdom to which they are entitled by the provisions of the Copyright Act, and upwards of 1900 are annually collected, filed, and bound. Under the English Copyright Act there were received, in 1881, not counting single pieces, such as broadsides, songs, &c., 8857 volumes and pamphlets, and 21,792 parts of volumes, and through the international copyright treaties 941 volumes and 433 parts.

The department of MSS. is at least equal in importance to that of the printed books. The collection of MSS. in European languages ranges from the 2d century before Christ down to our own times, and includes the ALEXANDRIAN MS. (q.v.). The old historical chronicles of England, the charters of the Anglo-Saxon kings, and the celebrated series of Arthurian romances are well represented; and care has been taken to acquire on every available opportunity the unprinted works of English writers. The famous collections of MSS. made by Sir Robert Cotton, and Harley earl of Oxford, have already been mentioned, and from these and other sources the museum has become rich in early Anglo-Saxon and Latin codices, some of them exhibiting marvels of skill in calligraphy and ornamentation, such as the charters of King Edgar and Henry I. to Hyde Abbey, which are written in gold letters, others interesting for different reasons, such as the book of Durham, in Latin and