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28 of letters, and their unusedness to the surrounding splendour, had prevailed upon Mazarin to build a modest door which should admit them directly to the library, and was about to place over it an invitation in letters of gold, which should be plain to the most humble and embarrassed scholar.

But the troubles of the Fronde began. Mazarin was forced to leave Paris, Parliament seized his possessions, and the sale of the books and manuscripts was threatened. It was at this point that the friendly Tubeuf attempted to save the library by seizing it himself as surety for