Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/671

Rh gem, the nucleus of the sets, but the number of local writers was large.

At the close of the last century an impulse was given to literature, which in the present one manifested itself, among other forms, in the accumulation of books, and later in the issue of periodicals. Unfortunately, the revolution and subsequent disorder checked the one, and gave an irregular and less desirable direction to the other. Archives were destroyed, and most valuable libraries, such as those of Andrade and Ramirez, were lost to the country, being exported and sold in Europe. The extinction of the religious orders involved the disappearance of books and manuscripts which their convents contained. A few zealous persons in some of the states saved a remnant as a nucleus for public collections, but the general government took no effective steps to establish a national library until 1857. The largest collections in the country, those of the university, cathedral, former Jesuit college, and others, were included, so that over 100,000 volumes were collected within a few years. A number of private collections have also been formed. Men of letters have organized literary societies for the accumulation of books, the fostering of taste, and the publication of meritorious efforts. These societies have also assisted to spread French ideas and methods. Mexico surpasses the mother