report, and, as will be seen from the tables, are not very numerous. The most important of them are at Buda-Pest.
Switzerland.The public libraries of Switzerland have been very carefully registered by Dr Ernest Heitz, as they existed in 1868. Altogether no less than 2096 libraries are recorded, four-fifths of these belong to the class of bibliotheques populaires et celles pour la jeunesse," and few are of literary importance. Only eighteen have as many as 30,000 volumes. The largest collection of books in Switzerland is the University Library of Basel, founded with the university in 1460. The monastic libraries of St Gall and Einsiedeln date respectively from the years 830 and 946, and are of great historical and literary interest.
Italy.
Italy.As the former centre of civilization, Italy is of course the country in which the oldest existing libraries must be looked for, and in which the rarest and most valuable MSS. are preserved. The Vatican at Rome and the Laurentian Library at Florence are sufficient in themselves to entitle Italy to rank before most other states in that respect, and the venerable relics at Vercelli, Milan, and La Cava bear witness to the enlightenment of the peninsula in times when other nations were slowly taking their places in the circle of Christian polity. The local rights and interests which so long helped to impede the unification of Italy were useful in creating and preserving at numerous minor centres many libraries which otherwise would probably have been lost during the progress of absorption that results from such centralization as exists in England. In spite of long centuries of suffering and of the aggression of foreign swords and foreign gold, Italy is still rich in books and MSS.; there are probably more books in united Italy than in any other country except France. When the Italian Government published its valuable report on "Biblioteche" in the Statistica del Regno d'Italia in 1865, a table of relative statistics was given, which professed to show that, while the number of books in Austria (2,408,000) was greater than the total contents of the public libraries in any one of the countries of Great Britain, Prussia, Bavaria, or Russia, it was surpassed in France (4,389,000) and in Italy (4,149,281), the latter country thus exhibiting a greater proportion of books to inhabitants than any other state in Europe, except only Bavaria. The opulent libraries of Rome and Venice had not yet become Italian, and were not included in the report.[1]
Public libraries.The public libraries (biblioteche governative) are under the authority of the minister of public instruction, and are subject to certain regulations finally agreed upon during the ministry of Signor Ruggiero Bonghi in 1876.[2] They are classed under the headings of (1) national libraries of Florence, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Vittorio Emanuele of Rome, the Brera of Milan, and the Marciana of Venice; (2) the libraries of the universities of the first class—Bologna, Naples, Padua, Pavia, Pisa, and Rome; (3) those of the universities of the second class—Cagliari, Catania, Genoa, Messina, Modena, Parma, and Sassari; (4) those of academies and institutions of fine arts; the last, although under Government control, are ruled by special regulations of their own. Small collections are sometimes handed over to the local authorities, should this be considered desirable, and the state will take into its own hands the administration of provincial or communal libraries if necessary. The librarians and subordinates are divided into (1) prefects, librarians, and sub-librarians; (2) assistant librarians; (3) attendants, or book distributors; (4) ushers, &c. Those of class 1 constitute the " board of direction," which is presided over by the prefect or librarian, and meets from time to time to consider important measures connected with the administration of the library. The candidates for posts in classes 1 and 2 must possess certain scholastic qualifications and serve for a specified time as ahmni on probation. An important feature of the regulations consists of the scheme (unfortunately not yet in working order) which is eventually to supply Italy with a body of young librarians properly trained in all the theoretical and technical branches of their profession. Each library is to possess, alike for books and MSS., a general inventory or accessions catalogue, an alphabetical author-catalogue, and a subject catalogue. When they are ready, catalogues of the special collections are to be compiled, and these the Government intends to print, together with the subject-catalogues of the MSS. Various other small registers are provided for. The sums granted by the state for library purposes must be applied to (1) salaries and maintenance; (2) binding and repairs; (3) purchase of books, MSS., &c. Books are chosen by a committee nominated by the minister, which, in the national libraries, includes the members of the council of direction. In other libraries two members only of the council form part of the committee. In the university libraries two-fifths of the expenditure is decided by the committee, and the remainder by a council formed by the professors of the different faculties. The rules for lending books and MSS. allow them to be sent to other countries under very special circumstances.
The biblioteche governative are now 32 in number, and annually spend about 150,000 lire in books. From the three sources of gifts, copyright, and purchases, their accessions in 1879 were 35,541, being 5187 more than the previous year. The number of readers is now gradually increasing. In 1879 there were 895,749, who made use of 1,154,853 volumes, showing an increase of 10,393 readers and 130,051 books as contrasted with the statistics of the previous year.[3]
The minister of public instruction has kept a watchful eye upon the literary treasures of the suppressed monastic bodies. In 1875 there were 1700 of these confiscated libraries, containing two millions and a half of volumes. About 650 of the collections were added to the contents of the public libraries already in existence; the remaining 1050 were handed over to the different local authorities, and served to form 371 new communal libraries, and in 1876 the number of new libraries so composed was 415.
Vatican.The Biblioteca Vaticana stands in the very first rank among European libraries as regards antiquity, since from the middle of the 5th century we have evidence of the existence of a pontifical library at Rome; and Pope Zachary (d. 752), himself a Greek, is known to have added considerably to the store of Greek codices. The Lateran Library shared in the removal of the papal court to Avignon, and it was on the return of the popes to Rome that the collection was permanently fixed at the Vatican. Nicholas V. (d. 1455) may, however, be considered the true founder of the library, and is said to have added 5000 MSS. to the original store. Calixtus III. also enriched the library with many volumes saved from the hands of the Turks after the siege of Constantinople. So large a proportion of the printed books of the 15th century having been produced by the Italian presses, it is natural to expect that a great number of specimens may be found in the papal library, and, but for the wholesale destruction of books and MSS. during the sack of Rome by the duke of Bourbon in 1527, the
- ↑ The Statistica describes 210 libraries, of which 164 were open to the public and 46 not accessible; 171 were general and 39 special libraries, the latter including 25 devoted to ascetic theology, 11 to science and literature, and 3 to the fine arts. Tuscany, Sicily, and Emilia were the richest in books, the latter province alone containing one quarter of the whole number.
- ↑ See the "Regulations of Italian Public Libraries," by Count Ugo Balzani, Library Journal, iv. pp. 183-87.
- ↑ Lists of foreign accessions to the biblioteche governative are published by the minister of public instruction from time to time. In 1877 E. Narducci made proposals for a general catalogue of their contents, and issued a specimen of Boccaccio.
