mainly of Portuguese and French books. The important Camoens collection is described in a printed catalogue, Oporto, 1880. A notice of the MSS. may be found in Catalogo dos MSS. da B. Publica Eborense, by H. da Cunha Rivara, Lisbon, 1850-70, 3 vols. folio, and the first part of an Indice preparatorio do Catalogo dos Manuscriptos was produced in 1880.
Russia.
St Petersburg.The Imperial Public Library at St Petersburg is the third largest library in the world, and now claims to possess 1,000,000 printed volumes. The commencement of this magnificent collection may be said to have been the books seized by the Czar Peter during his invasion of Courland in 1714; the library did not receive any notable augmentation, however, till the year 1795, when, by the acquisition of the famous Zaluski collection, the Imperial Library suddenly attained a place in the first rank among great European libraries. The Zaluski Library was formed by the Polish count Joseph Zaluski, who collected at his own expense during forty-three years no less than 200,000 volumes, which were added to by his brother Andrew, bishop of Cracow, by whom in 1747 the library was thrown open to the public. At his death it was left under the control of the Jesuit College at Warsaw; on the suppression of the order it was taken care of by the Commission of Education; and finally in 1795 it was transferred by Suwaroff to St Petersburg as a trophy of war. It then extended to 260,000 printed volumes and 10,000 MSS., but in consequence of the withdrawal of many medical and illustrated works to enrich other institutions, hardly 238,000 volumes remained in 1810. Literature, history, and theology formed the main features of the Zaluski Library; the last class alone amounted to one-fourth of the whole number. Since the commencement of this century, through the liberality of the sovereigns, the gifts of individuals, careful purchases, and the application of the law of 1810, whereby two copies of every Russian publication must be deposited here, the Imperial Library has attained its present extensive dimensions. Nearly one hundred different collections, some of them very valuable and extensive, have been added from time to time. They include, for example, the Tolstoi Sclavonic collection (1830), Tischendorf's MSS. (1858), the Dolgorousky Oriental MSS. (1859), and the Firkowitsch Hebrew (Karaite) collection (1862-63), the libraries of Adelung (1858) and Tobler (1877), that of the Slavonic scholar Jungmann (1856), and the national MSS. of Karamzin (1867). This system of acquiring books, while it has made some departments exceedingly rich, has left others comparatively meagre. The library was not regularly opened to the public until 1814; it is under the control of the minister of public instruction. In the printed book department the yearly average of readers is now 107,000, and of books consulted 285,300. The annual grant from the treasury is 79, 174 silver roubles; an income of 3438 roubles is derived from other sources. The official estimate of the number of printed books is 1,000,000 volumes, with 19,059 maps and 75,000 prints and photographs. The yearly accessions amount to about 28,000. The Russian books number 100,000 and the Russica 30,000 volumes; the Aldines and Elzevirs form a nearly perfect collection; and the incunabula are numerous and very instructively arranged.
The manuscripts include 26,000 codices, 41,340 autographs, 4689 charters, and 576 maps. The glory of this department is the celebrated Codex Sinaiticus of the Greek Bible, brought from the convent of St Catherine on Mount Sinai by Tischendorf in 1859. Other important Biblical and patristic codices are to be found among the Greek and Latin MSS.; the Hebrew MSS. include some of the most ancient that exist, and the Samaritan collection is one of the largest in Europe; the Oriental MSS. comprehend many valuable texts, and among the French are some of great historical value.
The general catalogues are in writing, but the following special catalogues of the printed books have been published: – the Tolstoi collection of early printed Russian books, 1829; the Aldines, 1854; the Elzevirs, 1862, and another in 1864, by C. F. Walther; editions printed during the reign of Peter the Great, by Bytschkoff, 1867; the foreign books relating to Peter the Great by P. Minzloff, 1872; and the Russica, 2 vols., 1873. Lists of the foreign books have been issued since 1863, and the Comptes Rendus published since 1850 contain notices of the most important acquisitions.
The following catalogues of the MSS. are in print: – the Tolstoi Slavonic collection, 1825; Dorn's catalogue of the Oriental MSS., 1852; old German, 1853; the Greek, by Muralt, 1864; the Khanikoff Oriental codices, by Dorn, 1865; Russian MSS. on the history of Peter the Great, by Bytschkoff, 1872; the French, 1874; Samaritan, 1875; Hebrew Biblical, 1875; Slavonic and Russian miscellaneous, parts 1 and 2, 1878-80.
The nucleus of the library at the Hermitage Palace was formed by the empress Catherine II., who purchased the books and MSS. of Voltaire and Diderot. In the year 1861 the collection amounted to 150,000 volumes, of which nearly all not relating to the history of art were then transferred to the Imperial Library.
Moscow.The second largest library in Russia is contained in the public museum at Moscow. The class of history is particularly rich, and Russian early printed books are well represented. The MSS. number 5000, including many ancient Sclavonic codices and his torical documents of value. One room is devoted to a collection of Masonic MSS., which comprehend the archives of the lodges in Russia between 1816 and 1821. There is a general alphabetical catalogue in writing; the catalogue of the MSS. has been printed, as well as those of some of the special collections.
For other Russian libraries see the tables.
India, China, and Japan.
India.Of Indian libraries it is sufficient to notice those that have importance for Oriental letters. At Calcutta the Sanskrit college has 1652 printed Sanskrit volumes and 2769 Sanskrit MSS., some as old as the 14th century; there is also a large collection of Jain MSS. A catalogue is now being prepared for publication. – The Arabic library attached to the Arabic department of the Madrasa was founded about 1781, and now includes 731 printed volumes, 143 original MSS. and 151 copies; the English library of the Anglo-Persian department dates from 1854, and extends to 3254 volumes. – The library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded in 1784, and now contains 15,000 printed volumes, chiefly on Eastern and philological subjects, with a valuable collection of 9500 Arabic and Persian MSS. A catalogue is now passing through the press.
At Bombay the library of the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, established in 1804 as the Literary Society of Bengal, is now an excellent general and Oriental collection of 40,000 printed volumes and 200 MSS., described in a printed catalogue of 1875. The Moolla Feroze Library was bequeathed for public use by Moolla Feroze, head priest of the Parsís of the Kudmí sect in 1831, and consisted chiefly of MSS. in Arabic and Persian on history, philosophy, and astronomy; some additions of English and Gujaratí works have been made, as well as of European books on Zoroastrianism. A catalogue has been printed.
The library of Tippoo Sahib, consisting of 2000 MSS., fell into the hands of the British, and a descriptive catalogue of them by Charles Stewart was published at Cambridge in 1809, 4to. A few were presented to public libraries in England, but the majority were placed in the college of Fort William, then recently established". The first volume, containing Persian and Hindustani poetry, of the Catalogue of the Libraries of the King of Oudh, by A. Sprenger, was published at Calcutta in 1854. The compiler shortly afterwards left the Indian service, and no measures were taken to complete the work. On the annexation of the kingdom in 1856 the ex-king is believed to have taken some of the most valuable MSS. to Calcutta, but the largest portion were left behind at Lucknow. During the siege the books were used to block up windows, &c., and those which were not destroyed were abandoned, and plundered by the soldiers. Many were burnt for fuel; a few, however, were rescued and sold by auction, and of these some were purchased for the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Perhaps the most remarkable library in India is that of the rájá of Tanjore, which dates from the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century, when Tanjore was under the rule of the Telugu Náiks, who collected Sanskrit MSS. written in the Telugu character. In the 18th century the Marhattas conquered the country, and since that date the library increased but slowly. By far the greater portion of the store was acquired by Sharabhojí Rájá during a visit to Benares in 1820-30; his successor Sivají added a few, but of inferior value. There are now about 18,000 MSS. written in Devanágarí, Nandinagarí, Telugu, Kannada, Granthí, Malayalam, Bengalí, Panjábí or Kashmirí, and Uriya; 8000 are on palm leaves. Dr Burnell's printed catalogue describes 12,375 articles.
Thanks to the enlightened policy of the Government of India, we are beginning to know much more respecting native libraries than was possible a few years ago, and since 1868 a yearly sum of 24,000 rupees has been granted to carry on the work of searching for Sanskrit MSS. The first part of a list of those in private hands in southern India has been published by Dr G. Oppert; it contains a description of 8376 MSS., and another volume is in course of pre paration. Dr Bühler, in his investigation of Santinath's library at Cambay, found 300 MSS. of great antiquity, six dating from the beginning of the 12th century. A pandit has examined the Samghavina Pada Library in Pathan, and a catalogue has been prepared for printing. A copy of the oldest Sanskrit dictionary, the Sasvata Kosha, of which only one other copy (at the Bodleian) is known, was found here. Dr Bühler also purchased 429 volumes for the Government. Inquiries made in Behar have not met with much result. Notices of Sanskrit MSS. in the presidency of Bengal have been prepared under the direction of Dr Rajendralala Mitra; seven fasciculi (1000 pp.) have been printed, describing 842 articles. The same scholar has also printed a catalogue (755 pp.) of the library of the maharaja of Bikanir, describing 2000 Sanskrit MSS.; and his analysis of the Sanskrit Buddhist literature of Nepal will shortly be published. The total number of Sanskrit MSS. acquired in this presidency is now 1612, some of which are new to Europeans. Two catalogues of 180 Sanskrit MSS. discovered in the NorthWestern Provinces and Oudh during 1878-80 have been prepared,
