NETHERLANDS.
The Netherlands has long been a centre of culture and there were many excellent public and private collections during the .era of their greatest prosperity. Popular libraries have been in existence for centuries, but Belgium and Holland fell behind the states of Europe during the 19th century. Since 1900, however, con siderable progress has been made. Modern methods have been applied, old libraries have been rejuvenated and many new ones estab lished.
Belgium.— It is quite impossible to give any true statement of the libraries of Belgium at the present, on account of the destructive in vasion of the Germans in the World War. We know that the wonderful collection of manu scripts and book rarities of the University of Louvain has perished, as doubtless is true of the collections at Liege, Tournai, Alost, Courtrai, Namur, Malines (Mechlin) and Mons.
Brussels of course has the largest and richest collections in Belgium, the Bibliotheque Royale containing about 700,000 volumes. Its present collections date from 1837, but it is based upon the ancient Bibliotheques des ducs de Bour gogne, and the Austrian rulers of the Low Countries. These were augmented by collections from suppressed religious institutions, particu larly the Jesuits, but many valuable works were confiscated by the French during their occupa tion. Much of its modern development has been due to the activity of Van Hulthem, under whose direction it became one of the best li braries in Europe. It is particularly rich in Netherlands history. Brussels is also the head quarters of the Institut International de Bib liographic designed to constitute a centre for co-operative bibliographic work throughout the world.
Special Libraries.— The majority of the governmental departments have collections re lating to their special fields, notably the library of the Ministry of War (120,000 vols.), Cham bre des Representants (100,000 vols.), Com mission Centrale de Statistique (70,000 vols.), Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres (100,000 vols.), Ministere de la Justice (50,000 vols), and Ministere des Sciences et des Artes (75 000 vols.). Other important collections are the Bibliotheque des Bollandistes (1640; 200,000' vols.), Bibliotheque de l'Academie Royale (141,000 vols.), the Bibliotheque Collective International (75,000 vols., proceedings of learned societies), Academie Royal de Medecine (100,000 vols.), Conservatoire Royal de Musi
que (60,000 vols.) and the Musee Plantin Moretus (1640), containing 26,000 books and manuscripts on the history of printing.
The Bibliotheque Communal et Universitaire at Ghent is based upon the collections of the Conseil de Flandres, College des Echevins, the Baudcloo Abbey and other suppressed religious institutions. It was made a public library in 1797 and merged with the university upon its foundation in 1817. Collections, 450,000 vol umes. The only library of importance in Ant werp is the Bibliotheque Municipale, founded according to some authorities in 1476, but prob ably a century later. It contains, if still extant, about 125,000 volumes.
Holland.— The most important libraries of Holland are the Koninklijke Bibliotheek at The Hague, and the university libraries of Utrecht and Leiden. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek (1798) was formed from the collections of the princes of Orange and the library of the Staats-General, and various smaller collections, which are notably augmented by the bequest of Baron van Westreenen in 1848. It numbers some 600,000 volumes, comprising a very com plete collection of Netherlands history. The library of the University of Utrecht originated in a collection brought together by the town council in 1581, but its true establishment was probably the date of the foundation of the uni versity in 1636. It contains many rarities in its collections, among them the famous "Utrecht Psalter." Its collections number about 400900 volumes. The University of Leiden, founded as a memorial to the brave and successful de fense of the city against the Spaniards in 1574, was long one of the most noted in Europe, and immediately upon its establishment by William of Orange (1575) steps were taken to develop a library. This has been augmented by books from many sources, particularly by bequests and gifts from its distinguished scholars such as Grotius, Vossius and Joseph Scaliger, Ruhnken and Hemsterhuis. In 1877 the Library of the Society of Netherlands History was merged with it, forming a notable collection of national history and literature. It is also strong in Orientalia, Greek manuscripts and early Dutch travels. Its collections number 400,000 volumes, 6,000 manuscripts.