SCANDINAVIA.
Prior to the latter part of the 19th century there was no general interest in library develop ment in the Scandinavian countries. There were a few collections in the larger cities and the universities possessed libraries, but none of these were extensive. During the last few dec ades, however, there has been an awakening to the value of the library to the community and Scandinavian librarians have gone abroad, especially to America, to study modern systems.
Denmark.- The most important Danish li braries are at Copenhagen, the largest being the Royal Library (Det Kongelige Bibliothek), founded originally by Christian III in 1533-39, but re-established by Frederick III in 1665, who erected the building in which it was housed until 1906 when it was transferred to a new home. It is essentially a national library and possesses a most complete collection of Danish literature and history. Among its treasures are the manuscripts of the astronomer Tycho Brahe. Its collections number about 770,000 volumes.
Next in importance is the UniVersitets Bibliotheket, the oldest research collection in Denmark, having been founded in 1482, the foundation date of the university. The col lections were burned 1728, but soon reconsti tuted. It contains the famous Arne-Magnean collections. The collections number some 400, 000 volumes, 150,000 theses, 6,500 manuscripts, rich in medicine and science.
Copenhagen also contains some special li braries of importance (law, history and eco nomics), the Town Hall library (local history), the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College (agriculture) and the Academy of Fine Arts. There are also several collections on military and naval sciences, aggregating about 100,000 volumes. The only large collection outside of the capital is at Aarhus, which contains 200,000 volumes. A new building was erected for this in 1902. During the last decade of the 19th cen tury a movement was initiated to establish popular libraries throughout Denmark. Prior to that time there had been a few parochial collections in cathedral towns, but they were relatively inactive. The new movement invig orated these and resulted in the establishment of many new collections, hence there were some 500 of these in 1904, with an aggregate of 200,000 volumes. The libraries are controlled by a state library commission.
Norway.- The chief library of Christiania is that of the University. It contains about 500,000 volumes and was founded by Frederick II in 1811. its first collections being duplicates from the Royal Library. Next in importance is the Deichmanske Bibliothek, the free public library. This was established in 1780, reorgan ized in 1898 and contains 126,638 volumes; Bergen (1872; 117,831 vols.) and Trondhjem (1760; 132,000 vols., 1,940 MSS.) are the other libraries of importance in Norway.
The formation of small public libraries has been encouraged since the municipal reform of 1837, but their growth was slow prior to the reorganization in 1901, since which time the development has been more rapid. They num ber about 1,000. The books for these collec tions are purchased co-operatively.
The most important collections of Sweden are the Royal Library (Kungliga Biblioteket) at Stockholm and the university libraries at Upsala and Lund. The Royal Li brary has a somewhat unusual history, for it has been established three times. Gustavus Adolphus presented the original collections, founded in 1585, consisting of books confis cated from monasteries, to the University of Upsala. Another collection was then developed from other libraries conquered during the Thirty Years' War. This Queen Christina gave the Vatican upon her abdication, where it now remains among the treasures of that library. The third collection was, in the main, destroyed by fire in 1697, about one-third being saved. It grew slowly during the 18th century, but the gift of the Royal Antiquarian Collections in 1786 added 30,000 valuable books to the shelves. Its collections now number about 400,000 vol umes and 1,000,000 pamphlets. A new build ing was erected in 1882. Owing to the efforts of the librarian, G. E. Clemming, the collec tion of Swedish history and literature is very complete. At Stockholm is also the Kungl. Svenslia Vetenskapsakademie or the Royal Academy of Science. This was established in 1739, the naturalist, Linnaeus, being one of the founders. Its collections number about 115,000 volumes and contain among other items of interest the manuscripts of the Swedish scientists, Swedenborg and Berzelius. The Nobel Institute, which awards the Nobel Prize, has a valuable reference library, and in addition there are several special collections of import ance, particularly that of the Royal Statistical Office. The library of the Royal University at Upsala is perhaps the oldest in Sweden, having been established in 1477. It was reconstituted in 1593, but its present development dates from 1620, when Gustavus Adolphus presented the Royal Library to the university. It contains the magnificent De la Gardie collection, re ceived during the latter part of the 17th cen tury. The collections number about 400,000 volumes, to which may be added hundreds of thousands of theses. The library of the Uni versity of Lund was founded in 1666, being based on the old collection of the cathedral of Lund. It has been supported by the Swedish rulers and numbers 200,000 volumes. Gothen burg and Linkoping each have public libraries containing more than 100,000 volumes, the lat ter possessing some interesting manuscripts.