SPAIN ANI) PORTUGAL.
The interest shown in libraries in Spain, prior to the end of the 19th century, has not been very keen. Indeed many old col lections have stood still or deteriorated. Re cently, however, there has been a revival, par titularly in the larger cities, and considerable advance has been made in augmenting the collections and in improving their adminis tration. Madrid, of course, has the richest collections, the Biblioteca Nacional being the largest and most important library in the kingdom. This was founded in 1711 by Philip V, being based upon the royal collections. It has occupied several buildings; the present one, the only one constructed for its purpose, was erected by Fernando VII in 1826. The collec tions number about 700,000 volumes, 2,057 in cunabula, 30,000 manuscripts, and contain much valuable and interesting material on Spanish history and literature, especially early discov ery and exploration. Madrid has 23 libraries
in all, containing collections aggregating 1,500, 000 volumes, among which may be noted the Biblioteca de Universidad Central (1508; 270,000 vols.) and the Real Biblioteca (100,000 vols.). In the environs of the city is the famous library of the Escorial (q.v.). The universi ties of Barcelona and Seville also have excel lent collections.
The National Library of Por tugal at Lisbon was founded in 1796 and num bers about 400,000 volumes, 16,000 manuscripts. It is based upon monastic collections. An other notable collection is that of Academia das Sciencias (1779), numbering 120,000 vol umes. Oporto has a public library, founded 1833, of 200,000 volumes, and the university at Coimbra (1591) has a collection of 100,000 volumes.