In the importance of its materials the Vat ican Library stands first among the great libra ries of the world, containing approximately 50,000 manuscripts and 350,000 printed books. Because it is primarily a manuscript library and because its accommodations are inadequate to meet the demands of the general public, all readers who wish to consult only printed lit erature are excluded from the library. The manuscripts are divided into 16 open divisions, or divisions subject to later accessions, and 36 closed divisions, or divisions which came to the library complete, and are separated according to the language of the manuscript. Here are to be found the majority of the manuscripts, from the convent at Bobbio, in the Middle Ages one of the richest collections in Europe. Here also are 3,000 manuscripts. brought to the Vatican from Heidelberg in 1623 and called °Codices Palatini.° The last great addition was in 1856, when Pope Pius IX added 40,000 volumes that had belonged to Cardinal Mai, the discoverer of the lost manuscript of Cicero's We Republica.' The scientific management of the Vatican Library is entrusted to a prefect, who also has charge of a Pagan Museum, a Numismatic Collection and the Museo Cristiano. The last named was separated for a time from the li brary management when the celebrated De Rossi was named prefect of the Museo, an honor intended only for him. Despite the small staff of the Library and its insufficient funds, it stands at the head of the libraries of the world in the number of its scientific publi cations.
Besides the Archives and the Library the Vatican possesses an astronomical observatory, a modern polyglot printing office, a collection of inscriptions and a collection of geographical charts. The Specola Vaticana consists of the Gregorian Tower and the Leonine Tower with a connecting passageway and has acquired con siderable reputation for its measurement of astrographic plates. The Galleria Lapidaria contains no less than 6,000 inscriptions in stone and numerous other inscriptional remains.
Closely identified with it was the celebrated Marini, one of the founders of Latin epi graphy.
There are several large state halls in the Vatican, including the Sala Regia (where the consistories are held), the Sala Ducale and the Sala Clementina, which are of great histori cal importance. The neighboring Basilica of Saint Peter is regarded as a part of the Vatican only when the Pope attends some solemn cere mony there. Since 1870 the Vatican has been considered extraterritorial and has conse quently possessed its own military guardians, the Swiss Guards, and its own police, the gen darmes; before that time it came under the civil administration of the Papal States.
The importance of the Vatican, the admin istrative centre of the Catholic Church, was increased by the seizure of the Papal States. and the consequent exclusive residence of the Pope in the Vatican. Business formerly trans acted elsewhere, for instance, in the Lateran Palace, is now conducted here. It was here that the conclaves were held which elected Leo XIII, Pius X and Benedict XV to the papacy. It is here that the Papal Secretary of State receives the ambassadors and envoys accredited to the Holy See, so that all diplomatic affairs not transacted by correspondence are conducted in the Vatican. A number o the important Ro man Congregations hold regular or special ses sions in the Vatican. This concentration of administrative affairs in the Vatican inevitably follows the residence of the Pope there.
Bibliography.— Gregorovius, 'History of Rome in the Middle Ages' (English transla tion by Mrs. G. W. Hamilton) ; Pistolesi,