lb addition to its great collection, Paris boasts ,of several, other libraries of large extent. The Mazarine library has 132,000 volumes, that of Ste tienevit.ve was officially returned in 1849 as of 180,000 printed volumes and 0t00 manuaeripts' that of the Arsenal is said to contain more than g02,000 printed volumes, and 6000 manuscripts, The library of the Arsenal is a special one, and said to bu the richest in Europe in works of fiction and atuusetnent There are also a City library and numb minor collections.
The provincial libraries of Franco are scattered thickly over the country, and many of them are on a level in point of numbers and value with the ;secondary libraries of Paris. That of Lyons is said to contain about l21,000 volumes of printed books; that of Rouen in 1855, was of 110,000; that of llordeaux in the same year, 123,000 ; of ISeaanoon 80,000; of Strasburg 180,000. Many of thew, institutions have been largely augmented of late years, and they vary in coin position and character. The strength of the library of Rouen consists in modern literature, and of the arts' and sciences; that of Strasburg is remarkable fur its abittalance of periodical 'edification!. Many of the smaller libraries are iutcrestiug from their history and historical associations ; and they often show signs of diligence and sagacity in the choice, arrangement, and management of the collections. One of the points of contrast which produces the most forcible impression on an English visitor of Boulogne from Dover or Folkestone, is the striking superiority in regard to opportunities for self-cultivation and improve went enjoyed by the residents in French provinoial towns.
In Germany, the land of universities, the number of eminent libraries is, as might be expected, large. Five great collections of special interest are at present in existence there—the Imperial Library at Vienna, the Royal Libraries at Munich, Dresden, and Berlin, and the University Library at Gottingen. The library of Vienna, founded, it is said about 1.140, consisted in 1660, when Lambecius was appointed librarian, of about 80,000 volumes, and a Latin inscription to that effect was placed over the door, with a declaration, that the collection yielded to no library on earth in the number and value of its books and in the variety of languages it contained. Augmented by the addition of the collections of several of its librarians—Bletz,Tengnagel, Lambecius—as they successively deceased, it also acquired at his death the 15,000 volumes of Prince Eugene. The magnificent building which was afterwards erected for it by the architect Fischer of Erlach, continued for many years the finest library-room in Europe. Denis, who published in 1775 his excellent Introduction to Bibliography,' was unhappily tempted, in a moment of weakness, to assert that the library then contained about 800,000 volumes ' • and, when in 1796 he had himself become chief librarian, he repeated the assertion with the authority which his position gave him. Balbi, in his ' Essay on the Library of Vienna; published sixty years afterwards, demonstrated with sufficient certainty, that even in 1789 the number could not have been snore than 196,000, but he maintained that the statement of 300,000 which was formerly erroneous had now in the lapse of years become correct, while the analysation of his own statement showed, on the contrary, that the proper cypher was far below it. There can be little doubt that now, in 1860, that number has at length been really attained and passed, but the exact amount of what the library contains is still uncertain. Petzholdt, in 1853, stated it at 385,000. The liberality of the imperial court has not been extended largely in the establishment. When Mosel published his history of the library in 1835, he stated that the number of visitors to the reading-room haring increased beyond what the room would conveniently hold, the remedy had been resorted to of not allowing more than a certain number to enter, and no new reading-room appears to have been erected since. The space for the placing of books is Bo limited, that
in the magnificent architectural saloon, rows of volumes) are said in some cases to stand four deep. The library of Vienna is, in its com position, a fine specimen of a great palatial library, mainly formed by the gradual accumulation of centuries.
The library of Munich, originally fonnded in the period between 1550 and 1579, was for more than two hundred years a collection of no note : the number of volumes in 1795 being known to be not more than 11,000. In 1803 a totally new em for the library begun, by the disso lution of many of the great monasteries of Bavaria, the libraries of which were transferred to the royal collection. These libraries, being situated for the most part in or near the country where the earliest productions of printing were issued, and basing been in a flourishing state at the period, were remarkably rich in early specimens of the art ; and the consequence of bringing them together was) the formation of an unequalled collection of these "cradlc-books," or " incunabula," and also of a great assemblage of duplicates. The kings of Bavaria, taking a pride in the immense stores of learning of which they had become masters, added liberally by purchase to the collection, -which would otherwise have been singularly one-sided, and in 1843 a new building was added to the other remarkable edifices of Munich, in which the ground-floor was occupied by the archives of the kingdom, and the first-floor by the great library. One feature of the construction does much credit to the architect, Gaertner, and dementia especial notice. There is no book throughout the building which cannot be readily reached by the band, without the necessity of using steps or ladders, a necessity fraught with accident, which, as imposed hi many libraries, has caused the death of several librarians, and is likely to cause the death of more. The numbers of the library of Munich have been a question for years—the reasons have been already given for which 440,000 volumes may be assumed as the nearest approximation. The library at Dresden, begun in 1556 by the then elector of Saxony, first ruse into importance after the year 1760. The Counts Baum and Brfihl, of Dresden, were lolig rival book-collectors—Iffinau forming an excellent collection on the German plan, studiously and economically assembling from all quarters the books that threw most light on literature, history, and science ; his rival, Count Bruhl, the frivolous favourite of Augustus III., elector of Saxony and king of Poland, giving a high price for choice copies and rare editions, such as are more prized in general in the libraries of Italy than of Germany. Within four years the death of these magnates placed both their libraries on sale, awl both were bought by the king, who thus formed a library at once of intrinsic) and bibliographical value. The Bfinau collection was of more than 42,000 volumes, and the Drill)] of 62,000; and the former is still well-known to scholars by its excellent though unfinished damnified printed catalogue, made by the librarian, Francke. The library at Dresden, which is located in the magnificent Japanese palace, continued for sonic time to receive liberal augmentations, but has been of late years insufficiently supplied with funds. A volume upon it was published by the late librarian, Falkenstein, of a kind such as it would be desirable to have for every library,—a description of a walk through the rooms, with a brief but lucid statement of what are the treasures in every department. The number of volumes is now stated at over 300,000.