Vatican Library would have been as rich in early printed literature as it is now rich in manuscripts. Sixtus V. erected the present building in 1588, and considerably augmented the collection. Gregory XV. received as a gift from Maximilian, duke of Bavaria, the library of the elector Palatine seized by Tilly at the capture of Heidelberg in 1622. The greater part of the library at Urbino, founded by Duke Federigo, was acquired in 1655 by Alexander VII. for the sum of 10,000 scudi, and some of the famous palimpsests from the Benedictine monastery of Bobbio were also added to the treasures of the Vatican. After the death of Christina, queen of Sweden, her collection of books and manuscripts, formed from the plunder seized at Prague, Wiirtzburg, and Bremen by her father Gustavus Adolphus, became by succession the property of the Ottoboni family, the head of which, Alexander VIII., in 1689 placed 1900 of the MSS. in one of the galleries. Clement VII. and Pius II. also enriched the Vatican with valuable manuscripts, including many Oriental. In 1740 Benedict XIV. united with it the Ottoboniana, and in the same pontificate the Marchese Aless. Capponi bequeathed his precious collections. Clement XIII. in 1758, Clement XIV. in 1769, and Pius VI. in 1775 were also important benefactors. For over two hundred years the history of the Vatican was one of unbroken prosperity, but it suffered a serious blow at the close of the 18th century, when MSS. dating before the 9th century, and the most choice artistic specimens, altogether to the number of 500, were carried off by the French to Paris in 1798. The greater part were, however, restored in 1815, and most of the Palatine MSS., which formed part of the plunder, ultimately found their way to the university of Heidelberg in 1816. Pius VII. acquired for the Vatican the library of Cardinal Zelada in 1800; Leo XII. was able to add the noble collection of fine art literature of Count Cicognara in 1823; and Gregory XVI. also largely augmented the library. Pius IX. in 1856 added 40,000 volumes belonging to Cardinal Mai.
Few libraries are so magnificently housed as the Biblioteca Vaticana. The famous Codici Vaticani are placed in the salone or great double hall, which is decorated with frescos depicting ancient libraries and councils of the church. At the end of the great hall an immense gallery, also richly decorated, and extending to 1200 feet, opens out from right to left. Here are preserved in different rooms the codici Palatini, Begin., Ottoboniani, Capponiani, &c. Most of the printed books are contained in a series of six chambers known as the Appartamento Borgia. The printed books only are on open shelves, the MSS. being preserved in closed cases.
The present official estimate of the number of printed volumes is about 220,000, including 2500 15th century editions, of which many are vellum copies, 500 Aldines, and a great number of bibliographical rarities.[1] There are 25,600 MSS., of which 19,641 are Latin, 3613 Greek, 609 Hebrew, 900 Arabic, 460 Syriac, 78 Coptic, &c. Among the Greek and Latin MSS. are some of the most valuable in the world, alike for antiquity and intrinsic importance. It is sufficient to mention the famous Biblical Codex Vaticanus of the 4th century, the Virgil of the 4th or 5th century, the Terence equally ancient, the palimpsest De Republica of Cicero, conjectured to be of the 3d century, discovered by Cardinal Mai, and an immense number of richly ornamented codices of extraordinary beauty and costliness. The archives are apart from the library, and are quite inaccessible to the public; no catalogue is known to exist. Leo XII. has appointed a committee to consider what documents of general interest may expediently be published, and a greater liberality in the use of them is said to be contemplated.
The Biblioteca Vaticana is now open from 8 to 12 every morning between November and June, with the exception of Sundays, Thursdays, and the principal feast days. Permission to study is obtained from the cardinal secretary of state. The want of proper catalogues for the use of readers is a great drawback. There are imperfect written lists (for the use of the librarians alone) of the printed books, and various catalogues of special classes of the MSS. have been published. New catalogues, however, are in course of preparation. The Oriental MSS. have been described by J. S. Assemanni, Billiotheca orientalis Clemenlino- Vaticana, Rome, 1719-28, 4 vols. folio, and EM. Vat. codd. MSS. catalogus ab S. E. et J./S. Assemanno redactiis, ib., 1756-59, 3 vols. folio, and by Cardinal Mai in Script. Vet. nova collectio. The Coptic MSS. have been specially treated by G. Zoega, Piome, 1810, folio; and by F. G. Bonjour, Rome, 1699, 4to. There are printed catalogues of the Capponi (1747) and the Cicognara (1820) libraries.
Other Roman libraries.Next in importance to the Vatican library is the Casanatense, so called from the name of its founder, Cardinal Casanata (1700). It contains about 130,000 volumes of printed books, including a, large number of 15th century impressions and early editions with woodcuts, as well as about 2500 MSS., amongst which are one of the 7th century and several of the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries. They are carefully arranged in eleven rooms, the large central hall being one of the finest in Rome. Books are not allowed to be taken out of the reading-rooms, but admission is freely granted, and the annual number of readers is about 18,000. The subvention is a small one, but additions continue to be made, and the library is well administered. All the officials, in accordance with the founder's will, belong to the Dominican order. The incomplete catalogue of the printed books, prepared by A. Audiffredi (Home, 1761-88, 4 vols. folio), still remains a model of cataloguing. The Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele forms part of the Collegio Romano, and was made up from the old Jesuit library, enriched by accessions from a number of other suppressed institutions. It now consists of 300,000 volumes, with 5000 MSS., and is united to the Casanatense by a bridge. The entire edifice is spacious enough to contain a million of volumes, besides the Kircherian and other museums which are already located in it.[2]—The Biblioteca Angelica possesses all the authentic acts of the Congregatio de Auxiliis, and the precious collections of Cardinal Passionei and Lucas Holstenius.— The Biblioteca Alessandrina della R. Universita di Roma, founded by Alexander VII., is considerably used by students: there were in 1879 57,000 readers. The greater part of the printed books formerly in the collection of the dukes of Urbino is now in this library.[3] The Biblioteca del Senato is very rich in collections of municipal history and statutes of Italian cities. The printed catalogue (1878) describes no less than 1067 statutes or volumes containing them, relating to 443 localities.—The Biblioteca Vallicelliana was founded by S. Filippo Ncri, and contains some valuable manuscripts, including a Latin Bible of the Sth century attributed to Alcuin, and some inedited writings of Baronius. In 1877 Professor A. Sarti presented to the city of Rome his collection of fine-art books, 10,000 volumes, which was placed in charge of the Accademia di San Luca, which already possessed a good artistic library.—Of private libraries accessible by permission, we note the Biblioteca Barberina, including many rare editions with valuable autographs, but especially remarkable for its MSS.; these were chiefly collected by Cardinal Fr. Barberini, the nephew of Urban VIII., and comprehend the letters and papers of Galileo, Bembo, and Bellarmine, the reports on the state of Catholicism in England in the time of Charles I., and a quantity of inedited materials for the history of the Stuarts. A catalogue was published at Rome in 1681, 3 vols. folio.—The Corsiniana, founded by Clement XII. (Lorenzo Corsini), is also a private library; it is rich in incunabula, and includes one of the most remarkable collections of prints in Italy, the series of Marc-Antonios being especially complete. The library of the Collegium de Propaganda Fide was established by Urban VIII. in 1626, and in 1687 the rector Andrea Bonvicini obtained permission to preserve in it prohibited books. It was
- ↑ The books have never been actually counted, and this estimate has been reduced by some persons to half the number.
- ↑ See Collegio Romano, Discorso di Ruggiero Bonghi, Rome, 1876.
- ↑ Signor E. Narducci produced a catalogue of the MSS. other than Oriental in 1877. The Casanatense, Vitt. Emanuele, Angelica, and Alessandrina are Governmental, and in 1878 the minister of public instruction published a catalogue of the Oriental MSS. in the three last. The Oriental MSS. of the other biblioteche governative will be treated in subsequent volumes.
