(composed probably of ivory leaves or tablets;) in which were recorded the transactions of the emperors, the proceedings of the senate and Roman Magistrates, and the affairs of the Provinces, &c'. It has been conjectured, that the Ulpian Library was two-fold, Greek and Latin": and some authors affirm that Trajan commanded all the books that could be found in the cities of the people whom he had conquered, to be immediately conveyed to Rome, in order to increase his library: nor is it improbable, that the younger Pliny suggested to his patron this method of enriching his collection 3. $ 20. THE GORDIAN LIBRARY. The Library of Domitian having been consumed by lightning in the reign of Commodus*, was not repaired until the reign of the emperor Gordian; who rebuilt the edifice and founded a new library, adding to it the collection of books bequeathed to him by the celebrated Physician, Quintus Serenus Sammonicus. Donatus conjectures that this library was deposited in the palace of Pompey". 1 Vopiscus in Aureliano, c. 1. Tacito, c. 8. et Probo, c. 2. 2 Donat. Roma Vetus, 1. 2. c. 24. p. 148. 3 Encyclopedie, tom. 2. (fol. edit.) Art. Bibliothêque. • Euseb. in Commodo. Paul. Oros. lib. 17. c. 16. 5 Julius Capitolinus in vit. Gord. Junioris, c. 18. Roma Vet, lib. 3. c. 8. p. 199. S 21. PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THE CITIES &C. OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. In addition to the Imperial Libraries, there were others, to which the public had access, in the principal cities and colonies of the Empire. Thus, Pliny mentions a public Library, which he founded for the use of his countrymen': and Vopiscus relates, that the emperor Tacitus commanded the writings of the illustrious historian Cornelius Tacitus, to be deposited in the Libraries. From the number of calcined volumes, which have been excavated from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, it should also seem that collections of books were common in those cities. The irruptions of the Barbarians, who desolated the Western Roman Empire, were far more terrible and destructive to the interests of literature, than either inundations, volcanoes, or earthquakes; and soon caused the disappearance of those libraries, which for several centuries had been multiplied in Italy. The Libraries in the East, however, escaped this devastating torrent and both Constantinople and Alexandria preserved their literary treasures, until the sacking of those cities by the Turks or Saracens, who finally subverted the Roman Empire in the East. The rise, progress and destruction of the latter or Alexandrian Library having been related in a former page', it only remains that some account be given of the Library at Constantinople. § 22. LIBRARY AT CONSTANTINOPLE. When Constantine the Great, in the year 336', made Byzantium the seat of his empire, he in a great measure newly built that city, decorated it with numerous splendid edifices, and called it after his own name. Desirous of making reparation to the Christians, for the injuries they had sustained during the reign of his tyrannical predecessor, this prince commanded the most diligent search to be made after those books which had been doomed to destruction. He caused transcripts to be made of such books as had escaped the Diocletian persecution; to these he added others, and with the whole formed a valuable Library at Constantinople. On the death of Constantine, the number of books contained in the Imperial Library was only six thousand nine hundred; but it was successively enlarged by the emperors, Julian3 and 1 Supra, p. vi-xi. 2 Zonaræ Annales, sub Anno. 3 It is by no means clear whether Julian enlarged the library founded by Constantine, or established another at Constanti SALVETE aureoli mei libelli, Meæ delicia, mei lepores, Quàm vos sæpe oculis juvat videre, Confecere VIRI, suasque vobis Et sperare decus perenne SCRIPTIS; Neque hæc irrita spes fefellit illos. HENRICUS DE Rantzau, de Bibliothecâ sua. LIBER est lumen cordis, speculum corporis, virtutum magister, vitiorum depulsor, corona prudentum, diadema sapientum, gloria honorum, decus eruditorum, comes itineris, domesticus amicus, collocutor et congerro tacentis, collega et consiliarius præsidentis, vas plenum sapientiæ, myrothecium eloquentiæ, hortus plenus fructibus, pratum floribus distinctum, principium intelligentiæ, memoriæ penus, mors oblivionis, vita recordationis. Vocatus, properat; jussus, festinat; semper præsto est, nunquam non morigerus; rogatus, confestim respondet; sincerus consultor, non assentatur; non loquitur ad gratiam, nemini parcens, quia neminem timet; nihil mentitur, quia nihil poscit; te nunquam fastidit, etiamsi tu illum fastidio habeas; arcana revelat; obscura illustrat; ambigua certiorat; perplexa resolvit, etc. etc. LUCAS DE PENNA, apud Morhof. Polyhist. lib. 1. c. 3. § 24. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY or BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY literally signifies the description of Books: in a more extended sense, it denotes the knowledge of books, as it regards, first, the materials of which they are composed;-secondly, the subjects discussed by their respective authors;-thirdly, the knowledge of the different editions of books, their degrees of rarity, curiosity, and real value;-and lastly, the rank which they ought to hold in the system of classification, adopted for arranging a Library. Books are either manuscript or printed: the former are written with the hand, and offer to the bibliographer a variety of interesting inquiries. He ought to be acquainted with Manuscripts of every age, with the materials on |