France in eighteen hundred and two

This establishment was founded in the fourteenth century by Charles the Wise, and consisted at first of about twenty volumes! the number of which naturally continued to increase rapidly as time went on. It has now been enriched by a multitude of books and manuscripts saved from the monasteries, collections seized from proscribed nobles, and plunder from the libraries of Italy. So it is now one of the completest in the world. The large building containing these treasures is in the Rue de Richelieu, now called the Rue de la Loi. It is under the direction of Messieurs Capperonier and van Praet. In the first room of the principal floor a long table extends nearly the whole length of the apartment, with benches placed on each side for the convenience of students. This room is lined with books from floor to ceiling.

Before the French irruption into Italy the National Library consisted of 200,000 volumes, besides a large collection of manuscripts. It now contains 300,000 printed books, which are already arranged in five divisions, besides a vast number which Monsieur van Praet informed me had not been even examined. The library is disposed with judgment and knowledge. No catalogue has yet been published, but the directors are preparing one, with a suitable explanation respecting the principal authors and the names of the libraries from which the books were stolen.

Here are some very curious documents in manuscript relative to English history, well worthy of reference to any author desirous of treating of that subject. The celestial and terrestrial globes constructed by Coronelli are preserved in one of the wings of the building; they are thirty feet in diameter, their circles are gilded, the water is painted blue, the land white, and the mountains with a green ground shaded with brown. These are the largest globes in the world, they resemble air ballons, and I cannot imagine any other mode for a philosopher to use them than by putting himself in a little curule chair suspended by ropes, and in this manner making the tour of the universe.

The manuscripts exceed 80,000 in number, 30,000 of which are on the history of France and are called the Mazarin Gallery. The rest are in foreign and dead languages, many written on vellum and superbly illuminated. Many of these manuscripts contain most extraordinary specimens of the state of poetry and genius in ancient times. Among others here is this of Philippe d’Orleans, Comte de Vertus, who died in 1420, aged twenty-four.

Besides these manuscripts there are many treasures of inestimable value, particularly the cabinet of medals, a rich and magnificent collection, to which has been added the cabinets of medals and antiques taken from St. Geneviève, St. Germains des Près and the Petits Pères, besides a vast accession from the plunder of Italy. The late Abbé Barthélémy, author of the “Travels of Anacharnis,” had the superintendence of the cabinet of medals, and by his exertions several beautiful and rare additions were made to the original collection. A very fine bust of him stands at the extremity of the hall.

There is also a rich collection of engravings, amounting to more than 5000 volumes. It requires whole months to review and examine all the curiosities and beauties contained within this library, and as it is impossible to detail them without writing a volume, I consider the synopsis I have given sufficient to explain their value to the student of every nation.