Morton's Literary Letter.

iblia

auperum.

n presenting the accompanying late, which is an exact fac-simile of a page of one of the most rare and singular of all Block Books (Biblia Pauperum, or Bible of the Poor), it is hoped the readers of the Literary Letter will appreciate our motive in placing before them so curious an example of Bibliography.

The original, from which it has been copied, was executed, it is believed, about the year 1432, long before Guttenberg's inestimable invention of printing from movable types. Before that period, all literature was contained in manuscripts, inclosed for the most part in convents and public libraries, jealously guarded by the functionaries of those institutions, and inaccessible to the world at large, the want of some medium for conveying knowledge by simpler and less expensive means than could be effected by manuscripts, was, therefore, no doubt obvious enough. Engraving on wood-blocks had been for some time in practice; and the Biblia Pauperum, together with other works of devotion performed by a similar process, filled up the space and formed the connecting link between the tediously-achieved manuscript and wondrously formed pages sent forth by the printing-press.

It will be observed by the page now presented to our readers, that by far the larger portion is occupied by pictorial representations, and the same proportion is maintained throughout the entire work, consisting of only forty pages; each, a miracle of that mental and manual pains-taking for which the inmates of the cloister have in all ages been so justly celebrated. The original is

printed with some brownish-colored matter, altogether unlike printing ink; the blocks were smeared over with this substance, then laid down, and paper placed upon them; after which, the impression was obtained by friction-a very tedious, slow process. Now, when it is considered what a length of time it must have occupied the draughtsman to draw the pictures, and write the text, and the engraver to cut them on the block, then the time required to get off even one impression, it is palpable all this could only have been effected at a very considerable expenditure of time and labor, requiring, beyond all question, far different purchasers than the poor men, or poor preachers, for whom, respectively, various authorities have affirmed the work was solely compiled. Heineken alone seems responsible for the name given to the work, which is undoubtedly erroneous, and one which is not applied to it either by Schelhorn, Schoepflin, or Meerman. The probability seems to be that this singular production, consisting as it does of pictorial representations of striking portions of the New and Old Testaments, had no distinctive appellation, the subject-matter being deemed sufficient to show its sacredness. When we remember also that, at the time when it first made its appearance, the price must have been so high that none but princes and people of great wealth could have afforded to purchase it, as is proved by the very small number of copies ever printed or known to be in existence, and that the knowledge necessary to decipher the cramped character and interminable abbreviations of the closely written Latin sentences was possessed by very few, whether of the laity or clergy,-the conviction is more and more forced upon the mind that the term Biblia Pauperum is an entire misnomer. However this may be, certain it is, that, with or without title, this unique gem of the fifteenth century will ever form a most rare and interesting study to the artist and the bibliopole.

Owing to the liberality of the Trustees of the British Museum, who permitted fac-similes of this antique rarity to be published, Mr. John Russell Smith has been enabled to lay it before the public. The work was one of those contained in the magnificent library of his Majesty George III., one of whose chief delights consisted in collecting all the noblest and best editions of ancient and modern literature, the result being such a library that no more priceless heir-loom could have been devised to the British crown. His Majesty Geo. IV., who made no pretensions to literary taste, we will hope possessed the quality of patriotism, since he presented this truly Royal collection to an Institution where it is at all times accessible to the British people.

HE history of American Libraries is a history of rapid strides through progress towards perfection.

From the foundation of the first American library, at Harvard, in 1636, down to the present time, the tale has ever been the same; a grand system of enlightenment, ever adding to, ever spreading. In no case has a public library been in need, that there has not come forward some generous individual or body to its succor. This state of things is in the highest degree creditable to us as a nation, and it is fit and proper that some results which have been reached should be placed before the public that they may receive their due credit. In the year 1848, the number of public libraries in the United States, of 5,000 volumes and upwards, was 81,-containing 974,662. Ten years later, in 1858, the number containing over 5,000 volumes is 234; number of volumes, 2,849,713;-trebled in a decade. The number of public libraries of every size in the United States at present is 2,892; number of volumes, 4,280,866. In 1848 the number of public libraries in Great Britain, exceeding 10,000 volumes each, was 29; number of volumes, 1,542,400. The whole number of public libraries of this size in Europe, including Great Britain, was 383; number of volumes, 20,012,735.

But in 1857, in the Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. XIII., Mr. Edwards gives the following statistics:

There are 27 principal libraries in Great Britain and on the Continent containing upwards of 150,000 volumes each, and forming in the aggregate a grand total of 8,358,582 volumes.

By these few figures it will be seen that in the Old World the tendency has been to consoli. date, while, in the New, it has been to scatter and spread widely.

Thus, while we have forty times as many public libraries as Great Britain, we have only twice as many volumes. While in the latter country there are in four libraries 1,254,263 volumes, in this we have but two libraries of more than 100,000 volumes in extent. The true route of bibliothecal progress in America has been in spreading great numbers of collections, all containing the same volumes, before the public for their free use; rather than in forming a few grand establishments in a single locality, where they could only be beneficial to a small minority of the great, earnest public, so needing to be educated.

Perhaps the plan having the largest design for usefulness is that of the Public Library of Boston, which, after seven years' progress, publishes its Seventh Annual Report, containing among others the following interesting facts:

Thus, this library, with a child's age, has taken a man's place in the world of benevolent institutions. The good which its perfect freedom of action allows it to do is incalculable. With the mushroom's growth, it has attained to the toughness of the oak and the wide spread of the Banyan.

The Mercantile Library Association of New York now numbers more than 51,000 books, and subscribes to 120 Newspapers and 150 Magazines, in five different languages.

The Astor Library, of New York, in a decade of years, has accumulated 110,000 volumes,being the most extensive on the Western Continent.

These three are types of classes.

The first, the absolutely free library, blending in its contents the useful and the entertaining, having for its object the instruction and amusement of the masses.

The second, the growth of a want of relaxation on the part of the mercantile community, is self-supporting, and self-regulating; it is American in its birth and establishment.

The third, the only representative on this continent of the libraries of the Old World. The place for deposit of such works as are not to be obtained elsewhere, it must be guarded with jealous care by its keepers; accident or loss, in this instance, cannot be replaced. It teaches through the teacher; it enlightens the educated, and through them its treasures are digested and scattered broadcast over the world. It seems aristocratic because it is lofty in its aims, and sturdy in its progress; yet in its results it is eminently democratic.

Such are the ways in which the library element is diffused in our country. They are suited to the many different features of character and composition of our people; they are all wise and good, and their results cannot be foretold.