are doubtless well aware, began to be formed
long before public ones were thought of. Like these, they have their
origin in the taste, or caprice, or necessities of their founders, and
are of more or less value, as one or the other of these motives has
presided over their formation. But when formed by private students with
a view to bring together all that has been written upon some single
branch of science, or by amateurs skilled in the principles of
bibliography, they become more satisfactory and complete than they could
possibly be made under any other circumstances. Few of them, however,
are preserved long after the death of the original collector; but
falling into the hands of heirs possessed of different tastes and
feelings, are either sold off by auction, or restored to the shelves of
the bookseller. It was by availing themselves of such opportunities that
the directors of the public libraries of Europe made their most
important acquisitions. This is, in short, the history of the Imperial
Library of Vienna; and it can hardly be necessary to add, that it was
thus that the rarest and most valuable portions of that collection were
brought together.[20] It was thus, also, that the Vatican acquired, some
twenty years ago, by the purchase of the library of Count Cicognara, a
body of materials illustrative of the history of the arts, which leaves
comparatively little to be wished for by the most diligent historian. It
can hardly be necessary to enlarge upon this subject. Every one who has
engaged, even in a small degree, in historical researches, must have
observed how soon he gets out of the track of common readers, and how
dark and difficult his way becomes, unless he chance to meet with some
guide among those who, confining their attention to a single branch of
study, have become familiar with, and gathered around them almost every
thing which can serve to throw light upon it. And when a public
institution has gone on through a long course of years adding to the
works derived from other sources these carefully chosen stores of the
learned, it is easy to conceive how much it must contribute, not merely
towards the gratification of literary curiosity, but to the actual
progress of literature.

From these general considerations respecting modern libraries, we
proceed to give some particulars which may serve to convey an idea of
the history, character, and contents of the principal book-collections
now in existence; and