with this view, as well as for convenient
reference, we shall arrange them under the respective heads of British
Libraries, and Foreign Libraries.

BRITISH LIBRARIES.

1. _British Museum Library, London._--There is probably no other public
institution in Great Britain which is regarded with so great and general
interest as the British Museum. By the variety of its departments, this
splendid national depository of literature, and objects of natural
history and antiquities, meets in some way the particular taste of
almost every class of society. The department of Natural History, in its
three divisions of Zoology, Botany, and Mineralogy, contains a
collection of specimens unsurpassed, probably unequalled, in the world.
The department of antiquities is in some particulars unrivalled for the
number and value of the articles it contains. But the library is the
crowning glory of the whole. If, in respect to the number of volumes it
contains, it does not yet equal the National Library of Paris, the Royal
Library of Munich, or the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg--in almost
every other respect, such as the value and usefulness of the books, the
arrangements for their convenient and safe keeping, and, in fact, in
every matter pertaining to its internal arrangements, the library of the
British Museum, by the concurrent testimony of competent witnesses from
various countries, must take rank above all similar institutions in the
world. Well may the people of this country regard the Museum with pride
and pleasure. The liberal grants of parliament, and the munificent
bequests of individuals, are sure indications of a strong desire and
purpose to continue and extend its advantages.

Some idea of the magnitude of the Museum, and of its vast resources, may
be formed by considering that the buildings alone in which this great
collection is deposited have cost, since the year 1823, nearly L700,000;
and the whole expenditure for purchases, exclusive of the cost of the
buildings just named, is considerably more than L1,100,000. Besides this
liberal outlay by the British Government, there have been numerous
magnificent bequests from individuals. The acquisitions from private
munificence were estimated, for the twelve years preceding 1835, at not
less than L400,000. The latest considerable bequest was that of the
Right Hon. Thomas Grenville: his library, which he gave to the Museum
entire, was valued at L50,000. The annual receipts of