was bought by Galeazzo Arcanati, the illustrious owner of an artistic and
literary museum. He resisted the proposals of purchase that poured in
from foreign Courts; our James I. is said to have offered three thousand
gold doubloons for the great volume of designs; and on Arcanati's death
the whole collection was transferred by his widow to the Ambrosiana. Some
changes had been made in the distribution of the papers since Mazenta so
easily acquired his thirteen books. The French took the same number away
in 1796; but none of them ever returned, except the famous _Codice
Atlantico_.

In Spain there were but few persons interested in books before the
foundation of the Escorial towards the end of the sixteenth century. We
learn from Mariana that soon after the year 1580 a vast gallery in the
palace was filled with books, mostly Greek MSS., which had been assembled
from all parts of Europe; 'its stores,' he said, 'are more precious than
gold: but it would be well if learned men had greater facilities for
reading them; for what profit is there from learning if she is treated
like a captive and traitor?' Arias Montanus, the first Orientalist of his
age, was appointed librarian by the founder; he was the owner of an
immense quantity of MSS. in Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, many of which were
used in his edition of the Antwerp Polyglott Bible, and these he
bequeathed to the Escorial, while his printed books were left to the
University of Seville.

The first book was printed in Valencia as early as the year 1474; but the
prospects of literature remained dark until the termination of the
Moorish wars. On the capture of Granada it was thought necessary to
obliterate the memory of the Koran, and scores of thousands of volumes,
or a million as some say, were destroyed by Cardinal Ximenes in a
celebrated _auto-da-fe_. About three hundred Arabic works on medicine
were preserved for the new library which the Cardinal was founding in his
University of Alcala. The Cardinal spent vast sums in gathering materials
for his Mozarabic Missal and the great Complutensian Polyglott. It is
said that to avoid future criticism he gave his Hebrew originals to be
used in the making of fireworks, just as Polydore Vergil was accused in
our country of burning the monastic chronicles out of which he composed
his history, and as many Italian writers were believed to have destroyed
their classical authorities. When Petrarch lost his Cicero, it was
thought th