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Acta Sanctorum" of the Bollandists, the collections of Wadding, Manrique, Holstenius-Brockie, the principal editions of the mediæval chroniclers, together with the publications of the most important of the archæological and historical societies of this country, and of Europe generally, as well as of America, and the principal historical periodicals of this and other countries. Quite recently special attention has been given to the history of India and America, with the result that collections of some thousands of volumes have been obtained, with a view of encouraging research in these fields of study. For the history of India the collection of research material, both manuscript and printed, is very extensive, consisting of state papers, government reports and publications, many of which, printed in remote parts of India, would have been unprocurable but for the generous assistance rendered by the Secretary of State for India. For the history of the East India Company and Warren Hastings, the material is especially rich. The student of American history will find, in addition to many of the rare early printed sources and the standard modern authorities, a collection of the publications and transactions of historical associations of the various states. The collection of pamphlets, numbering upwards of 15,000, is of extreme importance, offering valuable original material for research for the study of the Civil War, the Popish Plot, the Revolution of 1688, the Non-Juror controversy, the Solemn League and Covenant, of English politics under the first three Georges, and to a lesser extent for the French Revolution. The few titles and topics mentioned are only intended to indicate the wide scope of the library, covering as it does the whole field of history, from the ancient Empires of the East, through the Greek and Roman periods, down to the present day. In a later paragraph we shall refer to the rapidly growing collection of manuscript material, consisting of charters and other documents awaiting investigation.

The topographical and genealogical collections, which are very extensive, should also be mentioned as of importance. Indeed, every effort is being used to make this department of the library still more efficient to meet the requirements of the students engaged on special research. Reference should also be made to the fact that many of the county histories, biographies, and special histories, have been extra illustrated, with the result that the library contains pictorial matter in the form of tens of thousands of prints, representing persons and places, many of which are of extreme rarity.

4

AND

Theology occupies a prominent place in the library by reason of the special character that was impressed upon it from its THEOLOGY inception. The original intention of the founder was to PHILestablish a library, the chief purpose of which should be OSOPHY. the promotion of the higher forms of religious knowledge. It is true the scope of the institution was enlarged by the purchase of the Althorp collection, but in the selection of the 200,000 volumes which have been acquired since 1899, the governors have steadily kept in view the founder's original intention. Reference has already been made to the Biblical texts. In the matter of patristic and scholastic theology the library is very rich, especially in the early printed texts, whilst of the Benedictine editions of the Fathers there is a complete set. The liturgical section is very strong, its collections of early missals and breviaries being specially noteworthy. There are twenty missals printed between 1475 and 1504, including the famous Mozarabic text of 1500, and eight breviaries printed before 1500, most of which are on vellum. "The Book of Common Prayer" is represented by a long and interesting range of editions, including two of the first, issued in London in 1549, the rare quarto edition printed at Worcester in the same year, and Merbeck's "Common Prayer Noted," of 1550, followed by all the important revisions and variations. There are a number of the early Primers, and fifty editions of the dainty Books of Hours printed in Paris in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The works of the reformers are well represented, with a large number of Luther's tracts, including the original edition, in book form, of the famous "Theses," printed in 1517, and his "Catechismus" of 1529, and a number of the earliest printed works of Erasmus, Hutten, Melanchthon, Savonarola, Zwingli, Tindale, Frith, Roy, Coverdale, Calvin, Knox, and Bunyan; the great devotional books such as St. Augustine's "Confessions," the "Imitatio Christi," the "Speculum Vitæ Christi," the "Scala perfectionis," the "Ars moriendi," and the Ordinary of Christian Men" are all to be found in the earliest, and in the later editions of importance. On the modern side the student will find the library fully equipped in the departments of Biblical criticism, dogmatic theology, liturgiology, hagiography, church history, and comparative religion.

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The ancient, medieval, and modern schools of philosophy are fully represented, especially in metaphysics, experimental psychology, and psychical science.

French MS. About 1260

OLOGY.

Sociology both on its political and economic side, and from the side of legal history, is well provided for, whilst in con- SOCIstitutional law and history, international law, and Roman law and jurisprudence, the equipment is thoroughly representative, including a special collection of the principal texts and commentaries of Justinian. The subject of Education is also well represented, both from the historical point of view, as from the standpoint of theory and practice. The works of the early humanist educators in the original editions will be found, side by side with the leading authorities in each department and period down to the present day, including a set of the "Monumenta Germaniæ Pedagogica".

GRAPHY.

Bibliography, which may be regarded as the grammar of literary investigation, is extremely well represented. One of the BIBLIOforemost aims of the library, from the outset, has been to provide the student, in whatever direction his studies may lie, with a bibliography of his subject, when one exists, as the most essential tool of research.

A special feature of the library is the periodical room, in which are made accessible to students the leading periodicals of PERIODIall countries, to the number of nearly 400, dealing with CALS. such subjects as history, philology, philosophy, theology, literature, art, and archæology. The current numbers lie open for consultation, and with very few exceptions, complete sets of each from its commencement are in the possession of the library, constituting in many cases an unexplored mine of valuable research material.

Another of the outstanding features of the library is the collection of Oriental and Western manuscripts, the nucleus of MANUwhich consisted of a small group of less than a hundred SCRIPTS. examples contained in the Althorp collection. These have been added to from time to time as opportunities have occurred, but the present magnificence and character of the collection was determined by the acquisition in 1901 of the manuscripts of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, consisting of nearly 6000 rolls, tablets, and codices. From that time forward every effort has been employed to develop and enrich the collection along lines which already have been productive of excellent results in the stimulation of research.

As evidence of the success which has attended these efforts, it needs only to be pointed out that the collection now numbers upwards