The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-05 00:00:00

STATISTICS OF LITERATURE.

The compilation of literary statistics, which may
be said to embrace a wider field than that of any
other branch, has not ben conducted on such prin-
ciples as to give to it that importance which, as the
complement to the educational statistics of a coun-
try,it demands. Without descending too much into
details as to the quality of book literature, it would
be interesting to know the number of new books
published annually in this country, classified under
certain well-defined subjects. Although there is
a compulsory delivery of books at the British Mu-
seum in conformity with the regulations of the
Copyright Act, yet no annual list of the new works
supplied has been printed and issued to the public
among the ordinary Blue-books. Some interesting
Natoli,re Minister of Public Instruc-
tion which have been on in Italy.
statistics of literature, however, have recently been
published by M.
These col-
lectedresults,
after much research and with great care,
show that in Italy there were 210 libraries—viz.,
164 public and 46 private, comprising 4,149,281
volumes, which, although rich in ancient literature,
were not so well furnished with modern works.
The libraries in Italy abound in ecclesiastical, but
had few scientific works, and in many there was
not a trace of foreign literature. M. Natoli states
that in Great Britain there were 1,771,493 volumes,
being in the proportion of 6 volumes to every 100
persons, while in Italy the proportion was 19.5
volumes to every 100 persons. In France there
were 4,389,000 volumes, or 11.7 vols. per cent. of
population ; in Austria, 2,408,000 vols., or 6.9
volumes per cent. of population ; in Prussia,
2,040,450 volumes, or 11.0 volumes per cent. of
population ; in Russia, 582,090 volumes, or 1.3
volume per cent. of population ; in Bavaria,
1,268,500 volumes, or 26.4 volumes per cent. of
population ; and in Belgium, 509,100 volumes,
or 10.4 volumes per cent. of population. Of
seven different States the greatest number of
volumes was recorded under France, more than
a third of which was in Paris. In Russia, of
the 852,090 registered volumes, 446,000 were
at St. Petersburg, and the remaining 406,000 were
distributed over the rest of the empire. It appears
that in many public libraries it has been the custom
to bind up every pamphlet separately, so that some
libraries apparentlygain enormously by this practice;
for instance, as all specifications of patents are sent
to other countries, the library of St. Petersburg,
which contained about 30,000 specifications of Eng-
lish patents, thus takes credit for 30,000 volumes,
whereas in England,
where it is customary to be
more economical of space, they would have made
little more than 1,000 volumes. Out of the 210
libraries in Italy, 33
belonged to Government, 100
belonged to the provinces and communes, 71
consisted of private collections, or of collections
belonging to Scientific institutions, to corporations,
or to religious bodies, and six were miscellaneous.
In Campagna works of science were given out; in
Lombardy, Piedmont, and Tuscany historical and
philological works were in demand ; in the southern
provinces more than one-half the works distributed
were religious, which was due
in part to the ecclesi-
astical character which the libraries have maintained,
and also in part to the still subsisting theocratic
organisation of the colleges. Of 988,510 volumes
given out in one year from 97 libraries which kept
registers, 183,528 related to natural science and
mathematics, 122,496 to history and philology,
70,537 to philosophy and morals, 54,491 to theology,
193,972 to jurisprudence, 261,689 to the fine arts,
and 101,797 were cyclopaadias, dictionaries, and
polygraphic works. Theological works were least
in request, showing that the greater part of the
visitors to the libraries were laymen, and that the
spirit of the times was directed to positive science.