The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1880-03-24


same race who thus destroyed the largest and
most valuable library which had come down
from more ancient times, became for centuries
the most diligent and successful cultivators
of literature and the fine arts in the whole
world, and that too at time when Christian
Europe was clothed in comparative intellectual
darkness Libraries and other institutions
of learning sprung up wherever the arms of
the Moslem Arab secured foothold enough for
the Arab civilization to take root and develop
itself. Under their rule a large library was
again collected at Alexandria; one at Cordova
in Spain contained 100000 volumes, while at
Cairo was one which is said by many Arab
writers to have contained as many as !, 900 900
volumes This statement if true would make
this library to have been considerably larger
than any library with one exception now in
Europe, and allowing for the difference in the
cost of written and printed books, vastly more
valuable than any library now existing in the
world Meanwhile, during the so called dark
ages, Monks were throughout most of Europe
the only cultivators of literature and the only
possessors of books. In the seclusion and
safety of the cloister, learning for time found
refuge from the storms which ragged without.
Here under the care of devout and studious
men were gradually accumulated many price
less collections of books and manuscripts,
which though not very large, served to bridge
over the chasm between the old culture and
the new, and which in many instances have
been the nuclei around which have gathered
the vaster collections of more recent times
The so-called revival of learning in Europe
vastly increased the demand for books while
the invention of printing alone rendered it
possible for that demand to be supplied. The
constantly enlarging demand for books as
constantly increased the cheapness of their
production, while the increasing cheapness of
books in turn stimulated the demand. Mean
while with the increase of intelligence and
education, more liberal political ideas and the
feeling of personal Independence and respon-
siblity underwent a corresponding develop
ment. These in turn fostered a spirit of lib
erality and care for the public welfare which
gradually disposed men towards the founda-
ton aud support of various institutions for the
general good, libraries included. In the mean
time the vast increase of human knowledge in
so many directions and the rapid multiplied
ton of books of all kinds has rendered it i'm
possible for any man of moderate means to
own all the existing works on even any one
subject, much less on many.
In this way there has arisen both need
anu uCllduuNlOl COllGCllOuS Vi DOOhS ldIHcI
than any private individual can hope to possess,
and which shall be accessible to those who
need or who wish to use them Thus through
the working of natural and easily understood
causes: in accordance with the simple laws
of cause and effort, demand and supply, have
grown mp those gigantic accumulations of
literary products which at so many points both
in the old world and in the new, excite alike
our wonder and our admiration, delighting
the soul, not only of the scholar but of the
patriot and the philanthrophist as WELL How
vast are the stores of learning which are ac-
cessible to the readers of our own day through
the medium of public libraries, can be in some
measure understood by the presentation of a
few statistics which l promise shall not be
long and which trust will not prove tedious
Foremost then among European Libraries
stands the French National Library at Paris,
with its almost incredible number of 1000, 900
books and $50, 900 manuscripts Next in rank
come the Imperial Library at st. Petersburg
and the great Library of the British Museum,
each with over 100000 volumes Next to
these we find the Royal Library at Munich
with 100000 volumes, followed in turn by the
Royal of Berlin, the Imperial of Vienna, the
Royal Libraries of Copenhagen and Dresden
&C., all containing from half to three quarters
of million volumes each. OF the public Ii
braries in Great Britain and on the Continent,
containing from 100, 900 to 500, 900 volumes
each, can only say that they are too numer-
GUS to be enumerated in a paper of this kind.
OF the libraries of the orient, comparatively
little is known. Several libraries exist in
Constantinople, but as might have been expec-
ted, they are not of large dimensions. pub
lie library of some kind exists III Pekin, said
to contain 100000 volumes, and one at Toxic
in Japan of $50, 900, mostly Chinese literature.
The famous conqueror Tamerlane, generally
known in history as "Tamerlane the Tartar !"
established library in his day at Samarcand
in Central Asia. 1t was hoped that the pro-
gress of the Russian arms in that direction
during the last few years and particularly the
capture of Samarcand itself, would either
bring to light this library or at least furnish
some important information concerning it.
Thus far however the result has not justified
those expectations.
Let us now glance briefly at the public libra
ries of the United States. Remembering the
difference between the political and social con-
ditions of the young Republic and those which
have existed in Europe and remembering also
the comparative youth of the whole nation
and the inevitable crudeness of the younger
portion of it, we would naturally expect to
find somewhat different results in the develop
ment of public libraries from what has been
realized in the older European communities.
In this expectation we shall not be disap-
pointed. We find for instance in the United
States, no libraries approaching in size the
larger European collections. In fact the con-
tents of the dozen largest libraries in the Uni
ted States, would if all put together, come
considerably short of equaling in number of
volumes, the National Library at Paris alone.
In fact there are as many libraries in Europe
of over 100000 volumes each as there are in
the United States of 100000 and over.
But this must be considered as a natural and
inevitable result when we consider that many
of the principal libraries in Europe were not
only in existence but had already attained
large proportions at "a time when the greater
part OF the territory now constituting the Uni
ted States was destitute of occupants except
wild beasts and red Indians. But on the other
hand we find the American libraries conspicu-
GUS rather for their great number, their wide
diffusion, the frequency of their existence in
comparatively small and young communities,
their rapid growth and multiplication and the
spirit Of enterprise and liberality which char
acterize their management. The latest statis-
tics on this subject to which have had access
in preparing this paper are contained in re
port by the Commissioner of Education al
Washington, on the public libraries of the
United States, and dated August 3lst, 1876
These statistics include under the head Of
public libraries, all Libraries other than pri-
vate ones, Sunday School and District School
Libraries excepted. This report embraces re-
turns from 1862 libraries of 800 volumes each
and upward, and the aggregate number Of