The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-12-31
GEMS IN BOOKS.
LITERARY TREASURES IN THE AGTOf
LIBRARY IN NEW YORK.

Ancient Illustrations In Priceless Manu-
scripts.
Even many otherwise well informed
people are not aware that the public IL
braries of this city contain some of the
choicest literary gems extant-books for
which wealthy ~bibliophiles nave offered
fabulous sums. If New York is not the
literary center of America, then books
immense in number, rare in antiquity
and almost priceless in value are not
factors in the competition.
There are t~hirty-four public libraries
IN New York, and the number and value
Of the volumes within their walls nave
grown SO rapidly that Paris, Munich and
even London will be surpassed in their
library collections if the present growth
continues.
The day when the citizen of New Am
sterdam was content to sit outside his
door, drink beer, smoke, grow fat and
die in the firm belief hat he had enjoyed
life, has given way to an entirely differ
ent state of affairs.
twenty-five Years ago II public IL
brary collection was considered sufficient
to meet the demands of every class, call
ing or profession. Today nine institu-
tons can be picked out, each one of
which is patronized by a single class.
The Aston is the richest Of all u Ii
braries. One million dollars worth Of
books repose upon it's Whelves, but not
without frequent disturbance. From
fifty to 100 studious men and women are
delving into the enchanting mysteries of
some favorite theme every day that the
reading rooms are open to the public.
The library contains nearly $20O.0OO
worth of rare books and manuscripts,
which are seldom allowed to go into the
hands of the public, Perhaps the largest
and finest single volume in New York
may be found there. If any one thinks
that the contemporaries Of Shakespeare
ana Milton would marvel at the superb
product of modern illustrators he is very
much mistaken. Nothing has been pro-
| duced in the last century that can equal.
much less rival, the illustrations in a
Seventeenth century manuscript entitled
"A~ntiDhOnale." 1t contains 22S pages Of
vellum, adorned by 272 small and SO
large miniatures in the highest style Of
| lIc lel1CA hIU IL LILuO uoJs OA4 Va !"
illustrations have been attributed to LIE
Brun, the great painter of the time of
Louis XIV. The larger paintings for
the most part are scenes from the Scrip
lures appropriate to the various church
festivals, and many of the initial letters
which accompany the stanzas are
illumined in a style wholly unknown at
the present day. This volume, bound i'll
purple morocco, with gilt mountings and
Ornamented with the aower-de-luce, was
designed for the coronation of Charles
V. At a public sale it would easily com
mand several thousand dollars.
Another valuable work is Sylvester's
Universal Photography" in two vol
umes, containing upward of 300 finely
executed facsimiles of medieval works
Of art. This sumptuous work is said to
have cost the sum of 100000 for its exc
cution alone. Among other ~rarities is a
COPY of the first letter written by Chris,
toDher Columbus after he discovered
America. There are only six copies OF
these in existence. The letter consists OF
only four leaves, but at a London auction
sale in 1872 it brought 800.
Another rare volume to be found only
in this library is Lloyd's "History Of
Columbia, Now Called Wales" pub
! lished in 1854. 1t contains the Legendary
narrative of the expedition OF Prince
Modoc and a Welsh company that voy
: aged to America prior to Columbus, bu
never returned. Many foreigners have
sent to this country for abstracts from
this rare volume.
The earliest known editions Of Ptole
my's geography repose on the shelves o
the Astor. The dates on their title page
range from 1873 to 1921. tt ere Is also
superb specimen of the "Biblia Sacr;
Latina" of 1462, the first edition Of tn
Bible boundin old crimson morocco, wit
SSilt edges, which is worth $4,000. In
side the covers are the names OF thos
Immortal printers" Johann Faust an
Peter Schaffer. The Oldest pOlyglO
edition of the Scriptures, executed a
the order of Cardinal Ximenes, whic
cost SO. 900 ducats in gold and fftee
wears for its preparation, is also at tn
L Aston. The oldest manuscript Of all
the .Lectiones Evangeliis," printed o
vellum and containing hole pages
Examinations. This manuscript va
executed by the monks in A. D. 141t
and is almost priceless in value. n
other library in America possesses sue
a treasure. Next in point OF antiquit
is John Wyclif's English version Of tt
New Testament, written in 1890, an
containing the autobiography of Hun
nbrev. duke of Gloucester. There a.
= also two rich Persian manuscripts of tt
Fifteenth century, besides manuscrlp
! of more recent date.
Several competent Egyptologist
among them the late Miss Amelia
Edwards, who inspected the collectl(
during her visit TO this city, have pr
q nounced the library especially rich
oriental works. The great work
James Audubon on the "Birdsof Amel
ca" consisting of four volumes, won
probably bring 5000. Elliott's lndi'
rk Bible. dated 1861, the first Bible print
in America; the Geneva, or the Breech
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