The morning times., 1896-12-27
OLDBOOKs AND PAMPHLETS
Valuable Riggs Library Beauti-
fully Housed.
VOLUMES WORTH THOUSANDS
Prints From Presses of the Early
Days-Illuminated Mss. and
MissaI.

IL ohe Is Interested IN rare OLD DOCKS
and manuscripts he can find veritable
feast among the shelves of the Riggs Ii
brary, in Georgetown University.
THIS collection of books was for a long
tline without permanent home, until the
centennial or the university in 1889, when
Mr.. Elisha Frances Riggs furnished the
present abiding place, in memory OF his
father and brother.
Iie gift Is royal one, but the wealth
or knowledge contained within the four
walls is beyond price. The pavilion, from
the floor to the roof, which is of ground
glass, Is thirty-two feet i'll height; its
width forty-two feet; its length sixty-five
rect. In size alone it compares favorably
with other great libraries of the country,
and in point OF interior decoration its
beauty is perhaps uuequaled.
The flooring is OF tiles, arranged in
patterns of delicate ana Subdued tints OF
rose and lilac, and the whole interior is
carried out on the same line OF color.
beautifully carved and gildcd corncc,
running just beneath the roof, rests on
sixteen massive pillows, which surround
the readiug- room in the center Of the Ii
brary.
ON the faces and sides OF these pillows
are panels, finished at the edges with
columnettes of bronze, headed by gildeu
capitals.
Large metal Shields bearing the arms in
culors of the Riggs family, the Society of
Jesus, the university and those of the
United States, adorn eight of these pill
lars near the roof. Forty-ei.ht alcoveS
for books, each with a capacity for hold
ing from 1000 TO / 900 volumes, are
arranged between the pillars. Each floor
contains twelve aIcovcs, which are reached
by winding staircases of iron.
Each alcovc forms small library within
tSClf, and is provided with table and chair
for the accommodation of the student.
As no complete historical catalogue Of
the library has ever been published it would
be extremely difficult TO determine the
oldest or rarrst volume in the collection.
Those that are herewith mentioned, how
ever, are selected after much careful study
| and treated of iii an essay by a Jesuit
father several years ago.
The COLLECTION OF Languages.
TIE collect on rcprese ntS 213 Ian
guagcS, and numbers $4,000 bound vol
umeS, over $1,000 pamphlets. upwards OF
| 1900 manuscripts. 800 bound volumes Of
newspapers ana many thousands of un-
bound reviews.
The first alcove OF the first floor con
| tain editions dc luxe and rare foiios. Among
| editions de luxe are the works of Flcury,
LacroiX, Mchand, Armengaud. Duruy,
Horace in copperplate, kingsborough's
| Mexican Antiquities. tue Lemeciere dtiOn
of the vatican council, and thousands of
| others.
| illustrated, and contained in larger tones
ana in gorgeous bindings. The Vatican
| Council" illustrated in ColorS. bound in
| Turkey morocco and white MORE antique.
| weighs nearly fifty pounds. while one vol
ume of the illustrated "Kingsborough"
| weighs quite as much,
| The two works are in fifteen volumes.
imperial folio, and their total weight is
| al pounds. The former Is said to be one
! Of the most beautiful samples or the illuTni-
| natur'S and printer art done IN our times.
| Among the very rare old folioS are many
| hundreds of the fiftc cnth and sixteenth cen
| turieS, one of the Oldest and rareSt being
the Origins and Etymologies' of st. Isl
dore of Seville. Augsburg, I472, soon
! after heinvention ofprintinS illumi-
| mated text The following books are CON
sidercd of great rarity: Queen Mary Tu-
| dor'S "SaCrun Primer" an English prayer
book, printed in 1856 only three copies
of this book exist, this being the only per
feet one Of the three The other two
copies are in the British Museum.
| The extremely rare first editions of the
| Jesuit Relations. in vcllam, with ilIUmi-
| nateu titles. PiCarts exceedingly curious
| seven foioS OF the Religious Ceremonies
of All Natiuns,"' comprising 223 plates; a
complete history OF science in the seven
teenth and eighteenth centuries, entitled
| "A eta Eruditorum,' in fifty volumes,
published under the patronage Of the Elec
tor of SaXony, was conSdeed of great
rarity as early as S2l; the great Chinese
dictionary of de GugucS, presented to the