The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1899-04-29
EMPEROR'S BIG LIBRARY.
Francis Joseph Has Nine nooms Filled
with Rare Books.

with Rare Books.
Although a private library. yet In
Importance. interest and wealth that
belonging to Emperor Francis Joseph
Of Austria ranks among the foremost
libraries of the world. 1t is situated |
within the Hofburg Palace, Vienna.
and contains, says the st. James Bud
get. nine large and lofty rooms. filed |
from top to bottom with books. manu-
scripts. photographs. drawings and |
prints, including many of the utmost
rarity and of the greatest value.
Whether we look at the number of vol |
umes of his "Familien Bibliothek des |
Kaiserhauses" under which title it is
known in Vienna). or at the nature of
their contents, at the drawings and
prints, at the countless manuscripts.
one and all leave no doubt upon our
mind as to the valuable character of
the collection. Although not open to
the general public, admission is gladly
granted to it by the courteous chief
librarian, DR.. Adolf Karpf.
The foundation of the library was
laid by Emperor Francis H., who
brought his collection of books with
him from Florence. Constant addi-
tons increased the contents of this per-
sonal library from year to year up to
the time he became Emperor of
Austria in 1902. Thenceforth it be-
came his special hobby. and his taste
for books found full vent in continu-
ally adding new treasures to it. In
| Of 70
the Emperor to buy the unique collec-
ton belonging to the celebrated physi-
ognomist, Lavater, consisting of no
fewer than $4,000 sketches, most of
which bear Lavater's remarks in hex
ameters, and in his own handwriting.
Later on were added to this library the
private collections of Emperor Ferdi-
= nand V. and of Emperor Francis Jo-
seph, and since 1889 its official title has
been tx. und X. Familien- Fideicom-
Bibliothek."
The treasures of this library are very
numerous, and space forbids the men
ton of more than few, as will be I'M
derstood when we say that the number
of its volumes is more than 100000, be-
sides which are $40 incunabula, 21s
: 'aluable manuscripts, 10000 maps.
, $4,000 portraits and etchings and 10000
water-color drawings of animals. There
are also 5000 Illuminated addresses
presented to the Emperor in the TWEEN
ty-fifth year of his reign and on vari-
Gus other occasions of national con.
graduation. But these figures convey
a very inadequate idea of the valuable
. character of the library, which is, in
deed. the most famous and most i'm
= portant of the private libraries of al
q the reigning houses in the world
q Everything of historical value and in
). terest relating to the house of Haps
g burg is there deposited, and the col
9 lection of portraits is priceless as works
of art and is a gold mine for the stu
dent and historian. There are no fewe
than 1871 portraits of the Emperor Leo
It pold l. in this collection, 142 o
d Louis XIV, 100 of the Emperor 10
IS seph IL. and ninety-one portraits de
picting various periods of the life o
l. the Empress Maria Teresa.
a OF the 10000 volumes of the collec
e ton the majority bear an encyclopedi
character, with works dealing wit
1T natural science and travel. Most o
ic the books are in the German language
E. but every European language. Turks
alone excepted, is well represented o.
N the shelves. especially the Italian
Re French and English, the latter chief
It, in works of biography and travel. TIL
u manuscript treasures are mostly of Be
is gian origin, while the incunabula ar
lie almost without exception in the Lati
ed language. Thanks to it's chief libra
rian, the whole of this collection ha
ed been methodically arranged and car;
IT, logued. In doing this DR.. KARI
lg brought into practical use for the frs
ed time an ingenious system of catalogl
as ing which is extremely simple and CT
oe ables the librarian to find instantly an
single one of the $1,000 topographic;
as views contained in this collection. \
praise that can be bestowed is to
ne great for the arduous labor which tn
10 task of catalOguing involved an
le- which has placed DR.. Karpf in I'll
IN foremost rank of modern bibliograpl
ers.