The Washington times., 1901-08-29
KING EDWARDS LIBRARY.

Among the countless treasures at Wind
| sor Castle which form part of the per-
sonai inheritance of the King is the pre-
| c'ous collection of books. prints. and MSS.
| whose iordly home is the royal library.
when the two libraries formed by
| 1eorge III and George III went to the
BRUSH Museum the castle was for some
| years without any literature at all. But
| under William " forgotten collections
were unearthed at st. James Palace.
Hampton Court, and elsewhere. and
| brought together at Windsor. and day
| after day for twenty years the Prince
| Consort devoted his leisure moments to
in this new library.
Early in the reign a Mr.. Holmes CHANGED
to be one of the keepers of MSS. in the
British Museum. and he introduced his
son Richard as an assistant. and for six
teen years the younger book lover was
preparing himself unconsciousiy for his
ifework When in 1868 an archaeologist
was sought for the expedition to Abys-
sinia young Holmes was taken for the
purpose. and to this episode was due his
selection by Queen Victoria in 1870 to be
her private librarian. For thirty years
he has carried on the work started by
the Prince Consort. until today he is in
charge of 10000 volumes. one of the rich
est private collections in the world.
Colonel Holmes Is short dapper. trim
bearded bibliophile. whose rudy genial
fly reminds one irresistibly of Mr.. Fred
Burnard. His luxurious tome upon the
life of his august mistress proves him
to possess a ready pen, and that he also
Yields a ready brush is shown by his
Illustrations for Mrs Oliphant's Makers
Of Venice, Perbans his preatest treas-
- ss -.
ure is one OF the only Two periec. copies
of the earliest dated printed books. the.
1851 "Mainz Psalter," whose value runs
49,. e,.o ,,,,,ro. - ;r5oa5 an ava ac
mo h'e hsuies, anu inuu, y" one az
casion an American iady VINO was per-
mitted to inspect the library was very
angry because her cicerone would not
ooas,,. .i,oro "a ~ ot,noL ,or coo oOo
- -. -
IN exchange Tor TINS DOOR here are 10 oe
seen also a dozen Caxtons, including the
dole Jr,bar,s our R;hie Mozart,s first
-,
oratorlo, the Testament that charies
carried to the scanoid, his folio
Shakespeare Oriental MSS encrusted
r,t,h cav, ard r,.ry .rotber vo,,,r,e IN
i SENS 80
De seen nowhere else on the planet.
Queen Victoria-always a typical wo-
man-wouId never willingly permit nov
oil, Of the ,nomant 10 anc,nher her
,.,n, -
shciVes, aithoush there are ohe vi Nv"
first editions of kipling and some presen-
tatiOn volumes. There Is a little poetry
also Including a choice conv which AL
fred Tennyson prepared of his works as
a Ianreateis Gift The hulk of the library
however is made nm of hooks on history
biography heraldry. bellies Iettres. and |
the fine arts includinp the caricatures of |
three centuries
The Queens bookplate. made by G.
w Eve Introduced the badges of Henry |
VII and Edward III. surrounded by the |
Garter. and the royal cipher is stamped
unon the binding of MANY a volume
Many of the bindings to be seen in the
royal library are maryelousIy beautiful
Colored reproductions of these covers APP
pear In Mr.. Grigg's beautiful work on |
specimens of ookbindiny in the ROYAL
Library"
For the last year or two an assistant
has been busy upon a typed card-cata- !
logue of authors and subjects. in the |
manner of the GuiIdhau Library. and this
is understood to have enabled his Males
ty to observe the presence of large NUM-
beers of presentation and other volumes
which can now be spared Ii is said in
deed. that large proportion will be dis
tributed in various directions later on
HE Ma iacfvc nu,r, Iih,arv