The San Francisco call., 1905-06-18
T ANGUS LIBRARY
IS IN NEW HOME
Historic Marciana Collection
at Venice Is Removed
From the Doge's Palace
FOUNDED BY PETRARCH
More Than Two Hundred
Thousand Volumes Now
at the Disposal of Students
Special Dispatch to The Call.

LONDON, June 17.-After a delay of
many years one of the most famous
libraries in the world has been re-
moved from Il situation where it was
practically useless and source of per-
petual danger to one where students
will be able to utilize it to the best ad-
vantage. The library in question is
the historic Marciana collection at Ven
ice, which was founded by Petrarch
and which since the time of Napoleon
has been housed in the Doge's Pal
ace. The new repository of the library.
which consists of more than 100000
volumes, is the Pa1azzo della Zecca. or
Palace of the Mint. close to the square
of St. Mark.
Some time before his death in 1874.
Petrarch determined to beaueath his
books to Venice ''and thereby found a
great and famous library. like those
of olden times" The poets wishes,
however, were not respected fully, his
books being dispersed and only a few
coming TO the city on the Adriatic. To
these, however, was added In 1868 the
great collection presented to the re-
public by Cardinal Bessarion. The Ii
brary of this learned ecclesiastic num-
bered more than a thousand Greek and
Latin codexes, and had been got to-
gether at a cost of $4,000 golden du
cats, or 100000. Thus augmented the
Venetian Government at once decided
that the Marciana library should have
a worthy home and commissioned ia
copo Sansovino to build small pal
ace for its reception. This was fin
ished in 1853. and afterward ornament
ed with paintings by Veronese and
Tintoretto and with stucco work by
Vittoria. There the library was in
stalled and it increased hardly at all
until the eighteenth century, when leg
acies from the houses of Contarini and
Recanati added greatly to it's volume.
GREAT HELP TO STUDENTS.
1t is probable that Napoleon, upon
his arrival. would have left the Mar
ciana unmolested if he had not coveted
its home for an addition to the royal
palace. Accordingly the $4,000 books
and manuscripts which the library then
numbered were hustled out of the pal
ace built by Sansovino and for want of
better place transferred to that Of
the Doges. After that the collection
increased rapidly, and long before it
reached its present size began to i'm
peril the stability of the venerable
structure to which it had been trans
ferred. Slowed away in various parts
of the building 1t was almost impossi-
BILE, too. TO keep track of the volumes
and students who wanted special works
often had to wait days while they were
being hunted up.
Librarian after Librarian of the Mar
ciana besought the italian Government
to transfer the library elseN here. but
all in vain. The great collection prob
ably would be cumbering the shelves
of the palace to-day had not the fall
of the Campanfle obliged the anthori-
ties to consider the safety of other his
toric structures. There was no doubt
thatrthe Marciana was danger to the
Doge's Palace, so the Government
finally decided to remove 1t and to re-
install 1t in the ancient Palace OF the
Mint. Here the ducats Of the "Serenis-
sina" once were coined, and the cell
of the chests, though empty, is still to
be seen. Originally a solidly built
structure, the '.Zecca" has been splen-
didly arranged as library. The bulk
of the Marciana collection is housed in
long corridors, in book cases, all of
iron and of the latest pattern. The
task of moving the great library was
carried out so carefully that not a
single book or pamphlet Is missing
from the collection.
BOOM IN ROUSSEAU ON WAY.
In Europe something like a boom in
Rousseau seems on the way. At Mont
morency a statue to the philosophers
memory is about to be erected. Eight
cen more OF Rousseau's letters are
about to be published Finally the
membership of the Genevan Rousseau
Society has just received an important
addition in the person of Count Leo
Tolstoy In his letter accepting MEM
bership in the society, Tolstoy says,
Rousseau has been my master since
was 15 His works and the Holy Cos
pei have been the two great and benefi-
cent influences that have affected my
Quite lately reread some OF his works
and felt the same elevation Of the soul
and the same admiration that / ex-
perienced when reading him in the
days of my youth"
The new Rousseau letters, which arc
about to be published. all have to do
with the susceptible philosophers re-,
gard for Madame d'Houdetot and have
been preserved by member OF that
lady's family. In one OF them. sixteen
or twenty pages long, Rousseau gives
his views on the nature Of friendship,
and in another discusses his feelings
in regard to death, which he then be-
lieved to be near. There Is no doubt
that the documents were written In
great anguish of mind and they supple
ment and confirm what Is written in
the Confessions" as to that period of
Rousseaus life. It was at Mont
norency, where the Rousseau ctatue Is
about to be erected, that the Houdetot
episode happened. The writer's hermit
age there was given to him by Madame
d'Epinay. and Grimm prophesied that
she would presently have reason to re-
pent of the gift, prediction which
proved correct.
The Rev. DR.. J. Agar Beet's book,
THE Last Things" which evoked such
a storm OF protests from ultra orthodox
folk that its author withdrew 1t from
circulation a few days after its first
appearance, is about to be reissued
That step has been preceded by DR..
Beet's resignation as head OF the Wes-
leyan College at Richmond. Dr. Beet
who is one OF the greatest figures In
the Methodist world. was once a lee
turer at the University OF Chicago and
also officiated at the Chautauqua and
Ocean Grove summer schools In 1896.