Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1907)
TOE OMAHA RUNT) AT BEE: AUGUST 11. 1907. Remnants of Famous Libraries of Ancient Rome R OMU July 30. A Iialf starved scholar who eked out a livelihood by transcribing old dee1s In an attorney" offlce In Rome tu rs turning horn on evening In tha year 1W, after a hard dsy. work at a "hop In Pt.zsa Kavona and bought a umall loaf of bread and soma fried Ash for his evening meal. Ha at his supper, using tha paper In which tha fish waa wrapped aa plat. When, hi frugal meal over, he picked up tha paper preparatory to throwing It away, his practiced eya de tected that It waa an old manuscript. From forca of habit ha read It. Tha manuscript was an autograph latter of Christopher Columbus. Seven years before this Incident a bill waa pasted by tha Italian Parliament which drova tha nuna and monks from their homes, deprived them of their endowments and put their lands and house up for sale by public auction. The monasteries were plundered of everything they contained, and the booty, especially books and manu- Ine, but manufactured In rjormnny; still, since this trade has sprung up It Is an Indication that before fain manuscripts were supplied genulno ones were sold. And yet In spite of alt this If tha Vatican library were the only one In Rom, tha Eternal City would still take precedence over all others for the wealth of manuscripts It pos sesses. In fact, the Vatican library by Itself Is sufficient to make any city famous. Tha object of tha present article Is to deal briefly with the private libraries of Rome, but this cannot he dona unless soma mention la made of tha Vatican library. In which have been Incorporated from time to tlm eoveral private collec tions of books and manuscripts. The Vatican library was first formed by Nicholas V (H7-F6), who alone col lected 5.000 manuscript, and It wis Increased by Bixtus IV and Blx tus V CM78-15M). In 163 th 1 1 'J'" ' a i f. ."- - ' ' - -tX ' : ' 'f'f "'J ST VAT CAN LIBRARY "- TT3 rtn ! f" -" "W 'i . 4': 1 fttffljMy' VfrKojj? - S5y lntlng to the rontlflcate of Alexander VII. and nearly ail tha correspondence of the papal repraaentattvaa abroad. Tha pon tificates of Paul III. Plus IV. Bixtus V, Clement VIII, and Paul V, and Urban VIII ax represented through autograph letters, reports and Instructions to nun cios. Oerman history during tha sixteenth century Is minutely described In the auto graph lettors of Melancthon. among which there la tha celebrated letter referring to tha marriage of Luther. The library con tains also a unique collection of Provencal aongs, which were published by Btengel. The Coralnl library la In the handsome palace of tha same name on the Lungara. It waa built by tha Rlarlo family, from whom It waa bought by Pope Clement XII In 172 for his nephew, Cardinal Nerl Cor slnl. This palace la one of the most his torical of Rome. It was tha resort of Cath erine Bforsa, of Cardinal dl Ban Giorgio, of Michael Angelo, of Eraamus and In the seventeenth century of Queen Christina of Sweden, who died her In 1SS9. It Is said that It contained a deadly shaft closed by a trap door that dropped the living victim who stepped upon It out of hearing and out of eight forever. When It was repaired by the Corsinl family the hones of nameleas, dead were found In heaps far down among th foundation. The library la on the first floor. It was begun by Cardinal Nerl Corsinl, who, be sides th family library belonging to the Marquis Corsinl, bought the collections of books of Cardinals Oualtlert, de Medici and Camlllo Maoslmo, but the real founder waa Pop Clement XII, who spent every year 11,000 acudl toward th Increase of hi family library. Tomasso Corsinl subsequently bought and added to this library the collections of Faettonl, Guidl and Bonl. Dertolomeo Cor alnl when viceroy of Naples added to It the Florentine collection of Nicola de Rossi. In 1884 the Italian government purchased the Corsinl palace and library and pre sented It to the Academy of the LJncel. This library contains over l.lMK) manu scripts, many of which are unique, and besides Its collection of historical docu ments Is larise. There are theological codes, pontifical dlarla, histories of con claves, histories of the temporal power of the holy see, political intrm-tlon, letters, reports of nuncio and otlifr works In numerable, which cover the history of Italy and of the popes from the sixteenth cen tury up to the present day. There Is also a very rich collection of rare engravings, oonslstorlal acta and pontifical ceremonies. Such were the private libraries of Rom In time gone by. suited. In the celebrated history of tha a year from church benefits alone Council of Trent by Pailavlcino at almost This library was ao large that It had to very page manuscripts existing In private be split up and the manuscripts and docu- llbrarles are cited, and In Ranke'a "His- menta separated from th codes and books, tory of th Popes" nearly all the material Th former ax now In th Vatican ar- waa collected from thes libraries, aa th chives, while th latter, carefully csta- VaMean archive were then closed to th logued by the n..n ,,w w. - . ' Until private v. .1 , Father Ehrle. are In th library. Leo XIII.. th. eighteenth century many also bought the Borgia library, famous for libraries were still In existence. Its oriental mnn.,.rint. ... , but at the present only two remain Intact. It. Latin document, and many other pa l"ZT ..WJ --"t. most,;. wcrhPaa. yei nave not been sorted. The celebrated Barberlnl library, besun by Cardinal Francesco Barberinl. th nephew of Urban VIII, who built the gryat palace of his family with stono taken from the Colosseum, which gnve rise to the say ing that "th Barberlnl had done what th barbarians had not." Is perhaps the most Important private library In the world. In th year 1972 the library of Cardinal An- tnnfffc T1tKiHnl - am m a- . ... hoiieht Kv Trtnn nl .f,. k uuoa iu n ana I.-. .': "Z::r:j:' nvto It continued increa. to the Blchl, Bona, Celsl, Ceat, Fontanlnl, Im peiiall, Maaslmt, Bpada, etc, have all dis f appeared. Tha famous Altierl library, which contained important document about the pontificate of Sixtua V. and all th manuscripts belonging to Pope Cle ment X. collected by his nephew, Cardinal Paoluzzo Altierl, has been reduced to only about six or seven codes. Th no leas famous Albanl library was old In 1867. Borne manuscripts were scripts, war carted off and roughly stauk.d in some vacant rooms in the Colleglo Ro mano,, from which th Jesuit had bean expelled. The man In charge of the rooms had been selling the books and manuscripts as wast paper by the hundredweight. What remained of the collection after th dis covery mad by th poor scholar of Co lumbus' letter has been gathered up and now It form, part of the Victor Emmanuel library. ( For many centuries man and time co operated to destroy everything that be longed to ancient Rome. Barbarians sacked tha city and burned It many times over. The emperor of th east plundered It and carried off works of art to adorn Constantinople. Marble statuea were broken up by builders in the middle ages and burned for lime, wblle bronxes were melted down for metal. The Colosseum was library waa Increased by th gift of founded by Federlco da Moniefelt.ro; tn lt&O by th Alexandrina, which belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden; In 1746 by th Ottobonlana, purchased by Ottobonl, duke of Flano. The library consists of over 30,000 Greek, Latin and oriental manuscripts and about 100,000 volumes. Among Its treasures are a manuscript of the Greek Testament of th fifth century, a Terence of th fourth, th palimpsest of "Th Republic," manuscript, by St. Thomas Aquinas and Petrarch, by Henry Vin of England, etc Tha first person In Rom to own a pri vate lfbary was Cardinal Vltelloxst under th pontificate of Paul IV, but It had been the fashion In Rome, as far back a. th fifteenth century, for noble families to col the Blbllotheca Palatlna of Heidelberg, captured by Tilly from MaxlmlUlan of Ba the Vatican library, but th greater port were lost, aa they were purchased by th Prussian government and th vessel that waa carrying them to Germany waa wrecked. Both th Boncompangnt and the Borghese libraries have been broken up. The former was sold mostly abroad, while the manu script, of the latter were bought by the Vatican. The collection belonging to Car dinal Baldasarr Boncompngnl Is corn- number of 9.000. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries many precious book and documents were stolen and shortly afterward the entire library was sold to th Vatican. Th Barberlnl library contains, among other priceless treasures, a collection of autographs by Cardinal Berpbo and Galileo Galilei, a Latin translation of Plato, with autograph notes by the poet, Taaso, de signs by San Gallo and other celebrated pletoly lost and no trace of It exists; only architects. Byzantine miniatures, etc There a complete catalogue compiled by Narduccl remains to show how great tha loss waa. A considerable collection of unsorted man uscripts, among which were the documents of Cardinal Marescottl and many codes of great value, were sold by public auction tn Rome a couple of years ago, and hardly a single paga was left In Italy, almost everything being purchased by foreigners. Several private libraries were fortunately Incorporated In public libraries and thus saved from dispersal. Thus all the manu script, of Cardinal Baron 1 us, the disciple varla: In 1657 by tha Blbllotheca Urhlna. turned Into a quarry. It I. truly wonderful iect jn their calaces books and miimicrlr,t of Bt- Ph'P Nrl, who waa made cardinal that after such wholesale destruction th besides objects of art, statuary and paint- lu 1E96' now torm Part of tho Blbllotheca Ings. Still such collection, could not be considered as libraries. Th household of every nobleman of rank In th middle ages, especially If he was a nephew of a pope, was a real court, with chamberlains, servant, and men at arms, and no establishment was considered oom pktt unless, besides a chaplain, an auditor, secretaries and a lawyer, some literary personages, known as literati. ' who wer Rom of today can still boast of so many monuments of Its ancient glory. It Is mora wonderful still, that If buildings intended to last forever and art treasures of marble and bronxe could not withstand tha combined action of time and man and wer reduced Into dust, ancient parchments, man uscript and books should survive. Th instance of the man who for seven years sold book, and manuscripts as waste paper does not stand Isolated, w,ho can tell how many pages of priceless manuscripts wer vere1 ,n th 'ur principal languages of used throughout Italy to wrap fried fish and other edibles? Varcelllana, one of th most magnificent libraries of Rome In the monastery of tha Oratorlans, now used as a court of assize. Th manuscript, of Cardinals Bona, Norl. and Passlonel are In the Blbllotheca An gelica, founded In 1604 by Angelo Rocca, and containing over 160,000 volumes and 1M6 manuscript.. This library waa once owned by th Au.tln friars, but It wa. de clared state property In 1870. The manuscript, of Cardinal Casanata th world, namely, Hebrew, Greek. Latin are tm ta the "braTy 'which bears his and Italian, were attached to lt Th.. name, the Blbllotheca Caaaaatensls, one are 00 Greek codes and twice as many Latin ones, many of which are palimp sests. Among th Oriental codes there Is the priceless and unique Samaritan Pentateuch. There Is a complete collection of books dealing with the history of Roman archi tecture, many manuscripts of celebrated men aid writers and all the diplomatic cor respondence during the pontificate of Urban VIII and the sixteenth century. Since the sale of the Barberlnl library to the Vatican there are only two Important private libraries left Intact In Rome the Blbllotheca Chlglana, belonging ' to the Chlgl family, and the Blbllotheca Corsln lana, th property one of th Corsinl, but now of the Italian state. The de scendants of the old noble families hav sold their books and rented their palaces, and Instead of old manuscripts and Oriental codes their libraries of today. If they de serve he nanro, contain only French novels and society papers, bound uniformly In the same color and In many cases utl only a. ornaments. The Chlgl library will In all probability be soon sold, and with It the last Roman private library will disappear. The Chlgls "MAD DOG" A NATURE FAKE Oftca t Animal la Tfedlnsr Only Water, Qnlet and Rational Attention. Among other "nature fakers' there Is the "mad dog" of the hot and silly season. He appears as a ferocious beast, galloping along with frothing, distended Jaws, biting recklessly as he Roes. It Is instructive to compare this fanciful victim of rabies with a renl victim as described in "The Dog's Medical Dictionary," by A. J. Eewell. M. R. C. V. S. Dr. Bewell Is cantn surgeon to King Ed ward, to the Kennel club, to the Dumb Friends' league and to various English associations and Institutions. Referring to the oft reported detail of the frothing mouth of the rabid dog he says: "This Is a mistake. The mouth may certainly be little molster than usual at first, but It soon becomes dry and of a dark red color." In the earlier stages of rabies the suffer ing animal shows "an Inclination to hide In dark corners, though when called by his owner he comes forward and Is very affec tionate, licking the hand and even the per son", face, If allowed." Later the rabid dog "Is much disposed to wander If ha can only get his liberty, and once h gets out he often goe. for miles on a sort of a Jog trot, with head and tall down, going out of his way to attack other dogs, but not so much people, unless they get directly In his way or Interfere with him." Left to himself th dog may wander for hours or for a day and a night, and then return home. A dog really gone mad change. In nature and In voice. He will not often attack his owner unless to resist an effort to restrain him. Contrary to popular Impression, he Is not afraid of water. He drinks freely dur ing the first symptoms of his trouble and will thrust his muzzle Into water even after he has lost the power to swallow. There Is no cur for him. Eventually his hind leg. weaken and. If he Is not killed before, he dies usually within four or five days. Dr. Bewell crushes the foolish Idea that If a dog bites another, or even a person, and then shall ever go mad, his victim will go mad, too. H quotes from Pasteur to the effect that a bite from a dog Is not dangerous even two days before signs of rabies are observed. His hook will strengthen tha belief that the "mad dog" of the summer news Is as a rule In a fit, needing only water, quiet and rational at tention. New York World. If you have anything to trade advertise It In the For Exchange columns of The Be Want Ad pages. I It SK 'r-i Old Dutch Cleanser does all kinds of cleaning: Cleans Windows, Enamel and ForcelainTuks, Tainted and Burlap Wails, Glassware and Cutlery. Scrubs Wood Floors, MarMe, Painted and Unpalnted Woodwork, Stone, Cement and Mosaic Floors, and Tiling. Scours Pots, Kettles and Pans, all kinds of Cooking Utensils $ Boilers, Sinks and Flat Irons. Polishes Door Knobs, Railinps, Faucets and Pipes, and all smooth metal surfaces. torn Can, Creerrs' 10c Th Codahy racking Co. South OmabaJib. IP Beer is an effervescent product, roost suscep tible to taint, therefore to retain its life and purity it must be kept air-proot We uso the utmost precaution in preparing 1 W2E Blue Ribbon Bottled BeerlK It is aged for months in hermetically sealed tanks, filtered through white wood pulp, con veyed through our improved pipe-line direct to the automatic bottling machine and put in sterilized bottles. Through out this entire process it is not sub jected in any way to the contaminating influence of the air and, after being sealed, each bottle is pasteurized one and one-half hours by the approved method of Dr. Pasteur of Paris. That's why Slorz Blir is pure, healthful and absolutely free from the germs and impurities that lurk in water, milk, tea, coffee, or other beverage that's why prominent physicians recommend Stori Bssr. It will do you good to drink it. "M$m- I "Phon Webster 1260" "1 p?1 5TOR2 BRE WING CO. (12) OMAHA. NEB. Low Rates Now! X s 'Follow tho Flag." filllL Rates, pamphlets and all Information, call at Wabash City Office, 1601 Farnam St., or address HARRY E. MOORKS, O. A. P. D. Wab. Ry., Omaha. No Matter What You Want Bee -Want Ads Will Get It Thn on should tak Into aecour-t also "Uratl wrota the letter of their master owne1 b? th Dominicans, and considered were a family of bankers and one of the th area! quantities of manuscripts that and kept the archives of the house, they hav perished by fir and the books and wrote poetry, kept diaries and acted it codea that hav been stolen or bought and Interpreters; In short, they attended to Smuggled out of Italy. Even to this day everything and anything which required tvery foreign tourist that visits Rome can, a knowledge of reading and writing. If so Inclined, purchase an old manuscript Gradually they become librarians. It took to take home to nis menus instead was the custom to keep deeds a. the largest religious library In Rome after that of the Vatican. It consist, of 1V0.O0O printed volumes and 4,600 manu scripts. Many collections or manuscripts and books belonging to cardinals and noblo Roman families are now to be found out- greateet of art patrons In Rome. Its most prominent members were Agostlno Chlgl, owner of the famous palace called La Famesina. which contains some of th most beautiful existing frescoes of Ra phael and his school, and Fablo Chlgl, who mounted the papal throne as Alex ander VII. and who was the only pope who refused to seek the aggrandizement nd leusl f a coral necklace or a piece of mosaio acta, letters of ambassadors, report, and 13 Kome- Thus, for Instance, th cele renresenttng th temple of Vest. It is Instructions In the unner rlnAr. r,t brated Manoacrlttl Farnesiane belonging true that th manuscript may not be genu- palaces, which were generally well lighted to Paul HI- nd hlB nePnew- Cardinal Ales- of his family and acnowledged the poor and free from dampness. Here the Utteratl sandro are In Naplea and Parma, the docu- as his own relations. worked and her every book or manu- "'-it ot Cardinal Cervlniant ar In Flor- These two powerful men founded th script was brought up for safe keeping. nce and those of Cardinal Garampl are at celebrated library which Is still Intact to- (Gradually thes archives, for such they Rimini. day In the Chlgl palace at Plazxa Colonna were In the beginning, became libraries. The Vatican library generally secures and comprise S.'iOO manuscripts and 16,000 The master of th house might belong to Part of tns manuscripts belonging to car- rare printed books. The catalogue of this one of the sixty conscript families of Rome "n'. and very often the heirs of a car- library has never been published, but who wer privileged to erect a colored dlnal's estate spontaneously offer such many distinguished bibliographer, have canopy or a sort of throne in one of the document, as relate to Stat affairs to the examined and descried several of th col- princlpal room, of their palace., and he Vatican, aa was done in the ciki ot th lections existing In It and a fairly good might therefor rank aa a Roman prince, libraries of Cardinals Albanl. Garampl and Idea of Its Importance can be gathered In such a case he wa. l:y to hold om Borghese, as well a. th private library of from their works. post A importance In the papal court. Giovanni Battista Confalonlerl and thos The greater part of the manuscript, ra- Th archive of th family would thea f the noble fajnllie. of Bolognettl-Cencl, fer to the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- includ all th document relating to th Ptn n1 Carpegna. During th seven- turles and especially to th tlm of Alex- office hsld in the papal court, an benoe tenth century the Vatican library was In- ander VII. who represented the Holy Bee private libraries became public or state creased by the manuscript, belonging to as nuncio at Cologne before h wa. elect- archjves. and many of them ar conald- Cardinals Birletl, Baron I us and Carafla and ed pope and took a principal part In the ered as uch to this very day. Generally also those of Fulvio Orslnl. peace negotiations at Munster under In- th collections contained In ih iihr.-j. Pone Leo XIII.. beside, ooenlng the se- nocent X All the correspondence durlnc cret archives of the Vatican to the public, spent a considerable sum of money in pur chasing private collection, of manuscripts and book, which wer added to th Vatican library. He bought, for Instance, th cele CONSTIPATION "For r ftln yar I aTr4 with ahroDU tlpattoa ftad durtB hi tta 1 h4 to tk to iuKoMoa ' r wiir ob M hour U(on e"V4. amy fcowals. Uaupiljr I Irlei CMStlfM, u4 fclftr I M BitJft. turtut io yr bfor I u)4 Cueamu I ul!rd iiatoi! vUry with IftMrntU ptU. Taunt to yv m frM frota ftll bbtl lhl moratuff. To KM tfcla I lUhii of tuffwriiksj hutnDlir M It. r. rw.r. 4Wim4, IU. XX. Camcy camumc , IMouMt. FUhl. rwl TuMSml, DoGood, t birkak, Wka r litiv. W. SM. Ms. ot Sotil lu bulk. Tk Alllt UlM lUl&H COO. Ctu'aut4 lo mm of roar 4M bMi. Sterling Rme4y Co., Chicafo or N.V. to) AKKUALSALE.TEI U'.LUOM BOXES f private noble families ar carefully catalogued and Indexed, and this 1. ex plained by the fact that at th death of the owner they passed to th male heir who succeeded to the family title. ine weaitn ana importance of th private brated Barghes library, founded by Car- libraries of Rom U considers Me, so much dinal Bctplon Borghese, the wealthiest ao that no work on Rome has ever been man In tbe seventeenth century, who a- wrUten without the libraries being con- joyed an Incom ot laO.OOO scudt or dollar. this period, private and official. Including many secret letter, of th pope and th two cardinal. Fanclrolo and Pamflll, also th correspondence of th papal nuncio accredited to th emperor and to Louis XV, and th Fpanlsh and Venetian am bassador at Munster, are collected tn sixty-three volumes. Toex ar bealde. copious document r Eft Round Trio from Omaha to WW Cf Paul and Minnftanohs daily tnroucn- out the summer, and $12.60 from Council Bluffs. pT 60 Duluth and return from Omaha, $18.10 . from Electric lighted fast through trains daily via The North Western Line to the Twin Cities, making direct connection with The North Western Line fast trains to Superior and Duiutn; leave umana aany ad iss ay A W f A n - am. and 8:28 o.m.. Council hJluris :iu a.m. ana o:o p.m. Special low rates to the summer resorts or Minnesota, wiocuwaiu and Northern Michigan, and to the lakes, mountaine ana sea- shores of Canada and the Eastern States. Ticket Olfices, 1401.1403 Farnam Street. Omaha, rfrnTl I R I iZr 322 Bro.dw.y. co.cii Bioif m tm