lister’s TRAVELS IN FRANCE.

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turn into England : the fame promife I renewed to the abbe Louvois , the library keeper,at his own indance, when I had the honour to dine with him. The reader will pardonme the vanity, if I tell him, that this book was no inconfiderable prefent, even for fogreat a prince, as the King of France ; for that befides the time that it took me up (tenyears at lead) at leifure hours, to difpofe, methodife and figure this part of natural hif-tory, it could not have been performed by any perfon elfeforlefs than 2 oocl. derling;of which fum yet a great diare it dood me in, out of my private purfe. This younggentleman is brother to Monfieur Barbefieux, intendant of the affairs of war ; he takesgreat care to apply himfelf to his dudies, and for that purpofe has two of the Sorbonecondantly with him to indrudt him. He lives great, and has a houfe, which joins uponthe king’s library, of which he is keeper. We were entertained by him with all thecivility imaginable, and freedom of converfation.

This library is now placed in a private houfe, and taken out of the Louvre, but it isintended to be removed to the Place de Vendofme, where one fide of that magnificentfquare is defigned for it. In the mean time it is here mod commodiouOy difpofed intotwenty-two rooms; fourteen above fiairs, and eight below and above. Thofe beloware philofophy and phyfic, and the fhelves are wired, to fecure them. Above are thebooks of philofophy and human learning ; and it is in thofe rooms only the promifeuous-crowd are admitted twice a week. In the middle rooms, which makes the great bodyof the library, are, for example, catalogues of books ; hidories in one of England andHolland ; in another the hidories of France and Germany ; in another the hidories ofItaly, Spain , &c. in another bibles of all forts, and the interpretations; in another GreekMSS. in another Latin MSS. in another the civil and municipal laws of all nations;in another the original papers of the date ; in another damps, where, by the by, theking had the collection of Monf. Marolles to divert him, in one of his fickneffes, boughtin at a vad fum. The catalogue alone of thefe damps, no bigger than two fmall alma-nacks, cod me fourteen livres; fo much drangers are impofed upon by the craftybookfellers of Rue St. Jacques; but it is not in France alone where people are made topay for their humour.

They have two indexes of this library; one relating to the matter and contents ofbooks; and another index of authors, wherein are all the works they have of them,and the titles of all likewife that they know of, that are wanting, with an aderifm toi'uch in the margin ; which is well done, that they may know what they have to buyin. It is indeed a vad collection, and worthy fo great a prince. This library confids atlead of fifty thoufand volumes of printed books ; and fifteen thoufand MSS. in all lan-guages.

They work daily and hard at the catalogue, which they intend to print; I faw tenthick folio’s of it, fairly tranferibed for the prefs. It is difpofed according to the fubjedtmatter of the books, as the bibles and expofitors, hidorians, philofophers, &c. Theypurpofe to put it into the prefs this year, and to finilh it within a twelvemonth.

In the king’s library I was diewn an ancient Greek MS. of Diofcorides, wrote in a fortof thin or narrow capitals, with the plants painted in water-colours ; but the fird bookwas wholly wanting, and therefore the animals not there, which yet was what I moddefired to fee; for there are fome things relating to them, which we are at this day ingreat doubt of; and it would have been fome fatisfadtion to have feen by the pictures,what the middle ages, at lead, had thought of them.

In the fame room alfo we were fhewn the epidlesy which was one part of the dimeMS. which we have at Cambridge, which is the gofpels only. Beza was podeffed ofours, from whom we had it. It is written in fquare capitals, and very fiiort lines, and

8 much