26 BOOKBINDING IN THE TIMES OF

From the perishable nature of the material of whichthe rolls and their coverings were composed, and thedestruction of them in the war and strife of nations,it is seen that very few perfect specimens have beenpreserved to our times. The excavations at Hercula-neum , the discovery of the ruins of which took placein 1713, has thrown some further light upon thesubject. Here, after a lapse of nearly two thousandyears, 1756 papyri have been acquired. Thirty-nineyears after its first discovery, in making an excavationin a garden at Resina, in the remains of a house sup-posed to have belonged to L. Piso, were found agreat number of papyrus rolls. They were ranged inpresses round the sides of a small room, in the centreof which was a sort of rectangular book-case ; manyof the rolls were at first destroyed by the workmen,who, from the colour given by age, took them to besticks of charcoal. When, however, it was discoveredthat they were ancient manuscripts, the attention ofthe learned was directed towards their preservation.Father Piaggi invented a machine which is stillemployed for unrolling them, but many of them havebeen destroyed,—some crumbling into dust on theslightest touch. His late majesty, George IV. , thenprince of Wales , took much interest in the matter,and at his own private cost employed several gentle-men in the task of unrolling and decyphering them. 1 *Among others, Sir H. Davy visited the spot for the

d Herculanensia, preface i.