A LIBRARY'S CENTENARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19382, 17 July 1926, Page 7 (Supplement)

A LIBRARY'S CENTENARY.

MANY MEDIEVAL TREASURES. The 200 th anniversary of the Vienna National Library, which has been thoroughly renovat&d within and without, was celebrated on Slay 26. It is one of the finest official buildings, of the Austrian capital in baroque style. With its beautiful gold and brown* its marble columns, gorgeous staircase, grand cupola, and mural paintings, it represents one of the most sumptuous palaces there. The library was opened by the Emperor Karl YI. in 1726. * Perhaps its finest part is the hall containing the books from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, _ especially the invaluable library of Prince Eugene of Savoy, consisting of yellow, red, and blue leather volumes. The National Library contains some 30,000 MSS. and more than 1,200,000 printed volumes, apart from maps, music, papyri, etc. Of the most valuable pieces the Tabula Peuticgeriana. a good copy of the most complete map of the Roman Empire, the twenty-four leaves of the Greek Genesis with its unique miniatures, many Oriental MSS., a Bible from the fourteenth century, a Gutenberg Bible, the Fugger library from the seventeenth century, and the autograph of Mozart's " Requiem ** deserve special attention. Three thousand periodicals dealing with art, science, etc., are at the disposal of readers, the National Library being free to all.