ently accurate to
give our readers a general view of the present bibliothecal condition of
the principal countries of Europe.

On Mr. Edwards's map of Europe we find the smaller German states to be
represented with the lightest lines, indicating the highest rank, and
Great Britain with the darkest or lowest. He states the provision of
books in libraries publicly accessible, as compared with the population,
to be as follows:--In Saxony, for every 100 inhabitants there are 417
books; in Denmark, 412; in Bavaria, 339; in Tuscany, 261; in Prussia,
200; in Austria, 167; in France, 129; in Belgium, 95; whilst in Great
Britain there are only 53 to every 100 inhabitants.

In the following tables, the libraries containing fewer than 10,000
volumes each (of which there are, in France alone, at least seventy or
eighty) are not taken into the account:--

France has 107 public libraries, containing 4,000,000 vols.
Prussia " 44 " " 2,400,000 "
Austria " 48 " " 2,400,000 "
Great Britain " 33 " " 1,771,000 "
Bavaria " 17 " " 1,267,000 "
Denmark " 5 " " 645,000 "
Saxony " 6 " " 554,000 "
Belgium " 14 " " 538,000 "
Tuscany " 9 " " 411,000 "

Taking the capital cities, we find the following results:--

Paris has 9 public libraries, containing 1,474,000 vols.
Munich " 2 " " 800,000 "
Copenhagen " 3 " " 557,000 "
Berlin " 2 " " 530,000 "
London " 4 " " 490,500 "
Vienna " 3 " " 453,000 "
Dresden " 4 " " 340,500 "
Florence " 6 " " 318,000 "
Milan " 2 " " 230,000 "
Brussels " 2 " " 143,500 "

Arranging these libraries according to their extent, or number of
printed books, they would stand as follows:--

Printed Books. Manuscripts.
Paris (1), National Library, 824,000 80,000 vols.
Munich, Royal Library, 600,000 22,000 "
St. Petersburg, Imperial Library, 446,000 2