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 OYAL PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 OF MALTA. 
 
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 A BROCHURE by Dr. A. A. C. 
 
 Printed by Authority of H. E. tho Governor. 
 
 MALTA, 
 
 GOVERNMENT I'RINTINH OFFICE. 
 
 1898.
 
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 THE ROYAL PUBLIC LIBRARY OF MALTA. 
 
 I. 
 
 Origin and Foundation of the Library of St. John, under 
 the Government of the Knights of Malta. 
 
 Under the Grand Magi.stership of Fra Claude de la Sengle, the Body of the Order 
 of the Kts. of Malta then residing at Vittoriosa, in a General Chapter held on the 
 24th May 1555, the Reverend Sixteen had thus enacted the establishment of a Library 
 for the use of the Conventual Chaplains. 
 
 "Che si faccia una Bibliotheca o Libraria nella quale se repongano tutti i libri delli 
 fratelli defunti, die pertengono al Commune Thesoro, per commodita delli religiosi che 
 vorranno sludiare" . * 
 
 In the II General Chapter met on the 7th May 16 12, under the Grand 
 Magistership of Fra Alof de Wignacourt, in order to prevent the sale of books 
 belonging to deceased Kts. and other Members of the Order, the following .Statute 
 was passed by the Reverend Sixteen, in consequence of a petition from the Rev. Fra 
 Pietro Urrea Camarasa Prior of the Conventual Church, and from the Brother Chaplains 
 of the Convent. 
 
 "Insuper mandari ut quicumquc libri et codices rcpcrientur in dispoliis fratrum 
 amplius non vendantur, sed Procuratoribus Ven. Assemble fratrum Cappellanorum 
 omnimodo tradantur, ex quibus tractu temporis una cum aliis libris ac voluminibus 
 Bibliotheca erigatur ad communem usum et utilitatem studentium". t 
 
 It appears, however, that up to the year 1649 the proposed Library was not 
 formed, as the Prior of the Church, then the Rev. Fra Lucas Buenos, and the Procurators 
 of the Ven. Assembly of the Brother Chaplains of the Convent eagerly urged the 
 necessity of the erection of that Library, and .solicited the Grand Master Fra Jean Paul 
 de Lascaris Castellar and the Ven. Council of the Order to give effect to the Statute of 
 the year 161 2. 
 
 A decree was, accordingly, enacted on the 22nd March 1649, enforcing the strict 
 observance of the Statute passed in 161 2, both in regard to the conservation of books 
 and codices recovered from the spoils of deceased Kts. and other Members of the Order, 
 as well as in regard to the erection of a Library. X 
 
 Thus, to the collection of books and codices till then accumulated owed its Origin, 
 and to their arrangement into a large hall owed its Foundation in 1650 the so-called 
 Library of St. John, the nucleus of the present Royal Public Lilirary of Valletta. 
 
 2. The place originally chosen for this Library was a hall, still exi-sting without its 
 former floor, over the Oratory of the Decollation of St. John, annexed to the Conventual 
 Church. In that Oratory held its congregations the Brotherhood of the Kts. styled 
 "La Misericordia e la Pieta de' carcerati," whose pitiful duties were to tender sijiritual 
 assistance especially to criminals condemned to capital punishment. 
 
 The Members of this Brotherhood, previously to the year 1602, held their as.semblies 
 in the present "Oratorio del S.S. Rosario" annexed to the Dominican Convent of 
 Valletta, which was subsequently sold to the Dominican monks. In the year 1602-4. 
 through the endeavours of the Rev. Prior I'ra Pietro Urrea Camarasa, of Bailiff Bois, 
 
 * Capitolo Gener.-Je, Oidinc de Ecclesia, § 7, fol. 12. 
 
 t Capitolo Generale, 7 M.Tggio 1612, fol. iS. 
 
 X Liber CoDciliorum, die XXII Martii, ab Incarnatione 1649, fol. 313.
 
 and of the Kts. Pietro di Gaeta and Borell, the Oratory of the Decollation was built 
 "juxta Cappellam Stse. Columnce," the first chapel at the entrance of St. John's, on the 
 left side *, to which place that Brotherhood removed its congregations. 
 
 It is the hall over this building that was first fitted for the reception of the Library 
 of St. John. 
 
 As the two long galleries siding the two lateral naves of the Conventual Church, 
 both opening in Str. Sta. Lucia, were constructed later on in 1736, the entrance to 
 the Library was, very likely, from the upper landing place of the winding stair-case 
 leading to the left belfry by the side of the said Oratory. 
 
 Subsequently, Fra Stefano Lomellini, Prior of England and afterwards of 
 Venice, raised the roof of the Oratory to encase it with the present richly gold-decorated 
 ceiling ; and Fra Giovanni di Giovanni, Prior of Sto. Stefano, adorned it with an 
 elevated marble facade exteriorly, and with the red marble pilasters within. 
 
 Together with these changes in the Oratory of the Decollation of St. John, were 
 enlarged the premises of the Priory of the Church, siding Piazza San Giovanni and 
 Str. Mercanti, to accommodate the Prior, then Fra Pietro Viani, who like his 
 predecessors until then had not had an official residence t. Two private communications 
 between the Priory, a portion of which has been lately fitted for the Young Ladies' 
 Secondary School, and the Oratory are still walled up, one in the tribune of the organ 
 and another in the choir behind the altar and opposite "laCereria, " which was the 
 Sacristy of the Prior of the Church. 
 
 3. By these alterations, it is recorded that in 1680, under the Grand Magistership 
 of Fra Gregorio Caraffa, the Library of St. John was removed by Fra Pietro Viani J to 
 a place over the great Sacristy of the Church, but no mention is made as to which hall. 
 
 The great Sacristy had been built in 1598, after the urgent request of Fra Giorgio 
 Giamperj-i Prior of the Church, during the rule of Gr. M. Fra Martin Garzes ; the 
 Conventual Church erected by Gr. M. Fra Jean Le Vesque de la Cassiere in 1573-77, 
 having remained without a Vestry up to that time. || 
 
 Its intended original site at the eastern end of the left hand nave, by the Cappella 
 della Madonna di Filermo and the Cemetery, having been changed, the Sacristy was 
 constructed at the western extremity of the right hand nave opposite to the Oratory, 
 with very slight alterations from what it is at present. 
 
 A large vaulted hall, bearing on one of its walls the escutcheons of Fra Raimondo 
 Di Veri Bailiff of Majorca in 1598, and of Gr. Master Fra Alof Wignacourt the 
 immediate successor of Garzes in 1601, forms the vestibule of the Sacristy. 
 
 Annexed to this are the premises "le sale de' paramenti e del tesoro," in which the 
 sacred vestments and the treasury of the Church were safely kept. The Hall, to which 
 the Library was removed, could not have stood 'over the vaulted vestibule of the Sacristy, 
 which is of the same elevation as the adjacent nave; nor on "le sale de' paramenti," over 
 which were fitted the apartments of the Vice-priory of the Church and the "Appartamenti 
 de' Predicatori" preaching in the Conventual Church during Advent and Lent, which 
 premises after their removal from the place occupied by the Priory were transferred to 
 the site of the Church Piazza S. Giovanni and Str. Reale. 
 
 The place, then, to which the Library of St. John was removed must have been 
 the room over the groiin-vaulted minor Sacristy, with windows looking on the Piazza 
 opposite to the Auberge d'Auvergne. 
 
 4. The number of books and codices the Library of St. John counted then cannot 
 be ascertained. 
 
 * Lib. Conci]., Die XX Martii, al) Incarnatione 1602, fol. 213 tergo. 
 f Ceremoniale; Vol. IV, cap. XVII, no. I. 
 
 I Ms. No. XX., Strom. Melilensium, page 430. 
 
 II The original site fixed upon for the erection of St. John's was at the lower extremity of Strada Mercanti, close to the 
 Hospital of the Order, on a part of which stands the present Church of the ".\nime". This site was afterwards permuted for that on 
 which the Church of St. John is constructed, and which had already been sold for the building of a Greek Church to the two 
 naoassi Anpelino and ManoU brothers Metaxi of Rhodes. These papassi had been invited to Malta by the Gr. M. Fra Jean 
 delaVallette for the spiritual care of the Rhodiote families, who had accompanied hither Or. M. Villiers de ITsle Adam, afrer 
 the taking of Rhodes by Soliman II in 1522. See Comm. Del Pozzo, Hist, della S. R. di S. Giovanni, Parte ima. Lib. II.
 
 The Librarian was chosen by th; Prior of the Church from among the Conventual 
 Chaplains. The Venerable Assembly paid tari 6, equivalent to lo./ a month for dusting 
 books, to one of the Deacons, as a class of clergymen not in sacred Orders engaged in 
 the service of the Church was called. * 
 
 Besides this Library for the common use of the Conventual Chaplains, the Prior 
 Fra Gio. Domsnico ]\Liinardi in 1758 established the Priors' private Library, to receive 
 the choice collection of books and codices selected by his two immediate predecessors, 
 Buenos and Viani. 
 
 One of the halls in the Priory was chosen for this purpose, and its roof was 
 decorated with the armorials of the Priors of the Church ; that hall is now one of the 
 Class rooms of the Young Ladies' Secondary School, with its roof still retaining the 
 escutcheons of the Priors Viani and ]\Iainardi. 
 
 II. 
 
 Additions made to the Library of St. John by successive 
 Grand Masters, and by private individuals. 
 
 5. The growth of the Library of St. John was rather slow in the beginning, and 
 obtained its full development about one hundred years after its foundation, when it 
 became Public. 
 
 During this long interval, the only Libraries more or less accessible to the public 
 were those annexed to the monastic Convents, the most conspicuous having been that 
 of the Franciscans IMinori Osservanti, established by Fr. Costanzo Vella t; and the 
 Library of the Bishop, founded in the Episcopal Palace by Mons. Fr. Paolo Alpheran 
 only a few years before the Public Library. 
 
 6. On the 26th August 1760, the highly valuable prlv'ate library with the moveable 
 property of Cardinal Fra Gioacchino Portocarrero, who died in Rome in the same year, 
 was inherited by the Order ot St. John, the Cardinal being one of its Members 
 
 A manuscript Catalogue (No. 264) of the books and mathematical instruments of 
 Cardinal Portocarrero, redacted in Rome at the request of Comm. Fra Costantino 
 Chigi, Prior of the Common Treasury of the Order, of Sig. Abbte. Stefani Arieti, Agent 
 of the Order at Rome, and of Sig. Abbte. lMolo.ssi representing the trustees of the 
 Cardinal, is preserved in the Public Library. The total number of works described in 
 that Catalogue is 4670 in 5670 volumes, as stated in the inscription under the portrait of 
 the Cardinal by P'avre, now hanging in the Library : 
 
 6'. Ordini Hieros. IV. M. DC. LXX Codices Tcstamenlo legavit ; 
 and their valuation, as stated by Mifsud || was estimated Sc. 15,000, par to £ 1250. 
 
 It is recorded that the pitch-pine book-cases, beyond the pillars separating the large 
 Hall of the Librarj-, were made of the wood of the boxes in which the books of the 
 Cardinal were conveyed from Rome. 
 
 7. In the same j-ear 1760, Bailiff b'ra Ludovico Guerin de Tencin, who in every 
 respect ought to be held as the founder of the Public Library,* purchased from the 
 Common Treasury the collection of books and codices of Cardinal Portocarrero, for 
 7000 Maltese Scudi, equivalent to ^583 6 8. t 
 
 Besides Portocarrero's books, the private Library ot de Tencin, on the 22nd May 
 1760, consisted of 2834 volumes, at a cost of fr. 25908 ; and up to the loth June 1766, 
 date of de Tencin's demise, the number of volumes of his private library was increased to 
 4030. By the addition of his private library to that of Portocarrero, the Bailiff de 
 Tencin became owner of a rich collection of works. A Ms. Catalogue (No. 265) of de 
 Tencin's books is preserved in the Public Library, divided in the following order, i.e. : 
 Books on Religion ; Moral Books; Books relating the Order of .St. John ; Historical 
 Books ; Belles Lettres; Arts and Sciences; Geographical books and Travels. 
 
 * Vol. Ceremoniale Lib. IV, Cap. XX, No. 59. t Mifsud, Bibl. Maltese XXI 
 
 X Decreto del Tesoro, 25 Ottobre 1760, Vol. K. pag. 24. 
 II Bibl. Maltese, pag. XXIII.
 
 Bailiff de Tencin, having collected altogether 9700 volumes and employed French 
 workmen to have these volumes bound, in the year 1 763 made a donation of all his 
 books to the Order, on the understanding that together with the books contained in the 
 Library of St. John they should be merged into one "Bibliotheca Publica,"ithus becoming 
 a national property. It was, further, understood that a proper place should be prepared 
 for the Public Library, with accommodation for the lodgings of the Librarian, to which 
 appointment he named the Rev. Canon Gio. Francesco Agius Sultana from Gozo, at a 
 yearly salary of ;^ 10, very nearly the salary of the high employes at that time. 
 
 De Tencin, in the meanwhile, received the donation of several rare editions of books, 
 elegantly bound, from Louis XV of France; and the Royal and Perpetual Privilege of 
 having all the new books, edited "Ex Typographia Regia," supplied gratis to the new 
 Public Library was granted by His Most Christian Majesty. 
 
 The whole number of works collected for the Library in the ensuing year i 764, as 
 stated by a contemporary writer, Bartolomeo Mifsud *, was about 12000, which, if 
 correct, would hardly allow the bare number of 2300 works for the original Library of 
 St. John. 
 
 The noble motives, which prompted Bailiff de Tencin to this liberal bequeath, are 
 explained in a preface to his Ms. Catalogue, which deserves to be better known. Entirely 
 repudiating the prejudiced ideas of his noble coiifrdres, who considered Science and 
 Literature inconsistent with their military profession, and rebuking the ignorance of 
 the Conventual Clergy, he remarked "that they do with books what savages do with 
 gold, to which they prefer shells and glass beads ; and that their lethargy in this respect 
 resembles that of a sick person, who fancying his malady to be without a remedy, 
 chooses to languish rather than take the trouble of seeking a cure". 
 
 The portrait of Bailiff Fra L.Guerin de Tencin, with a Latin inscription underneath, 
 over the columnar separation at the extremity of the large Hall of the Public Library on 
 the left hand side, was appended by order of Sir H. Oakes, Governor of Malta, in 1812. 
 
 8. The formal foundation of the " Publica Biblioteca in pcrpetiann " was still 
 protracted until 1776, namely ten years after the death of the Founder. 
 
 In the General Chapter held that year, under the Grand Magistership of Fra 
 Emmanuele de Rohan, the Reverend Sixteen, on the petition of Fra Paolino du Guast, 
 Commissioner of the Biblioteca of the Order, formally decreed the immediate erection of 
 the edifice of the Public Library, and framed several regulations for its management, t 
 
 In that Chapter was, further, decided that, besides the books, all the astronomical 
 and mathematical instruments, statues, medals, and objects of Natural History inherited 
 by the Order, should be preserved in that Library. 
 
 The place provisionally chosen for the first Public Library, which received in the 
 beginning the name of "Biblioteca Tanseana," was. on the recommendation of de 
 Tencin, the old building " la Conservatoria, " at the corner of Str. Reale and Str. 
 Sta. Lucia; and the "Conservatoria" was removed to the contiguous building at the 
 corner of Str. Reale and Str. Teatro, where stood the '' Tesoro dell' Ordine " and 
 the Treasury of the Malta Government, until the administration of Sir J. Gaspard Le 
 Marchant in 1858-64. 
 
 9. Besides the accumulations of the private libraries of deceased Grand Masters 
 and Kts., ot which the most interesting were those of the Gr. Masters Fra Raimondo 
 Perellos and E"ra Emmanuele de Rohan, of the Bailiffs de Bretuil and Galdino, and the 
 fusion of the select library of the Priors of the Church, the Biblioteca Tanseana received 
 successively the following valuable additions. 
 
 In 1764, the copious and very select library of Comm. Fassion de Sainte Jay, 
 author of several Mss. preserved in the Public Library ; 
 
 In the year 1773, most of the books of the Library of the Camerata, founded by 
 Comm. Fra Giulio Sansedoni and increased by those of Beneven Bailiff of Dacia, ot 
 Bailiff Cavaniglia, and of Fr. Domenico Chijurlia Prior of Sto. Stefano, containing 
 about 1009 volumes, were, on the proposal of Comm. Fra Giovanni Battista Valabres 
 
 * Biblioteca Maltese, pag. XXIII, note 6. 
 t Capitolo Generale, Dicembre 1776, fol. 102.
 
 5 
 
 Commissioner of the Biblioteca, transferred thither. A Catalogue of the books of the 
 Camerata, in the main religious and devotional works, is found in the Librarj' 
 (Ms. No. 266). 
 
 The Camerata was a Congregation of pious Kts., who chose to live in community. 
 Their dwelling was in the right wing of an old building, erected in 1593 under the Gr. 
 Master Fra Ugo Loubenx Verdala and restored in 1696, on the site Str. Mercanti 
 opposite to the Military Hospital. The left wing of the same building was occupied by 
 "La Lingeria," a laundry for the washing of bedding and clothing of the Hospital. 
 
 Towards the years 1772-73, the number of works existing in the Library, stated by 
 Count Ciantar, * was about 19000. 
 
 10. At the close of the year 1777. the Hospitaler Order of -St. Antoine of Vienne, 
 founded in 1096 by Fra Gaston and his son Pra Gerond for the sufferers from "'Le feu 
 de Si Antoine," confirmed in 12 18, transformed in an Abbey of regular Canons in 1297, 
 and reformed in 1634, was by a Bull of Pius VI annexed to the Order of the Kts. of 
 Malta, then ruling over the Order the Grand Master de Rohan, and its Members were 
 received in the Conventual Clergy. 
 
 'Ihe number of these Canons, besides ten Convers, was then tvventyone, residing in 
 France, Rome, Turin, and Florence (Ms. No. 268); their property, first shared between 
 the Order of St. John and the Order of St. Lazarus, was in 1781 all setded upoi; that of 
 St. John, their Library included. 
 
 The Library of the Antonlans was chus merged in the Biblioteca Tanseana. 
 Among the books and codices reaching from that Library are found: the Ms. parchment 
 book, richly illuminated, detailing the life of St. Antony in 200 miniature paintings ; 
 the Gothic book by Fr. Aymaro Falco, containing "Antonianae historiae compendium," 
 Lugd. Payen 1534; as also the following illuminated Mss. in parchment : — Meditationes 
 reverendissimi patris domini Joannis de Turrecremata, sacrosancte romane ecclesie 
 cardinalis, continuate rome per Uliricum Han, anno Domini MCCCCVH, with initials 
 and pages richly decorated, besides t,2> miniatures exhibiting the life of Our Lord; BIblla 
 Sacra of the XIV century, with microscopical characters and decorated initials; De vera 
 penitentia, Sinonimia Beati Isidori, of the XIV century ; Tractatus delectabilis de 
 certltudine futurje vitee, MCCCCLXVII ; Eusebii Historia eccleslastica ex versione 
 Rufini, of the XV century; Sermones, expositiones, eplstola? Reverendi Domini Bertrandi, 
 of the XV century ; Hermetis Trismegisti, de Sapientia generationis lapldls, of the XV 
 century. 
 
 There are, besides, several books in the Library noted " ex Biblioteca Antoniana, " 
 though, from a Ms. of Bailiff de Nobili it is gleaned that the Library of the Antonians 
 was not very copious, at least not many of its volumes reached this Library. 
 
 11. In the year 1797, the Library of the Infermeria Str. Mercanti, the former 
 Hospital of the Order of St. John and the present Military Hospital, was also 
 amalgamated with the Public Library. + 
 
 The Maltese Fra Giu.seppe Zammit, M.D., :|: whose portrait is hanging in one of 
 the Halls of the Library, was the founder of the Accademia Medica in 1679, and also of 
 the Library of the Infermeria on the 28th January 1687 [j, to which he made a donation 
 of 15000 volumes for the benefit of Medical Students. This Library was afterwards 
 greatly increased by his successor Michel' Angelo Grima, M.D. Many of the Mss. in 
 the Public Library were brought from that of the Infermeria. 
 
 On the 31st August 1782, another Maltese Member of the Order, Fr. Gaetano 
 Bruno, Alvernlan Commendatore, bequeathed a donation of a capital of loooo Maltese 
 Scudi, par to .^^833. 6. 8, as it is stated in the Latin inscription under his portrait 
 appended in the Library. That capital was invested at 2^ per cent, in the Ancient 
 "Massa Frumentaria," and the interest was to be spent in the purcha.se of books. 
 
 * Malta Illuslrata, Lib. I, not. 1, § XXIII. 
 
 t l.ib. Concil, an. 1796, fol. 64 tergo. 
 
 X 'Pile Rev. Fr. Clius. Zammit was the first Professor named to the Chair of Surgery and An.itomy, instituted permanently in 
 the Sacra Infermeria for phlelrotomists and other petty surgeons, tiy the CIr. M. Fra Nicolas Cotoner, in virtue of his will dated 
 2jth April 16S0. The sal.ir\' of St. 4^'. per mensem was assigned to the situation. At the advanced age of 94 years. Dr. Zammit 
 •lied on Ihe 2nd November 1740, and was buried in the Parish Church of Casal Ijalzan. 
 
 II Liber Concil., 1685, 86, 87, fol. 179.
 
 During this interval, books were constantly being received from the spoils of 
 deceased Kts., and in 1790 the number of volumes stated by De Boisgelin was 60000. 
 
 Meanwhile the indefatigable Canon Agius Sultana, author of a Maltese Grammar, 
 of a project of a Poeno-Maltese Dictionary, and other minor works published in Rome, 
 and of a precious collection of Mss. in 12 volumes preserved in the Library, amongst 
 which the "Gozo illustrato Antico e Moderno, Sacro e Profano," was succeeded by the 
 learned Fra Gioacchino Navarro as Librarian. 
 
 12. Fra Franz Paul von Smitmer, Comm. of the Order of St. John and aftenvards 
 Canon of St. Stephen's at Vienna, in 1781 published an Italian "Catalogo della 
 Biblioteca del Sagro Militare Ordine di S.Giovanni Gerosolimitano, oggi detto di Malta," 
 which was unknown to Brunet. 
 
 The printing of that Catalogue, although the publication is sine loco, was executed 
 in thj Magistral typography established in June 1756 by the Gr. Master Fra Emm. 
 Pinto de Fonseca, the only press then allowed in Malta. * 
 
 A copy of that Catalogue in 12°., of which a re-publication in German was made in 
 1802 at Sulzbach, is preserved in the Library, with this note in the hand-writing of the 
 author "Amicus Auctor dedit hoc anno," under the printed date of its publication. 
 
 The title of the Catalogue led several bibliographers to presume that the works 
 described in it belonged to the Library of the Order, in fact, the author in the preface 
 states that he wished to present a complete Catalogue of the "Maltese Biblioteca," 
 whereas it is simply a Catalogue of Books, concerning to or published by. Members of 
 the Order of St. John, of which a good number were found in Smitmer's private Library, 
 those marked with an asterisk being wanted. 
 
 Neither I, nor M. De Hellwald, have been able to trace in whose possession, 
 passed Smitmer's precious and complete collection of books, papers, and Mss. relating 
 to the Order of St John. 
 
 A recent note from Vienna states that they are to be found in Malta. It can, 
 however, be ascertained, after a careful search, that most of the books described in 
 Smitmer's Catalogue are not among those existing in the Public Library. They may 
 be in Sulzbach or Vienna, where Smitmer as Canon of St. Stephen may have retired 
 after the French conquest of our islands in 1 798. 
 
 De Boisgelin, who had the opportunity of examining Smitmer's collection, published 
 a much more complete classified catalogue of the same nature as that ot Smitmer, into 
 23 divisions with a Supplement, t 
 
 Lately in 18S5, another "Bibliographic Metodique de 1' Ordre Souv. de St. Jean 
 De Jerusalem par Ferdinand De Hellwald, Secretaire Du Gr. Magistere," was published 
 under the auspices of the Gr. Master Fr. Jean Baptiste Ceschi Santa Croce, Rome, 
 
 III. 
 Transfer of the Library to the New building. 
 
 13. Until the year 181 1, the Library room remained in the old building of the 
 Conservatoria. 
 
 From "A Journal of the Forces, which sailed from the Downs in April 1800, on a 
 secret Expedition under the Command of Lieut. Gen. Pigot" by /Eneas Anderson 
 Lieut. 40th Reg., London 1802, are gleaned the following particulars : 
 
 December 1800. 
 
 "In the same street (Strada Reale) is the building which contains the Library, but 
 at present in a very ruinous state, and supported by strong props of timber. Adjoining 
 to the latter is the Treasury. Opposite to the Treasury is a very handsome modern 
 edifice, called the Conservatoria, it joins the Grand Master's palace, and was intended, 
 previous to the surrender of the island to Bonaparte, for the reception of the Public 
 Library, which at that time promised to become a very splendid collection of literature". 
 
 * A private press had been peniiitted before in the island, towards the year 1644, under Gr. M. Fra Jean Lascaris, in one of 
 the "Sale de' forni", by Sig. ToJipeo del Fiore. (See Raccolta di vane iose aiUichc ri^^uardanti Malta, pag. 174). 
 
 t Hist, of Ancient and Modern Malta.
 
 7 
 
 The handsome building^ referred to above, which is one of those adorninaf Valletta, 
 was decided upon by the "Veneranda Camera del Tesoro," under the Rule of the Gr. 
 Master de Rohan, on the i6th April 1785 : 
 
 " Avendo Noi chianiato in Convento 1' architetto D. Stefano Ittar per fabricare la 
 nuova Bibliotheca abbianio convenuto col medesimo di dargii I'assegnamento annuale di 
 So. 1500 (^ 1-25). che deve principiare a decorrere dalli 2 Ottobre 1784, con pagargli 
 inoltre lo affitto di casa ". * 
 
 The upper story of the edifice was intended for the reception of the " Biblioteca e 
 del Museo delle Antichita, " and for the lodgings of the Librarian ; the lower story 
 for the office of the Conservatoria, and the custody of gold plates, and other valuables 
 belonging to the Order. 
 
 The architect D. Stefano Ittar was a native of Rome. Having subsequently lived 
 in Malta, he died at the age of 70 on the i8th January 1790, and was buried in the 
 Church of Stse. Marine de Jesu, apud P.P. Minores Observantes ". 
 
 14. Though the new edifice was completed, and fitted up with the presses paid for 
 by Bailiff Perez de Sarrios, the French invasion of Malta in 1798, and the successive 
 British occupation in 1 800, prevented the translocation of the Library thither, until the 
 year 18 12. 
 
 I quote from the above mentioned Journal of the Forces : 
 
 " The new edifice during this period, when Malta was subject to the British 
 Government, was employed as a public coffee-room for the British Officers. 
 
 The general apartment was very spacious, and a billiard table was erected in an 
 adjoining chamber. The agreeable institution was supported by the payment of four 
 dollars per annum by each subscriber, which was sufficient to defray the expenses of the 
 rooms, and provide the English newspapers and foreign gazettes. The whole was 
 managed by a Committee, of which General Pigot was the President ". 
 
 H. E. Major General Oakes, on the 24th May 1809, wrote a private letter to 
 General Pigot " informing him that, it would soon be necessary to apply the 
 Conservatoria (the new edifice) to the use for which it was originally destined, viz : the 
 reception of the Malta Government Librarj', as several thousand volumes belonging to 
 that valuable collection, were rotting from want of accommodation ". t 
 
 At last, under the Administration of Sir H. Oakes, Civil Commissioner of the islands 
 of Malta, whose portrait is on the left side of that of Bailiff de Tencin, the Library was 
 transferred to the present edifice on the 4th June 181 2. 
 
 A Latin inscription under the portrait of Sir H. Oakes states, that the Library then 
 counted 30000 volumes. 
 
 This shows, evidently, the enormous loss of half the number of volumes stated by 
 Comm. de Boi.sgelin, the Library has sustained in the meantime of those political 
 changes. 
 
 15. The Librarian Fr. ('ioacchino Navarro, publisher of several literary Memoirs, 
 was during this change succeeded by the Very Reverend Canon Giuseppe Bellanti, and 
 a Committee was appointed by Government to undertake the management of the 
 Public Library. One of the active Members of this Committee was the Right Honorable 
 Sir John Hookham Frere, whose marble bust by Fransimi in the large Hall of the 
 Library, is a present of the Revd. Wayne in 1877. 
 
 Canon Bellanti bequeathed a very valuable collection of rare editions to the Public 
 Library, amongst which are the following: 
 
 Aldine Editions. 
 
 Theodori Introductivae grammaticcs libri quatuor, et de Mensibus ; Apollonii 
 grammatici de instructione ; Herodianus de Numeris. Ed. pr. 1495. 
 
 * R^stro delle Deliberazioni della Camera del Tesoro, niarcato colla leltera A, fol. 315. 
 t Gov. Letters in the Chief Secretary's Ofiicc, 24th May 1809.
 
 8 
 
 Theocriti; Pythagorae; Hesiodi; Ed. pr. 1495. 
 
 Thesaurus cornucopise et Horti Adonidis; Ed. pr. 1496. 
 Dictionarium graecum; Ed. pr. 1497. 
 
 Julii Firmici, Astronomicorum ; M. Manilii, Astronomicorum; .Arati, Phaenomena ; 
 Theonis, Commentaria; Prodi Diodori, Sphaera, Ed. pr. 1499. 
 Julius Pollux: Ed. pr. 1502. 
 Stephanus, de urbibus, Ed. pr. 1502. 
 
 .^sopi vita et fabellae; Gabriae fabellae; Phurnutus, de Natura Deorum; Palaephatus; 
 Heraclides; Orus Apollo; etc. Ed. pr. 1505. 
 
 Rhetores Graeci, Ed. pr. 1508. 
 
 Platonis, opera omnia, Ed. pr. 15 13. 
 
 Hesychii Dictionarium, Ed. pr. 1514; Athenaeus, Ed. pr. 15 14. 
 
 Ccelius Rhodiginus, in antiquarum lectionum lib., 15 16. 
 
 T. Livii Decades, 1520. 
 
 Canones et Decreta Concilii Tridentini; 1564. 
 
 Birmingham Editions. 
 
 Johannes Bosherville. 
 
 P. Virgilii Alaronis, Bucolica, Georgica, et ^neis, 1757. 
 
 Junii Juvenalis et Auli Persii Flacci Satyrae, f76i. 
 
 O. Horatii Flacci Carmina, 1770. 
 
 P. Terentii Afri Comediae, 1772. 
 
 T. Lucretii Can, de rerum Natura, 1772. 
 
 Catulli, Tibullii, et Propertii Opera, 1772. 
 
 Crispi Sallustii, quae extant; 1773. 
 
 Dutch Editions. 
 
 Josephi Flavii, opera omnia quae extant, graecae et latinae, 1726. 
 Dionis Cassii, quae extant, graecae et latinae, 1592. 
 
 Bavaria Sancta. 
 
 Pauli Orosii historiarum lib. VII per ^neam Vulpem, Vicentiae 1475, which at the 
 time of Brunet fetched 200 fr. 
 
 16. In 1831, the Committee of the Public Library, in order to obtain funds for 
 the acquisition of new books, ruled that an annual fee of los. should be paid by 
 subscribers for the circulation of books at home. 
 
 In 1839, the Library was annexed to the University. These two measures, observes 
 Mr. Miege, had assimilated the Public Library to a " Cabinet de lecture, " and deprived 
 the Establishment of its public feature. 
 
 About two years later, the Establishment of the Public Library was again separated 
 from that of the University; and in the year 1856, the fee for the circulation of books 
 was abolished. 
 
 On the 1st January 1S39, the late Cesare Vassallo, LL.D., was appointed successor 
 to Canon Bellanti, which appointment he held up to the 14th December 1880. 
 
 On the 15th December 1880, Dr. A. A. Caruana was named Librarian till the end 
 of the year 1896. 
 
 Dr. Caruana was succcded by the late lamented Dr. Filippo Vassallo, on the 1st 
 January to the 17th March 1897. 
 
 In December 1854, the Evening Reading branch of the Public Library was 
 instituted. In February 1856 a free circulating Library was attached to it. 
 
 In 1887, under the Government of Sir J. Lintorn Simmons, the Library was paved 
 with marble.
 
 9 
 
 In November 1853, the Library of Gozo was established by Governor Sir W. Reid. 
 
 Each of the Public Libraries is at present placed under the charge of a Librarian 
 and of a managing Committee appointed by Government. 
 
 IV. 
 
 General Classification of the books contained in the Public Library of Malta. 
 
 17. In the large Hall of the Library, measuring 138 ft. in length by 42 ft. 10 in. 
 in breadth, are mostly placed the books belonging to the old Library of the Order of 
 St. John. 
 
 Another Hall, 44 ft. by 31 ft. 8 in., adjoining the main Hall, is destined for the 
 Modern Department of the Library. This Hall had been used as a Garrison Library 
 until its removal in 1854 to the "Cancelleria" of the Order, at the corner of St. George's 
 square and Sda. Vescovo. 
 
 A suite of three other rooms serve for the preservation of local Antiquities, beyond 
 which there are the private lodgings of the Librarian. 
 
 A series of presses extends along the sides and heights of the two Halls, in which the 
 volumes lined on the shelves with regard to size show an arrangement nearly uniform. 
 The presses are marked by letters, and the shelves in each press, and the places of 
 books in each shelf are pointed out by numbers. The press-letters, and the shelves and 
 book-numbers, being correspondent to those in the Catalogue of the Office and in that of 
 the deliverers of books, a complete accessibility is afforded to an aggregation of over 
 52956 volumes. 
 
 This is very short of the number of 60000 volumes stated by De Boisgelin to have 
 existed in the Library, nearly 100 years ago. It is beyond doubt, that during the 
 disturbed state of Malta 1 798-1810 the Library was plundered as well as the Museum 
 of Antiquities. 
 
 18. The Public Library possesses two sets of Catalogues, one Classed and one 
 Alphabetical, both compiled by Dr. C. Vassallo. The Classed Catalogue arranged with 
 reference to the subject-matter of the books, on the system of the Jesuit F. Gamier 
 improved by M. Martin, was published in the Government Press in 1843-44, ^"d 
 contains four volumes: i.e. 
 
 1st Volume: Oriental and Polite Literature, and Grammar. 
 
 2nd Volume; Sciences of General Information; Medicine and Surgery; and Arts. 
 
 3rd Volume: Religious Sciences, Sacred Scripture included; and Jurisprudence. 
 
 4th Volume: History; Travels; Geography; Heraldry and Archoeology; Biography. 
 
 Supplementary Catalogues have been published in 1853 and 1873. 
 
 The Alphabetical Catalogue, published in 1857, is divided into 5 volumes; i.e. 
 
 1st Volume: Oriental and Latin Languages. 
 
 2nd Volume: English Books. 
 
 3rd Volume: Italian Books. 
 
 4th Volume: French Books. 
 
 5th Volume: Spanish and Portuguese Books. 
 
 A fresh Supplementary Catalogue is urgently required. 
 
 The Library possesses, besides, a Catalogue of Mss. and another of Miscellanies. 
 
 At the clo.se of the year 1896, the total number of works was 26579, namely 
 Printed Works ......... 25609 
 
 Mss. Codices ........... 23 
 
 Mss. unpublished, .......... 484 
 
 Miscellanies, .......... 463 
 
 Total Works 26579* 
 
 V. Goverament Gazette No. 3922, Sth June 1897. 
 
 2
 
 lo 
 
 These works are thus classified, with reference to language and date of Edition 
 
 
 Works of the 
 
 
 
 15th 
 
 Centuiy 
 
 16th Century 
 
 17th 
 Century 
 
 18th 
 
 Century 
 
 19th 
 
 Century 
 
 Total 
 
 
 ibt hau 
 
 3S 
 
 2nd half 
 
 
 In Oriental Languages 
 
 8 
 
 30 
 
 124 
 
 121 
 
 204 
 
 525 
 
 Latin Language 
 
 22 
 
 151 
 
 453 
 
 1322 
 
 1646 
 
 383 
 
 3977 
 
 English ,, 
 
 
 " 
 
 " 
 
 12 
 
 197 
 
 4102 
 
 4311 
 
 Italian „ 
 
 
 S9 
 
 323 
 
 8go 
 
 1876 
 
 4817 
 
 7995 
 
 French „ 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 1608 
 
 4754 
 
 1 I 16 
 
 7526 
 
 Spanish and Portugese Languages 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 2S0 
 
 563 
 
 12 
 
 S95 
 
 Other Languages 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 31 
 
 83 
 
 32 
 10666 
 
 147 
 
 
 30 
 
 278 
 
 895 
 
 4267 
 
 9240 
 
 25376 
 
 The Library is also supplied with a choice of English, Italian, and French Serials, 
 Reviews and other Academical publications (V. Govt. Gazette, N0.3922, 5th June 1897). 
 
 19. The character of the Publica Biblioteca is that of a learned library, namely of a 
 deposit of books of science and research, and of works of reference, though the advantages 
 of a lending library, on sufficiently protective conditions, for the general reading and 
 circulation of books, are combined with it. Entire accessibility is granted free, without 
 any registration of Visitors or Students, which is generally acknowledged to be a cause 
 of restriction. 
 
 The readers may, of course, be divided into two classes : those consulting the 
 Library for scientific or literary purposes in connection with their lines of study, and 
 those frequenting the Library for literary amusement simply. 
 
 The average number of 29312 works is delivered to be read during the year; besides 
 an annual average of 7383 books allowed to remain out of the Library on loan, for the 
 period of 7 days fixed by the Regulations. 
 
 20 Some selections of the choicest Editions of old works, from a few classes, may 
 give an idea of the bibliographic value of this Library. 
 
 In ancient Greek and Latin Classics and Philosophers, the Ciceronian series shows 
 ten Aldine Editions; and one ad usum Serenissimi Delphini elegantly bound, present of 
 Gr. M. De Rohan. 
 
 The Aristotelian collection comprehends eight Aldine Editions, of which six are 
 Editiones principes ; besides the Commentaries of Aristotle by Peter Tataretus, a 
 Venetian Gothic Edition of 1520 ; the paraprasis per Jacobum Stapulensem, Friburg 
 1540; the London Edition of 1580; and nine others, mainly of the i6th century. 
 
 The Platonian series shows two Aldine Editions, one of which rarissima by Card. 
 Bessarion ; one Florentine ex versione Marsilii Ficlnii, which according to Brunet is 
 prior to the Venetian of 149 1; one ex interpretatione Serrani and St. Stephani, of 1578. 
 
 Of the Orations of Demosthenes, there is one Greek and Latin Edition, Aureliae 
 Allobrogum 1607; one Latin, Romee of 16 12 ; and one Greek of Padua 1621 ; besides 
 four F"rench translations of the i 7th century. 
 
 Two Gra^coTtalian, Bodonian Editions, of Callimacus, the one of 1692, of which 
 only 160 copies were drawn, the other in italics of 1792, of which only 162 copies were 
 edited. One Bodonian Edition of Hesiodus of 1785 ; V . Quintilianus, a Milanese 
 Edition by Larothus of 1476, with all the initials coloured, and an Aldine Edition of 
 15 14; Longinus, a Bodonian Edition of 1793.
 
 n 
 
 The works of Seneca are represented by one Antwerp Edition, ex off. Plantiniana 
 of 1632; another Edition sine loco of 1628 ; two Elzevir Editions of 1640 and 1672; and 
 by three French translations of the beginning of the 17th century. 
 
 The Homeric collection shows eleven Editions, of whicli one Aldine of 1524; one of 
 Basle, of 1567 ; one of Leipsig, of 1759 ; one of Amsterdam, of 1742 ; one Padovan, of 
 1744. There are, besides, the Ilias in Latin verses by Hessius, Paris 1550; Ouinti 
 Calabri derelictorum ab Homero, Aldine Ed. pr. of 1505 on parchment; and thirteen 
 French translations, of which the one edited by M. Didot in 1 786, is ex do7io M. M. de 
 Rohan. 
 
 The Horatian series is represented by two different Aldine Editions of 1566 ; by 
 one Bodonian, very neat, of 1791; besides the " Odes Horatii Epodon secunda, ab Aldo 
 Manucio. Bononiae 1586 ; seven other Latin Editions of the i8th century ; and twelve 
 Italian, English, French, and Spanish translations. 
 
 The works of Aristophanes, of Euripides, of Plautus, of Terence, of Lucanus, of 
 Lucretius, of Juvenal, of Martial, of Ovid, of Persius, of Tibullus, of Propertius, of 
 Catullus, of Manilius, are represented by several Aldine Editions, and old Editions of 
 Lousannc, Basle, Amsterdam, Frankfort, Florence, Parisi Cantabridgian, and 
 Oxonian. 
 
 The Virgilian series comprehends thirteen Editions, inclusive of the " Geor^ica 
 Hexaglotta, " present of the Marquis of Northampton to the Library of Malta ; a 
 Bodonian Edition of 1790 ; and about 27 Italian, French, English, and Spanish 
 translations. 
 
 21. In the class of Italian Literature, the Public Library possesses the followino- 
 
 gems : 
 
 A group of early Editions of Dante: i.e. Aldine Edition of 1 502; Florentine Edition 
 by del Giunta of 1506, col dialogo di A. Manotti; Florentine Edition by Doris, of 1547 ; 
 Venetian Edition by Sessa of 1564, con espositione di Landino e Vellutello ; Florentine 
 Edition with the Commentaries of G. Boccaccio, of 1724; the splendid Venetian Edition 
 by Zatta, 1757, 5 vol. 4^., copiously illustrated and dedicated to the Empress of Russia 
 Elizabeth Petrowna. 
 
 Modern Editions : The French translation of Dante by Pier Angelo Fiorentino, 
 illustrated by G. Dore, edited by Hachette et Cie; the Milanese Edition by Pao^noni, 
 with numerous engravings and notes from Tommaseo ; the Milanese Edition by Moretti, 
 with the commento of Giov. dalla Lana ; the London Edition, illustrated by Foscolo ; a 
 prose paraphrase by Trissino ; besides two English translations by Longfellow and 
 Wrig-ht, and other minor Italian Editions. 
 
 A group of the following early Editions of Ariosto, i.e. : Venetian, Giolito of 1542, 
 with Gothic initials ; Ligon Onorati of 1556, with silographic figures; Venetian, Valo-risi 
 of 1603, with wood cuts; Parisian, Prault of 1746; one Castillian translation by J. Urrea, 
 Anvers 1549; and two French translations of the 17th century. 
 
 Two Editions of Pietro Bembo, le Rime ; one Venetian, da Sabbio of 1530, 
 supervised by Bembo himself; and another Roman, of 1548. 
 
 Giov. Boccaccio, II Decamerone, Milan in .^d. Lanetti, 152 1, Ed. pr. 
 
 The following Editions of Petrarca: Con I'espositione di A. Vellutello, Giolito 1547; 
 con le osservationi di M. I-". Alunno, Veniiian 1550 ; con le annotationi di B. Danieilo, 
 Venitian 1549; con I'Espositione di G. A. Gesualdo, Griffio 1581, besides other Editions 
 of the 1 7th century. 
 
 The group of T. Tasso's early Editions contains : — an Aldine of 1583 ; the Genoa 
 Ed. of 1590, with cuts by Agostino Caracci and Giacomo F"ranco ; the Genoa Edition of 
 1617, with the drawings del Castillo ; the Venetian Edition degli Albrizzi of 1745 ; the 
 Elzevir of 1652; and the splendid Edition of Didot 17S4, of which only 200 copies were 
 edited, ex dono M. M. De Rohan ; besides 4 French translations, one of which edited by 
 Le Brun, 1775. 
 
 22. Theology, Patristic and Scholastic, is one of the leading classes. 
 
 The Maurine Editions, the old Venetian, Parisian, and Milanese Editions, those 
 of Louvain, Lyon, Genoa; the Editions of Antwerp ex off Plantiniana, Rome, Basle, 
 Coulogfne, of the following Fathers:
 
 12 
 
 "Opera Omnia" of the Latin Fathers: St. Ambrose, St. Augustin, St. Cyprian, St. 
 Jerome, St. Hilary, St. Leo, St Optatus, TcrtulHan, St. Pier Damianus, the Ven. Bede, 
 St. Bernard, St. Bonaventura, St. Thomas, P. Lombardus, Allatius, Bellarminus. 
 
 The "MoraHa" of St. Gregory the Great, Rome, De Luca of 1575, of which only 
 four copies are known existing; and the "Maxima Bibliotheca Patrum," Lugduni, 1677. 
 
 The Patrologia Latina et Graeca of Migne. The Greek Fathers: St. Athanasius, 
 St. Basil, CI. Alexandrinus, St. Dionysius, St. Ephrem, St. Cyrillus, St. Epiphanius, 
 Eusebius, St. Greg. Nazianzenus, St. Greg. Nyssenus, St. Joan. Chrisostomus, Origenes, 
 St. Joan. Damascenus, &c. &c. of the Coulogne, Parisian, Roman, Venetian, Ingoldstad, 
 Mans, &c. Editions. 
 
 23. In the series of Bibles the Library contains : the Polyglot Version of 
 Walton, London 1657, with the dedication, in red characters, to Charles II, inserted in 
 the work after the death of Cromwell ; this Copy was originally a present to St. John's 
 College, Oxford, by Juxon, the Archbishop of Cambridge. 
 
 The Lexicon Heptaglotton by Ed. Castello, London, 1669; the Biblia Hebraicaby 
 Pagnini and others, Antwerp, 1619; the Biblia Magna Hebraica by Buxtorff, Basle 1632; 
 Biblia Hebraica cum interpretatione Siricari, ex Ed. Ben-Aria ; Hispalensis, ex off. 
 Plantiniana, Raphelengii 16 13; Biblia cum annotationibus, Venetiis 1538 ; Biblia ex off. 
 Rob. Stephani, Parisiis 1538 ; Pentateuchus, Cantica, &c., hebraice et latine, Venetiis 
 1551 ; Biblia with translation by the Zwinglian Theologians, Figuri 1543; Biblia 
 castigata, with figures, Venetiis 1576; Biblia with figures, Venetiis 1587 ; Biblia juxta 
 qulgatam, Lugduni 1594 ; Biblia ad institutionem Serenissimi Delphini, by Fr. Amb. 
 Didot, natii major, of 1785, of which only 250 copies were printed; two Arabic 
 versions; ten more Latin Bibles of the Antwerp Editions ex off. Plantiniana, Parisian, 
 Cologne, Venetian, of the 17th century; nine French; three English; three Italian; one 
 Spanish, Amsterdam 1542 ; one German, with figures, Vienna 1734 ; one New 
 Testament, graece et latine, cura D. Erasmi, Parisian Ed. 1543 ; Biblia, Theodoro Beza 
 interprete, Parisian ex aed. Sti. Stephani 1567; Biblia, Basle 1531 ; Biblia by Bleau, 
 Amsterdam 1633; Novi Testamenti Vulgata Editio, Venetiis Schseffer 1541 ; Novum 
 Testamentum Syriacum, Hamburg! 1663 ; Novum Testamentum Armenian, M. A. 
 Flaminii explanatio, Aldine 1564; Theodoreti Com. in Visiones Davidis, Ezechielis, 
 Canticum, Aldine Ed. 1562, 1553 ; Theophylacti in quatuor Evangelia, Basle 1525 ; 
 Tostati opera, Venetiis 1596. 
 
 24. In the class of Liturgical Books : three different copies of Officium B. M. V., 
 Mss. on parchment of the XV century, with gold initials and decorated with miniature 
 pictures ; Missale secundum usum Anglie, Ms. with coloured initials, of MCCCVIII ; 
 Officium Mortuorum, Ms. with coloured initials, of the XV century ; Missale tocius anni 
 secundum consuetudinem Romance Ecclesise, Ms. of the XIV century ; four copies, on 
 parchment, of H cures a I'usage de Rome : one Gothic with gold coloured initials and 
 silographic cuts, Paris Simon Vostre, 1497, another Gothic with gold coloured initials, 
 full of figures, Paris, Gillet Hardouyn, sine anni iwta, the third and the fourth, Gothic 
 with marginal figures, one of Simon Vostre, and the other sine loco et anno ; Horae in 
 laudem B. M. V., with figures and ornaments, Turin 1531; Sacrarum Ceremo .iarum par 
 C. Marcel, with woodcuts, Venetiis, Giolito 1582 ; Missale Romanum, Gothic, Venetiis 
 apud Junctas 1585; Idem, Antwerp, ex off Plantiniana 1670; Missse Episcopales, Gothic, 
 apud Junctas 1563; Breviarum Ord. Sancti Joannis, Gothic, Lugduni 155 1. 
 
 25. In the classes of History and Arts, there are some old illustrated books and 
 histories of painting, architecture and sculpture, and Galleries, i.e : 
 
 Guillelmi Caorsini, Rhod. Vine obsidionis Rhodie Urbis, with silographic cuts, 
 Ulmai 1496; Omnium fere gentium aetatis nostra:; habitus by Bertelli, Venetiis 1563 ; 
 Antiquarum Statuarum by Cavalleriis, Rome 1569 ; Opere di Polidoro da Caravaggio, 
 disegnate da Galestruzzi, Roma 1658 ; Galleria Glustiniana, Roma 1640 ; Logge di 
 Raffaello nel Vaticano, disegnate dal Camporesi, incise dal Volpato ; Torneo tenuto dal 
 Conte di Monfort nel 1553 ; Cabinet du Ray, 23 Vol. in gr. fol. ; Galerie Royale de 
 Dresde, 1753 ; La Galerie du palais de Luxembourg par Rubens, dessinee par les 
 Nattier, Paris 17 10; Cabinet de Crozat, Paris 1729; la Galleria di Torino ; Le fabbriche 
 ed i disegni di Andrea Palladio, illustrated by Scamozzi on the specimens of Lord
 
 13 
 
 Burlington, Vicenza 1776; Idem, Venetia 1570; Idem, Venetiis 1740; I cinque Ordini di 
 Barozzio da Vignola, Ed. pr. ; Idem, of 1635 ; Idem, proposta da Stampani ed Antonini, 
 Roma 1770. 
 
 This is only a very short notice of the conspicuous contents in the Royal Public 
 Library of Malta. 
 
 Some of the old books, having suffered a great deal of destruction by grub and 
 other vermin, in consequence of a Report from the Librarian, dated 20th January 1881 
 and another dated 9th January 1882, the Government granted ^iio in i8St for 
 beginning the repairing of their binding and preventing their further decay ; £, 70 per 
 annum were subsequently voted in the General Estimates for proceeding on with the 
 work in the following years. 
 
 The Modern Department of the Library, looked after by the Managing Committee- 
 was and is every year enriched by new acquisition of books, for which an annual sum of 
 ^250 is granted by Government, the interest of the Legacy Bruno included. 
 
 Collection of Manuscripts. 
 
 26. A full notice of the Mss. preserved in the Public Library was promised by de 
 Boisgelin, in a work on the Knights of St. John, which publication, however, has never 
 taken place. 
 
 The importance and a list of some of those Mss. was first noticed and published by 
 Buchon "Nouvelles recherche Historique sur le principaute frangais de Moree 1843. 
 
 That importance would be doubly increased, if the historical Mss. and documents of 
 the Archives of the Order of St. John, at present preserved in the Government Archives, 
 were classified, skilfully catalogued, and fused into one precious collection with the other 
 Mss. existing in the Library. 
 
 A recent discovery in those Archives by M. J. Delaville Le Roul.x; of a certain 
 number of documents referring to the Templars, whose Archives disappeared under 
 mystery, as everything else connected with the Temple, evinces, I believe, the expediency 
 of such a step. 
 
 The presence of the "Bullarium Rubrum" in those Archives, compiled in the XVI 
 century by the Chancery of the Hospital, in which are transcribed about 200 Bulls 
 containing privileges granted by Roman Pontiffs to the Templars as well as to the 
 Hospitalers; of transactions executed between those two Orders; and, more to the point, 
 the Bulls concerning the Templars exclusively are sure hints that the General Archives 
 of the Temple were merged in those of the Hospital, and that, at least, several historical 
 documents of the Templars are to be found in the Archives of the Order of Malta. 
 
 Indeed, no other hypothesis could explain the disappearance of the Archives of the 
 Templars; they have had the same leisure as the Hospitalers to remove their Archives from 
 the Holy Land, after the defeat at St. Jean d'Acre; and the interest of Philippe le Bel was 
 that of preserving, rather than destroying them on the same pyre, on which Jacques de 
 Molay was burnt : hence, it is most probable that the Hospitalers had become, at least 
 partially, the trustees of the Archives of the Temple, and that from the general wreck 
 of the Templars some important documents may be recovered to illustrate the gloomy 
 history of that Order. 
 
 27. The collection of inedited Mss. contains 497 volumes, described in a 
 Catalogue published by the late Librarian Dr. C. Vassallo. 
 
 On the main, these Mss. are memoirs, narratives of events which were denied 
 publication by the Government of the Knights, records of local traditions, and historical 
 documents referring to the i.slands of Malta, the Order of St. John, the Inquisition, and 
 the local Ecclesiastical history. 
 
 The following are the most conspicuous : 
 
 Stromatum Meliiensitim, sive collezione di meviorie patrie, raccoltc da D. Ignazio 
 Saverio Mifsiid, ConsuUore del Sto. Uffizio, Malta ij6o .• it is a precious collection of 23, 
 4to. volumes ;
 
 14 
 
 Annali licit Ordine di S. Giovanni fino la sedizione contro il Gr. Mr. La Cassidre, 
 di Mons. Salvatore Inibroll, 6 vols. 410. ; 
 
 Istoria della Sacra Religione Gerosolimilana, dal Gr. JM. Pietro del Monte alia 
 Morte di La Cassiere, di Mons. S. Imbroll ; 
 
 Storia dell'Ordine, dal stio primo nascere fino a Fra Roberto di Nailacco, di Mons. 
 S. Imbroll, 3 vols. 4to. ; 
 
 Concordama, ordine, e compendia degii Statitti dell Ordine di S. Giovanni, 2 vols, 
 fol., of the same Mons. Imbroll. I glean from the " Notizie Memorabili di Malta" of 
 Mifsud, Ms. XIX, that the death of this learned Maltese Prelate, Prior of the Church 
 of the Order in 1624, which occurred on the 26th January 1650, was suspected to be 
 occasioned by poison. * 
 
 Etat de la Relioion de Malte. This interestingr Ms. is attributed to the Knig-ht 
 Passion de Sainte-Jay, whose copious private Library was merged into the Public 
 Library, t 
 
 Acta Visitationis Reverendis. Domni, Petri Diizziaa in insula Melitce, IS74- This 
 very interesting Ms. contains a good deal of information about the condition of the 
 Churches of Malta, before the arrival of the Knights. 
 
 An Arabic Dictionary by the Revd. Giuseppe Calleja, 1798, 4 vols 410. This 
 learned Maltese Arablst was selected by the College of the Propaganda Fide as a 
 Professor of Arabic in the University of Malta. 
 
 Summa jurium Hierosolymit. Equitum; Continuazione della Storia Gerosolimilana 
 del Comm. Fra Paolo Michallef ; 
 
 Raccolta di Scrittitre per servire alia storia della fiisione dell' Ordine di St. Antonio 
 di Vienna in quello di S. Giovani, del Balio Nobili ; 
 
 Raccolia de Mss. del Canonico Gio: P'ra Agiiis Sultana, 1 2 volumes 4to. ; and // 
 Gozo Antico e Moderno, Sacro e Profano, 1746. 
 
 Two Mss. copies Delle Opere di Guglielmo Caorsino, traduzione fatta da Treschi 
 
 per opera del Cav. Aldobrandini. It is an accurate translation of Obsidionis Rhodie 
 
 Urbis describtio; de casu regis Zizimi, Ulmce MCCCCXCFL The only one printed 
 
 copy existing in the Library first belonged to Fr. Sabba Castigliano, and then to the 
 
 Comm. Fra Jacomo Bosio ; 
 
 Stabiliinenta Rhodiorum Militum, jussu M. M. D'Aubussnii, per G. Caorsinum 
 collecta atqne edita. The date of this Ms. precedes the date of the Edition of Giov. 
 Giunta in 1534. 
 
 Thirteen Vols, of Mss., containing autographic Letters, Notices, and Documents 
 etc. referring to the last period of the Government of the Knights of Malta, late property 
 of the family of the Gr. M. Ferd. Hompesh. 
 
 VI. 
 Collection of Antiquities. 
 
 28. A Cabinet for the preservation of local Antiquities was added to the Library 
 by the Gr. M. de Rohan. 
 
 This collection, consisting of clay and glass vases of different shapes and 
 dimensions, of sarcophagi, of statues, and of inscriptions, is classified into a Phsenician 
 and a Graeco- Roman period. 
 
 To this Cabinet is added a Numismatic collection of about 5500 coins, gathered in 
 the islands of Malta, and belonging to the Phoenician, the Greek, and to the Roman 
 Consular and Imperial, the Byzanthine, the Gothic, the Norman, the Arabic, the 
 Angevins and the Aragonese periods, and that of the Order of St. John. 
 
 A guide to this little Museum was published by Dr. Cesare Vassallo. 
 
 29. This Cabinet owes its origin to the learning, patience and perseverance of the 
 
 * He was buried at St. John's. 
 
 f De Sainte-Jay, dead at the age of So in 1 765, was buried in the Cliapel of tlie Langue d'Auvergne at St. John's
 
 15 
 
 Comm. Fra Giovanni Francesco Abela about 1628 * who, together with his 
 "Descrittione di Malta," the first History of our islands, conceived the idea of forming a 
 national Museum of local Antiquities. 
 
 The learning and sound criterion of Comm. Abela were amply testified to by 
 Kircher, Carrera, Gualtieri, Paruta, and other contemporaries. 
 
 The arrangement of the relics collected had its original place in the Villa Abela, 
 property of that Commendatore, on the promontory of Kortin, now called "il Hotba tal 
 Gisuiti". This site is marked by Marquis Gio Antonio Barbaro on a map accompanying 
 a monograph 
 
 We are told by Count Ciantar, that "una galleria opulentissima di statue, bassi 
 rilievi, iscrizioni greche e latine, vasi sepolcrali, lucerne, lacrimatoi di creta e di vetro, 
 frammenti di mummie, vasi di terra Etrusca, mjdaglie c medaglioni, mettevano da per 
 tutto reliquie di antichita attaccate ai muri del suo casino," which he styled "Gabinetto di 
 S. Giacomo," as he was a Member of the Langue of Castile. 
 
 Bulifon, Borguet, Gujot, Maffci, Gori, Lupi, Barbaro and Ciantar saw and examined 
 the relics in that "opulentissima collezione," to which reference is made in more than 
 fifty-four places in the "Descrittione di Malta". 
 
 30. In the year 1637, the Comm. Abela bequeathed his Cabinet of local Antiquities, 
 together with Villa Abela, to the Jesuit Fathers, who then held a College at Valletta. 
 
 Later on, the Gabinetto S. Giacomo and the country residence of the Jesuits were 
 removed to the Villa of Bailiff Fra Francesco de Sousa, nephew of the Gr. M. Manoel 
 de Vilhena, at Ghain-Dwieli, in the French creek. It was there, that the Museum of 
 Abela suffered a first plunder of its most valuable objects by some thieves (believed 
 French Knights), who assaulted the place at night time, t 
 
 After the dismissal of the Jesuits from Naples and Malta, which preceded the 
 general suppression of their Order, the moveable and immovable property of the Jesuits 
 in Malta was settled by Pope Gregory XIII upon the Order of St. John. A second 
 spoliation of the bronze statues, gold and silver medals, mentioned by Abela in his 
 "Descrittione di Malta," was then committed on such a vast scale, that Canon Gio. 
 Francesco Agius Sultana, who had seen the Gabinetto S. Giacomo on former occasions, 
 wrote "oggi ne rimane si poca quantita, che se potesse tal Galleria rivedere 1' Abela, ne 
 piangerebbe". J 
 
 A. A. Caruana 
 late Director of Education and Librarian. 
 
 * Abela was born at Valletta in 1582, from the noble parents Marco Abela and Bernardina nee Vella Xara, who were 
 married in 1 566, one year after the great siege. He joined early i Chierii-i Conventiiali <\i Giiistizia in the Lantjiiage ofCastille, 
 Priory of Portugal; studied Law at Bologna, where he took his degree on the 21st November 1605. He was ordained priest by 
 Bishop Gargallo in l6io, and having perfoimed his services at sea in the galleys of the Order as Prior, was successively appointed 
 Secretary to the Embassy of the Order of Malta to the Court of Pope Clement VHI, of the King of France, and of the King of 
 Spain; Auditor of the Gr. Master Fra Antoine De Paula ; one of the triumvirs in the election of Gr. M. Lascaris; Lieutenant of the 
 Prior of St. John, and Vice-chancellor of the Order for nearly 35 years. Abela died at the age of 73 in 1655, and was buried in the 
 Chapel della Madonna di Filermo at St. John's. 
 
 f Ristretto della vita del Comm. Abela, by Count Ciantar, Malta Illustrata. 
 
 X Biojrafia del Comm. Abela scritta dal can. G. F. Agius, publicata da B. Mifsud nella Bibliote;a Maltese, parte I.
 
 _D OOP 018 715 
 
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