Note 1427 — Chapter XVII

Mariana, in a long passage wherein he describes the Escurial palace, gives this account of the library; Vestibulo bibliotheca imposita, majori longitudine omnino pedum centum octoginta quinque, lata pedes triginta duos, libros servat præsertim Græcos manuscriptos, præcipuæ plerosque vetustatis; qui ex omnibus Europæ partibus ad famam novi operis magno numero confluxerunt: auro pretiosiores thesauri, digni quorum evolvendorum major eruditis hominibus facultas contingeret. Quod enim ex captivis et majestate revinctis literis emolumentum? De rege et regis institutione, l. iii. c. 10. The noble freedom of Mariana breaks out, we see, in the midst of his praise of royal magnificence. Few, if any, libraries, except those of the universities, were accessible to men of studious habits; a reproach that has been very slowly effaced. I have often been astonished, in considering this, that so much learning was really acquired.