front.  It is on the first floor—­where all libraries should be placed—­and consists of a circular and a parallelogram-shaped room:  divided by a screen of Ionic pillars.  A similar screen is also at the further end of the latter room.  The circular apartment has a very elegant appearance, and contains some beautiful books chiefly of modern art.  A round table is in the centre, covered with fine cloth, and the sides and pillars of the screen are painted wholly in white—­as well as the room connected with it.  A gallery goes along the latter, or parallelogram-shaped apartment; and there are, in the centre, two rows of book-cases, very tall, and completely filled with books.  These, as well as the book-cases along the sides, are painted white.  An elaborately painted ceiling, chiefly composed of human figures, forms the graphic ornament of the long library; but, unluckily, the central book-cases are so high as to cover a great portion of the painting—­viewed almost in any direction.  At the further end of the long library, facing the circular extremity, is a bust of the late King of Wuertemberg, by Dannecker.  It bears so strong a resemblance to that of our own venerable monarch, that I had considered it to be a representation of him—­out of compliment to the Dowager Queen of Wuertemberg, his daughter.  The ceiling of this Library is undoubtedly too low for its length.  But the circular extremity has something in it exceedingly attractive, and inviting to study.

In noticing some of the contents of this Library, I shall correct the error committed in the account of the Public Library, by commencing here with the MANUSCRIPTS in preference to the Printed Books.  The MSS. are by no means numerous, and are perhaps rather curious than intrinsically valuable.  I shall begin with an account of a Prayer-Book, or Psalter, in a quarto form, undoubtedly of the latter end of the XIIth century.  Its state of preservation, both for illumination and scription, is quite exquisite.  It appears to have been expressly executed for Herman, and Sophia his wife, King and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia—­who lived at the latter end of the twelfth century.  The names of these royal patrons and owners of, the volume are introduced at the end of the volume, in a sort of litany:  accompanied with embellishments of the Mother of Christ, Saints and Martyrs, &c.:  as thus:  “Sophia Regina Vngariae, Regina Bohemiae”—­“Herman Lantgrauius Turingie, Rex Vngariae, Rex Bohemiae.”  In the Litany, we read (of the latter) in the address to the Deity, “Vt famulu tuu HERMANNV in tua misericordia confidente, confortare et regere dignter:” so that there is no doubt about the age of the MS. In the representations of the episcopal dresses, the tops of the mitres are depressed—­another confirmation of the date of the book.

The initial letters, and especially the B before the Psalms, are at once elegant and elaborate.  Among the subjects described, the Descent into Hell, or rather the Place of Torment, is singularly striking and extraordinary.  The text of the MS. is written in a large bold gothic letter.  This volume has been recently bound in red morocco, and cruelly cut in the binding.