George M. Beard, William Lampson, Richard Skinner, John P. Taylor.

An hour or two in the College Library.

It is highly probable that very few Yalensians are ignorant of the existence of the College Library, or of the stately building in which it is contained, yet it is equally probable that but very few are at all conversant with its character or value. A great number, beyond a doubt, spend term after term without so much as entering within the doors of the Library, while the large majority do not obtain any, the least, advantage from the treasures it contains. Whether the cause of this so remarkable a neglect lies in the want of means by which access may be had to them, or in the lack of disposition to enjoy them, may be a matter of question. To impute the latter of these motives as the governing reason, would be to utter a very wide and sweeping accusation; it is but charitable to presume the former to be the more likely.

Having recently spent some little time in the Library, in examining the numerous curiosities and rarities which may be found there, and yet disclaiming the effort to act as a perfect guide to all of these, we have deemed it not out of place to indicate a very few, in the hope that others may be enabled, in regarding them, to pass away an equally pleasant hour or two with ourselves. For greater convenience we have arranged them under several divisions.

I. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CURIOSITIES.

(To be found in the first of the cases, occupying the center of the main room.) (a.) Manuscripts.

1. An Egyptian papyrus, framed.

2. A petition to the Emperor of China, being a scroll of nearly four 'feet in length, covered with crimson silk, upon which is inscribed the petition in gold characters. The silk is surrounded by a border of a different, flowered, design. This petition was presented to the American Oriental Society by G. R. Sampson, Esq.

3. A firman of the Sultan of Turkey, (presented by the Rev. H. G. O. Dwight, D. D., of Constantinople, to the American Oriental Society,) with a large heading in which is the initial or seal, encircled by a vast deal of flourish executed in various colors and of floral design; below this heading is recorded the proclamation.

4. An Arabic manuscript of the Koran. This, an exceedingly elaborate copy of the Koran, was written at Palembang, Java, in 1854, by Mayerbinah, a Mohammedan hadji, or priest. It was purchased at Singapore in 1856, at a cost of $20, by the Hon. Charles W. Bradley, who subsequently presented it to the above mentioned society. Each page of this work demands admiration for the beauty and perfection of the handwriting, almost rivalling the work of an engraver.

5. A Pali manuscript, written on thin pieces of Bamboo wood, tied together.

6. A Chinese album; (7.) Japanese books whose artistic merit consists more in their design than in their execution, (presented to the American Oriental Society, by Dr. J. Wilson, Jr.); (8.) A Japanese painting; in regarding which one is indeed most forcibly impressed with the aptness of the maxim: de gustibus non est disputandum. (This was presented to the same society by the Hon. C. W. Bradley, who purchased it at Samudi, in March, 1854.

9. A manuscript on vellum, entitled "Speculum Humanae Salvationis," containing Bible stories, in Latin rhyme, each page being illustrated. This book is perhaps 500 years old. It is a gift of Governor Yale, 1715.

10. A manuscript on vellum, containing a part of the Psalter; date unknown. It was styled "A Gothic manuscript of the David's Psalms," by its former owner, Enoch Huntington, of Middletown, Ct. It is one of the very few manuscripts on vellum in the Library. (b.) Specimens of early typography, etc.

11. Augustinus: liber de vita cristiana et de singularite clericorum. This volume contains:

1. Augustinus: "liber de vita cristiana," printed on 19 leaves, of 27 lines (generally) on a page; without date or name of place or printer, (but doubtless by Ulric Zell and contypographically with the second tract.)