I had considered it to be a representation of him--out of compliment to the
Dowager Queen of Würtemberg, 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 Vngariæ, Regina Bohemiæ_"--"_Herman Lantgrauius
Turingie, Rex Vngariæ, Rex Bohemiæ_." 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