feet, butuncolored, copy of the Flora Danica,
and a fine folio edition of an Icelandic Bible,
printed in the island, in 1584, which has a
curious and well-executed frontispiece, cut
in wood, by the hands of Bishop Guthrandr
Thorlaksen, without any other instrument
than a penknife: the same person, also, set
the letter-press. Bishop Videlinus has, besides,
a very beautiful Icelandic manuscript,
written in the vear 1525, in defence of the
Christian Religion. Till within a few years,
the residence of the bishops (for there were
two) was at Skalholt, but it was found more
convenient to have the see removed to the
principal place of resort and traffic, so that
the clergy have now the opportunity of transacting
business with the bishop and the merchant
at the same time. When they come,
they take up their abode with the bishop, who,
on this account, can hardly live upon his
salary,of fifteen hundred dollars a year, which
is all that is allowed him by the Danish government,
He is a stout and handsome man,
and wears black clothes, with half-boots.
His hair is remarkable for being almost
white, though not from age, as he is not
more than forty-five. Both he and his lady
are native Icelanders: the latter dresses in
the true Icelandic fashion, and, indeed, her
costume of ceremony is extremely rich and
handsome. The bishop’s library is almost
continually filled with visitors, it being the
principal place of resort for those who are
desirous of studying, and almost the only
one that affords them the advantage of a good
collection of books: among other men of
learning, I used frequently to meet here
Finnur Magnusen *, a man highly celebrated
among the modern Icelanders for his abilities
as a poet, as well as for the variety and
extent of bis attainments as a scholar. To
him I was indebted for a present of many
Icelandic books, one of which was sufficiently
remarkable in having for its title, The
Georgies o f Iceland T / It is considered a
* In the former edition o f my Tour, this gentleman
has been erroneously called Magnus Finnusen.
The kindness of my Icelandic friend, Mr. Sivertsen, has
enabled me to make this and other similar corrections.
t My ignorance of the Icelandic language rendered
me, unfortunately, unable to read this book, which
must have been a matter of considerable curiosity,
unless, indeed, it was altogether fictitious; as the Icelanders
have no husbandry whatever to employ them,