B O O K the middle of this engagement the king was ftruck by a fplinter
>, —.— torn from the mail by a cannon-ball; two of his teeth were beat
out, his ear torn, his right eye forced from the focket, and he
was thrown upon the deck with great violence. His attendants,
fuppofing him dead, were making bitter lamentations, when the
king, fuddenly recovering from the fwoon, into which he had
heen thrown by the agony of pain, ilarted up, bound his wounds
with his handkerchief, and continued giving his orders with the
greatell compoiure, until the Swediih fleet retired. The painter
has chofen the point of time in which the king, having recovered
from his fwoon and bound his wound, is exerting himfelf in
the midil of the aCtion, and has happily fucceeded in throwing
great animation over the whole figure.
The royal ilables are perhaps the moil magnificent in Europe.
The racks of one, which contains flails for 48 horfes, are
of copper, and the columns that fupport the flails are of brick
iluccoed white. Another contains 148 flails j and the racks
and pillars which fupport the roof and feparate the flails are
of Norwegian marble.
There are two libraries belonging to the king, a private and
a public, both in the apartments of the palace. The private
library contains about 20,000 volumes; the public 110,000, and
about 7,000 manufcripts. Among the latter are many Perfian
and Arabic, brought from Arabia by Niebuhr. Among the manufcripts
of the claflics, I qbferved a moil beautiful Cicero’s
Rhetoric on vellum, and a no lefs beautiful Virgil on vellum, of
the eleventh century, which has been collated by the learned
6 Heyne
Heyne of Gottingen for his excellent edition of that Roman c H i p.
poet. Cs—--- r1
This colleftion is extremely rich in Icelandic books, and in
all publications relative to the antiquities and hiftqry 0/ the
three northern kingdoms. The art of typography mull have
been introduced late into Denmark, as the earliell book printed
at Copenhagen is Sjraniky Logh, or king Waldemar’s .Law of
Scania, which bears the date of 1305. This library has been lately
augmented with the numerous and valuable nolle ¿lion belonging
to Count Thptt, who died lately, and bequeathed it as an addition
to the king’s library.
The library of Count Thott, probably/the largeft private col-
leilion in Europe, contains 110,000 books, and above 5,000
manufcripts. It is as remarkable for the rarity, |gj| for the number
of the books, and is particularly rich in the pakeographia, or
early printed books, of which there are above 2,000 printed in
the fifteenth century.
The catalogue of this curious and valuable collection will
confill of feveral volumes; of which two have been already pub-
liihed. The remaining volumes will be printed before 1792.
The feventh volume, which comprifes a lift of the early im-
preflions and manufcripts, will likewife give the early impref-
fions and manufcripts in the king’s library.
Mr. Suhm’s colleition, though not fo numerous as Count
Thott’s library, deferves to be vifited by the lover of letters. It
contained, in 1785, at leaft 50,000 books', entirely collected by
himfelf. It is extremely rich in hiftorical and topographical
D 2 publications