in all places taken by storm, the books as his share of the plunder.
His munificence was followed by his daughter Christina, and by several
other of his successors. Even different private individuals presented this
library with collections of considerable value. I observed, among other
books, many splendid copies of most o f the Greek and Latin Classics,
which, i f brought to sale at present in Britain, would bring an enormous
price. I saw also the first book ever printed in Sweden, a Latin copy
o f dEsop’s Fables, dated 1482.
One o f the most remarkable pieces of literary curiosity in the library
is a manuscript of the Four Gospels. It appears to me that the leaves
of this manuscript consist o f vellum. The letters are o f silver,, o f a
considerable size, and seem to be painted; but they are now become
so faint, that it is with difficulty they can be read. This manuscript,
called from the letters, Codex Argenteus, is o f a quarto size; the vellum
is stained violet, no doubt to make the silver letters, which are all
capitals, more easily read. The initial letters and a few other places are
o f gold. This manuscript consists o f a translation o f the gospels into Gothic,
and there can be no doubt that it is of the highest antiquity. It
was discovered in the year 1 597, in the library o f the Benedictine Abbey
of Werden, in Westphalia, by Antony Marillon, who extracted a
few passages which were inserted in a commentary on the Gothic
alphabet published by Bonaventura Yulcanius. Soon after, Arnold
Mercator observed it in the same library, and transcribed a few verses
which Gruter published in his Inscriptiones Antiquce. From the Abbey
o f Werden it was transferred to Prague, while that city was in the possession
o f the Elector Palatine. At the capture of Prague in 164.8, it
was found among the literary spoils by Count Konigsmark, and sent
as a valuable present to Queen Christina. Isaac Vossius is supposed to
have taken clandestine possession o f it during the confusion which
preceded the • Queen s abdication. At his. death it was purchased by
Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, for 2 60/., and presented by him
to the University o f Upsala.
There have been three editions o f the Codex Argenteus; the first at
Dort, the second at Stockholm, and the third at Oxford. The first
was published at Dort, in by Francis Junius, who borrowed
the manuscript for the purpose from Vossius. The text is a fa c simile
o f the original. It is a accompanied with observations and a glossary
by Thomas Marshall. The second edition published at Stockholm
in 1672, by the learned Stiernhelm, differs from that o f Junius
in giving the text in Latin instead o f Gothic characters. Benzelius,
first librarian of the University o f Upsala, and afterwards Archbishop,
comparing these two editions with the original, discovered so many
false readings and omissions, that he again collated the manuscript,
rectified the mistakes, and made a literal translation into the Latin
tongue. As the Gothic types o f the first edition published by Junius,
were at Oxford, he transmitted these collections and translation, together
with various observations, to Mr. Edward Lye, at Oxford, who
had distinguished himself by his knowledge of the northern languages.
The work was undertaken and faithfully executed by that judicious
scholar; and the third edition made its appearance in 175©, from
the Clarendon press. To the observations o f Benzelius, Lye added
many learned remarks on the text and version and a Gothic grammar.
This edition is esteemed, by those who have compared
it with the original manuscript, a complete work. It redounds
greatly to the honour o f the Editors accuracy. Two opinions are
entertained respecting the Codex Argenteus', the first, that it is written
in the language and character used in the fourth century, by the Goths
o f Meesia, the ancestors of the present Swedes, and that it is a copy
o f the version made by Ulphilas:— the second, that it is a translation in
the Frankish diom. Respecting the truth o f these opinions, it is impossible
to decide; many learned men adopting the one, and many
the other, though the weight o f evidence seems to incline rather more
to the first opinion than to the second. It is allowed on all hands to
be more ancient than the vulgate translation o f St. Jerome. I f it be
the translation of Ulphilas, it cannot be o f later date than the middle
of the fourth century. No body has considered it as later than the
sixth century.
The library of Upsala is not very well supplied with British periodi-
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