Library Manuscripts
An important collection
at the National Library is that of Library manuscripts made
up of almost 1600 volumes. The manuscripts have been acquired
by the Library through donations, bequest or purchase. Most
of them are of particular relevance to various aspects of
Maltese history. A series of twenty-four manuscripts known
as Stromata Melitense, formerly belonging to Ignazio
Saverio Mifsud (1722-1773), contain material covering various
aspects
of local history. Other prominent Maltese personalities whose
papers have been preserved within this collection include
Giovanni Antonio Ciantar (1696-1780), Giuseppe Demarco (1712-1789)
and Giovanni Francesco Agius de Soldanis (1712-1770). Another
important item consists of two volumes comprising
88 watercolours by the nineteenth-century Danish
artist, Charles de Brockdorff. The watercolours depict views
of Malta and Gozo.
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These manuscripts treat the most diverse
topics, ranging from literature, music, art, history, geography
to mathematics,
physics, chemistry, geometry and accountancy. Other manuscripts
worthy of note include diaries as well as
the catalogues of the original collections of Cardinal
Portocarrero and of Bailiff de Tencin, which formed the
nucleus of the Bibliotheca Tanseana. Naturally,
the Library manuscript collection is ongoing thanks to
the acquisition
of new manuscripts by the Library from various sources.
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The initial section
of the Library manuscripts is made up of fourteenth and fifteenth
century codices, the
first
of which (Cod. I) is the precious manuscript depicting
the life of St. Anthony Abbot in 196 miniature paintings,
produced in 1426. This beautifully illuminated manuscript
on parchment, which came to belong to the Library through
the merging of the library of the French Order of St. Antoine
de Vienne with that of the Order of St. John in 1776, is
undoubtedly one of the most treasured possessions of the
National Library. Cod. VI, which belonged to the collection
of the Bailli de Breteüil, is an exquisite Book of
Hours also carrying miniature illuminations. Fra' Jacques-Laure
Le Tonnellier de Breteüil (1723-1785), a French knight,
was a keen collector of manuscripts and rare books. Also
part of his collection is the outstanding Cod. XIV, worth
noting also for its binding. Among the Library manuscripts,
we find two bindings à la Grecque, one (Lib. Ms.
470) being a 16th century Psalter written in Old Slavonic
in Cyrillic characters. The other one (Lib. Ms. 504), a
liturgical book belonging to the Greek Byzantine church,
is known as the 'Parakliti' or the Book of Eight Tones
and is attributed to St. John Damascene. The collection
also includes Turkish and Maghrebian manuscripts.
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 Catalogues
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