Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Doc. 206.] 95
SWEDENBORG’S TRAVELS IN 1736.
October 12. I purchased a description of Paris, where it
was noticed that the large library is at the corner of the Rue
de Richelieu near the Palais Royal, having been removed
thither from the Rue de Vienne ; that it consists of 70,000 vo
lumes and 15,000 manuscripts, which were in part purchased,
and in part left to the institution by will ; further, that King
Francis I. laid its first foundation, by making a collection at
Fontainebleau, the greater part of which however, was de
stroyed ; that Catharina de Medici enriched it with medals,
engravings in copper, &c. King Louis XIV, at great cost,
collected copper-plate engravings from the whole of Europe,
sending agents to every part. The supreme charge of the whole,
as well as of the numismatic cabinet in Versailles, is entrusted
to the Abbé Bignon ; 57 under him is Le Beze ; and specially
in charge of the books is Sallier [ ?], and of the copper-plate
engravings Le Croix. The library of M. de Brennes is in a
separate room.
October 16. I was in the Palais Royal, which is a magni
ficent palace, with ships in the niches. It was built by Cardinal
Richelieu, when it was called Palais de Richelieu, and after
wards Palais-Cardinal ; he bequeathed it to the king in per
petuity. It was given by Louis XIII during his life-time to
his queen, * whence it received the name Palais Royal. The
audience chamber where the Duke of Orléans administered the
government is in this palace. It is adorned with beautiful
paintings, and contains a chemical laboratory. The palace
is separated from the large garden by a smaller one con
taining on orangery ; here balls are held at the time of the
carnival.
October 17. I was in the Library, which is a splendid
.
building, but which is not to be opened until the 11th [?] of
* Swedenborg says that the palace was left by Louis XIII to his mother,
who was Maria de Medici ; but as she died several months before Car
dinal Richelieu, such could not have been the case. It is, however, histori
cally true that after the death of Louis XIII, who died in 1643, (a few
months after Richelieu) his widow, Anne of Austria, removed to the palace
with her two sons Louis XIV and Philip of Orléans, who were both minors.
The Duke of Orléans of whom Swedenborg speaks here is Philip
d’Orléans, the grandson of Louis XIII, who was prince-regent during the
minority of Louis XV ; he died in 1723.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
