Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1948, Page 32

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But to the Icelanders themselves this development did not hold
advantages only. The great collections of manuscripts gradually came
to rest abroad, and though a series of the most important works were
preserved within the country in copies, they were greatly dispersed,
and the possibilities of studying them in their home-country were
further reduced. When Bishop Brynjolfur had given up the hope
of himself being able to realize his plans of a publishing activity he
seems to have become more willing to hånd over his manuscripts to
his friends and patrons abroad; an essential motive of this was, how-
ever, also to be found in his expectation that those receiving them
would see to it that they were printed. In a letter from 1656 to the
King’s librarian, Villum Lange, Bishop Brynjolfur distinctly pro-
nounced his plans and gave vent to his disappointment at the develop-
ment (see Safn FræSafélagsins XII pp. 72-73). It is evident to him
that the scholars abroad cannot, without the assistance of the Ice-
landers, utilize the old literature, and that it is high time that some-
thing is done in this respect, as otherwise the manuscripts run the
risk of being lost and with them the Icelanders’ knowledge of the
language and literature of ancient times. Some quotations clearly
show his sound understanding of the problem, and later development
has undeniably and unmistakably confirmed his words: “Nemo
etenim unqvam cujuscunqve doctrinæ, eruditionis, ingenii, judicii
vir fuerit, qvi animam illis monumentis, nisi Islandus oriundo na-
tioneqve, isqve tantum probe in his tritus versatusqve, serio bonaqve
fide reddiderit... At in bibliothecas exteras codices mutos com-
pingere, ubi a nullo unqvam intelligentur, atqve ita materiam modo
non desperatam ab idoneis lectoribus æterno divortio removere, qvod
hactenus magno antiqvitatum malo per imprudentiam admissum est,
id vero antiqvitates non conservare sed extingvere est.” To this he
adds a strong request to Lange to see that the Icelandic writings are
pubiished. But it was long before the printing activity of which
Bishop Brynjålfur dreamt was realized, and during all that time the
few copies which were left at home must suffice for students in Ice-
land. The economic conditions of the country at the time of Bishop
Brynjolfur were not suited to further his printing plans, nor has he,
certainly, been able to count on much help in this respect from his
fellow-countrymen at the time, as little as from the Danish authori-
ties. But the scientific interest in the ancient literature had shot its