The restoration of the National Library is largely due to the efforts of its present director, Dr. Ricardo Palma, who worked with zeal and enthusiasm to recover a treasure which he recognized as of priceless value, since it represented not merely intrinsic worth but also the standard of intellectual recreation which the public demanded after half a century of free government. Dr. Palma repurchased some of the precious volumes put up at auction, and secured rare old manuscripts that had been sold as waste paper. The portraits of the viceroys, all of which had been torn down from the walls of the library by the invading soldiery, were recovered, with two or three exceptions. This collection is one of the most notable in America, as the portraits are consecutive examples of the art of three centuries, and provide a unique study for the connoisseur. They have recently been removed to the National Museum. The loss of the library was one which no effort could entirely replace, and the Peruvian people regretted it as a bitter calamity; everything possible was immediately done toward making a new collection. Other nations expressed their regret and sympathy, and many gifts of valuable works were received. Spain, Argentina, the United States, and Ecuador sent generous collections of books, many patriotic Peruvians made donations from their private possessions, and, in 1884, the National Library reopened with twenty-eight thousand volumes. At present the library consists of fifty thousand books and manuscripts, arranged according to a systematic classification. The library building occupies a central location, and is a typical Spanish edifice, built around an open court, or _patio_, with upper and lower corridors, which were originally the cloisters of the College of Caciques. The rooms used by the National Library extend the full length of the building, and include, in addition to the book section, a commodious reading-room, furnished with modern desks and lighted with electricity; the library is open to the public in the evenings as well as during the day. On the bookshelves, a very important place is given to the collection sent by the Smithsonian Institute, of Washington, amounting in all to five thousand volumes. A recent acquisition, known as the Quixote collection, embraces the most notable editions of Cervantes, among others that of Argamasilla, which was printed with silver type, and one issued in Argentina in 1905, the latter being the only edition published in South America. This classic of old Spain has been translated into eighteen different languages, and the Library of Lima has copies of all except the Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, and Dutch editions. The library has also been enriched by a gift, from President José Pardo, of sixty volumes, the scientific collection of the celebrated ornithologist, William Nation, purchased by His Excellency for the section of natural sciences. [Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY, LIMA.]