盤點世界上最著名的十大圖書館
Now that so much data is stored and circulated electronically, a library might seem to be a slightly outdated concept. However, a huge proportion of the world's information and learning is still not available electronically, so libraries retain their importance for research and study. It is should also be remembered that libraries store books, inscriptions, and documents that are beautiful, and valuable not just for their contents, but also for their historic and artistic significance. Illuminated manuscripts, author's drafts, and the originals of documents such as Magna Carta, or the American Declaration of Independence, can never be properly appreciated online. So, we ought to celebrate the world's great libraries, and the people who work to build and maintain them, and we should visit them when we get the opportunity. Here are the world's ten largest libraries, in reverse order.
在當代，許多數據都以電子方式存儲與傳播，圖書館似乎已經時過境遷。但由於人們尚無法通過電子渠道獲取大量的世界信息與知識，圖書館對於調查研究依然有其舉足輕重的作用。別忘了，圖書館收藏精美和珍貴的書籍、碑刻與文獻並不僅僅是因爲它們的內容，還因爲其歷史意義與藝術意義。手工繪本、作家手稿以及《大憲章》《獨立宣言》等原版文獻，是無法通過互聯網好好品讀的。因此，我們應該讚美世界各大圖書館，讚美那些參與建造和維護它們的工作人員。如果有機會，不妨親自遊覽一番。接下來，就以倒序方式來呈現世界十大圖書館。l Danish Library (Denmark, Copenhagen)
10.丹麥皇家圖書館（丹麥，哥本哈根）
Founded by King Frederik III in 1648, the Royal Danish Library was first opened to the public in 1793. Since 1999, the library has occupied an impressive glass building known as the Black DiaMond. It houses nearly every book ever published in Danish. Its treasures include a Gutenberg Bible, an important collection of Icelandic manuscripts, and the diaries of the fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Anderson.
丹麥皇家圖書館由弗裏德里克三世下令建造，始建於1648年，並於1793年首次對公衆開放。該圖書館自1999年以來就採用引人注目的黑色玻璃外牆，因此獲得了“黑鑽石”的美譽。這座圖書館幾乎收藏了所有已出版發行的丹麥文書籍，如重要的冰島語手稿——《古騰堡聖經》，以及童話作家漢斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生的日記。
iothèque Nationale de France (Paris)
9.法國國家圖書館（巴黎）
The French National Library traces its roots to the library of King Louis XI, which he established in 1461. It became accessible to the public at the time of the French Revolution in 1792, and at the same time was expanded to include the confiscated books of many French aristocrats. Napoleon took a great interest in the library and enlarged its collection. At one time during the nineteenth century it was the largest library in the world.
法國國家圖書館的歷史可以追溯到路易十一於1461年建立的圖書館。1792年法國大革命期間，這座圖書館開始對公衆開放，從法國貴族們那裏沒收的書也是在那時收藏入館的。當時，拿破崙對這座圖書館燃起濃厚興趣，還擴大了館藏，它一度成爲十九世紀世界上最大的圖書館。onal Library of China, (Beijing)
8.中國國家圖書館（北京）
Holding over 30 million books and documents, and visited by over five million people every year, this is the largest collection of Chinese writing in the world, and the largest library in Asia. It includes Chinese inscriptions on bone, stone, and tortoise shell which date back as far as the sixteenth century BC, and some of the oldest printed documents in existence.
中國國家圖書館的藏書與文獻數量超過3000萬冊，年流通人次超過500萬，是世界上中文藏書量最大的圖書館，也是亞洲最大的圖書館。這座圖書館收藏了最早可追溯至公元前16世紀的甲骨文，以及現存最古老的印刷文獻。nto Public Library (Canada, Ontario)
7.多倫多公立圖書館（加拿大，安大略省）
The Toronto Public Library, which has 98 branches, describes itself as the world's busiest urban library system. It receives more than 18 million visitors and makes 32 million book loans per year, which easily exceeds an average of one loan per book in its collection; this makes it unique among the world's big libraries. Its holdings include the Arthur Conan Doyle collection.
多倫多公立圖書館有98家分館，自詡爲世界上最繁忙的圖書館。該館年流通人次超過1800萬，年借閱量達到3200萬冊次，已超過其藏書量，因而在世界各大圖書館中顯得尤爲獨特。多倫多公立圖書館還收藏了阿瑟·柯南·道爾的藏書。onal Diet Library (Tokyo, Japan)
6.國立國會圖書館（日本，東京）
The National Diet Library in Tokyo opened in 1948. Until the Second World War and the subsequent American occupation, Japan did not have a national public library. The Diet Library was established because public access to information was seen as a vital part of the post-war democratisation process. It serves as both the library for the Diet, Japan's two-chambered legislature, and a national library, holding copies of every book published in Japanese.
日本在二戰後被美國佔領之前尚未建立國家公立圖書館。但因爲對公衆開放信息被視作推進戰後民主化進程的關鍵內容，所以，東京的國立國會圖書館應運而生，於1948年對外開放。它不僅是兩院制立法機構——國會的圖書館，也是國家圖書館，收藏了所有已出版發行的日文書籍。onal Library of Russia (Saint Petersburg)
5.俄羅斯國家圖書館（聖彼得堡）
The Empress Catherine the Great established Russia's Imperial Public Library in 1795 with books from her own collection, which included Voltaire's personal library. The National Library of Russia evolved from this beginning, and now receives a million visitors every year. It contains treasures such as a very early copy of the Koran, and a fourth century New Testament, the Codex Sinaiticus.
1795年， 葉卡捷琳娜女皇二世批准建立皇家公共圖書館，當時的館藏包括女皇自己的藏書和伏爾泰的私人藏書。由此開始，該館歷經幾代，發展爲如今的俄羅斯國家圖書館，年流通人次達100萬。目前館藏包括：早期的《古蘭經》印本、4世紀時期的《新約》、《西奈抄本》等等。ian State Library (Moscow)
4.俄羅斯國立圖書館（莫斯科）
Founded in 1862 as the Moscow public library and museum, this collection became the State Library in 1925. In consequence it receives copies of all Russian publications, and also holds large collections of maps, journals, music scores, and recordings. Its possessions include the Archangel Gospel, a codex in the Slavonic language dating from 1092. Like many national libraries, the Russian State Library has encountered repeated problems of space shortage, and has had to move sections of its holdings to repositories elsewhere.
俄羅斯國立圖書館始建於1862年，當時名爲莫斯科公共博物館及魯緬採夫博物館圖書館，1925年改名爲蘇聯國立列寧圖書館。隨後，這座圖書館收藏了所有發行的俄文著作，還有大量地圖、札記、樂譜和音頻文件。該館藏有1092年《阿爾漢格爾斯克福音書》的斯拉夫語手抄本。與很多國家圖書館相似，俄羅斯國立圖書館的貯藏空間日漸不足，他們不得不將部分館藏轉存至其他地方的藏室。York Public Library
3.紐約公共圖書館
The New York Public Library developed gradually in the nineteenth century from the amalgamation and acquisition of a number of public and private collections; it has many branches in different boroughs of New York City. It retains a structure which combines public and private finance and governance. Treasures held at the library include a Gutenberg Bible. The main library building figured as an important fictional location in the 2004 film 'The Day After Tomorrow'.
19世紀，幾家公共圖書館和私人藏館合併成爲紐約公共圖書館，並逐漸發展成今天的規模；目前，它在紐約市的不同區域擁有衆多分館。該館經費依舊來源於公共和私人募捐，以及政府支持。館內藏品豐富，包括《古騰堡聖經》在內。2004年的電影《後天》曾把紐約公共圖書館的總部作爲重要取景地。ary of Congress (United States, Washington, D.C.)
2.國會圖書館（美國，華盛頓）
Founded in 1800 with the private collection of Thomas Jefferson, the Library of Congress is in effect the USA's National Library, although only Congress members and employees can borrow books. It receives two copies of everything published in the United States. The Library of Congress was burned by the British Army in 1812, and severely damaged by fire again in 1851. The collection includes many rare books and drawings, and two Stradivarius violins.
國會圖書館成立於1800年，最初的館藏書目由美國總統托馬斯·傑斐遜所提供。儘管只有國會議員和圖書館職員纔可以借書，但它是事實上的國家圖書館。凡在美國出版的書籍都要將兩份複製本存放在這裏。1812年，這座圖書館遭遇英軍焚燬；1851年，又遭遇嚴重的火災，損失慘重。美國國會圖書館藏有大量稀有書籍和繪畫，以及兩把珍貴的斯特拉迪瓦里小提琴。ish Library (United Kingdom, London)
1.大英圖書館（英國，倫敦）
The British Library was created by Act of Parliament in 1972; previously, the library had been part of the British Museum, where the famous circular reading room had accommodated researchers including Karl Marx, who worked on 'Das Kapital' there, as well as Oscar Wide and Mahatma Gandhi. The British Library is now housed in a new building in St. Pancras, London, where its treasures include two Gutenberg bibles, the Lindisfarne Gospels, and one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks.
1972年英國議會通過法案，建立大英圖書館；此前，它是大英博物館的一部分，卡爾·馬克思曾在著名的圓形穹頂閱覽室編著《資本論》，同樣在那裏讀過書的名人還包括王爾德和聖雄甘地。大英圖書館的新館址在倫敦聖潘克拉斯區，館藏包括：《古登堡聖經》的兩個版本、《林迪斯法恩福音書》、達芬奇的一本筆記，等等。翻譯：旭旭、Freya然 審校：Freya然 來源：前十網
