Strozzi, Ludovisi, Antonelli, Castellani, Barbarini, Albani,
Odescalchi, and the Collegio Romano, of Italy ; those of the
Dukes of Luynes and Blacas, Count de Portales, the Marquis
de Drèe, M. Fould, Baron Roger, of France ; and the Devonshire, Northumberland, Marlborough, Townley, Knight,
Rhoades, Maskelyne, and Townshend, of England. Several
other collections have been more or less celebrated, as the
Poniatowsky, Herz, Mertens-Schaffhausen, and Pulsky. Mr.
Maskelyne's collection is said to excel in exquisite specimens
of the glyptic art, as well as in the beauty of the stones themselves.
Collections in Great Britain. — No country in Europe, probably, is richer in antique gems than England. The British
Museum contains specimens of the finest and rarest types of
engraving on precious stones to be found anywhere, while some
of the jewels comprised in this vast storehouse are of great
age, dating from seven hundred years before the Christian era ;
but by far the greater number of these monuments of art,
says King, are to be found in the cabinets of noble and
wealthy amateurs.
The Museum includes the Blacas collection, which cost two
hundred and forty thousand dollars ; the Rhoades ; the choicest specimens of the Castellani ; and bequests from Messrs.
Townley, Knight, and Cracherode, including in all about five
hundred engraved gems.
Some of the Townley specimens, in the opinion of this
writer, are unsurpassed by any from the most celebrated collections of Europe. They comprise many valuable Gnostic and
Christian engravings, and some of the largest and most important antique pastes known. This institution affords some fine
carnei, including the head of Augustus, one of the largest of
the kind, though the greater part of the engravings are intagli,
