In 1889 There Were 1850 Books in the Mar Saba Library

One room is filled with the library of the convent of Mar Saba, which is under the jurisdiction of the See of Jerusalem. It is the purpose to transfer the libraries of the other convents under its jurisdiction hither. The librarian showed me manuscripts of Chrysostom's Matthew and Gregory Nazianzen, of the thirteenth and ninth centuries, as well as an elaborately illustrated commentary on Job. He has thoroughly catalogued the library in 1850 numbers, and is persuaded there is nothing of value in it that is not already known. [Homiletic review: an international magazine of religion Volume 17 p. 305]