SECTION OF GRAPHIC ARTS. 30T) 



hihitcd and the preparation of an elementary manual for the use of 

 visitors, without which the collection is practically useless. All that 

 can be said concerning this matter is that a number of essays have been 

 made which, it is hoped, wdl lead to a result before long. 



The present state of the collection, so far as the number of entries 

 on the catalogue shows it, has already been alluded to. On June 30, 

 L888, there were 1,071 entries, showing that the additions during the 

 liscal year just ended were 1,223, making a total of 2,894 on June 30, 

 1889. Of these entries 26 were loans which have been returned. These 

 are more than offset, however, by the entries which represent series 

 consisting of several specimens, so that the number of specimens actu- 

 ally constituting the collection may safely be said to be considerably 

 over 3,000. How many of these are on exhibition and how many in 

 the reserve collection it is impossible to say, as the specimens on exhi- 

 bition have not yet been numbered. The varied character of the col- 

 lection can in a measure be ascertained from the list of donors and 

 depositors which accompanies this report.* 



Unfortunately this list does not include one of the most important 

 gifts received during the year, the collection, namely, of Mr. J. W. Os- 

 borne, which has not yet been registered, although many of the most 

 important specimens in it have already been placed on exhibition. 

 This collection contains, besides a very full record of the development 

 of Mr. Osborne's own photolithographic process, specimens by many of 

 the earliest experimenters in the same and similar directions, such as 

 Fox Talbot, Paul Pretsch, Poitevin, Asser, etc., together with fine ex- 

 amples of lithography, engraving, etc. 



The condition and extent of the section of graphic arts has been thus 

 far, and still is, such as to preclude the possibility of special researches 

 upon the material belonging to it, and it is to be feared that it will be a 

 long while before the opportunity for such researches can be offered. 

 Papers by collaborators there are none, since there are no collaborators. 

 My own activity as a student and with the pen during the period em. 

 braced by this report has necessarily been quite limited, as my time has 

 been taken up almost entirely by the routine work and the purely man. 

 ual labor which my position in this museum and as curator of the print 

 department at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston have forced upon 

 me. A list of the few papers, etc., that I have published during the 

 year will be found in the Bibliography (Section IV). Several papers 

 were published during the time of my connection with the Museum 

 previous to the liscal year of 188:-'89. These are noticed in the Museum 

 report for 1887-'88. 



To the preceding report upon the administration of the collection up 



* The accessions to this collection, mentioned in the List of Accessions (Section V of 

 the report), refer to those only which were received during the liscal year ending Jane 

 30, 1889. A complete list of donors and depositors, from January 1, 1887, to June 30, 

 188'J, is given in the Appendix. 



II. Mis. 221, pt. 2 20 



