1907.] on the GHildhall Library. 479 



It was printed in 1858, and a second edition was published in 1855. 

 This catalotjue abounds in anecdotes and entertaining: observations 

 on old London inns and their signs, and it was the pioneer of the 

 present extensive literature on this popular topic. 



The chief additions during the next ten years were some valuable 

 autographs, transferred in large part from the City records, and 

 forming the nucleus of the present collection. In April 1865, the 

 Library Committee was authorised to purchase for £200 a private 

 collection of Saxon, Roman, and mediaeval antiquities brought to 

 light during the fifteen previous years within the City. 



The erection of the new Library in 1872, gave a great stimulus 

 to the growth of the Museum, for which ample accommodation was 

 furnished in the basement of the structure. It is much to be 

 regretted that the apartment was placed so far below the level of 

 the roadway, the result being a great deficiency of light. This 

 arrangement was rendered necessary to provide for the use of the 

 apartment for ceremonial purposes ; but the inconvenience has, to a 

 large extent, been obviated by the introduction of electric light. 

 The next important acquisitions were the purchase of the extensive 

 museum of London antiquities belonging to the late Mr. Walker 

 Baily, the collections of Mr. J. E. Price, and a valuable series of early 

 English keys formed by Mr. Thomas Wills. Mention must, also, be 

 made of the extremely interesting and valuable group of Roman 

 remains, which were discovered in 1872 on the site of the National 

 Safe Deposit Company's premises opposite the Mansion House, and 

 were presented to the Corporation by the late Metropolitan Board of 

 Works. The same body had previously presented the large Roman 

 pavement found in Bucklersbury in 1869. The demolition of a 

 bastion of London Wall in Camomile Street, Bishopsgate, in 1876, 

 led to the unearthing of large blocks of sculpture, consisting of 

 figures of warriors and animals, and massive architectural fragments 

 of the Roman period, which had been used by Londoners as building 

 material for the repair of their wall in early times. This interesting 

 collection also found its way to the Museum. 



In 1892, the Court of Common Council placed £400 at the disposal 

 of the Library Committee for the purchase of a remarkable collection 

 of London antiquities from the earliest period found during the 

 previous seven years by Mr. James Smith of Whitechapel, a working- 

 man, whose devotion to, and knowledge of, archaeology, was the 

 subject of public recognition on more than one occasion. 



In the mediaeval section of the Museum, the collection of old 

 London signs is of great interest, and includes the famous " Boar's 

 Head " from Eastcheap, and the " Cock and Bottle " from Candlewick 

 Street ; the latter is of unique interest, being composed of Delft tiles 

 of high artistic merit. The rearrangement of the Museum is now 

 complete and follows the classification in the catalogue which I pre- 

 pared, and which was printed in the year 1908. 



