Cabot," which was presented by Mr. Francis F. Fox in 

 1897, and which is included amongst the pictures 

 possessed by the Corporation. 



Later on there was a large gathering in connection 

 with the conferences of the Institute of Mechanical 

 Engineers, the arrangements for which were made by an 

 influential local committee, who, through their chairman, 

 Mr. J. Weston Stevens, have since expressed their 

 thankfulness for having had the opportunity of meeting 

 under such happy circumstances. 



The members of the Bristol Oriental Society, under 

 the guidance of Mr. Ernest Sibree, also met for the 

 special purpose of examining the Egyptian and Assyrian 

 objects exhibited in the Antiquities Room. 



The past year has also been a year of notable gifts. 

 In addition to the complete lists of such gifts which will 

 be found later on in this report, the Committee wish to 

 specially mention those that are of an extensive and 

 unusual character. In fulfilment of an expressed 

 intention, they received in the month of May the 

 numerous objects in the Braikenridge Bequest which 

 were appropriate to the collections in the Art Gallery. 

 The Bristol books, of which there was a large number, 

 were placed in the Central Library. A full list of the 

 Art Gallery objects included in the Bequest being 

 appended to this report, it will not be necessary now to 

 particularise them. The Committee would, however, 

 specially mention the 20 volumes of drawings and 

 sketches by Bird, Rowbotham, O'Neil, Cashin, Manning 

 and other artists, and which are separated into their 

 respective parishes. Most of these are beautifully 

 executed, and they must have taken a long time to 

 accumulate. These volumes, and the folios of loose 

 local drawings and sketches, form a valuable pictorial 



