The Smithsonian Library 297 



From the Secretary of State for War of Great Britain 

 there came, in 1868, a series of facsimiles of the national 

 manuscripts of England, including documents belonging to 

 each reign, from William the Conqueror to Queen Anne, 

 arranged chronologically, so as to illustrate the changes in 

 handwriting and the language of the different periods of 

 English history. 1 



It sometimes happened that books were presented to the 

 Institution by a special act of Congress, the report of the 

 Wilkes Exploring Expedition and the works of Thomas 

 Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, and Alexander Hamilton 

 being notable instances. 



From Mariette Bey came facsimiles of the Egyptian 

 papyri in the Boulak, now the Gizeh, Museum in Cairo. 



Another most interesting collection was received in 1874, 

 being the gift of Major- General Lefroy, Governor of Ber- 

 muda, through his relative, Mrs. Dundas, of Canon Hall, 

 Larbert, New Brunswick. Concerning these Mr. Spofford 

 made the following report : z 



"These original records form a collection of the highest 

 interest and value as materials of personal and political his- 

 tory at a period which must ever remain the most important 

 era in the annals of the United States. One of the volumes 

 contains twelve reports submitted to the lords of Her 

 Majesty's treasury by John Wilmot, Colonel Dundas, and 

 the other commissioners, upon the losses and services of the 

 claimants who were loyal to the British crown during the 

 revolutionary war, and who were afterward indemnified by 

 act of Parliament. Six reports in addition, signed by Colonel 

 Dundas and Mr. J. Pemberton, commissioners, and extend- 

 ing from A. D. 1784 to 1789, are also embraced. Thirty-four 

 of the manuscript volumes contain a large amount and variety 

 of facts and testimony regarding the landed possessions and 



1 " Smithsonian Report," 1868, page 43. 2 Ibidem, 1874, page 25. 



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