24 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



received by Colonial Copyright ; 256 sets, comprising 38,776 

 single numbers of colonial and foreign newspapers, have been 

 presented ; and 82 sets, comprising 18 volumes and 14,510 single 

 numbers of current colonial and foreign newspapers, have been 

 purchased. 



Miscellaneous. — 4,214 articles not included in the foregoing 

 paragraphs have been received in the Department. These 

 consist of Parliamentary Papers, single sheets, and other 

 miscellaneous items. 



The total number of articles enumerated above, as having 

 been received in the Department during the year, exclusive 

 of newspapers, is 115,822. 



Acquisitions of Special Interest. — During the course of the 

 year 1911 the Library has been enriched by two acquisitions 

 of the highest importance and value. These are : — 



I. The Royal Library of Music from Buckingham Palace. — 

 His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to deposit 

 on loan at the British Museum the Royal Musical Library, 

 consisting of about 1,000 Manuscripts and 3.000 printed books 

 and musical pieces, hitherto preserved in Buckingham Palace. 



As soon as the King Edward Wing is completed, this 

 magnificent collection will be housed in a room specially fitted 

 for the purpose, and the contents will be available to readers 

 on the same conditions as those which now apply to the more 

 valuable works in the Departments of Manuscripts and Printed 

 Books, 



Among the many treasures contained in this collection are 

 the following : — 



Eighty-one volumes of Manuscript Music in the handwriting 

 of Handel. 



Of these, thirty-two volumes consist of Operas, twenty-one 

 of Oratorios, twelve of miscellaneous sacred music, eleven of 

 Cantatas and Sketches, and five of instrumental music. 



These holograph volumes are supplemented by seventeen 

 volumes of copies by John Christopher Smith, Handel's 

 amanuensis, and twenty- four volumes, partly in the hand- 

 writing of Smith and partly in that of another copyist. 



A manuscript volume written by John Baldwine, towards 

 the close of the sixteenth century, containing compositions 

 by English musicians of the sixteenth century including 

 Henry VlII. 



Two manuscript " Virginal Books," one by Benjamin Cosin, 

 written in the earlier years of the seventeenth century ; the 

 other b}' William Forster, dated 1624. 



A manuscript volume of •' Aires and Phantasies," by 

 Giovanni Coperario (^'n-^^'ice John Cooper), which belonged to 

 Charles I. 



