GENERAL PROGRESS AT THE MUSEUM. 17 



original scheme of decoration was not followed, the colours 

 which were at first applied to details of the great dome not 

 being repeated, but white paint and gold alone being em- 

 ployed. The result has been a very great improvement of 

 the light in the room. 



The arduous work of removing the books of reference 

 from the Reading Room previous to the renovation, of 

 revising the collection, of weeding out obsolete books and 

 of replacing them by recent works and additions, and of re- 

 filling the shelves after the renovation was completed, was 

 punctually and successfully accomplished by the staff" of the 

 Library. 



The stone-work of the steps of the North- West Staircase, 

 which had become seriously worn, has been renewed. The 

 rooms of the Department of Coins and Medals, the students' 

 room of the Department of Prints and Drawings, the First 

 and Third Egyptian rooms, and the American room have 

 been repainted. The installation of electric fans, to improve 

 the ventilation of the public galleries, has been extended. 



Early in the year excavations were carried out by 

 Mr. D. G. Hogarth, for the Trustees, on a site at Asyut in 

 Upper Egypt, granted for the purpose by the Egyptian Govern- 

 ment. The result has been the acquisition of a large collection 

 of miscellaneous antiquities, including a fair proportion of 

 early examples. They are described below (pp. 51-53). 



Among the more important additions to the several 

 Departments the following may be specially noticed : — 



The Department of Printed Books has added upwards of 

 seventy works to its series of English books printed before 

 1640 ; and has augmented the great collection of Incunabula, 

 or books printed before the year 1501, by forty-five additional 

 examples. Among the English books is an Indulgence of 

 Pope Sixtus IV. printed by William Caxton in 1481. A 

 collection of broadsides and pamphlets relating to the history 

 of Scotland between the years 1644 and 1700 has also been 

 acquired. 



The Department of Manuscripts has made the important 

 purchase of a Latin Psalter, partially glossed in Anglo-Saxon, 

 which was written in the South of England, perhaps at 

 Canterbury, in the latter part of the 10th century ; together 

 with a Lexicon Tironianum, containing the collection of 

 Latin shorthand symbols the invention of which is attributed 

 to M. Tullius Tiro, freedman of Cicero, also of the 10th 

 century. To Mr. C. Fairfax Murray the Department is 

 indebted for the gift of autographs of portions of two of 

 William Morris's poems, "Sigurd the Volsung" and " The 

 Earthly Paradise " ; and to the Rev. Charles Hargrove for 

 the gift of the original correspondence of the poet Shelley 

 with Elizabeth Hitchener in 1811-12. 



0.109. B 



