British museum. 



GENERAL PROGRESS AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 

 BLOOMSBURY. 



The attendance of visitors at the British Museum in 1927 showed 

 very marked increases from the beginning of the month of March, and 

 the ultimate total, 1,154,566, is higher than in any previous year 

 within recent record, with the exception of the first year of the Wembley 

 Exhibition (1924). The total for weekdays in the month of August 

 (always the most popular month) was higher than that in any single 

 month previously recorded. 



The attendances in the Reading Room and Departmental Students' 

 Rooms also showed increases in almost every instance. The Reading 

 Room figure rose from 172,466 to 182,214, an average of 599 readers 

 daily. The Room was in consequence often inconveniently crowded. 

 The number of books supplied to readers throughout the year (exclusive 

 of those on the open shelves in the Room itself) was 1,475,264. The 

 Newspaper Room had 16,781 readers (an average of 57 daily), and issued 

 61,292 volumes in addition to 1,511 brought from the Repository at 

 Hendon ; while 615 readers were admitted to the Repository to consult 

 files that could not conveniently be sent to the Museum. The total for 

 all Students' Rooms (including the Newspaper Room but excluding 

 the Reading Room) was 56,321, the highest on record. It may be 

 interesting to add that 30,660 MSS. and 7,549 charters were consulted 

 in the Manuscript Students' Room, and 23,186 printed books and 9,676 

 MSS. in the Department of Oriental Printed Books and MSS. 



The lectures by the Official Guide Lecturers were attended by 39,966 

 persons. 



The demands for photographs of objects in the Museum continue to 

 increase. Volumes to the number of 3,991 printed books and MSS. 

 were issued for photography (the number of photographs taken being of 

 course very much larger) ; also 2,057 prints and drawings, and 1,476 

 objects in the Departments of Antiquities. In the course of the year 

 authority was obtained to set up an official staff of photographers, 

 while still continuing to give free access to non-official photographers. 

 Applications for photostat reproductions are increasing rapidly, 

 especially from America. 



The temporary exhibitions given in the galleries during the year 

 included Chinese frescoes and Japanese prints, Sumerian antiquities 

 from the excavations at Ur, Indian paintings, Flemish prints, drawings 

 and illuminated manuscripts, Greek printing types, manuscripts and 

 printed books illustrating the history of agriculture, and drawings, 

 engravings and colour prints by Blake. Recent acquisitions were 

 also placed temporarily on view in most Departments. 



The Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the condition and 

 needs of the national museums and picture galleries commenced its 

 inquiries in the course of the summer. Its appointment has for the 

 present suspended the provision of extended accommodation for the 

 Library, which is urgently needed. 



The total number of objects incorporated in the collections was 

 462,242, an increase of almost 31,000 on the previous year, the total for 

 which was wrongly printed as 405,247 in the previous Report, instead of 

 431,247. 



