BRITISH MUSEUM 5 



iVlbums containing photographs of the more important objects in the 

 collections have been placed in the Hall for consultation by the public. 



The temporary exhibitions held during the year included those of 

 French Prints and Drawings and of French Illuminated MSS., in 

 connexion with the exhibition of French Art at Burlington House ; 

 memorial exhibitions of Goethe and Sir Walter Scott ; an exhibition of 

 gifts made to the Museum by the Egypt Exploration Society during its 

 existence of fifty years ; one of Japanese Colour Prints acquired during 

 the previous ten years ; and, in co-operation with the India Office, 

 an exhibition to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Warren 

 Hastings. 



The total number of objects added to the collections in 1932 was 

 369,638, a decrease of 28,187 on 1931, and still below the total of 1930, 

 which was 385,020. 



The figures for the several Departments were as follows : — 

 Printed Books : 



Books and Pamphlets 36, 02 1 



Serials and Parts of Volumes 90,789 



Maps and Atlases 1,512 



Music 8,180 



Newspapers (single numbers) 217,433 



Miscellaneous 4,285 



Manuscripts 815 



Oriental Printed Books and MSS 1,506 



Prints and Drawings ... ... ... ... 3,676 



Prints and Drawings (Oriental) ... ... ... 210 



Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities ... ... 958 



Greek and Roman Antiquities 25 



British and Medieval Antiquities 887 



Ceramics and Ethnography 1,962 



Coins and Medals 1,379 



369,638 



The chief changes in the buildings were the opening of the new 

 Newspaper Library at Colindale, and the commencement of a mezzanine 

 floor over the Catalogue Room in the Library, designed to house more 

 conveniently the Title Room, in which are stored the written catalogue 

 slips and the shelf -catalogue, now occupying space in the Iron 

 Library which will in due course be absorbed in the process of recon- 

 struction. 



The Fourth. Fifth and Sixth Egyptian Rooms (the last being that 

 over the new Title Room) and the Babylonian Room were temporarily 

 closed, as a consequence of a scheme by H.M. Office of Works for fire- 

 proofing and where necessary strengthening the upper floors of the 

 Museum building. A representative selection of the exhibited objects 

 thus displaced has been arranged in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery 

 and the Nineveh Gallery. 



Reference may be made to the British Museum Quarterly for full 

 descriptions of the more important accessions, in promoting which, as 

 last year, the National Art -Collections Fund and the Friends of the 

 National Libraries played an active part ; mention in the same 



