BRITISH MUSEUM 9 



and one of Miss Katharine Adams (given by Miss Walker in memory 

 of Sir Emery Walker). 



Manuscripts. 



The Codex Sinaiticus, the famous fourth century Greek manuscript 

 of the Bible, one of the most important acquisitions ever made by the 

 Trustees, passed into the custody ofthe British Museum on 27th Decem- 

 ber, but the purchase was not completed and the manuscript was not 

 incorporated in the collections during the year. Towards the purchase 

 price of £100,000, the Trustees contributed £7,000 from their own 

 funds and the Government advanced the remaining £93,000, the 

 Trustees undertaking to raise at least £50,000 towards repayment of 

 this sum. The publicity given to the purchase aroused very great 

 interest, and contributions began to pour in, although the appeal of 

 the Trustees was not issued until after the close of the year. 



Of the medieval MSS. acquired during the year, the most important 

 was an eighth century copj^ of works of St. Augustine, together with 

 the unique MS. of Commodianus " Carmen Apologeticum," probably 

 from Nonantola ; other important accessions were : a twelfth century 

 Greek MS. ; the thirteenth century Muchelney Breviary, presented 

 anonymously in memory of the late owner, Mr. J. Meade Falkner ; 

 a fifteenth century York Missal, also from the Meade Falkner collec- 

 tion ; and a fourteenth century Ritual and a fifteenth century Sarum 

 Hours, both presented by Sir George Warner. 



Among modern works and letters the most notable was the George 

 Smith Memorial Bequest, by the late Mrs. Elizabeth Smith (whose 

 surviving children agreed to waive their life-interest), consisting of 

 the holograph MSS. of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Shirley, and 

 Villette, a volume of Emily Bronte's poems, Mrs. Browning's Sonnets 

 from the Portuguese, Browning's The Ring and the Book and Thackeray's 

 The Wolves and the Lamb. 



Among collections of papers and historical documents the chief 

 additions were : the remaining Paston Letters (fifteenth century) not 

 already in the Museum or the Bodleian ; these represent the first two 

 volumes printed by Sir John Fenn in 1787 and were presented by him 

 to King George III ; they have been purchased with the help of the 

 Friends of the National Libraries ; Nelson's Log Book, May-October 

 1805, presented by Lord Wakefield through the Prime Minister ; and 

 eight letters from Talleyrand to Napoleon I, presented by the Earl 

 of Rosebery in memory of his father's forty years as a Trustee of the 

 British Museum. 



A fine collection of forty-two Yorkshire charters, twelfth and 

 thirteenth centuries, was acquired. 



Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts. 



The chief acquisitions were : an Arabic MS., Al-Amali, copied 

 A.H. 1140 ; sixty-six Chinese works, with a facsimile of the Diary 

 of Tseng Kuo-Fan, presented by Mrs. Wakefield ; Persian and Turkish 

 MSS. presented by an anonymous donor who has made similar gifts 

 for many years ; and a collection of Tibetan printed books and MSS., 

 presented by Sir Charles Bell, K.C.M.G. 



