BRITISH MUSEUM 



usual ; the 1 ,000th anniversary of the Persian poet Firdausi was com- 

 memorated by an exhibition of Persian Manuscripts ; and the centenary 

 of the death of the Hungarian scholar, Csoma de Koros, by an exhibition 

 of appropriate books and manuscripts. 



Representation at Congresses. 



Dr. Brooke, whose death later in the year was a great loss to the 

 Museum, represented the Trustees at a session of the International 

 Committee of Historical Sciences in Paris ; Mr. Esdaile attended meet- 

 ings of the International Library Committee in Madrid, a,nd Dr. Bell, 

 while on a visit to the U.S.A. as a guest of the University of Michigan, 

 attended the Annual Conference of the American Library Association 

 at Montreal. Mr. T. D. Kendrick attended a Nordic Thing at Bremen. 

 Mr. L. C. Wharton represented the Museum at the International Slav 

 Congress at Warsaw ; Mr. R. Hinks was representative of Britain and of 

 the British Museum at the Byzantine Congress at Sofia. Dr. Plender- 

 leith visited the International Conference of Experts on Museum 

 Planning at Madrid. Mr. Robin Flower presented an address from the 

 Trustees at the celebration in Brussels of the Commission Royale 

 d'Histoire de Belgique. 



At the invitation of the Foreign OfiQce, the British Museum has 

 undertaken the organization of representation of this country at inter- 

 national congresses connected with humanistic studies. 



Acquisitions. 



The total number of objects added to the collections in 1934 was 

 381,569, fewer by 27,810 than in 1933. 



The figures for the several Departments were as follows : — 

 Printed Books : 



Books and Pamphlets 



Serials and Parts of Volumes 



Maps and Atlases 



Music 



Newspapers (single numbers) 



Miscellaneous 



Manuscripts 



Oriental Printed Books and MSS. ... 



Prints and Drawings 



Egyptian and Assjrrian Antiquities 

 Greek and Roman Antiquities 

 British and Medieval Antiquities . . . 

 Oriental Antiquities and Ethnography 



Series of objects 



Coins and Medals 



1933 



1934 



36,693 



37,843 



69,484 



77,925 



1,497 



1,347 



8,288 



8,934 



278,275 



243,038 



2,878 



3,656 



497 



218 



1,927 



2,350 



2,244 



1,712 



967 



1,104 



105 



73 



715 



528 



1,699 



1,347 



51 



53 



4,059 



1,441 



409,379 



381,569 



Full descriptions of the more important objects acquired during the 

 year may be found as usual in the British Museum Quarterly. The 

 National Art-Collections Fund, the Friends of the National Libraries, 

 the Contemporary Art Society, and the Christy Trustees have again 

 added to the collections of the Museum. 



