s: 



BRITISH MUSEUM 







The figures for the several Departments were 



as follows : — 





Printed Books : 



1936 



1937 



Books and Pamphlets 



40,096 



37,942 



Serials and Parts of Volumes 



82,478 



96,128 



Maps and Atlases 



1,252 



2,021 



Music 



11,390 



11,404 



Newspapers (Single Numbers) 



264,096 



263,402 



Miscellaneous 



3,351 



3,054 



Manuscripts 



261 



302 



Oriental Printed Books and MSS 



5,187 



3,265 



Prints and Drawings 



4,430 



3,335 



Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities 



1,075 



881 



Greek and Roman Antiquities 



120 



88 



British and Medieval Antiquities 



2,047 



1,100 



Oriental Antiquities and Ethnography 



2,785 



4,049 



Coins and Medals 



13,010 



5,478 



431,578 432,449 



FuU description 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. 



The chief acquisitions of the various Departments were : — 



Printed Books. 



By donation : — 

 From the Friends of the National Libraries : Map of Europe, hither 

 Asia and North Africa, by Giampietro Contarini, Venice, 1564, and 

 G. Robertson, A Genealogical Account of the Principal Families in 

 Ayrshire, three volumes and supplement, Irvine, 1823-27. 



From Dr. S. J. Madge : a set of fifteen volumes in typescript 

 relating to the Surveys and Sales of Crown Lands, 1649-60. 



From Sir Charles Sherrmgton, O.M. : a further gift of early books, 

 including the following : — 



Horace, De arte poetica, J. Badius, Paris, 1503. 



Horace, Sermones et epistole, J. Philippe for J. Granjon, Paris, 1506. 



Vergil, Bucohca cum commento, G. Soquand, Paris, 1527. 



Ovid, Fastorum libri cum annotationibus, G. Soquand, Paris, 1528. 



By purchase : — 



By far the most important acquisition of the year has been the 

 Ashley Library, a collection, formed by the late Mr. T. J. Wise, of original 

 editions (and manuscripts) of the Enghsh poets, many very rare and 

 some unique, and all in perfect condition. This famous collection 

 contains both printed books and manuscripts, but is to be kept together, 

 and in a special room, in cases presented by Mrs. Wise. 



