ACCOUNTS OF BRITISH MUSEUM: 1840. 



the 25th December 1839, about 93,000 titles have been marked in the aforesaid manner; 

 viz., on the books, the titles and two copies of the catalogue. There are, moreover, about 

 10,000 tickets and works marked, the marks of which have not yet been transferred to 

 the catalogues. 'I'he total number of marks so affixed amounts to 392,000. 



The revision of the old titles on slips, for the purpose of using them in the compilation of 

 the new catalogue, renders it necessary that the new press marks should be affixed to each 

 of them. About 168,000 slips have either been re-marked, or the old marks verified. In 

 addition, the slips of most of the titles of books bought during 1838 and 1839 have been 

 marked, amounting to between 9,000 and 10,000, 



In consequence of the determination of the Trustees that the catalogue of the whole 

 library should be amalgamated, revised and printed according to certain rules, it may be 

 proper to state what has been done with respect to the catalogues of the printed books under 

 two distinct heads, old catalogues and new catalogues. 



A considerable number of pamphlets, amounting to more than 1,600, forms part of the 

 collection of King George IV., but were not catalogued when the library was brought to 

 the British Museum ; titles for them had subsequently been written several years ago ; but 

 these titles had not been either revised according to an uniform plan, or transcribed into any 

 catalogue. The Trustees have ordered that these titles should be revised according to the 

 rules laid down by them for the compilation of the new catalogue, and should be transcribed 

 in an interleaved copy of the King's Library catalogue. The revision having been com- 

 pleted, this transcript was begun on the 20th August 1839, and from that day to the 25th 

 of December last, 13,000 full titles, that is, exclusive of cross-references, have been entered 

 as directed. 



During the progress of the new catalogue, it is necessary to keep up the old catalogues 

 of the Museum collection for the daily use of readers to such an extent as may render the 

 bulk of the additions to the library available. All works added to the library are therefore 

 catalogued on slips, and the titles transcribed in the two copies of the old catalogue of the 

 Museum collection as fast as there are means of so doing. The number of titles written on 

 shps amounts to 24,000 from June 1838 to December 1839. As to the titles entered in 

 the catalogues, their number amounts to 29,200, exclusive of the King's Pamphlets. 

 During the period just mentioned, about 5,000 titles have had to be re-entered, and about 

 8,000 re-transcribed on new leaves. It thus appears that the whole of the manuscript entries 

 made amounts to 55,000, 



The three lists of additions for 1836, 1837 and 1838 have been simultaneously in the 

 press since last October, and up to the 25th of December about 2,000 full titles had been 

 printed. The whole number of titles for the three years is 19,000. 



It having been determined that a new catalogue of the whole library should be compiled 

 and printed on a plan which would, as far as possible, insure uniformity, certain rules have 

 been prepared and printed, according to which the work is to be executed. Each rule is 

 illustrated by an example, and all the titles to be included under the head Horace have 

 been written out and printed off as a specimen of the new catalogue. 



The slips on which the titles of the King's, as well as those of the Museum, collections 

 were written, have been incorporated in one alphabetical series. The total amount of the 

 titles so incorporated is about 280,000, to which are to be added those of the King's Pam- 

 phlets, still kept separate for the purpose of being transcribed, those which are kept apart 

 whilst the lists of additions for 1836, 1837 and 1838 are printing, and those totally unen- 

 tered belonging to various years. The grand total is estimated at 330,000 titles on slips,; 

 and the total number of entries in the new catalogue, it is expected, will not fall much 

 short of 400,000. 



Of these titles it seems that about 30,000 have been corrected according to the new rules ; 

 about 4,000 of these are in type, more than one-fourth of which are printed off, whilst the 

 proofs or revises of the remainder have been more or less read and corrected. 



The number of works purchased in the year ending 25th December 1839 may be reckoned 

 at nearly 4,000; of those obtained by the Copyright Act, the number is 2,250; whilst 

 about 250 were presented ; making altogether about 6,500 works. 



In the course of 1839 several long series of acts and transactions of learned societies have 

 been either entirely procured or completed ; literary journals and reviews, collections of 

 foreign laws and complete sets of some of the most celebrated newspapers have been pur- 

 chased. At a sale of old Hebrew books which took place at Paris, several volumes of 

 uncommon rarity were procured. 



During the last year, the Resolutions and other Papers of the States General of Holland 

 from 1524 to 1798, with Indexes, the whole contained in 389 volumes folio, have been pre- 

 sented by His Majesty the King of the Netherlands. 



More than 5,200 of the King's Pamphlets have been bound. Exclusive of these, more 

 than 4,700 volumes of various sizes were newly bound, and more than 4,500 other volumes 

 repaired. 



