ACCOUNTS, &C. OF BRITISH MUSEUM. 11 



year, 1514, he purchased a large paper copy, because it was the more correct of the 

 two. 



It was the merit of the work, the elegance of the volume, the " genuine" condition of the 

 copy, &c., which together determined Mr. Grenville to purchase books printed on vellum, of 

 which he collected nearly a hundred. He paid a very large sum for a copy of the Furioso 

 of 1532, not because it was '' on ugly vellum, " as he very properly designated it, but because, 

 knowing the importance of such an edition of such a work, and never having succeeded in 

 procuring it on paper, he would rather have it on expensive terms and "ugly vellum" than 

 not at all. 



By the bequest of Mr. Grenville's library, the collection of books printed on vellum now 

 at the Museum, and comprising those formerly presented by George IT., George III., and 

 Mr. Cracherode, is believed to surpass that of any other national library, except the King's 

 Library at Paris, of which Van Praet justly speaks with pride, and all foreign competent 

 and intelligent judges with envy and admiration. Injustice to the Grenville Library, the 

 list of all its vellum books ought to be here inserted. As this cannot be done, some only of 

 the most remarkable shall be mentioned. These are — the Greek Anthology of 1494 : the 

 Book of Hawking of Juliana Berners of 1490 : the first edition of the Bible, known as the 

 " Mazarine Bible, " printed at Mentz about 1454: the Aldine Dante of 1502: the first 

 Rationale of Durandus of 1459 : the first edition of Fisher on the Psalms, of 1508 : the 

 Aldine Horace, Juvenal, Martial and Petrarca, of 1501 : the Livy of 1469: the Primer of 

 Salisbury, printed at Paris in 1531 : the Psalter of 1457, which supplies the place of the 

 one now at Windsor, which belonged to the Royal Collection before it was transferred to 

 the British Museum : the Sforziada, by Simoneta, of 1490, a most splendid volume even in so 

 splendid a library: the Theuerdank of 1517: the Aulus Gellius and the Vitravius of 

 Giunta, printed in 1515, &c. &:c. Of this identical copy of Vitruvius, formerly Mr. Dent's, 

 the author of the Bibliographical Decameron wrote, " Let the enthusiastic admirers of a 

 " genuine vellum Junta — of the amplest size and in spotless condition — resort to the choice 

 " cabinet of M r. Dent for such a copy of this edition of Vitmvius and Frontinus." The 

 Aulus Gellius is in its original state, exactly as it was when presented to Lorenzo de'Mediei, 

 afterwards Duke of Urbino, to whom the edition was dedicated. 



Not the least remarkable circumstance connected with this collection is the uniformly fine 

 condition and splendid binding of every one of its volumes. In this respect it surpasses 

 every other private collection of equal extent. Volumes from the De Thou, the Grolier and 

 such other collections were of course preserved untouched ; the original binding, when either 

 good or not beyond the skill of the best workmen to repair, was also retained ; in all other 

 cases, if not worthy of the rest of the volumes on the shelves of this library, the binding was 

 immediately removed, and another in a handsome and generally a magnificent style, suitable 

 to the book, was substituted and stamped with the Grenville arras. 



During his lifetime, Mr. Grenville's library was most liberally rendered accessible to any 

 person, however humlale his condition in life, who could show the least cause for asking the 

 loan of any of his precious volumes. I3y bequeathing the whole to his country, M r. Gren- 

 ville has secured to literary men, even after his death, that assistance, so far as relates to the 

 use of his books, which he so generously bestowed on them in every way during his long and 

 dignified career, — the career of a man of high birth, distinguished for uniting to a powerful 

 and cultivated intellect a warm and benevolent heart. 



Department of Natural History. 

 Mineralogicat Branch. 



Since the last Annual Report, no labour has been spared in this branch of tJie Department, 

 as regards the improvement and arrangement of most of the Collections belonging to it. 



Deficiency of room continues to impede the progress of systematic arrangement; but 

 every care has been taken so to place unarranged objects, especially such as were latterly 

 acquired by purchase and donation, in such a manner as to be easy of access and readily 

 found when wanted, by reference to the Register. 



The Register has been regularly continued. The ninth volume has since been concluded 

 •with No. 21,000, and an Index to it completed. 



The tenth volume, since taken up at that number, comes down to No. 21,548 ; the total 

 number of entries in Volumes IX., and X., amounting (inclusive of various purchases made 

 prior to the present year) to upwards of 2,600. 



Owing to the late rapid decrease in number of its desiderata (at least of such as there 

 were opportunities of supplying), the general Oryctognostic Collection has received fewer 

 additions since the last Annual Report than has been the case during some of the preceding- 

 years ; nevertheless, upwards of 300 objects, including many new minerals, together with 

 others, of which inferior specimens only were extant in the Collection, have been added to 

 the Catalogue since that period, and several more are forthwith expected to arrive from the 

 continent. The suite of Meteorites, which presents 04 different localities of descent, has 

 been increased by only a few, the most interesting of which are the mass of Meteoric Iron 

 from Carthage, Tenessee, discovered in 1845, and two of the Meteoric Stones which fell, the 

 one at Bishopville, South Carolina, in February, and the other in the Louis County of the new 

 State of Towa, N. A., in March of the present year. Also, a series of varieties of Amber, 



139. / B 2 from 



