ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, &C. OF THE BKITISH MUSEUM. 13 



IV. Reading Room Service. — 1. The number of books returned to the shelves of the 

 General Library from the Readino; Room was 210,131 ; to those of the Royal Library, 

 9,342 ; to those of the Grenville Library, 1,009 ; and to the closets in which books are kept 

 day by day for the use of Readers, 143,312. Adding the estimated number of volumes 

 returned to the shelves of the Reading Room, about 814,191, the whole amounted to 

 1,177,985, or 4,034 per day, for the 292 days during which the room was open. 



2. The number of Readers was 99,857, giving an average of 342 per day ; and from the 

 statement above, each Reader appears to have consulted nearly 12 books daily. 



V. Additions. — 1, The number of volumes added to the Library in the twelvemonth 

 (including books of Music, Atlases of Maps, and volumes of Newspapers) amounted to 

 34,160, of which 1,563 were presented, 5,786 were received in pursuance of the laws 

 of English Copyright, 265 were received under the International Copyright Treaties, and 

 26,546 were acquired by purchase. 



2. The number of parts of volumes, {i.e. separate numbers of periodical publications, 

 and of serial works in progress,) amounted to 31,917, of which 403 weie presented, 

 17,525 were received in pursuance of the laws of English Copyright, 737 were received 

 under the International Copyright Treaties, and 13,252 were acquired by purchase. 



The number of sets of Newspapers received from the Inland Revenue Offices of 

 the United Kingdom was 1,111. Of these 138 were published in Scotland, 143 in Ireland, 

 214 in London, and 616 in the rest of England. 12 sets of Newspapers were presented, 

 and 22 purchased, 



3. The Maps, Charts, and Plans amounted to 1,269, of which 258 were presented, 

 274 acquired by English Copyrigiit, and 737 purchased. They extended to 3,391 sheets. 

 Of Atlases, 37 were complete, 9 of which were acquired by copyright, and 28 purchased; 

 and there were 19 parts of Atlases, all acquired by copyright. 



4. The number of pieces of Music, each piece complete in itself, was 2,680, of which 

 2,072 were received by English Copyright, 555 by International Copyright, and 53 were 

 purchased. Of parts and numbers of works in progress 690 were received by English 

 Copyright, 227 by International Copyright. 315 works of Music (jf greater extent than 

 pieces were added, of which 63 were acquired by English Copyright, 50 by International 

 Copyright, and 202 by purchase. 



5. The number of complete works comprised in the 34,160 volumes, and 31,917 parts of 

 volumes already mentioned, amounted, as nearly as could be ascertained, to 33,031. Of 

 these 896 were presented, 8,575 were acquired by English Copyright, and 768 by Inter- 

 national Copyright, and 22,992 by purchase. 



The number of articles received in the department, not included in the foregoing 

 enumeration of volumes and parts of volumes, comprising single sheets of Maps, single 

 sheets of Letterpress, and other miscellaneous pieces, amounted to 9,379, the addition of 

 vyhich to the suras already given produces a total of 75,456 articles received in the 

 department. 



6. A stamp having to be impressed on every article, and more than one on several the 

 number of stamps so impressed was 301,865. 



Thomas Watts. 



Department of Manuscripts. 



1. The Catalogue of Additions to the General and Egerton Collections for the years 

 1851-1853 has been sent to press and revised. The entire Catalogue for the years 1848- 

 1853 is now printed off, and an Index is in preparation. 



2. Reduced descriptions of Additional MSS. 20,189 to 20,240 have been prepared for a 

 Catalogue of Additions for the year 1854; and first descriptions drawn up of Additional 

 MSS. 20,186-20,188, 21,507-21,519 and 21,738-22,130, acquired in the years 1856, 1857. 



3. Alphabetical Indexes of writers have been made to the original Letters in Additional 

 MSS. 21,508, 21,509, 21,512, 21,513, 21,514, 21,515, and 21,519. 



4. The preparation of the Catalogue in detail of the Birch MSS. has been continued 

 from Additional MS. 4,275 to 4,278, and from 4,394 to 4,469. 



5. The Catalogue of Icelandic MSS. has been continued for Additional MSS. 11,157 to 

 11,246, 11,250, 24,969 to 24,973, and Egerton MSS. 642, 643; and is now complete in 

 manuscript. 



6. The Catalogue of Arabic MSS., with Appendices, from sheet 8 K. to 8 S., has been 

 printed off, and an Index prepared. 



7. The Persian MSS., Additional 25,786*, 25,787* 25,863-25,865, 26,282-26,336, 

 27,241, 27,243, 27,245, 27,254-27,261, 27,263, 27,265-27,271, 27,275, 27,312-27,319; 



249- C 2 the 



