1 8 ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, &C. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



The first consists of 352 Manuscripts, chiefly Persian and Arabic, and contains a rich 

 store of new matter bearing on Eastern, especially Indian, history, as well as on Arabic 

 and Persian literature. It was selected from a collection of about 1,100 volumes formed 

 in India, chiefly at the time of the Mutiny, by the late Colonel George William Hamilton, 

 Commissioner of Delhi, and including a large number of books from the Royal Library at 

 Lucknow. 



The second, which is due to the Abyssinian War, has been presented by the Secretary 

 of State for India. It comprises 339 volumes, handsomely written on vellum, most of 

 them of considerable size, selected from a store of books about 1,000 in number, captured 

 at Magdala, where they had been brought together by King Theodore as an endowment 

 for the church which he proposed building there. 



Out of 16 volumes, originally belonging to the same collection, which had been set 

 apart, as most remarkable in point of art, for presentation to Her Majesty, six have been 

 retained for the Royal Library, and the remaining ten have been graciously returned to 

 the Museum, thus bringing up the total number of what may be called the Magdala Col- 

 lection to 349 volumes. 



This unequalled collection embraces the whole range of ^thiopic literature, all 

 branches of which, biblical, liturgical, patristic, homiletic, legendary and historical, are 

 here most fully represented. It forms at the same time a rich and curious series of 

 specimens of Abyssinian caligraphy and miniature painting, ranging from the 15th to the 

 present century. 



In addition to the above Collections, the following acquisitions deserve to be specially 

 mentioned : — 



Twenty-one Coptic Manuscripts, of the biblical and liturgical class, several of whicb 

 belong to the 13th and 14th centuries; from the Collection of the late Dean Henry 

 Tattam. 



Four Armenian Manuscripts, one of which, containing the four Gospels with minia- 

 tures, is dated in the year of the Armenians 607 (A.D. 1159). 



Fuiuli e AHham and Tar'ikh e Baihaki, two important historical works in Persian, from 

 the Collection of Sir William Ouseley. 



Al-Mntrib, notices on the Arab poets of Spain, by Ibn Dihyah. Written A.H. 649 

 (A.D. 1251). 



Rashi's commentary on the section of the Talmud called Baba Metsi'a. Written 

 A.D. 1192, on paper. 



Prajna-Paramita and Tathagata-Guhyaka, two of the sacred books of the Buddhists, 

 in the Sanscrit language and Nepaulese character. Presented by Dr. William Wright. 



Saif-ul-Muluk, a tale in Hindustani verse, Dakhni dialect, with miniatures, about 200 

 in number, representing varied scenes of Indian life (a.d. 1746). 



Ch. Rieu. 



Department of Oriental Antiquities. 

 I. — Arrangement. 



In the Egyptian division several recesses in the Northern Egyptian Gallery have 

 been fitted up and glazed for the reception of objects. 



Three Egyptian figures in the galleries have been mounted on granite pedestals, and 

 one small Egyptian statue has been placed under a glass case for better preservation. 



Six Egyptian tablets have been framed and glazed, and six other objects mounted on 

 stone pedestals ; 48 Egyptian objects have been mounted, and nine others repaired. 



49 pieces of Egyptian papyri have been arranged, the fragments joined, and mounted 

 and glazed in portfolios. 



17 papyri from the Hay Collection have been unrolled and mounted, and five Egyptian 

 leather rolls, with magical inscriptions in the Coptic language, have been unrolled. 



Temporary cases have been placed in the Northern Egyj)tian Gallery and Second 

 Egyptian Room for the exhibition of objects, 



200 Egyptian objects have been catalogvied. 



Five papyri have been catalogued. 



T^\\e facsimiles of Egyptian inscriptions in the Hieratic and Demotic papyri have been 

 prepared for publication, the descriptive text finally revised, and the whole ready for 

 issue and publication. 



A considerable collection, purchased of Mr. Hay, has been received and unpacked, 

 and a collection of Egyptian casts and drawings examined. 



In the Assyrian division progress has been made in the glazing of the Assyrian sculp- 

 tures displayed in the basement, and the most important and delicate slabs have been 

 protected by glass ; the reliefs on the west side and those of the east side of the wall of 

 the inner room have been completely glazed. 



The table cases of smaller Assyrian objects exhibited in the basement have been re- 

 arranged, and an improved classification of their contents has been made. 



Casts of Hebrew inscriptions from Palestine have been placed on the west side of the 

 Assyrian basement. 



13 Assyrian inscriptions have been mounted, and two of them glazed for exhibition. 



Five Assyrian inscriptions have been fixed on the east wall of the Kouyunjik Gallery. 



The 



