ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



The number of readers during theyear has been 103,971, giving an average of 356 daily, 

 and, from the numbers above, each reader appears to have consulted on an average 

 13 volumes per diem. 



V. Additions. — (a.) 29,831 volumes and pamphlets have been added to the Library in the 

 course of the year (including books of Music and volumes of Newspapers), of which 1,359 

 were presented, 8,347 received in pursuance of the laws of English Copyright, 339 

 received under the International Copyright Treaties, and 19,786 acquired by purchase. 



(J.) 36,203 parts of volumes (or separate numbers of periodical publications, and of 

 works in progress) have also been added, of which 447 were presented, 24,358 received 

 in pursuance of the laws of English Copyright, 691 received under the International 

 Copyright Treaties, and 10,707 acquired by purchase. 



(c.) The number of sets of Newspapers published in the United Kingdom and received 

 under the provisions of the Copyright Act during the past year has been as follows, 

 viz. : 252 published in London and suburbs, 806 in other parts of England and Wales, 

 134 in Scotland, and 124 in Ireland. 214 volumes, and 502 numbers of Newspapers 

 belonging to 41 different sets, have been purchased, and 25 volumes belonging to 345 

 different sets, have been acquired by donation. 



(c?.) 4,712 pieces of Music have been acquired, each piece complete in itself, of which 

 2,845 were received by English and 986 by International Copyright, and 881 purchased. 

 Of 1,379 portions of musical works in progress, 862 have been received by English and 

 517 by International Copyright. 2,785 works of greater extent than single pieces have 

 also been acquired, comprising 783 by English and 415 by International Copyright, and 

 1,587 by purchase. 



(e.) The number of distinct works comprised in the 29,831 volumes and pamphlets, and 

 36,203 parts of volumes already mentioned, amounted, as nearly as could be ascertained, 

 to 33,744. Of these, 1,070 have been presented, 8,385 acquired by English, and 584 by 

 International Copyright, and 23,705 by purchase. 



39,663 articles have been received in the department, not included in the foregoing 

 enumeration of volumes and parts of volumes, comprising Playbills, single pieces of 

 Music, Broadsides, Songs and Ballads, Parliamentary Papers, and other miscellaneous 

 items ; the addition of this number to those already given produces a total of 105,697 

 articles received in the department. 



(/.) The number of stamps impressed on articles is altogether 216,228. In addition 

 to this, 2,212 extra stamps have been impressed on volumes of various collections for 

 further security. 



The following are some of the most important acquisitions during the year 1873 : — 



(1.) A perfect copy of the edition of the Book of Common Prayer, dated 1603, in folio, 

 commonly called the Hampton Court Book, in which appear for the first time the 

 alterations agreed upon at the Hampton Court Conference in January 1603-4. This 

 would seem to have been unknown at the time of Pickering's reprint, which was made 

 from the folio edition dated 1604. 



(2.) A copy, believed to be unique, of the original edition of Tyndale's " Exposition 

 of the fyrste Epistle of seynt Jhon," printed abroad and issued in September 1531, while 

 Tyndale was at Antwerp. This work was strictly prohibited in England, and in the 

 following year was denounced by Sir Thomas More in these terms : " Then have we fro 

 Tyndale the fyrste pystle of saynte John in suche wyse expowned, that I dare say that 

 blessed apostle rather then his holy wordes were in suehe a sense byleved of all Crysten 

 people, hadde lever his pystle hadde never ben put in wrytynge." The reprint of the 

 work by the Parker Society was made from a later edition. 



(3.) Many early English books have been purchased, including a copy of the very rare 

 first edition of the poetical collection entitled "England's Helicon," 1600; Robert 

 Chester's poem " The Annals of Great Brittaine," otherwise entitled " Love's Martyr," 

 1611; a ])oem by John Weever on the " Life and Death of Sir John Oldcastle," 1601 ; 

 besides 225 black-letter English ballads printed in the reigns of Charles II., James II., 

 and "William III., forming a valuable addition to the Poxburghe, Bagford, and other 

 collections already in the Museum. Several works illustrating English dramatic history 

 and biography have also been acquired, and a large number of English books printed in 

 the 18 th century. 



(4.) An extensive and interesting selection of linguistic books, chiefly from the library 

 of M. Burgaud des Marets, comprising works in the Basque language, in the Patois 

 dialects of France, Spain, and Italy, in Breton and other Celtic languages, 



(5.) Large additions have been made to the collection of Russian books, already 

 extensive, by a careful selection from the library of the late M. Serge Sobolewski of 

 Moscow. This acquisition hais added about 700 works of importance and value. 



(6.) A collection 



