J 2 ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Letters of Sir Henry Bishop and W. Thomas MoncriefF, on the subject of ancient 

 English melodies. 



Twenty-four symphonies and sonatas by Joseph Haydn, corrected by his own 

 hand ; and Haydn's account with his publisher. 



A thick volume of Beethoven's autograph sketches of musical compositions ; and 

 the autograph score of Schubert's opera, " Der Hausliche Krieg." 



Photographic facsimilies of ancient Greek biblical manuscripts. Presented by the 

 Rev. J. W. Burgon, now Dean of Onchester. 



Edward A. Bond. 



Depabtment of Oriental Manuscripts. 



I, — Arrangement and Cataloguing. 



The Manuscripts acquired in the course of the year have been folio'd, labelled, and 

 bound. A descriptive list of them has been drawn up and transcribed for the use of the 

 Keading Room. 



Pull descriptions have been prepared of 491 Manuscripts for the Persian Catalogue, 

 and of 2 Manuscripts for the Arabic Catalogue. 



The Descriptions of the Persian Manuscripts belonging to the class of Poetry have 

 been arranged in chronological order. 



The Ethiopic Catalogue has been completed, revised for publication, and the first four 

 sheets have been passed through the press. 



A Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts is in course of preparation. 



II. — Acquisitions. 



Eighty Manuscripts have been added to the Oriental Collection during the year ; 

 viz., 71 by purchase. and nine by donation, as follows : — • 



Arabic ---------36 



Persian ---------15 



Coptic ----12 



Turkish - - - -- - - - 4 



Hebrew -_---___3 



Japanese --------3 



Chinese --------2 



Samaritan __-----_i 



Ethiopic ________ 1 



Pali -- 1 



Cingalese __------l 



Tamul --------- 1 



Total - - - 80 



The most important purchase has been that of the Oriental Collection formed in Egypt 

 and Persia by the Honourable Sir Charles Alexander Murray, late General Consul in 

 Egypt, and Her Majesty's Minister at the Shah's Court. It consists of 66 volumes 

 most of which are remarkable for age, rarity, or beauty of execution. 



The following are some of the most valuable : 



The Twelve Minor Prophets and Daniel, in Coptic and Arabic, a.d. 1373. From 

 the Convent of S. Anthony, in the Desert of Arabah. 



The four Gospels, Coptic and Arabic; a.d. 1208. Folio. 



The Epistles of S. Paul, Coptic and Arabic; A.D. 1415. Quarto. 



The Canons of the Coptic Church, written on vellum in a fine uncial character of the 

 10th century. Coptic. Folio. 



Lectionary of the Coptic Church. Coptic and Arabic. 1346. Folio. 



Prophets, Apocrypha, Proverbs, etc., in Arabic, a.d. 1585. Folio. 



The Four Gospels in Arabic ; with illuminated headings, a.d. 1333. Quarto. 



The Epistles and Acts in ^raJic; 14th century. Quarto. 



A Commentary on Genesis in Arabic: A.D. 1386. Quarto. 



A Treatise on Canon Law by Ibn al-Assal. Arabic. A.D. 1355. Quarto. 



The History of the Jews by Joseph Ben Gorion. Arabic; 15th century. Quarto. 



A portion of the Coran in gold letter, with illuminated headings ; 15th century. 

 Quarto. 



Lives 



