12 ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Pull descriptions have been written of Or. 1491-1565 for the Arabic Catalogue. 



The final revision of the Persian Catalogue has been carried on through the Classes 

 headed " Parsism, Hinduism, General History, History of Creeds, of the Prophets, of 

 Persia, of Turkey," and through a portion of the class entitled " General History of 

 India." 



Twenty-five sheets (signed E — F F) of the same catalogue have been printed. 



The sheets signed lJU-3 E, and the Preface, of the Ethiopic Catalogue have been 

 printed, and the work thus completed has been published. 



A Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts has been prepared and is now complete in 

 manuscript. 



A descriptive List of the Manuscripts acquired in 1876 has been transcribed for the use 

 of the readers. 



1 1 . — A cquisitions. 



The number of Manuscripts added to the Oriental Collection during the year is 174, 

 all of which have been obtained by purchase, as follows : — 



Arabic ---------80 



Hebrew -- 49 



Persian 24 



Samaritan --------8 



Syriac ---------3 



Turkish ___-_---2 



Coptic ---------] 



Zend 1 



Pehlevi- - - * 1 



Sanscrit _------- 1 



Pali 1 



Hindi 1 



Chinese _-------! 



Japanese __------ 1 



Total - - - 174 



First in importance among the above purchases are two collections of great value, those 

 of Major General Sir H. C. Eawlinson, K.C.B., and of Mr. M. W. Shapira, of Jerusalem. 

 The former which was formed by that eminent Orientalist in Persia and Mesopotamia 

 between the years 1836 and 1854, consists of 104 volumes, viz., 75 Arabic, 23 Persian, 

 2 Turkish 1 Pehlevi, and 3 Syriac. The following are some of the most remarkable : 



" Al-Athar al-Bakiyah," the rare and important work of Abul-Eihan al-Blrunl (died 

 A.H. 430), on the a;ras and divisions of time adopted by various nations; Arabic. Copied 

 from an old MS., in Teheran. , ^, ^ .,,,,, , 



" Kitab al-MaTirif," a cyclopaedia of historical knowledge, by Ibn Kutaibah (died 

 A.H. 276), with mar^inal additions from Al-Bad' wal-Tarikh by Abu Zaid al-Balkhi 

 (died a.h'. 340), and" the Nuzhat al-Majalis of 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saffuri ; Arabic. 



A.D. 1310. , . , , , , 



" Al-'Ara'is," a larce collection of traditions relating to the prophets and other per- 



sonacres mentioned in the Corau ; by al-Tha'labi (died a.h. 427); Arabic;, a.d. 1119. 

 " Tarikh al-Umam," a work on ancient history, by Hamzah Ispaham (died about A.H. 



?,50'); Arabic, a.d. 1678. ^ r ^r-^ - , tt -.t , 



" Mu'jam al-Buldan," the great geographical dictionary of Yakut^ al-Hamawi (died 



A.H. 626), complete in six volumes, transcribed from different early copies. Arabic. 

 "Futuh al-Sham," or Conquest of Syria, a work ascribed to al-Wakidi, in two old 



copies, one of which is dated A.D. 1412. Arabic. ,i-v/vt 



" Tarlhh Madinat al-Salam," the history of Baghdad, by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (died 



A.H. 463), vol. I., beautifully written with the vowel-points ; 14th century. Arabic. 



Theoloo-i» Libri xiv, a work ascribed to Aristotle (not extant in Greek), translated 

 into Arabic by Ibn Na'imah, and revised by Ya'kSb al-Kindi (died a.h. 250). Arabic: 



A.D. 1665. , _ , T^ „ , , . _ , , 



" TSrlkh al-Yamlni," a history of Sultan Mahmud Ben Subuktigin, by al- Utbi 



(died about A.H. 420). Arabic : X.V».\2,QQ. _ 



"Al-Kamil," the great chronicle of Ibn al-Athir (died a.h. 630). Ihree volumes, 

 containing the early portion of the work down to a.h. 199. _ Aralnc. 



" MurQj al-Dhahab," the historical work of al-Mas'udi (died A.H. 345), m five 

 volumes, one of which, the fourth, is a fine specimen of Arabian writing of the 13th 

 century. Arabic. 



"Kitab al-Baitarah," a treatise on the horse, with drawings, a work of the third century 

 oftheHIjrah. Arabic : X.D. \22Z. 



The Geography of Ibn Sa'id, of Granada (died a.h. 673). Arabic ; 15th century. 



'^ ^ ■' ♦' Mahasin 



