ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 1^ 



A collection of Madrigals by various composers, arranged in score by Edmund 

 Thomas Warren. Paper; 19th century. In two volumes. 



Vai'Ious single volumes of musical compositions by Paganini, Graaf, J. G. Mliller, 

 Kiepel. F. S. von Wartensee, Binder, Graun, and other composers of the 18th and 

 19th centuries. 



E. Maunde Thompson. 



Department of Oriental Manuscripts. 

 I. — Arrangement and Cataloguing. 



The latter part of the Manuscripts acquired in 1878, viz.. Or. 1897-2090, and all but 

 the latest acquisitions of the year 1879, viz.. Or. 2091-2201, have been described for the 

 List of Oriental MSS. 



The same List has been trarscribed for the use of the Reading Room from Or. 1595 

 to Or. 1891. 



The Manuscripts acquired in 1878 have been entered into the Oriental Register, and 

 the classed Oriental Inventory. 



Detailed descriptions of 106 Manuscripts have been prepared for the Persian and 

 Arabic Catalogues. 



The revision and transcription for press of the Persian Catalogue have been carried on 

 from the section entitled " Lives of Poets," to the beginning of the class of " Poetry." 



Eleven sheets completing the first volume of the same catalogue have been carried 

 through the press, and the volume has been published. 



The first eleven sheets of the second volume of the same catalogue, signed B-M, have 

 been passed through the press. 



One hundred and sixty-four Manuscripts have been folio'd, bound, stamped, and placed 

 on the shelves. 



II. — Acquisitions. 



The number of Manuscripts added during the year to the Oriental Collection amounts 

 to 133, viz., 11 by donation, and 122 by purchase, as follows : — 



Sanscrit and Pracrit - - - - - 74 



Hebrew ----_-_- 16 



Arabic - - --- - - - -12 



Persian - - -- - - - - -11 



Pali-Burmese -- - - - _ - 8 



Hindustani --------3 



Hindi 2 



Chinese .______-2 



Japanese ------ -1 



Ethiopic -__-__-- 1 



Turkish --.-.._ \ 



Uriyah --------.1 



Picture-writing ------- i 



Total - - - 133 



The most important purchase, in point of numbers, consists of 63 volumes, from the 

 library of the late Y^ogapradhana Ratnavijaya Suri, a Jaiua priest, of Ahmedabad, 

 Gujrat. With the exception of a few, belonging to the general Sanscrit literature, they 

 all contain Jaina works, written in Sanscrit and in Pracrit, and form tlie largest store of 

 writings of that sect yet brought to Europe. Their dates range from the 15th to the 

 18th century. 



The Sanscrit collection has also received a valuable addition from Nepaul, namely, eight 

 manuscripts, which have been procured by Dr. D. Wright, late surgeon to the British 

 Mission in Khatmandoo, through the Munshi attached to the same mission. Tliey con- 

 tain Buddhistic Avorks in Sanscrit, which are only to be found in Nepaul. The three 

 earliest, viz., the Vidyavali, Pragyaparamita, and Jyotishsastra, have dates corresponding 

 to a.d. 1227, 1267, and 1320. 



Fourteen Hebrew MSS. have been selected for purchase out of a large number, collected 

 by Mr. Shapira, of Jerusalem, in the city of Sanaa, Yemen, and some neighbouring 

 Jewish settlements. They include two fine folio volumes of the 15th century, containing 

 the Prophets, with Targum and Massora, the former written with the Babylonian or 

 superlinear punctuation ; also, Sadia's Arabic commentary to Isaiah ; a manuscript of 



207— Sess. 2. c 3 the 



