ACCOUNTS, Ac, Of THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 11 



(L) List of Books of Reference in the Reading Room.~T\\Q number of alterations and 

 additions in the interleaved copies of this List, made to record the changes in the books 

 of reference by the addition of new works, and the exchange of old for new editions 

 amounts to 444 in each of these copies, and the necessary entries have been made in 

 the Hand-Catalogue. 



The arrangement of books much used by readers in the lower gallery of the Reading 

 Room has been proceeded with, and is now nearly complete. 



Some additions have been made to the Special Collections of Bibliographies in the 

 Reading-Room. 



{j.) Catalogue of English Books printed up to 1640. — The printing of this Catalogue 

 is now nearly completed, and it will be ready for issue to the public in the course of the 

 present year. 



III. Binding. — The number of volumes and pamphlets sent to be bound in the course 

 of the year amounts to 17,911; including 321 volumes of newspapers; and, in con- 

 sequence of the frequent adoption of the plan of binding two or more volumes in one, 

 the number of bound volumes returned is 8,115. In addition to this, 964 pamphlets 

 have been separately bound, and 684 volumes have been repaired. 



^ 'l\vo thousand four hundred and fbi-ty-nine Parcels of Newspapers have been arranged, 

 packed, labelled for reference, and stored away in packages in order to avoid the expense 

 of binding them. 



IV. Reading Room Service. — The number of volumes returned to the General 

 Library from" use in the Reading Room is 520,901 ; to the Royal Library, 12,894 ; 

 to the Greuville Library, 601 ; and to the presses in which books are kept from day 

 to day for the use of readers, 470,789. 



The number of readers during the year has been 152,983, giving an average of 504 daily, 

 and, from the numbers given above, each reader appears to have consulted about 6 volumes 

 per diem, not reckoning those on the shelves in the Reading Room. 



V. Additions. — (a.) 36,046 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 2,692 

 were presented, 10,612 received in pursuance of the laws of English Copyright, 1,474 

 received under the International Copyright Treaties, and 20,350 acquired by purchase. 



(Z>.) 47,605 parts of volumes (or separate numbers of periodical publications, and 

 works in progress) have also been added, of which 1,091 were presented, 25,664 received 

 in pursuance of the laws of English Copyright, 709 received under the International 

 Copyright Treaties, and 20,141 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. : 

 390 published in London and its suburbs, 1,117 in other parts of England and Wales, 

 179 in Scotland, and 150 in Ireland. 58 volumes, belonging to 21 different sets, have 

 been purchased ; and 1,608 numbers have been presented. 



{d.) 6,378 pieces of Music have been acquired, each piece complete in itself, of which 

 3,314 were received by English, and 2,620 by International Copyright, and 444 by 

 purchase. 



(e.) The number of distinct Avorks comprised in the 36,046 volumes and pamphlets, and 

 47,605 parts of volumes already mentioned, amounts, as nearly as can be ascertained, to 

 35,703. Of these, 2,429 have been presented, 11,478 acquirecl by English, and 1,375 by 

 International Copyright, and 20,421 by purchase. 



(/.) 10,655 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, Parliamentary Papers, and other miscellaneous items ; the 

 addition of this number to those already given produces a total of 94,306 articles 

 received in the Department. 



{g.) The number of stamps impressed upon articles received is altogether 313,173. 



Among the more remarkable acquisitions of the year may be noted : — 



A copy of a very rare Caxton : ■' The Chronicles of Englande,'' the first edition, 

 Westminster, 1480. Of this book only four perfect copies are known, two of which are 

 in public libraries. The Museum previously possessed only a fragment of this edition,con- 

 sisting of six leaves, which had been used with other waste, to form the covers of a book 

 formerly in the library of the Grammar School at St. Albans. 



A rare Psalter, printed by Wynkin de Worde : " Psalterium cum antiphonis domini- 

 calibus et ferialibus suis locis insertis. Una cum hymnis Ecclesise Sarum et Eboracen, 

 deserviencibus, per Wynandum de Worde, coniorante in vico nucupato the Flete Streete, 

 in signo solis, anno 1503." The earliest edition of this Psalter known. 



0.63. B 2 A remarkable 



