l8 ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Nihayat al-Bayan, a commentary upon the Coran by al-Mu'a:^ al-Mausili (died A.H. 

 630) ; the first vol., A.H. 856 (a.d. 1456). 



A copy of the Shahnamah of Firdausi, in which several of the later Namahs, such as the 

 Gershasp, Sam, Feramurz, Banugeshasp, and Bahman-Namah, are inserted as episodes in 

 the original text. 



The Khamsah or five poems of Nizami^ with miniatures and painted covei's ; a.h. 859 

 (a.d. 1455). 



Timur Namah by Hatifi, with miniatures; A.H. 945 (a.d. 1538). 



Two volumes in Sindi, containing poems by Shah Abdul-LatTf and religious Musulman 

 treatises. 



The Haggada Pesach, or liturgy of Passover, in a Spanish hand of the I4th century, 

 with grotesque initials and a seiies of miniatures represeating Biblical subjects. 



The Dhanimacakkappavattana and Culakammavibhanga-Sutta, two sacred books of the 

 Buddhists, engraved on copper plates. 



A MS. written on wooden tablets in the language and writing of the Chinese Shans. 



The first half of the Coran in the character of Western Africa, from Sennei;ambia ; 

 presented by Gen. J. H. Lefroy. 



Ferhad u Shirin, a poem by Vahshi, with miniatures : presented by F. A. S. Stern, 

 Esq. 



The number of Oriental MSS. consulted during the year was 1,818, viz., 1,056 in the 

 Students' Room and 762 in the Reading Room. 



The number of visits paid by readers for the purpose of consulting Oriental MSS. was 

 680. 



Ch. Rieu. 



Department of Prints and Deaavikgs. 



The shelf-list or general inventory of the contents of the Department, t)egun in 1884, 

 was completed in the summer of 1885. 



The Department was closed to students and visitors from August 10 to October 24, 

 1885, and during this interval the collections were ti-ansferred to the new premises 

 assigned to the Department on the mezzanine floor of the White Building, where accom- 

 modation has been found for the whole of the cases removed from the old Print Room, 

 besides seven new ones. A considerable improvement and simplification in the aiTange- 

 ment of the collections has at the same time been effected, and the alterations in the shelf- 

 list, indexes, &c., rendered necessary by these changes, have been made. 



The collection of Dutch and Flemish drawings lias been re-arranged, recent additions 

 being incorporated to the number of one hundred and ninety-nine ; it is now contained in 

 one atlas, three imperial, and seventj'^ royal solandev cases. 



The incor])oration into one alphabetical series of all the English drawings has been 

 nearly completed. 



The entire collection of prints after Raphael has been classified according to Dr. Ruland's 

 catalogue of the Windsor collection, and arranged in seven portfolios. 



The collection of the works of William Wooilett has been re-arranged in chronological 

 order, and a selection of duplicates from among them lias been put aside. 



The various sets of the works of William Hogarth have been brought together, indexed, 

 and arranged in chronological order in fifteen portfolios, with the view of forming a 

 complete systematic collection of the master's works for the use of students, and also as 

 complete a duplicate collection as possible. 



The works of Francis Bartolozzi, k.a., have been re-sorted and classified, and arranged 

 in five portfolios, and a selection of duplicates from among them has been put aside. 



The collection of Early German woodcuts contained in five solander cases has been 

 re-arranged under the schools to which they belong. 



The collection of Books of Prints has been re-classified, and the greater part re-cata- 

 logued, those relating to costume and topography being brought together for convenience 

 of reference. 



The collection of foreign Topographical Prints has been arranged in four portfolios. 

 The collection of French Etchings has been re-arranged in nine portfolios. 

 An inventory has been prepared of all the rubbings from Monumental Brasses 

 in the Department, and the entire coilection transferred to the DejDartment of MSS. 



The general index of the artists rej^resented in the Department has been continued, and 

 the German and French divisions completed. Two thousand, nine hundred and ninety- 

 nine titles have been written for it. 



A further selection of duplicato engravings from the Italian, Dutch and Flemish, 

 German, French, and English schools has been put in order and re-mounted for the pur- 

 pose of lending to provincial exhibitions, increasing the collection available for that 

 purpose from three hundred and fourteen examples, on one hundred and ninety-nine 

 mounts, to about five hundred examples on three hundred and fifty-three mounts. A 

 selection of these, numbei'ing two hundred and twenty mounts, has been framed, cata- 

 logued, and sent on loan to the Committee of the Winter Exhibition of the Art Gallery, 

 Aberdeen. 



Three 



