l8 ACCOUNTS, &C., I'F THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Department of Oriental Manuscripts. 

 I. — Arrangement and Cataloguing. 



Tlie Desciiptlve List of the MSS. acquired in 1886, lias been completed and transcribed 

 for the use of the readers. 



The MSS. acquired in 1887 have been described in continuation of the same List, and 

 entered into the Oriental Register and the Oriental Inventory. 



The Descriptive List for the years 1879-1886 has been revised. Additions and correc- 

 tions resulting from that revision have been entered into the Reading Room copy. 



Thirty-two Turkish MSS. have been described in full for the special catalogue. The 

 revision for press of the Turkish catalogue has been carried on from the beginning to the 

 class of poetry, and 21 sheets, signed B — Y, have been corrected through the press. 



A classed index of the entire Hebrew collection has been prepared. 



Fourteen Caraite MSS., forming part of the Shapira Collection, and Mr. Bendall's 

 Sanskrit MSS., have been arranged for the binder. 



The Pali MSS. of the Phayre collection, and four other MSS. of the same class, have 

 been described and incorporated in the index of Pali MSS. 



Choice Hebrew MSS. have been selected and laid out for a special exhibition. 



Three hundred and ten MSS. have been labelled, folio'd, and, for the most part, bound, 

 stamped, and placed on the shelves. 



IL — Acquisitions. 



The number of MSS. acquired during the year was 56, viz., 42 by purchase and 

 14 by donation, as follows : — 



Persian .-___-. -35 



Arabic ---------8 



Turkish _-_.--_-3 



Pali -_----.-- 4 



Chinese .._-_---3 



Japanese --------1 



Shan ---------1 



Coptic ----- -__-l 



Total - - - 56 



Among some Persian, Arabic, and Turkish MSS. secured for the Museum by Sidney 

 Churchill, Esq., of Teheran, the following deserve a special mention: 



Khuld i Burin, a history of the reigns of Shah Safi and Shah Abbas II., brought down 

 to A.H. 1071 ; Persian. Folio. 



Majma'ul-Insha, a collection of royal letters, chiefly of the Safavi Dynasty, compiled 

 by Abul-Kasim Aivaghli ; Persian. Folio. 



Zubdat ut TavarTlvh, a general history by Muhammad Muhsin, Mustaufi of Nadir Shah ; 

 Persian. Folio. 



Tarikh i Elchi Nizamshahi, a general history brought down to A.H. 970 ; Persian. 

 Folio. 



Tarikh i Zulkarnain, a history of Feth Ali Shah, from his minority to his death, with 

 a full account of his descendants, by Fazl-ullah Khavai'i ; Persian. Folio. 



Tuhfah i Sami, notices of contemporary poets by Sam Mirza, son of Shah Isma'Il ; 

 Persian; A.H. 976 (a.d. 1569). Small folio. 



Khulasat ul-Ash'ar, lives of Persian poets by Taki Kashani ; Persian; 17th century. 

 Large 4 to. 



Chehar Makalah, anecdotes of poets and others, by Nizami 'Aruzi,a poet of the sixth 

 century of the Hijrah ; Persian. 



Nigaristan i Dara notices of the poets who lived under Feth Ali Shah, by Ibn 

 Najaf Kuli 'Abd ur-Razzak ; Persian. Folio. 



Majma' ul-Fusaha, notices of Persian poets by Riza Kuli Khan Hidayat, partly in the 

 author's handwriting; Persian. Folio. 



Tajribat ul-Ahrar, memoirs of the author's life and of eminent men of his time, by 

 Abd ur-Razzak Dunbuli ; Persian. Folio. 



Ziya ul-'Ari'fin, notices of celebrated Sufis by Fazlullah ; Persian. Small folio. 



Riyaz ul-'Arifin, lives of the great mystics who wrote poetry, by Riza Kuli Khan 

 Hidayat ; Persian. Folio. 



A poetical glossary by Husain Vafa'i, compiled A.H. 993 ; Persian. 4to. 



The Divans of Anvari, Saif Isferangij Salman Savaji and Amir Khusrau ; Persian ; 

 A.H. 841 (A.D. 1437). Large folio. 



Divan of Ali Naki Kamra'i ; Persian ; a.h. 890 (a.d. 1485). Small folio. 



Divan of 'Ismat Bukhara'! ; Persian ; a.h. 864 (a.d. I48u). 4to. Presented, through 

 Mr. Churchill, by Amin us-Sultan, Minister of Finance to H.iVJ. Nasir ud-Din Shah. 



Divan 



