INTRODUCTION. 
XV 
An opportunity having presented itself, in the 
year 1805, of acquiring a large and exquisite 
collection of Greek and Roman statues, busts, and 
other sculptured marbles, formed by Charles 
Townlay, of Townley in the county of Lancaster, 
Esq. at a great expense, during a course of many 
years, and by frequent journies to Italy, Parlia¬ 
ment, with a liberality well becoming so great 
a nation, cheerfully granted the sum of £ 20,000 
(at which it was estimated by persons well 
acquainted with the value of such articles), 
and ordered it in like manner to be preserved in 
this Repository. 
The original building being by no means suf¬ 
ficiently spacious for the reception of this and 
the Egyptian collections, Parliament has, from 
time to time, voted sufficient supplies for the 
purpose of erecting an additional edifice, which is 
now completed; and a magnificent collection of 
ancient sculptures is at length opened for the in¬ 
spection of strangers, as well as for the improve¬ 
ment of artists, an advantage which the students 
in the fine arts have never before enjoyed in this 
country. 
Parliament, ever ready to avail itself of every 
opportunity for extending the utility of this In¬ 
stitution, 
The Townleian 
Library . 
Opened to Stu¬ 
dents and 
Artists, 
The Lansdown 
Manuscripts. 
