of upwards of 20,000 choice volumes, all in handsome bindings, which cost its owner over £54,000, and which he bequeathed to the Museum in 1846. The King's Library, a splendid room, 300 feet long, contains the magnificent library formed by George III., and transferred to the nation by George IV. in 1823. In these two rooms are exhibited in table-cases the choice books already referred to. Cases 1 and 2 in the Grenville Library contain Block-Books—the now excessively rare books printed from wooden blocks, on one side of the leaf, in use before the invention of printing with movable metal types, and continued for some time afterwards. Observe particularly, in Case 1, the Biblia Pauperum, with illustrations coloured by hand, probably the earliest edition. Three other editions, one dated 1475, allow of comparison with it. Books of the Canticles and of the Apocalypse. In Case 2, Speculum Humanæ Salvationis; German Almanac, of about 1474; and impression from a block of about 1460, representing the Seven Ages of Man, with the Wheel of Fortune in the centre. Case 3 (King's Library) contains the choicest examples of the earliest productions of the printing press in Germany; the so-called Mazarin Bible, the earliest complete printed book known, supposed to have been printed at Mentz by Gutenberg and Fust about 1455; Latin Bible, printed on vellum at Mentz by Fust and Schoeffer in 1462-the first Bible with a date; the first and second editions of the Psalter, on vellum, by the same printers, 1457 and 1459. A Bill of Indulgence of Pope Nicholas V., dated 1455; Cicero, Officium libri tres; on vellum, by Fust and Schoeffer, 1465, "the first edition of the first Latin classic printed, and one of the two books in which Greek type was first used." Cases 4 and 5 continue the series of early German printed books. Cases 6 and 7 specimens of the earliest books printed in Italy and France. The works of Lactantius, printed in the monastery of Subiaco near Rome in 1465-the first book printed in Italy with a date; Livy, by the same printers, about 1469, the only known copy on vellum-bought by Mr. Grenville for £903; the first edition of Dante's Divina Commedia, printed at Foligno by Johann Numeister, 1472; Gasparinus Barzizius, Liber Epistolarum, printed at the Sorbonne, Paris, 1470-the first book printed in France. In Case 8 are some of the earliest books printed in England. No. 3, Le Fevre's Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, the first book printed in English, was printed by Caxton abroad (probably at Bruges, where he learned printing) about 1474; "The dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophires, emprynted by me William Caxton at Westmestre the yere of our lorde MCCCCLXXVII"-the first book printed in England. Other Caxtons should also be noticed, among them the Speculum Vita Christi, of St. Bonaventure, 1488, one of the only two books known to have been printed by Caxton on vellum. Trevisa's translation of Glanville, De proprietatibus Rerum, printed by Wynkyn de Worde about 1495-the first book printed on paper of English manufacture, made at John Tate's mill, Hertford. No. 18, the finest copy known of the famous Book of St. Alban's, or Bokys of Haukyng and Huntyng, and also of Cootarmuris [heraldry], attributed to one Dame Juliana Barnes or Berners, and printed in St. Alban's Abbey in 1486. Case 9 contains "specimens of fine and sumptuous printing "--by Aldus and others, all noteworthy and some unique. Case 10 is also devoted to sumptuously printed books, mostly on vellum, and some remarkable for the illuminations which adorn them. Case II contains early specimens of illustrations on wood and copper plate; the 1539 edition of Holbein's Bible cuts; Albert Dürer's Epitome cuts; the only perfect copy known of the procession at the obsequies of Sir Philip Sidney, drawn and invented by T. L[ant]. Gent. . . . and engraven in copper by D. T. de Bry, in the city of London, 1587. Case 12 contains books with the autographs of Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, Michael Angelo, Bacon, Milton, Newton, and other memorable persons. In Case 13 are typographical and literary curiosities, such as the first edition of Henry VIII.'s Assertio septem Sacramentorum, printed by Pynson in 1521, for which Leo X. conferred on the author the title of Defender of the Faith; and the first edition of Robinson Crusoe, April 1719. Case 14 contains specimens of Japanese block engraving in colours. Cases 15 to 18 contain a fine collection of historical specimens of bookbinding in old stamped leather, embroidery and gold tooling. In Case 22 are shown specimens of early printed music. Specimens of interesting maps are shown on the obverse side of Case 21, on the reverse side of 22 and in Cases 23 to 28. Cases are also used in this gallery for temporary exhibition of prints, MSS., and documents of special interest. Manuscript Saloon.-The department of manuscripts "contains upwards of 50,000 volumes, of which more than 8500 are written in Oriental languages; 50,000 charters and rolls; nearly 10,000 detached seals and casts of seals; and upwards of 100 ancient Greek, Coptic, and Latin papyri."1 On the right and left (south and north) sides of this room are the Harleian and Lansdowne and old Royal collections; the Cottonian Library in front, on the east side. In frames and cases are exhibited autographs of famous persons and the more valuable and interesting manuscripts. The autographs exhibited are most various, curious and interesting. There are copy-books as well as letters of kings and queens and other notabilities; the memorandum-book found in the pocket of the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth after Sedgmoor; the original copy of Tasso's Torismondo, Ben Jonson's Masque of Queens, Sterne's Sentimental Journey, Walter Scott's Kenilworth, the original draft of "paper-saving," Pope's Homer, much of it written on the backs of letters; and a leaf of the last chapter of Macaulay's History. Then there are letters of Luther, Calvin, Erasmus, Wolsey, Cranmer, Knox, Raleigh, Bacon, Sidney - Hampden, Clarendon, Isaac Newton, Sir Christopher Wren, Michael Angelo, Dürer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Galileo, Molière, Voltaire, Dryden, Pope, Swift, Addison, Pitt, Burke, Fox, 1 Mr. E. M. Thompson, Keeper of the MSS. (now Principal Librarian), in Official Guide. Johnson, Byron; the letter left by Nelson on his desk, written the night before Trafalgar, Nelson's draft of the Battle of Aboukir, Wellington's list of the British cavalry at Waterloo; document by Edmund Spenser, the original agreement for the sale of Paradise Lost, signed by John Milton. For Shakespeare's signature, formerly exhibited, a photograph has been substituted, the original having shown symptoms of fading. Some of the manuscripts in the table-cases are of extreme beauty and value. In the upright Case G is a volume of the famous Codex Alexandrinus, presented to Charles I. by Cyril, patriarch of Constantinople. It is in four volumes, and written in uncial letters, on very thin vellum of the 5th century. Case H, Vulgate Bible revised by Alcuin, Abbot of Tours, for Charlemagne, of about 796-800, ornamented with large initial letters and miniatures. On the wall at the north-east corner are Coptic and Greek papyri of the 8th and 9th centuries. The two table - cases contain a very valuable series of royal, ecclesiastic, monastic and baronial seals, mostly attached to the original documents. On table N is a complete set of the Great Seals of England, from Edward the Confessor to Queen Victoria. Out of the Manuscript Saloon, immediately opposite to the entrance from the Grenville Library, is the new Newspaper Room and the Newspaper Reading Room. On the right-hand side of the Manuscript Room, entering from the Grenville Room, and opposite the King's Library, is the entrance to the Manuscript Reading Room and other rooms of the department. The Reading Room was built in accordance with a suggestion submitted to the Trustees in 1852 by Mr. (afterwards Sir Anthony) Panizzi, for converting the vacant central quadrangle into a circular reading room, and utilising the surrounding space for library purposes. The building was commenced in May 1854, under the superintendence of Mr. Sydney Smirke, R.A., the Museum architect; and opened to readers May 18, 1857. The entire structure is 258 feet long and 154 feet wide. The Reading Room is circular and covered by a dome 140 feet in diameter and 106 feet high-being 2 feet less in diameter than the dome of the Pantheon, I foot greater than that of St. Peter's, and exceeding by 28 feet that of St. Paul's; but unlike the others it is constructed of iron ribs borne on iron piers, with brick between. The lighting is by twenty round-arched windows 27 feet high, 12 feet wide, and 35 feet from the ground, and by a central skylight or eye of the dome, 40 feet in diameter. The colouring is of a light blue, the ribs and panels being picked out with gold, and the effect large, cheerful and luminous. Under the windows the walls present unbroken lines of books in three tiers. The tables for the readers converge towards the centre, where is the place of the superintendent, with tables for tickettakers, shelves for the catalogues, etc. The tables afford ample accommodation for 360 readers. The lower tier of shelves round the room contain a reference library of 20,000 volumes, to which every reader has unrestricted access. For each book or MS. from the general library the reader has to write a ticket, on which he has to set down from the Catalogue the title and edition of the book he requires, with its press mark; and the letter and number of the seat he occupies. This ticket he gives in at the central table, and the book is then brought to him by an attendant. The presses in the galleries round the room contain 50,000 volumes. The outer shelves which encompass the Reading Room afford space for more than 1,000,000 volumes. The Catalogue of the Library placed in the table presses in the centre of the Reading Room almost forms a library in itself. It was originally compiled entirely in manuscript, but it is now growing into a printed Catalogue. In 1880, chiefly through the initiative of Mr. Bond, then Principal Librarian, arrangements were made for printing the titles of all accessions. In the following year a commencement was made with the printing of portions of the Catalogue which were particularly crowded. The work of printing is now going on very rapidly. The edifice, by common admission the finest Reading Room in existence, was completed for £150,000. During the winter months, since October 1880, the electric light has been successfully used there until 8 o'clock. The number of visitors to the general collections was 504,893 in 1886, and 501,256 in 1887. The number of visits of students to the Reading Room in 1887 was 182,778. An excellent Guide to the exhibition galleries may be purchased in the Museum, price 6d., and special Guides to the principal rooms and collections. The following is a complete list of the Principal Librarians from the foundation of the Museum :-Gowin Knight, M.D., 1756-1772. Matthew Maty, M.D., 1772-1776. Charles Morton, M.D., 1776-1799. Joseph Planta, 1799-1827. Sir Henry Ellis, 1827-1856. Sir Anthony Panizzi, 1856-1868. John Winter Jones, 1868-1878. Edward Augustus Bond, C.B., 1878-1888. Edward Maunde Thompson, 1888. DAYS AND HOURS OF ADMISSION.- -The Exhibition Galleries are open to the Public FREE, as under :— MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, AND SATURDAY. The whole of the galleries. TUESDAY AND THURSDAY. The whole of the galleries except British and medieval antiquities and ethnography, and rooms in White Wing. The hours of admission are from 10 A.M. till 4 P.M. in January, February, November, December. IO A.M. till 5 P.M. in March, September, October. IO A.M. till 6 P.M. in April, May, June, July, August. 10 A.M. till 7 P.M. on Monday and Saturday only, from the middle of July to the end of August. IO A.M. till 8 P.M. on Monday and Saturday only, from May 1 to the middle of July. The Museum is closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day; but is open on the Bank Holidays. Students are admitted to the several departments under regulations to be obtained from the Principal Librarian. British Museum.-NATURAL HISTORY BRANCH, CROMWELL ROAD. At a special general meeting of the Trustees, held on January 21, 1860, a resolution moved by the First Lord of the Treasury was carried—“That it is expedient that the Natural History Collection be removed from the British Museum, inasmuch as such an arrangement would be attended with considerably less expense than would be incurred by providing a sufficient additional space in immediate contiguity to the present building of the British Museum." In this same year a Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed, with instructions to inquire how far and in what way it might be desirable to find increased space for the Museum Collections, and the report of the Committee was adverse to the decision of the Trustees. The Trustees then referred the final determination of the question to the Government, and in November 1861 they received intimation from the Lords of the Treasury that the Government was prepared to take steps for removing a portion of the National Collection to South Kensington. A Bill was brought in by the Government early in the session of 1862 to enable the Trustees to effect the removal, but this was rejected by Parliament. In the Session of 1863 the Government, however, succeeded in obtaining a vote for the purchase of the requisite number of acres of the ground occupied by the Exhibition of 1862. In the competition. of designs for a Natural History Museum, Captain Francis Fowke, R.E., obtained the first prize, and he was engaged in the necessary alterations of his plan in respect to internal arrangements when his death occurred in September 1865. Early in 1866 Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, R.A., was invited to finish Captain Fowke's plan, but being unable to do this he was commissioned in February 1868 to form a fresh design, embodying the requirements of the officers of the Natural History Departments of the Museum. Mr. Waterhouse submitted his plan and model, which were formally accepted by the Trustees in April 1868, but it was not until February 1871 that the working plans received the final approval of the Trustees. The work of erection was commenced in 1873, and in June 1880 the completed building was handed over to the Trustees. The whole surface of the ground occupied by the Exhibition building of 1862 was excavated, and for economical reasons it was not thought desirable to refill the space, therefore the Museum is placed on a site considerably lower than the street. The building is set back 100 feet from the Cromwell Road, and is approached by two inclined planes, curved on plan and supported by arches, forming carriage ways. Between the two are broad flights of Craigleith stone steps, for the use of those approaching the building on foot. The extreme length of the front is 675 feet and the height of the towers is 192 feet. The return fronts, east and west beyond the end pavilions, have not yet been erected. The towers on the north of the building have each a central smoke-shaft from the heating apparatus, the boilers of which are placed in the basement, immediately between the towers, while the space VOL. I T |