890

MUSEUMS.

With the same liberal spirit parliament had also, for thepurpose of promoting the interests of literature, purchasedthe very valuable collection of Edward, late Earl of Oxford,and also the addition made by his son Robert, for £10,000,under a specific stipulated condition, that the Harleian col-lection was to be kept together. The catalogue of this col-lection (which consists of 7600 volumes, and upwards of40,000 original MSS. rolls, charters, and other authenticdocuments of great antiquity, and in almost, all languages)was printed in 1759, in 2 vol. folio.

To defray the expenses of these several purchases, and toprovide a repository for their reception, parliament re-solved to raise £100,000 by way of lottery, which netted£95,194 : 8 : 2. This sum, w'ith the several previous aggre-gations, was vested in an incorporate body of trustees, con-sisting of the first personages in the kingdom for rank, situa-tion, and literary fame; conferring on them ample powers totake such measures as they should deem expedient for dispo-sition, regulation, and management of the institution, to bearthe name of the British Museum . The very magnificentand extensive palace of the late Duke of Montague waspurchased for the reception of the splendid collections,which were first opened for the inspection of the public the15th J anuary, 1759.

It has since been gradually enriched by many other veryvaluable collections. The royal library of George II. ;a collection of pamphlets by his present Majesty, who wasalso graciously pleased to direct that the Egyptian antiqui-ties, collected by the French army in Egypt , and made aprize of war, should be there deposited; the Hamiltonian collection, chiefly of Etruscan antiquities; the LansdownMSS.; the Hon. Charles Greville’s minerals; the Hargravelegal library; the Towneleian collection of Grecian antiqui-ties; Greenwood’s bird’s; Hatchett’s minerals; Halhed ’sOriental MSS.; Cracherode ’s bequests, consisting of valuableprints, gems, &c; Tyssen’s Saxon coins; Dr. Bentley’s clas-sics; Roberts’s English coins; Dr. Birch’s most valuablelibrary; Brander’s fossils; Sir Joseph Banks ’s collection fromforeign islands, chiefly in the South Seas. And lately, LordElgin’s inestimable collection of Grecian sculpture, 8cc. &c.&c. are added to these stores of art and science. Thelibrary receives constant additions by the provisions ofseveral acts of parliament, enjoining all authors and pub-lishers, under certain penalties, to deliver, at Stationers’Hall, a copy of every work which they publish, for the libraryof the British Museum .