Chapter 3

.]

(II)

=1759.= HEBREW LIBRARY (Printed and Manuscript) of DA COSTA.

_Collected_ by =Solomon Da Costa=, formerly of Amsterdam, and chiefly between the years 1720 and 1727; _Given_ by the Collector, in 1759, to the Trustees of the British Museum ‘for inspection and service of the Public, as a small token of my esteem, reverence, love, and gratitude to this magnanimous Nation, and as a thanksgiving offering ... for numberless blessings which I have enjoyed under it.’ (From DA COSTA’s Letter to the Trustees.)

A collection, small in extent, but of great intrinsic worth; and very memorable, both as the generous gift of a good man; and as instancing the co-operation (at the very outset) of the love of learning in a foreigner—and a Jew—with a like love in Britons, for a common object; national, indeed, but also much more than national.

(III)

=1762.= The THOMASON COLLECTION OF ENGLISH BOOKS and TRACTS, Printed and Manuscript.

_Collected_ by =George Thomason= (Died 1666); _Purchased_ by =King George the Third=, in 1762, for presentation to the British Museum.

This Collection—the interest of which is specially but by no means exclusively political and historical—was formed between the years 1641 and 1663 inclusive, and it contains everything printed in England during the whole of that period which a man of great enterprise and energy could bring together by daily watchfulness and large outlay. It also contains many publications, and many private impressions, from printing-presses in Scotland, Ireland, and the Continent of Europe, relating to or illustrating the affairs of the United Kingdom and of the Commonwealth. In his lifetime, the Collector refused £4000 for his library, as insufficient to reimburse his costs, charges, and labour. His heirs and their assigns kept it for a century and then sold it to King George III for £300. It includes many political MSS., which no printer dared to put to press.

(IV)

=1766.= The SOLANDER FOSSILS.

_Collected_ by =Daniel Charles Solander= (Died 16 May, 1782); Purchased by =Gustavus Brander= and by him _presented_ to the Museum (of which he was one of the first Trustees) in 1766.

The ‘Solander Fossils’—so called from the name of the eminent naturalist who found and described them—formed the primary Collection on which by gradual accessions the present magnificent collection of fossils has been built up.

(V)

=1766.= The BIRCH LIBRARY OF PRINTED BOOKS and MANUSCRIPTS.

_Collected_ by =Thomas Birch, D.D.=, a Trustee of the British Museum (Died 1766), and _bequeathed_ by the Collector.

(VI)

=1772.= The HAMILTON VASES, ANTIQUITIES, and DRAWINGS.

_Collected_ by =Sir William Hamilton= (Died 6 April, 1803); _Purchased_ by Parliament from the Collector in 1772 for £8400.

[See BOOK II, Chapter 2 .]

(VII)

=1790–1799.= The MUSGRAVE LIBRARY.

_Collected_ by =Sir William Musgrave=, a Trustee (Died 1799); _Acquired_, partly by gift in 1790; partly by bequest in 1799.

[See BOOK II,