IV. Under the Head of State Papers, notice must be taken of upwards of 150 folio Volumes in the Cottonian Library, relating to the negociations between England and almost every state of Europe. Most of them relate to Scotland, France and the Low Countries; but there are many also concerning various negociations with Spain, Portugal, Tuscany, Venice, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Muscovy, the Hanse Towns, and other inferior States. There are some of so ancient a date as the reign of Edward III; but by far the greatest number relate to the reigns of the Tudors, and the ten first years of King James I. Among these may be found a considerable number of Treaties, Commissions, Proclamations, and other instruments of public authority, likewise many credentials and instructions to Ambassadors and agents, but above all a multitude of letters of many of the sovereigns and most of the eminent characters of the times. In these parts of the Library there are also many letters of British and Foreign Sovereigns and Ministers of State, of a later date, even down to the last reign. Of the Cottonian volumes (in which even those articles which are not originals have acquired a degree of authenticity, by being ancient, and most of them coeval Transcripts) great use has been made by Rymer, in his compi lation of the Foedera, but many articles of considerable importance still remain, of which he appears to have had no knowledge. Notice must here be taken of an additional collection of similar papers in 57 volumes folio, formed by Rymer, embracing the period from the year 1115 to 1698, of which a complete Index is published in the 17th volume of the Fœdera. V. Among the Books relating to judicial proceedings, and the transactions of Public Offices, may be classed several volumes of the proceedings of the Court of Augmentations, from its erection to the reign of Queen Mary, and various other documents relating to the dissolution; the Record of the proceedings of the Commissioners appointed for settling the claims after the Fire of London, and of the commissioners for prizes from 1664 to 1678; various Letters, Papers, Docket Books, &c. relative to the offices of the Privy Seal, Signet, Ordnance, Admiralty, Navy, Customs and Excise; particularly avaluable volume once belonging to Lord Treasurer Burleigh, being a register of the Grants, &c. which passed the Privy Seal, Signet or Sign Manual, during the reigns of Edward V. and Richard III. Eight large volumes, being a collection of Privy Seal Warrants, from the year 1634 to 1712. Three volumes of Dockets and Letters which belonged to John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, as Lord Privy Seal to Queen Anne, relating to the years 1709, 1710 and 1711. Seven volumes of Miscellaneous Warrants, Orders of Privy Council, &c. from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to Charles I. lately presented by Sir William Musgrave. Various Accounts of the public revenue and expenditure. Eleven volumes, being minutes of the proceedings of the commissioners for stating the accounts of the Kingdom, who sat from 1690 to 1697. Sundry Books and Papers relating to the Household; Inventories and Indentures of the Jewel Office and Wardrobe; Laws and Ordinances concerning the management of the Mint, and abundance of other miscellaneous articles of a similar nature. Besides this ample store of authentic documents, considerable information may be derived by those who are in quest of original Records, from the many Transcripts, Collectanea and Indexes, relating to public Transactions, which abound in these Libraries. Among the Transcripts and Collectanea are many ancient and most valuable copies of the Statutes, nearly amounting in authenticity to the evidence of original documents: some being the identical copies from which they have been printed in Blackstone's Magna Charta, and in the Rolls of Parliament. A collection of private acts passed in the reigns of Henry VIII, and Charles I, and many Statutes of Cathedrals, Collegiate Churches and Colleges. A valuable Transcript of a Nomina Villarum, containing the names of the Cities, Boroughs, Villages and Hundreds, and who were the lords of every manor, throughout all the Counties of England, from 1316 to 1559. A number of Year Books in an uninterrupted series, mostly of the reigns of Edward II. and III. Various transcripts and collections relative to the laws, customs, and privileges of the Cinque Ports. Some curious tracts and papers relating to the Star Chamber. A variety of materials respecting the jurisdiction of the Forests, and sundry papers relating to the duchy of Cornwall, among which are Grants of Edward IV. of divers lands in Cornwall and Kent to his brother Richard Duke of Gloucester. : Such are also the voluminous collections of the three Holmes, chiefly relating to the History and Antiquities of the city and county of Chester, and the county of Lancaster, being transcripts which Randal Holme, the elder, his son and grandson, made of writings and deeds in the treasury of Chester; some of the originals being, as is reported in the Catalogue of the Harleian Library, considerably damaged the collections of Thomas Madox, Esq. Historiographer to Queen Anne and George I, consisting chiefly of Extracts from Records in the Exchequer, Patent and Claus Rolls; and many public and private libraries. Many volumes of Copies, Extracts and Notes relating to the University of Cambridge, compiled with great care and assiduity by Mr. Thomas Baker. A large collection of Materials relating to the Antiquities, History, Revenue and municipal laws of Ireland, a great part of which once belonged to Lord Clarendon. About 70 volumes of Collectanea, concerning various law Records, by Sir Symonds D'Ewes. The Rev. Mr. Hugget's collection respecting the Foundation, History and Statutes of the Collegiate Churches of Windsor and Eton; Sir William Burrell's copious Collectanea, relating to the Antiquities and History of Sussex; and many other articles of less extent, but the mere enumeration of which would fill a volume of considerable magnitude. Among the many Indexes and Repertories contained in these Libraries, are chiefly to be noticed, a Catalogue of all such Acts of Parliament, both public and private, as have been removed into the Chapel of the Rolls, from 1483, to 1625; an ample volume, to which Bp. Stillingfleet prefixed the Title of" Collection out of the Records in the Tower," but which in fact is a repertory of the foundations and endowments preserved in that repository. Seven volumes of extracts from the Records of Escheats, and the Courts of Wards and Liveries, by Mr. Thomas Cole; and upwards of thirty small volumes of extracts from various Registers of Abbeys and other Religious Foundations, by Mr. Hutton. The Building in which these Libraries are deposited, though old and often in need of repairs, is perfectly secure. By the unremitted vigilance and attention of the Trustees of the British Museum, every accident that might any ways endanger the safety of this important repository is effectually obviated; and nothing is wanting in them, so far as their means extend, that may insure the security and tend to promote the utility of the establishment. As to the arrangement and state of preservation of the abovementioned copious materials, having never been classed in any systematic order, they are all promiscuously dispersed in the several Libraries, but, notwithstanding this seeming confusion, most of the articles may be easily come at by means of the ample catalogues and indexes which are now extant. Except the volumes of the Cottonian Library, which were damaged by a fire in 1731, all the articles are in good preservation. Of the catalogues of the different Libraries, four are printed, viz. the Harleian, (2 vols. folio), the King's, (1 vol. 4to.), the Cottonian, (1 vol. folio), and the Sloanian, with the additions, (2 vols. 4to.); of the Charters and Rolls, a catalogue has been prepared by order of the Trustees of the Museum, by the Rev. Mr. Ayscough, who has added to it ample Indexes both of persons and places; and the Trustees having observed that Dr. Smith's printed catalogue of the Cottonian Library is extremely defective as well as inaccurate, have directed Mr. Planta to compile a new one of that collection, which is now finished, but to which there is not yet a complete Index. The two latter catalogues, as also a register Mr. Planta has kept of the purchases and donations made since the publication of the Sloanian Catalogue, remain as yet in manuscript. With regard to the provisions made for the free access to these materials and their utility to the public, every facility consistent with the nature of the trust, and compatible with the narrow scale of the establishment, is gratuitously afforded to all who have occasion to consult the Libraries. What appears to be mostly wanting for the further accommodation of the public, is the printing of the manuscript catalogues, and perhaps the correcting and reprinting a great part of the Harleian Catalogue, which has been very inaccurately executed. That a general digest of the Public Records preserved in these collections, would be greatly conducive to the public utility, will perhaps appear obvious from some of the circumstances stated in this Report.* * In the year 1782 a considerable collection of Manuscripts was left to the Museum by the Rev. Mr. Cole, on condition that it should not be opened until twenty years after his death. These Manuscripts relate chiefly to the University and County of Cambridge. On the death of the Marquis of Lansdown, and his collection of Manuscripts being advertised for sale, the Trustees of the British Museum presented a Petition to the House of Commons, praying that they might be enabled, by |