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, Chapter 1.] (VIII) =1799.= The CRACHERODE LIBRARY and MUSEUM. _Collected_ by the Reverend =Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode=, a Trustee of the British Museum (Died 1799), and _bequeathed_ by the Collector. [See BOOK II, Chapter 3.] (IX) =1799.= The HATCHETT MINERALS. _Collected_ by =Charles Hatchett=, and _purchased_ for £700. (X) =1802.= The ALEXANDRIAN COLLECTION of EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. _Collected_ by the =French Institute of Egypt= in 1800; _Transferred_ to the Crown of England by the terms of the Capitulation of Alexandria in 1801; _Given_ to the Museum in 1802 by =King George the Third=. [See BOOK II, Chapter 2.] (XI)