14 MARCH 1931, Page 42

Mr. W. H. Boulton's The Romance of The British Museum

(Sampson Low, 12s. 6d.) ought to send some of its readers to Bloomsbury to see for themselves some of the many things that the author describes. He gives an outline of the main contents of the vast treasure house, and such details as, in his view, are likely to excite general interest. Any book of the kind would be open to criticism, since the field to be covered is vast and difficult. Mr. Boulton is inclined to give too much space to historical sketches, Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and so forth, in which his descriptive notes are embedded. His choice of objects to be mentioned

is reasonable and his illustrations are attractive. But the book has too many misprints.

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