§ Mr. DOUGLAS HALLasked the President of the Board of Education what were the number of officials with expert knowledge employed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1907, and what is the number at present?
§ Mr. TREVELYANI do not know to what particular grades or types of officials the hon. Member is referring when he speaks of "officials with expert knowledge." Apart from the director and deputy-director the number of keepers, assistant Keepers, and assistants employed in 1907 and now are the same, except that one of these posts which became vacant a few weeks ago is not yet filled up. The number of technical assistants is one more than in 1907.
§ Mr. DOUGLAS HALLasked if it is intended to provide catalogues, such as are published in the British Museum, for the use of the public in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and, if so, when?
§ Mr. TREVELYANIn speaking of catalogues in his question, I imagine the hon. Member refers rather to handbooks and guides than to the exhaustive and expensive catalogues compiled mainly for students. In reply, I would refer him to the published list of the various publications of the Victoria and Albert Museum, of which I will send him a copy. These publications comprise various guides and handbooks both to the collections as a whole and to particular sections. It is hoped gradually to increase the number of these, but their compilation has of late years been somewhat hindered by the large amount of work involved in the complete rearrangement of the whole of the collections necessitated by the removal of the exhibits into the large new premises of the museum