MUSEUMS AND PICTURE GALLERIES : EVENING LECTURES.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] think you will be interested to know how matters are progressing in connexion with the opening of museums and picture-galleries in the evenings. As regards the British Museum, the 1022-23 winter session had to be prolonged until June 10th, when it was found that in a little over twelve months over 3,400 tickets for Tuesday evening lectures had been sold, mainly to the staff of one City institution. The autumn lectures arc now in progress. Mr. A. G. K. Hayter is giving a series of eleven lectures on Ancient Egypt, illus- trated by lantern slides, the Museum collections being open for inspection at 6.10 p.m. The Trustees of the Tate Gallery kindly agreed to make a new departure in the summer by opening the Gallery for a series of six lectures by Mr. Edwin Fagg. The one hundred and twenty-fourth evening lecture at the British Museum took place on Tuesday, the 23rd, and it is clear that your faith in the public is justified. In conclusion, perhaps I may draw your attention to the list of subjects comprising the repertoire of the Official Lecturers at the British Museum. Finding that no such list was officially issued, I have had it printed for circulation among those likely to be interested. I do not believe that one Londoner in ten thousand knows that lectures on any of these subjects can be arranged free of charge for parties of six people or more, and I think you will agree that it is a remarkable document.—I am, Sir, &c., [We wish we could print this very remarkable document. It shows that we have a popular University in the Arts and Sciences forming itself behind our museums and picture- galleries. If six persons are gathered together to find out about, say, the Etruscans, they can get knowledge in face of some of the finest Etruscan remains in the world That is a wonderful example of the democratic type of command performance.—En. Spectator.]
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