history, ethnography, art, crafts, etc. The encyclopedic nature of the museum is well reflected in the first museum guide published in 1836: minerals (6,064 pieces), birds (405 species), herbs (6,002 specimens), insects (1,476 butterflies and 1,200 beetles), local wood (108 specimens), local grapes (45 species), mammals (56 species), coins (over 8,000), craft pieces (357), antiques (324), paintings (17), and graphics (2,392 items). An ethnographic collection of objects of North American native peoples was even included. These first collections were almost exclusively donated.

Further developments in the twentieth century lead to a separation of the ethnographic, artistic, and natural history collections and archives into newly established institutions: the Ethnographic Museum of Slovenia was established in 1923, the National Gallery in 1933, the Natural History Museum in 1944, and the Central Archive of the Republic of Slovenia in 1946. Currently, the National Museum of Slovenia comprises three departments—archaeology, history and applied arts, and conservation and restoration—and two cabinets—numismatic and graphic. The museum was also equipped with a library from the very beginning, and together with the Lycaeum Library (which was transformed in 1850 into the Provincial Study Library, in 1919 into the State Study Library, and in 1945 into the National and University Library), the museum library is one of the oldest and the most important public and scientific libraries in slovenia. It contains more than 150,000 volumes, including numerous rare items from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Scientific and research issues and publications were initially governed by two societies. The first, the Verein des Krainischen Landes-Museum (Society of Provincial Museum of Carniola) was founded in 1839, later became the Musealverein für Krain (Museum Society of Carniola), was transformed into Muzejsko Društvo za Slovenijo (Museum Society of Slovenia) in 1919, and then became the Zgodovinsko Društvo za Slovenijo (Historical Society of Slovenia). The second society, the Historisches Verein für Krain (Historical Society of Carniola), was founded in 1843 and merged with the Museum Society in 1885. This was almost exclusively devoted to the study of natural history while the Historical Society dealt mainly with the study of local history.

The first guidebook was published in 1836 (Hohenwart 1836), the second was published after the museum moved to its new building (Deschmann, 1888), and guides to the cultural history and natural history collections were published in 1931 and 1933. Regular publications began with the bulletins of the Historical and Museum Societies (Mittheilungen des historischen Vereins für Krain 1–23 [1846–1868]; Mittheilungen des Museal-Vereins für Krain 1–20 [1866, 1889–1907]; Izvestja Muzejskega društva za Kranjsko 1–19 [1891–1909], and Glasnik Muzejskega društva za Slovenijo 1–26 [1919– 1945]). Other early periodicals included the journals Argo (1–10, 1892–1903), Carniola (1– 2, 1908–1909), and Carniola new series (1–9, 1910–1919). Today the museum regularly publishes two journals—Situla (since 1955) and Argo new series (since 1962); two series of monographs—Arheolo-ki katalogi (1955–1969) and Katalogi in monografije/Dissertationes et monographiae (since 1970); monographs on important archaeological sites and monuments in Slovenia; and since 1994, a new series, Viri—gradivo za materialno kulturo Slovencev [Sources for the Material Culture of Slovenes].

Natural history dominated the museum’s work in its first decades, and archaeology only gained in importance from the mid-1870s onward under the directorship of Carl Deschmann (1852–1888). In 1875, Deschmann began large-scale excavations of prehistoric pile-dwelling sites in the ljubljansko barje. These attracted great interest in archaeological and anthropological circles in Europe and provided a rich collection for display. The prehistoric collection was further enriched in the late 1870s when Deschmann extended his fieldwork to late prehistoric and Roman sites and created an exemplary collection of local prehistoric antiquities. Using his political influence as a former member of the parliament in Vienna, he successfully lobbied for the new museum building in which the new prehistoric collection had pride of place and was