  Coherent photoproduction of $\pi^0$-mesons from threshold ($E_{th} \approx$
136 MeV) throughout the $\Delta$-resonance region and of $\eta$-mesons close to
the production threshold ($E_{th} \approx$ 570 MeV for $\eta$) has been
measured for $^7$Li nuclei. The experiment was performed using the
tagged-photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the Crystal Ball and TAPS
detectors combined to give an almost 4$\pi$ solid-angle electromagnetic
calorimeter. The reactions were identified by a combined invariant-mass and
missing-energy analysis. A comparison of the pion data to plane-wave impulse
modelling tests the nuclear mass form factor. So far coherent $\eta$-production
had been only identified for the lightest nuclear systems ($^2$H and $^3$He).
For $^3$He a large enhancement of the cross section above plane-wave
approximations had been reported, indicating the formation of a quasi-bound
state. The present Li-data for $\eta$-production agree with a plane-wave
approximation. Contrary to $^3$He, neither a threshold enhancement of the total
cross section nor a deviation of the angular distributions from the expected
form-factor dependence were observed.
