CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029534934 
 
Z792.B86 C R25 U " >VerS,,y Ubrary 
 
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 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BY 
 
 GERTRUDE BURFORD RAWLINGS 
 
 Author of The Sti^~ — f Books, The Story of the British Coinage 
 " How to Know Them 
 Editor i wke of the Knyght of the Towre 
 
 \ f etc., etc. 
 
 ilAFTON & CO., COPTIC HOUSE, LONDON 
 W. WILSON CO., WHITE PLAINS, N. Y. 
 1916 
 
1>I HH ATM) 
 TO 
 
 ALICE PERRIN 
 
 th« unuiH run limited, edikhukgh 
 
 GREAT MUTAIK 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This essay traverses some of the ground covered 
 by Edwards's Lives of the Founders of the British 
 Museum, and. the Reading-room manuals of Sims 
 and Nichols, all long out of print. But it has its 
 own field, and adds a little here and there, I venture 
 to hope, to the published history of our national 
 library. It is not intended as a guide to the Reading- 
 room. Lists of some of the official catalogues and 
 other publications that form so distinguished a part 
 of the work of the British Museum are appended 
 for the convenience of students in general. The 
 bibliography indicates the main sources to which 
 I am indebted for material. 
 
 Gertrude Burford Rawlings. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER TAGE 
 
 I. Steps towards a National Library . 9 
 
 II. The Cottonian Library ... 19 
 
 III. Additions to the Cottonian Library . 39 
 
 IV. The Sloane Bequest ... 46 
 
 V. The Early Days of the British 
 
 Museum ■ • • • 55 
 
 VI. Anthony Panizzi .... 67 
 
 VII. Later Days of the British Museum . 81 
 
 VIII. Recent History of the Library . 92 
 
 IX. Accessions by Gift, Bequest or Pur- 
 chase ..... 105 
 
 X. Accessions through the Copyright Acts 134 
 
 XI. The Catalogue .... 142 
 
 XII. The Subject Index . . . 168 
 
 XIII. Some Treasures of the British Museum 
 
 Library .... 171 
 
 7 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 XIV. APPEXDIX — 
 
 i. Chief Accessions to the British 
 
 Museum Library . 206 
 
 a. Government of the British Museum . 208 
 
 3. Principal Librarians . . 2o<) 
 
 4. Keepers of MSS. and Printed Books 210 
 
 5. Some Official Catalogues, etc . 211 
 
 6. Kxcerpts from Copyright Act, 191 1 . 215 
 
 7. Our Lady's Pew and Cotton House . 217 
 
 8. Pr Johnson's I-cttcr to the King's 
 
 Librarian . 217 
 
 XV Smjkt 1 1 1 1 ■■ I I'm.RaPHV . . 221 
 ' N: '^ . . .225 
 
THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 LIBRARY 
 
 STEPS TOWARDS A NATIONAL 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Our first libraries were those in the churches and 
 religious houses. Out of the darkness shrouding 
 the history of the early Church in Britain comes a 
 story that Elvanus, second of the legendary arch- 
 bishops of London, built a library adjoining St 
 Peter's, Cornhill, though since Elvanus himself is 
 but a doubtful entity we are not allowed to believe 
 the pleasing tradition. Probably the first library 
 of historic times in this country was that at Canter- 
 bury, said to have begun with nine books brought 
 from Rome by St Augustine (597-604). Archbishop 
 Egbert (732-766) founded a library at York, and 
 sooner or later every monastery throughout the 
 country had its own collection of books of divinity, 
 law, history and the classics. 
 The value of these libraries as safe and suitable 
 
10 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 repositories for important documents was recognised 
 by the State. In days when there was no printing, 
 and when there were no newspapers, the only way 
 of making known decrees and charters, and of 
 securing their preservation, was to deposit copies 
 not only in the archives of the Tower of London or 
 of the Palace or chapter-house at Westminster, but 
 with the monasteries as well. Thus, contemporary 
 copies of Magna Charta have been found in some 
 of the monastic libraries which escaped the perils 
 of the Dissolution. Edward I. ordered copies of 
 documents Mating to Scotland to be committed 
 to the care of certain abbeys, and, on the other hand, 
 for evidences of his title as Chief Lord of Scotland, 
 and for information as to the rights of the King 
 of England as against Papal aggression, it was in 
 the monastic libraries that he caused search to be 
 made. 
 
 But the monasteries were not only the repositories 
 of old books and special records ; they multiplied 
 and propagated texts of the Holy Scriptures and 
 of classical and patristic works. The writing- room 
 or scriptorium was an important feature of many 
 religious houses, and the monks did literature good 
 service by making copies of the manuscripts under 
 their care ; and not literature alone, but art as 
 well, for the sacred and devotional books in particular 
 were often written out and decorated with a con- 
 summate skill unrivalled by any modem handiwork. 
 
 During the Middle Ages there was no popular 
 
A NATIONAL LIBRARY 11 
 
 demand for books. Books were very costly, being 
 all in manuscript ; reading was a rare accomplish- 
 ment, and for a public library, as we understand 
 the term to-day, the time was not ripe. Religious 
 communities lent books to each other, and no doubt 
 afforded all the help they could to students. To 
 open one's books to genuine seekers after knowledge 
 was accounted a duty, and St Columba quite rightly, 
 according to the notion of his times, laid a curse on 
 the books of the churlish Longarad when the owner 
 refused him a sight of them. But sometimes, to 
 avoid risk of loss, a donor of books who wished to 
 safeguard his gift would have it placed under 
 anathema, so that the volumes could not be lent 
 to anyone under pain of excommunication for the 
 lenders. In 1212, however, the Council of Paris 
 formally condemned, this practice, and annulled the 
 anathemas. It was held that even the owner of a 
 book was not at liberty to hinder the diffusion of its 
 store of learning. 
 
 Richard de Bury (1281-1345), that most famous 
 of book-lovers, collected books in the first place for 
 pure love of them, and in the second because of his 
 cherished plan of founding a Hall at Oxford and of 
 endowing it not only with funds, but with his books. 
 In Philobiblon he lays down the rules which were 
 to be observed in the use of these books, and safe- 
 guards against their loss. No book was to be copied 
 or transcribed outside the house ; no book was to 
 be lent out unless the library contained a duplicate ; 
 
12 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 and for any book lent, a pledge of greater value was 
 to be deposited. The recipients of books were to 
 swear that they would use them for no other purpose 
 but that of inspection or study, and that they would 
 not take them beyond the town and suburbs of 
 Oxford. The fate of the Bishop's collection, how- 
 ever, is somewhat uncertain. 
 
 The executors of Richard Whittington, Lord 
 Mayor of London (died c. 1422), who in his lifetime 
 helped to found the library of the Grey Friars in 
 London, bore half the charges of building the 
 library of the old chapel or college of the Guildhall, 
 which was destroyed <*. 1.S49. Although since 1873 
 the modem Guildhall Library has been open to the 
 general public, the use of the former collection was 
 restricted to divinity students. 
 
 The monastic and collegiate libraries constituted 
 a national treasure, though in practically private 
 hands, but at the Dissolution much of this treasure 
 was utterly wasted. Numbers of books were ruth- 
 lessly destroyed, or sold for an old song and put to 
 the basest uses. They were sent abroad by shiploads. 
 The antiquary, Bale, knew a merchant who bought 
 " two whole libraries " for forty shillings, merely 
 as and for waste paper. Church-service books 
 suffered particularly, as they were deemed idolatrous 
 and superstitious relics, and were specifically 
 assigned to destruction in order that they might 
 not binder the adoption of the Book of Common 
 Prayer. The Museum library possesses the original 
 
A NATIONAL LIBRARY 13 
 
 letter of Edward VI. and his Council to the bishops, 
 ordering them to " collect and deface and abolish " 
 all the old Church books. Among other damage 
 done by the fanatical zeal of the royal commissioners 
 at this time was the total annihilation of the library 
 of Oxford University. 
 
 This wanton and wholesale destruction of books 
 was a grief to the enlightened, and the sight of the 
 savagery with which precious manuscripts were 
 treated brought home to more than one mind the 
 need of rescuing as many as possible and of a place 
 where such things might be stored and kept for ever 
 in safety. Archbishop Parker was especially active 
 in causing search to be made for books, with a view 
 to their preservation ; his agents worked all over 
 the country ; and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 
 ultimately benefited by the collections which he 
 bequeathed to it at his death. In addition to buying 
 wherever he could, he obtained authority from the 
 Privy Council to borrow, for study and transcription, 
 any records or old documents which were in private 
 hands. 
 
 The first proposal on record for the establishment 
 of a national library was made in 1556 by John 
 Dee, the scientist and astrologer, who himself had 
 gathered a fine collection of books in his house at 
 Mortlake. He presented to Queen Mary a " Supplica- 
 tion " for the recovery and preservation of ancient 
 writings and monuments, and showed that " among 
 the exceeding most lamentable displeasures that 
 
U THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 have of late happened to the Realm, through the 
 subverting of the Religious Houses, not the least 
 calamity is the spoliation of so many notable 
 libraries." He thought that much might be saved 
 if the work of salvation were set about at once, and 
 prayed the Queen to order " the recovery of such 
 worthy monuments as are yet extant, so that the 
 Queen should have a most notable library, the pass- 
 ing excellent works of our forefathers be preserved 
 from rot and worms, and the whole realm use and 
 enjoy the whole incomparable treasure. ... In the 
 erecting of this your Library Royal, your Grace shall 
 follow the fcxitstips of all the famous and k'odly 
 Princes of old tinn:." Dec proposed that a royal 
 commission should be appointed to search for books 
 all over the count ry, and that speedily, before the 
 owners got wind of what was afoot and secreted 
 their treasures, " which nevertheless," he says, 
 " were very ungodly done, and a certain token that 
 such are not sincere lovers of good learning." The 
 books, when found, were to be taken away and copied, 
 and returned to the owners afterwards if the owners 
 wished. We can read between the lines the hope 
 that they would not wish. He also suggested that 
 all the famous books of foreign libraries should be 
 transcribed. As some of the noblest libraries beyond 
 the sea he instances those of the Vatican and of St 
 Mark's, Venice, and those at Bologna, Florence and 
 Vienna. 
 The Supplication, however, was not heard. 
 
A NATIONAL LIBRARY 15 
 
 In the following reign, a petition was drafted 
 by Robert Cotton, John Doddridge and James Lee, 
 urging upon Queen Elizabeth the desirability of 
 preserving " the books, original charters, and monu- 
 ments of this realm," in a library to be erected in 
 some convenient spot, either in " some convenient 
 room in the Savoy Hospital which may well be 
 spared," or in the lately dissolved monastery of St 
 John of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, or elsewhere as the 
 Queen might choose. This library was to be called 
 the Library of Queen Elizabeth, and was to be under 
 the direction of a corporation styled " The Academy 
 for the Study of Antiquity and History founded by 
 Queen Elizabeth." It was proposed, too, that the 
 Queen should contribute towards this institution 
 books from the royal collection concerning history 
 and antiquities. It was also well pointed out that 
 treatises published by authority on public matters, 
 and proclamations, soon became very rare, because 
 there was no place where they might be preserved. 
 
 It does not appear that this petition was ever 
 presented. The copy in the British Museum (Cotton 
 MS. Faustina E.v.) is a rough draft only, with 
 erasures, and the names at the foot are in one 
 hand and not autograph signatures. The document 
 proves, however, that the idea of a national library 
 was alive in the minds of some of the scholars of the 
 day, and it continued to grow, and at last bore fruit. 
 We shall hear of Robert Cotton again. But, in 
 accordance with English habit, the scheme had to 
 
16 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 be worked out by individual enterprise and set well 
 in motion before the State saw fit to countenance 
 it. 
 
 Dr Richard Bentley, Royal Librarian under 
 William III., Anne, George I. and George II., also 
 thought of a national public library. Like the 
 Commonwealth Parliament, he looked upon the 
 Royal Library at St James's, consisting chiefly of 
 books gathered by Henry VII. and his successors, 
 as intended for the public benefit, and in 1697 he 
 brought forward " A Proposal for Building a Royal 
 Library and Establishing it by Act of Parliament." 
 He pointed out the want of care and accommodation 
 at St James's for the library, once so flourishing, now 
 so neglected. There had been no supply of books 
 from abroad for sixty years ; there was no allow- 
 ance for binding, so that many valuable manuscripts 
 were spoiled for want of covers ; and over a thousand 
 books printed in England and brought in quires to 
 the library, under the Act for the Regulation of 
 Printing, were lying unbound and useless. He 
 suggested that the King should give a comer on the 
 south side of St James's Park for a site for the new 
 building, and a house for the Keeper, approached by 
 a coachway from Tuttle Street, Westminster, and 
 that the library should be subsidised by Parliament. 
 But, again, nothing was done. 
 
 It was most probably at Bentley's instigation 
 that the Royal Library was sent, in 1708, to stand 
 shoulder to shoulder with the Cottonian, and the 
 
A NATIONAL LIBRARY 17 
 
 dream of uniting the two in one national collection 
 may have prompted the idea. 
 
 About 1707 there was some talk of uniting the 
 Royal and Cottonian libraries and the Library of 
 the Royal Society, but nothing came of it. 
 
 Carte, the historian, pointed out some years later 
 that there was no great city so ill provided with 
 public libraries as London. He considered that a 
 library might well form part of the Mansion House, 
 then in course of erection. The Harleian manu- 
 scripts were at that time in the market, and could 
 probably be bought for £20,000, and he proposed 
 that the twelve rich City Companies should each 
 contribute £2000 towards the purchase. The 
 manuscripts would form a valuable nucleus, and the 
 surplus of £4000 could go towards buying printed 
 books. 1 
 
 The first modern library of note in England was 
 founded at Oxford by Sir Thomas Bodley, to replace 
 the old University Library destroyed by Edward VI. 's 
 commissioners. It was named after its founder, and 
 opened in 1602 with the benediction of all book- 
 lovers. The King enriched it with volumes from 
 his own collection, Sir Robert Cotton gave it of his 
 treasures, and the Company of Stationers undertook 
 to present it with a copy of every book printed by 
 members of the Company. This last was a par- 
 ticularly valuable concession, for the Company of 
 Stationers then possessed the entire monopoly of 
 
 1 Sloane MS. 4254. 
 
18 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 English printing. Moreover, what the Company 
 then granted as a privilege became later a legal right, 
 and to this day the Bodleian Library is by law 
 entitled to receive a copy of every book published 
 in the United Kingdom. 
 
 In 16S4 Archbishop Tenison built and endowed a 
 public library in the parish of St Martin-in-the- 
 Fields for the use of the clergy of Westminster. 
 Dr Thomas Bray, a philanthropic divine, and author 
 of Bibliothcca Parochuiii'i, 1697, was instrumental 
 in establishing eighty parochial libraries in places 
 where the clergy could not afford to supply them- 
 selves with the bo<>k> necessary for their studies, and 
 by his efforts an Act was passed in 1708 " For the 
 Better Preservation of Parochial Libraries." Some 
 of his libraries still exist, under the care of the 
 Associates of Dr Bray. 
 
 These were small attempts to supply a great want. 
 Yet a national library, owned by the nation, acces- 
 sible to the nation, and worthy of the nation, was 
 approaching, but, like most important results, it was 
 to be brought about by a collocation of circumstances 
 rather than by a single stroke of genius or the 
 execution of one spontaneous plan. 
 
II 
 
 THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 
 
 To Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1570-1631), antiquary 
 and historian, we owe the nucleus and one of the 
 chief glories of the national library. 
 
 He was educated at Westminster School, where 
 Camden was a master, and at the age of eighteen he 
 began to collect manuscripts with a view to writing 
 a history of England. The history was never com- 
 pleted, but Cotton has left behind him a number 
 of separate treatises on historical subjects. He 
 was intimate with all the scholars and antiquaries 
 of his time, and enjoyed opportunities of inter- 
 course with officers of State — opportunities which 
 he made the most of to acquire or " convey " many 
 official documents of extraordinary interest, such as 
 to-day would be strictly preserved in the public 
 departments to which they belong, but were then 
 not highly enough valued- and therefore not well 
 enough guarded to be beyond the reach of an eager 
 and discriminating collector. It would be going too 
 far, no doubt, to accuse Cotton of stealing, but it is 
 true that his passion for old documents was so strong 
 that even when he had merely borrowed them he 
 was extremely reluctant to return them. Certainly, 
 
 19 
 
20 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 had he been hampered by fine scruples he would 
 have been a less strikingly successful collector. 
 But it may well be believed that while indulging his 
 beloved hobby he had a wider purpose in view. He 
 was alive, as we have seen, to the need for a national 
 public library for the preservation of ancient records ; 
 he was one of the benefactors of the Bodleian 
 Library ; he was aware of the negligence of govern- 
 ment officers, and it may be that he planned to do 
 privately, for his country's benefit, what would 
 never have bci n initiated by any public movement. 
 It seems certain that he intended his collection to 
 become national property. It is also not to be 
 doubted that by his passion for collecting many 
 manuscripts were preserved which would otherwise 
 have been lost or destroyed. 
 
 His methods annoyed Sir Thomas Wilson, the 
 Keeper of the Records, who, when the death of 
 Arthur Agarde left vacant the post of Keeper of the 
 Exchequer Records, declared that it would be 
 dangerou-i to the State " if Sir Robert Cotton, who 
 will strive for it, succeed to put in a person devoted 
 to him. "He already injures the Keepers of State 
 Papers by having such things as he hath coningly 
 scraped together." Nevertheless, when Cotton 
 applied, through Wilson, for the " subscriptions and 
 signatures of Princes and great men, attached to 
 letters otherwise unimportant, as he was collecting 
 such for curiosity's sake," James I. gave orders that 
 his request was to be granted. 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 21 
 
 But Cotton was not regarded by his contempor- 
 aries merely as a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles. 
 He was respected as a high authority on English 
 constitutional affairs, and on questions of precedent 
 he was consulted as a matter of course. Thus, in 
 1615, Chamberlain stated that the question of the 
 right of Lord Roos to carry the sword before the King 
 had been settled by Sir Robert Cotton, " who has 
 ever some old precedent in store." 
 
 James I. had great confidence in Cotton's judg- 
 ment. He forbade the publication of the first part 
 of Camden's Life of Queen Elizabeth till Cotton had 
 reviewed it, and ordered that the second part was to 
 be reviewed by himself and by Cotton too. He also 
 stopped the publication of Camden's Life of Mary 
 Queen of Scots till Cotton had enlarged it " and made 
 it more authentic from two more ample histories 
 which have come out, one in French and one in 
 English." Cotton was one of the first on whom 
 James conferred the new dignity of a baronetcy. 
 
 In 1626 Cotton was one of the commissioners ap- 
 pointed " to ascertain the facts respecting the placing 
 and removal of the mark-stone on Tower Hill," as 
 well as a member of the committee to inquire into 
 some alleged abuses in the navy. And about the 
 same time, when some parliamentary precedents 
 had to be searched out, it was taken for granted 
 that while the Attorney-General would easily give 
 satisfaction for the precedents in the Star Chamber, 
 Sir Robert Cotton would do the same "for the 
 
22 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 precedent aforesaid in Edward III.'s time," and this 
 notwithstanding that Cotton held no official position. 
 
 Moreover, historians and antiquaries both at home 
 and abroad were deeply indebted to Cotton's match- 
 less collection of ancient and mediaeval documents, 
 and to his generosity in placing it at the service of 
 students. Among these students were Camden, 
 Dugdalc Bacon, Speed and, no doubt, many 
 lesser lights. Officers of State, too, were often 
 glad to have access to Cotton's library. In that 
 library, says Fuller, " are contained many Privaties 
 of Princes and Transactions of State, insomuch that 
 I have been informed, that the Fountains have been 
 fain to fetch Water from the stream, and the Secre- 
 taries of State, and Clerks of the Council, glad from 
 hence to borrow back again many Originals which, 
 being lost by casualty or neglect of Officers, have 
 here been recovered or preserved." 
 
 In October, 1615, Cotton was accused of having 
 communicated State secrets to the Spanish Am- 
 bassador, and in December of the same year he was 
 imprisoned. After six months' confinement he was 
 released and pardoned, a privilege for which he had 
 to pay £500. Towards the end of 1629 he found 
 himself in trouble again, this time on account of " a 
 pestilent tractate which he had fostered as his child," 
 and circulated, it was alleged, among his friends. It 
 contained " a Project how a Prince may make him- 
 self an absolute tyrant," and was designed " to bridle 
 the impertinency of Parliament." 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 23 
 
 This tract, so out of harmony with the temper of 
 the time, had been written in Italy by Sir Robert 
 Dudley and sent to England in the time of King 
 James. It had lain forgotten in the Cotton Library 
 until the librarian, who is said to have let out his 
 employer's books for his own profit, by some evil 
 chance let this out also. It was copied and passed 
 from hand to hand until Sir Thomas Wentworth 
 heard of it. He traced it back to Cotton, and Cotton 
 was arrested. His library and studies were sealed 
 up, and he was not allowed access to them save in 
 the presence of a clerk of the Council. A perpetual 
 guard was set on his house in Westminster. 
 
 The King had the " Project " read over in Council, 
 and Archbishop Harsnet declared he had never heard 
 a more " pernicious, diabolical device." Cotton was 
 kept under arrest till May, 1630, and on 29th May was 
 tried in the Star Chamber, together with the Earls 
 of Bedford, Somerset, and Clare, John Selden and 
 Gilbert Barrell, for circulating the " Project " in 
 question. While the trial was proceeding, command 
 was received from the King that it was to be stopped, 
 because of his joy at the birth of a son. " Upon 
 which the said Writing was ordered to be burnt as 
 Seditious and Scandalous ; and the Proceedings were 
 taken off the File." The details of the story are not 
 clear, and it is probable that the pamphlet was made 
 a pretext by Cotton's political enemy, Buckingham, 
 to do him injury. It is certain that Buckingham 
 instigated the seizure of the library. 
 
24 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 But though the Star Chamber proceedings had been 
 dropped. Cotton remained under a cloud. A few 
 weeks later, Mr Secretary Coke was ordered to see 
 what records and State papers in the custody of Sir 
 Robert Cotton properly belonged to the King. The 
 library was still under seal, and Sir Robert and his 
 son, petitioning that it might be restored to them, 
 pleaded that the books occupied the best rooms of 
 the house, and were perishing for want of airing. 
 But the King paid no heed, and Sir Robert fell ill of 
 grief He told his friend, Sir Symonds D'Ewes, " that 
 they had broken his heart that had locked up his 
 library from him." and D'Ewes reported that grief 
 had so marked him that his once ruddy face " was 
 wholly clianged into a grim, blackish paleness, near 
 to the resemblance and hue of a dead visage." 
 
 Cotton never saw his library again. He died in 
 1631, at his house in Westminster, and on his decease 
 his son Thomas renewed his father's petition to the 
 King. Charles I. had commanded a certain Mr 
 Boswell to make a catalogue of the manuscripts, but 
 after he had begun the work Boswell was removed to 
 some other employment. Sir Thomas therefore 
 prayed for the restitution of his library. In 1633 he 
 presented a third petition, submitting that his study, 
 the best room in the house, had been long locked up, 
 and himself debarred from its use, by order of the 
 Privy Council, until the catalogue was made by which 
 it would be seen whether the collection contained any 
 records or papers properly belonging to the King. 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 25 
 
 The catalogue had been finished in the previous 
 summer by Mr Dickinson, and apparently nothing 
 had been discovered to which Sir Thomas's right was 
 disputed. 
 
 About this time there was some danger that the 
 Cotton collection might be bought for the Vatican 
 Library, "but blessed be God, "says Fuller, "the 
 project did miscarry, to the honour of our Nation, 
 and advantage of the Protestant Religion." 
 
 Stukely states that in the time of the Common- 
 wealth, about the year 1650, the Cotton Library was 
 at Stratton in Bedfordshire, and preserved by Brom- 
 hall, High Sheriff of the county, from plunder, the 
 constitutional and legal evidence it contained being 
 dangerous to its existence in those iconoclastic days. 
 Sir Thomas Cotton, marrying for the second time, 
 wedded the widow of a gentleman of Stratton, and 
 his son John married the same gentleman's daughter. 
 No doubt, therefore, the library was sent thither by 
 Sir Thomas himself. When the danger was past, the 
 famous collection came back to its proper home at 
 Cotton House, Westminster. 
 
 Cotton House was situated within the precincts of 
 the old Palace of Westminster, midway between St 
 Stephen's Chapel and the Painted Chamber. It had 
 gardens running down to the river, and a water gate. 
 In 1648 Charles I. was brought by water from White- 
 hall, " guarded with Musqueteers in Boats to Sir 
 Robert Cotton's House near Westminster Hall, and 
 from thence to the Bar of the Court," and as often 
 
26 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 as the Court adjourned he was taken back to Cotton 
 House. Here he had an interview with Bishop 
 Juxon. It is noteworthy that seventeen years after 
 Sir Robert Cotton's death the house should still be 
 called by his name and not by that of his son and 
 successor. At the 1>« ^mmiiL,' of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury it was known as Cotton House, and was the 
 residence of the Clerk of the House of Commons. 
 
 The site is now covered by part of the new Houses 
 of Parliament, but Cotton House is interesting to 
 the student of old London because it stood approxi- 
 mately, perhaps exactly, on the spot once occupied 
 by the chapel of St Mary de la Pewe, which after 
 centuries of importance passed into secular hands at 
 the Dissolution and practically disappeared. Its site 
 became a matter for conjecture and some difference 
 of opinion. But among the Treasury Papers there is a 
 document to which attention is now drawn, I believe, 
 for the first time, showing that the site of St Mary 
 de la Pewe was where Cotton House afterwards 
 stood, on the south side of St Stephen's Chapel. 1 
 
 After its ultimate restoration to Sir Thomas Cotton 
 the Cotton Library continued to be a treasure-house 
 for the student. Dugdale had already found there 
 a quantity of material for his Monasticon, when Sir 
 Thomas told him that there were two large bales of 
 old papers that had never been opened since Sir 
 Robert packed them up, and gave him permission to 
 
 1 Calendar of State Papers. Treasury Papers, vol. xcviii., 
 No. 102. 17th June 1706. 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 27 
 
 go through them if he would take the trouble to put 
 them in order. " Whereupon I adventured on the 
 work," says Dugdale, in a letter of nth June 1678, 
 "and found two lieger books within the bundle, 
 which pleased me so well that I did not stick at 
 putting all those papers into order." He found that 
 they included State papers of Wolsey, Cromwell, 
 Cecil and other important personages of the reigns 
 of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth, 
 and some correspondence between Mary Queen of 
 Scots and the Duke of Norfolk. All these he care- 
 fully sorted, and had them bound in about eighty 
 volumes. Sir Thomas Cotton paid the bookbinder, 
 but, adds Dugdale ruefully, " though he was a man 
 of £6000 per annum estate, he never offered me 6d. 
 for my pains therein." 1 
 
 A certain R. Lapthorne, who visited Cotton House 
 in 1692, thus describes the library : " It is scituated 
 adjoyning to the House of Commons at Westminster, 
 of a great highth, and part of that old fabrick, but 
 very narrow, as I remember, not full six feet in 
 breadth, and not above 26 in length ; the books 
 placed on each side, of a tolerable highth, so that a 
 man of an indifferent stature may reach the highest. 
 Over the books are the Roman Emperors, I mean, 
 their heads, in brass statues, which serve for standards 
 in the Catalogue, to direct and find any particular 
 book." Lapthorne had not time to look into the 
 
 1 Frank MSS. Appendix to 6th Report, Roy. Comm. on Hist. 
 MSS., p. 453. 
 
28 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 books, but noticed, among other objects in the 
 library, portraits of Sir Robert Cotton, Ben Jonson, 
 and Wickliffe, and Dr Dee's " instruments of 
 conjuration." * 
 
 The same nominal arrangement of the Cotton 
 volumes is retained to this day, that is, the presses 
 in which they are kept arc named after Roman 
 emperors — Augustus, Claudius, Vespasian, etc. But 
 Lapthome's description of the apartment where the 
 books were housed does not tally with Sir Robert 
 Cotton's statement that they occupied the best rooms 
 in the house. 
 
 Sir Thomas and Sir John, son and grandson re- 
 spectively of Sir Robert Cotton, added to the library. 
 It is stated that in 1700 Louis XIV. offered £60,000 
 for it. but Sir John Cotton, in accordance with the 
 desire and intention of his father and grandfather, 
 in this same year transferred the collection to the 
 nation. By Act of Parliament (1700) " for the better 
 settling and preserving the library kept in the House 
 at Westminster called Cotton House, in the name and 
 family of the Cottons, for the Benefit of the Publick," 
 the library was to be vested at Sir John's death in 
 Trustees, and meanwhile Sir John undertook that in 
 his lifetime it should not be sold or dispersed, and 
 that it should be " kept and preserved by the name of 
 the Cottonian Library, for Publick Use and Advan- 
 tage." But apart from the room containing the 
 
 > Pine Coffin MSS. 5th Report, Roy. Comm. on Hist. MSS., 
 Pt. I, p. 383. 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 29 
 
 manuscripts, the house was to continue as a residence 
 for the Cotton family. 
 
 A Keeper was to be appointed who should give 
 security to the value of £500 for the safety of the 
 manuscripts while under his care, and take the follow- 
 ing oath: ; — " I ... do swear that I shall and will 
 during my continuance in the employment of Keeper 
 of the Cottonian Library use my utmost care and 
 endeavour for the preserving of the same and will not 
 willingly or wittingly permit or suffer the same or 
 any of the said books, papers, parchments, records or 
 other particulars contained in the said Library to be 
 given away, aliened, disposed or otherwise imbezled." 
 
 The Trustees appointed were the Lord Chancellor 
 for the time being, the Speaker for the time being (at 
 that time Robert Harley), the Lord Chief Justice of 
 the King's Bench, and four members of the Cotton 
 family, including William Hanbury, grandson of Sir 
 John Cotton. Hanbury claimed to have been in- 
 strumental in procuring the gift of the library to 
 the public, and on Sir John Cotton's death, within 
 a month of the passing of the Act, went to live at 
 Cotton House and took charge of the library. But he 
 was not formally made Keeper until some years later. 
 
 Matthew Hutton, John Anstis, and Humphrey 
 Wanley, all eminent antiquaries, were appointed by 
 the Trustees to examine the library. Their report, 
 dated 2nd June 1703, states that they had compared 
 the books with the entries in Smith's Catalogue, 
 printed in 1696, and had found the latter very 
 
30 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 incomplete. They had also discovered that many of 
 the volumes were in a state of decay, and not housed 
 in a safe place. 
 
 Three years later Sir Christopher Wren reported 
 that the library-room was so ruinous that it could 
 not be repaired unless a lar^e part of the house were 
 rebuilt, and he proposed that the manuscripts should 
 be removed to an apartment over the ushers' room 
 in the House of Lords. This suggestion was not 
 acted upon. Instead, twenty-seven book-presses 
 were fitted up in C« >tton House, at the public expense. 
 
 Yet the gift remained practically useless to the 
 public. There was no Keeper, and no regulations 
 had been made for the guidance of students or the 
 safeguarding of the collection. The library could be 
 approached only through the principal private apart- 
 ments, and the room where it was lodged was small, 
 damp and lighted only by a window at each end. 
 The arch over one of the windows was on the point 
 of falling, and that which supported the room 
 was equally out of repair. 
 
 In order to remove the anomaly of a public library 
 lodged in a private house, and to make the collection 
 properly accessible, and also with the view of provid- 
 ing a suitable place for the Royal Library, then in- 
 adequately housed in a dilapidated room at St James's, 
 Queen Anne ordered negotiations to be opened with 
 Sir John Cotton (the second) for the purchase of 
 Cotton House and gardens. In 1706 they were 
 bought by the Crown for £4500, under an Act of 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 31 
 
 Parliament " For the better Securing Her Majesty's 
 purchase of Cotton House in Westminster," which 
 enacted that a convenient room should be built near 
 or adjoining Cotton House, where the library and 
 curiosities should be lodged, "and there remain to 
 all Posterity, and be for ever known as the Cottonian 
 Library." William Hanbury was now formally 
 appointed Keeper. 
 
 The new room was never built. Nevertheless, in 
 1708, the Queen had the Royal Library moved from 
 St James's to Cotton House, where there was now 
 space and to spare for it. 
 
 At this time the Royal librarian was Dr Richard 
 Bentley (1662-1742) , a celebrated classical and Biblical 
 scholar, and the friend of Evelyn, Newton, Locke 
 and Wren. He was appointed Keeper of the Royal 
 Library in 1694. He had influential friends, and 
 Hanbury was induced to resign the Keepership in his 
 favour. Hanbury states that pressure was indirectly 
 brought to bear on him by a hint that the purchase 
 money for Cotton House, which had not yet been paid 
 to Sir John Cotton, who greatly needed it, would 
 not be paid until he had surrendered his office. 
 
 Notwithstanding his resignation, however, Han- 
 bury remained at Cotton House, and the relative 
 positions of Hanbury and Bentley are not clear. 
 They had at least one undignified quarrel. But 
 the office of Keeper appears to have been a sinecure 
 so far as either of them was concerned, for about 1714, 
 John Elphinstone, who claimed to have had virtual 
 
82 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 charge of the Library since 1706, and who had 
 attended the illustrious visitors who had come from 
 distant parts of the country to see it, petitioned the 
 Treasury for a recompense of £50 a yearfor his trouble. 
 He stated that Dr Bentley, who lived in Cotton 
 House, " had never intermedled with the library, nor 
 had any key of the presses," and that Mr Hanbury, 
 who had deputed him (Elphinstone) to attend, had 
 not kept his agreement as to payment. The Treasury 
 refused Elphinstone more than £40 a year. A few 
 yars later he petitioned again, this time in the 
 interests of the library itself, "so much valued at 
 home and abroad, and generally esteemed the bist 
 collection of its kind now anywhere extant." He 
 pointed out that it was lodged in rooms near the river, 
 and would perish from damp if provision were not 
 made for firing. Elphinstone received some atten- 
 tion this, time ; he was paid the arrears of his salary 
 and an allowance for firing and lights. 
 
 Soon after this John Anstis suggested that the two 
 libraries might be moved to the rooms over the south 
 aisle of St Paul's Cathedral, and stored in presses 
 similar to those used for the records in the Tower. 
 
 A year or two later David Casley, " Deputy Keeper 
 of His Majesty's and the Cottonian Libraries " re- 
 ported that the Commissioners of Works had taken 
 no steps to repair the dilapidations of Cotton House, 
 because the House of Commons had lately debated 
 the building of a new library. He prayed for speedy 
 directions, " as the damage which may be done by 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 33 
 
 the rain will be irreparable." Nothing came of the 
 Commons' debate, but in 1727 a lease was taken of 
 Essex House in the Strand, for the purpose of housing 
 more safely the books so endangered by the damp 
 and ruinous state of the old Westminster mansion. 
 Two years after the removal of the two libraries to 
 Essex House, we hear of the rent in arrears and £90 
 worth of repairs wanting. Essex House was now 
 discovered to be hemmed in by other buildings and 
 exposed to the risk of fire, and in various respects 
 unsuitable. As the lease was about to expire, it was 
 therefore proposed to rent the Earl of Ashburnham's 
 house in Dean's Yard, Westminster, and to transfer 
 the books thither at a cost not exceeding £100. 
 This mansion was recommended by the Com- 
 missioners of Works as generally more commodious 
 and much safer from fire. It was here, nevertheless, 
 that the Cottonian and Royal libraries were all but 
 burnt to ashes. 
 
 The books were taken back to Westminster, and 
 lodged in Ashburnham House, within a stone's throw 
 of their original home, and in 1731 they came near to 
 entire destruction. 
 
 On Saturday morning, 23rd October, about two 
 o'clock, "a great Smoak was perceived by Dr Bentley, 
 which soon broke into flame. It began from a wooden 
 Mantle-Tree's taking fire which lay across a Stove 
 Chimney that was under the Room where the manu- 
 scripts of the Royal and Cotton Libraries were, and 
 was communicated to that Room by the wainscot, 
 c 
 
34 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 and pieces of Timber that stood perpendicularly on 
 each end of the Mantle-Tree." As they hoped to be 
 able to extinguish the fire, the librarians did not at 
 once begin to remove the books out of harm's way, 
 but as the fire grew stronger Casley started to collect 
 such manuscripts as the Codex Alexandrinus (Royal 
 Library) and those of the Cotton Library contained 
 in the pn-ss distinguished by the head of Augustus, 
 as KinL,' considered the most valuable in the collec- 
 tion. Some of the presses and their contents were 
 removed bodily, others, which by this time were 
 already alight, were broken open and the books were 
 thrown out of the window. Thence they were taken 
 to safety. " some into the apartment of the Captain 
 of Westminster School, others into the Little Cloisters, 
 and afterwards conveyed into the tfreat Boarding 
 House opposite to Ashbumham House, and on 
 October 25. leave being obtained, removed into the 
 new building of the Dormitory of Westminster 
 School. " The new dormitory was built in 1722. The 
 books were afterwards removed into the old monastic 
 dormitory, now the Westminster schoolroom. 
 
 As soon as he heard of the fire, the Speaker of the 
 House of Commons, Arthur Onslow, ex officio one of 
 the Trustees, hurried to Ashbumham House and 
 helped in the rescue work, and next day but one, the 
 intervening day being Sunday, other Trustees, the 
 Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice, with 
 the Speaker, met together to inspect the salvage. 
 Damage had been done by water as well as by fire, 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 35 
 
 and many of the treasures were in a sorry plight. 
 The vellum books caught by the fire had been closed 
 up by the sealing together of their edges, some beyond 
 hope of recovery. The Speaker summoned a number 
 of persons employed in the record offices in the Tower 
 and elsewhere to confer with him as to what steps 
 to take, and the following measures were resolved 
 upon : — 
 
 Paper books to be immediately unbound and put 
 into the softest cold water till the stains disappeared, 
 and then into alum water, to strengthen them. After 
 hanging on lines to dry, they were to be rebound. 
 
 Wet vellum manuscripts to be smoothed and 
 straightened very carefully by hand, wiped with a 
 clean flannel, and unbound if necessary. 
 
 Vellum manuscripts closed by the fire to be 
 opened with an ivory folder, and turned over leaf 
 by leaf, " and the glewy Substance which has been 
 fired out upon the Edges . . . taken off by the 
 Fingers carefully, in order to prevent its infecting 
 and corroding the rest." Manuscripts which were 
 hardened and shrivelled to be softened by cold 
 water, if no better way could be found. 
 
 Fragments to be carefully cleaned and kept. 
 
 Some very wet pieces had to be dried before a fire. 
 
 Bentley and Casley carried out the work with the 
 help of three clerks from the record office of the 
 Exchequer, a bookbinder, and some other persons, 
 in the old dormitory, the Speaker coming frequently 
 to note progress. 
 
36 THE BRITISH MUSF.UM LIBRARY 
 
 The expenses of the fire, the removal of the libraries 
 from Ashburnham House, and the putting in order 
 of the injured pieces, cost the very moderate sum of 
 £100, but for the damage to Ashburnham House the 
 Treasury had to pay Lord Ashburnham nearly £600. 
 
 Edward Harlcy, Earl of Oxford, whose great 
 collection of manuscripts was eventually to pass into 
 the possession of the nation, refers, in a letter to a 
 friend, to "the terrible calamity that has befallen 
 the Cottonian library, through the villainy of that 
 monster in nature. Bentley. He must be detested 
 by all human creatures— I mean the civilized part 
 of them." 
 
 Some of the Royal manuscripts suffered, but the 
 greatest injury was to the Cotton collection. Before 
 the fire it numbered 948 volumes, and of these 
 114 were now totally destroyed, and 98 badly 
 damaged. The House of Commons committee 
 appointed to report on the condition of the library 
 after the fire expressed surprise that the mischief 
 was no greater. About a third of the injured pieces 
 were restored in the Dormitory by the methods 
 above described. In 1793, when the collection had 
 become part of the British Museum, the Trustees 
 ordered the remaining fragments to be repaired, and 
 the work of restoration was gradually carried on, 
 until in 1864 the identification and arrangement was 
 finally completed as far as it ever could be. A 
 description of the injured pieces was then drawn up 
 and placed on record. 
 
THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY 37 
 
 The committee reporting on the Cottonian Library 
 also inspected the ground belonging to Cotton House 
 and vested in the Crown under the Act of 1706, and 
 were of opinion that there or near by a proper Room 
 for the Cottonian Library should be built, " and that 
 the said Room may be part of an edifice to be erected 
 for other uses, and particularly for the preservation 
 of such Publick Records as shall be thought proper 
 to be deposited therein. ... And it appears to 
 your Committee that the Building before proposed 
 for the Cottonian Library may be so designed as to 
 have some Relation to a future structure, in which 
 the Parliament may be assembled." 
 
 But these large plans for a group of national 
 buildings at Westminster were not carried out, and 
 although three years later the Board of Works 
 prepared a plan and estimates for a new House of 
 Commons and Cottonian Library, they had their 
 trouble for nothing. The Cottonian and Royal 
 libraries were left lying in the Westminster Dormitory, 
 and Dr Bentley, deprived, like the books, of his 
 official lodging, had to hire a house, for which he was 
 allowed £100 a year. 
 
 There are various manuscript catalogues of the 
 Cottonian Library in existence, made at different 
 times. Their number testifies, if testimony is 
 needed, to the importance of the collection. The 
 first-mentioned seems to be that begun by " Mr 
 Boswell " about 1630 or 1631 (?) at the command of 
 Charles I. In 1633 " Mr Dickinson " was at work 
 
38 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 on a catalogue with a view to finding whether any 
 of the manuscripts belonged to the Kin^. Bos well's 
 and Dickinson's catalogues were probably one and 
 the same. 
 
 The first catalogue printed was Thomas Smith's 
 Calalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum Bibliotheca 
 Cotioniit, Oxford, 1696, folio. It affords a clue to 
 some of the manuscripts lost in the tiro, but the 
 number of articles it enumerates are less than a 
 fourth of the actual contents of the library. It is 
 thus of limited value, and it is written, besides, in 
 Latin of a style which few persons can read with 
 ease. 
 
 In 1703 the Trustees of the British Museum, with 
 whom the Cottonian Trustees were now joined, 
 ordered the preparation of a new catalogue, as the 
 imperfections of Smith's were so frequently com- 
 plained of. This was undertaken by Joseph Planta, 
 of the Museum, afterwards Principal Librarian. 
 Planta also rescued and restored fifty-one of the 
 damaged manuscripts. In 1802, in accordance with 
 the instructions of a royal commission appointed 
 to calendar and index all public records, Planta's 
 catalogue was printed. He had contemplated 
 making a subject catalogue, but found the subjects 
 too numerous and miscellaneous. But he provides 
 a very useful Index. It is a pity that some parts 
 of the text of his catalogue are quite unnecessarily 
 expressed in Latin. 
 
Ill 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE COTTONIAN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Thomas Rymer, historiographer royal, and editor 
 of the Fcedera, died at the end of 1713. His histori- 
 cal papers, filling fifty-nine volumes, and covering 
 the period 1115-1698, passed, with the rest of his 
 property, to one Anna Parnell, from whom they 
 were purchased by the Government for £215. They 
 were ordered to be placed with the Cottonian 
 collection. They were not handed over to the public 
 authorities, however, until 1756, when the House 
 of Lords ordered them to be deposited in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 The narrow escape of the Cottonian manuscripts 
 from destruction moved Major Arthur Edwards, by 
 his will, made in 1738, to bequeath to the Cottonian 
 Trustees a sum of £7000 for the erection of a house 
 for the library where it might be safe from another 
 such catastrophe as the fire of 1731. But if, before 
 the will came into effect, a building of the kind should 
 have been erected, the money was to be expended 
 on such manuscripts, books of antiquities, coins, 
 etc., "as might be worthy to increase and enlarge 
 
 39 
 
40 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 the said Cottonian Library." In addition, the 
 testator bequeathed his books, consisting of some 
 2000 volumes of English, French, and more especially 
 Italian works. Major Edwards died in 1743, but 
 owing to a life interest in bis property the legacy 
 did not accrue to the nation till 1769, when other 
 arrangements for the welfare of the Cottonian 
 Library had been for some time completed. It 
 was therefore invested in Old South Sea Annuity 
 Stock, and the interest was expended on books, 
 manuscripts, coins, sculpture and natural history 
 specimens. In 1815 the purchase of the library of 
 Baron von Moll, of Munich (20,000 volumes), and of 
 Charles Burney*s books on music, together with a 
 small contribution to the General Fund, extinguished 
 the fund bequeathed by Major Edwards. 
 
 The next , and the greatest addition to the Cottonian 
 Library consisted of the Harleian manuscripts. 
 These were named after their chief collector, Robert 
 Harley (1661-1724), who held high offices of State 
 under Queen Anne, and was created Earl of Oxford 
 and Mortimer in 1711. He intended the manuscripts, 
 chiefly, to illustrate the history of Great Britain, and 
 added to them articles from the collections of Foxe, 
 the martyrologist, Stow, author of the famous Survey 
 of London, and Sir Symonds D'Ewes, author of 
 The Journals of all the Parliaments during the Reign 
 of Queen Elizabeth. But they also included many 
 Biblical and classical manuscripts from religious 
 houses and other sources all over Europe. 
 
COTTONIAN LIBRARY ADDITIONS 41 
 
 The collection owed much to the zeal of its 
 indefatigable librarian, Humphrey Wanley, at one 
 time an assistant in the Bodleian Library, and 
 engaged by Harley, in 1708, to catalogue his manu- 
 scripts. Wanley spent the remainder of his life — 
 eighteen years — on this task, but at the same time 
 kept vigilant watch for new acquisitions, and was 
 ready to attack any stronghold and to risk any 
 rebuffs to secure fresh treasures for the Harley 
 Library. Thus he wrote to .the Dean of Lichfield 
 to ask him to persuade the Chapter to part with 
 K their old Book" — the eighth-century Gospels of 
 St Chad — either for money or for books to a greater 
 value. We can scarcely wonder that he received 
 no answer. On another occasion he found that Sir 
 Hans Sloane was a rival purchaser at a sale where 
 Lord Oxford desired to buy some books. Wanley 
 therefore wrote to Sir Hans to see if some arrange- 
 ment could be made, and Sir Hans courteously 
 relinquished his claim to the purchase. Nor was it 
 the first time that he had thus stood aside in Lord 
 Oxford's favour. 
 
 The instructions given by Wanley to one Andrew 
 Hay, who was employed to travel on the Continent 
 in search of desirable acquisitions, will give some 
 idea of the means by which this magnificent collec- 
 tion was augmented. 
 
 " . . . At Monza (about ten miles from Milan) 
 is an imperfect Antiphonarium Gregorii I. Papae. 
 It is all written upon purple-coloured Parchment, 
 
42 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 with Capital Letters of Gold. Buy this if you 
 can. 
 
 " At Rome, the Greek monks of St Basil have 
 very many old Greek MSS., written in Capitals, 
 particularly a Book of the IV Gospels, and some 
 Pieces of St Gregory Xazianzen upon St Paul's 
 Epistles. Buy as many as you can, for I hear they 
 are poor, and therefore they may sell the cheaper. 
 They have Likewise a Greek charter of Roger, King 
 of Sicily, in five Pieces, written upon Bark or vellum. 
 Buy these also, if you can. 
 
 "... At Naples, in the Library of the Augustine 
 Friars <>f St John de Carbonara, is a Greek MS. 
 of the Gospels (or of the Homilies upon the Gospels) 
 all written in Capitals with Letters of Gold, upon 
 Purple Parchment. This must be bought. There 
 is also a Dioscorides in Greek Capitals, being a large 
 Book with Figures of the Plants, etc. This must 
 be bought. 
 
 " Pray, Sir. all along in your journey endeavour 
 to secure what Greek MSS. and Latin Classical 
 MSS. you can, provided they come at reasonable 
 prices." 
 
 The manuscript of Wanley's Diary, full of in- 
 terest to the lover of old books, came to the British 
 Museum with the Lansdowne collection (Lansdowne 
 MS. 771). 
 
 Besides manuscripts, the Harley Library included 
 a fine collection of printed books. The second Earl 
 of Oxford added largely to both divisions, but after 
 
COTTONIAN LIBRARY ADDITIONS 43 
 
 his death, in 1741, the printed books, numbering 
 about 50,000, were dispersed and sold for less than 
 had been spent on their binding alone. It was 
 Lord Oxford's wish, however, that the manuscripts 
 should remain intact, though it was not until the 
 Sloane Bequest was offered to the country that 
 steps were taken to secure them for the nation. 
 Sir Hans Sloane died in January, 1753, and in the 
 following March the Speaker proposed to the House 
 of Commons that a fund should be raised for the 
 purchase of both the Sloane and the Harley collec- 
 tions. The public spirit in which their offer of 
 £10,000 for the latter was received by the Harley 
 representatives is shown by the letter addressed, 
 in April, 1753, to the Speaker by the Duchess of 
 Portland, Lord Oxford's daughter and heiress. 
 
 " As soon as I was acquainted with the proposal 
 you had made in the House of Commons, in relation 
 to my Father's Collection of manuscripts, I in- 
 formed my Mother of it, who has given the Duke 
 of Portland and me full power to do therein as we 
 shall think fit. 
 
 " Though I am told the expense of collecting them 
 was immense, and that, if they were to be dispersed, 
 they would probably sell for a great deal of money, 
 yet, as*a sum has been named, and as I know it 
 was my Father's and is my Mother's intention that 
 they should be kept together, I will not bargain with 
 the Publick. I give you this trouble therefore to 
 acquaint you that I am ready to accept of your 
 
44 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 proposal upon condition that this great and valuable 
 collection shall be kept together in a proper reposi- 
 tory, as an addition to the Cotton Library, and be 
 called by the name of the Harleian Collection of 
 Manuscripts. 
 
 " I hope you do me the justice to believe that I do 
 not coiimi1< r this as a sale for an adequate price. 
 But your idea is so right, and so agreeable to what 
 I know was my Father's intention, that I have a 
 peculiar satisfaction in contributing all I can to 
 facilitate the success of it." 
 
 The Harleian Manuscripts, therefore, consisting 
 of over 10,000 articles, besides 40,000 charters, etc., 
 became national property, at the price of £10,000, 
 as an addition to the Cottonian Library. The 
 collection brought with it the catalogue begun by 
 Wanley in 1708, and continued by Casley, the 
 Cottonian librarian. Like the Cottonian Catalogue, 
 it was ordered by the commissioners appointed to 
 deal with the indexing of the public records to be 
 printed, and was issued in 1808-1812, in 4 vols. 
 folio, with indexes by the Rev. T. H. Home. 
 
 Since the incorporation of the British Museum in 
 1753 there appear to have been only two instances 
 where a distinction — and that but a nominal one — 
 was drawn between the Cottonian Library and the 
 British Museum Library. The first was in the case 
 of the legacy received, in 1756, from the widow of 
 Thomas Madox, historiographer royal, who be- 
 queathed all her husband's manuscripts, filling 
 
COTTONIAN LIBRARY ADDITIONS 45 
 
 94 volumes, and including materials for a Feudal 
 History of Europe, as an " addition to the Cottonian 
 Library in the British Museum." The other relates 
 to the Edwards' bequest, received in 1769, under a 
 will, however, made in 1738, as stated above. 
 
IV 
 
 THE SLOANE BEQUEST 
 
 In the course of his natural history and medical 
 studies Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753); physician to 
 Christ's Hospital, physician-general to George I., 
 physician-in-ordinary to George II., and, in 1727, 
 President of the Royal Society, amassed a fine 
 library, and a vast number of curiosities, including 
 the large miscellaneous collections of his friend 
 William Courten, otherwise Charleton. In his 
 younger days he went to Jamaica as physician to the 
 Governor, the Duke of Albemarle, and there studied 
 botany and natural history, collected specimens, 
 and employed an artist to make drawings. The 
 fruit of his labours was a Natural History of Jamaica, 
 which he dedicated to Queen Anne. He attempted 
 to bring home some live reptiles for his museum, 
 but was not fortunate with them. A tame snake, 
 seven feet long, which he kept in a jar, escaped one 
 day before the voyage, went upstairs to the bed- 
 rooms, and was killed by the terrified servants. The 
 other creatures all died at sea. 
 
 Sloane 's treasures were gathered first in his house 
 in Great Russell Street, and then moved to the 
 
 46 
 
THE SLOANE BEQUEST 47 
 
 Manor House at Chelsea. They included animal, 
 vegetable and mineral specimens ; Egyptian, Greek, 
 Etruscan, Roman, British and American antiquities, 
 amounting in all to about 200,000 articles, and a 
 number of books. Sloane is known to fame rather 
 by this " museum " than by his library, yet his 
 collection of printed books, on every branch of 
 learning and in all languages, and over 4000 manu- 
 scripts, was a valuable one. He was not a biblio- 
 maniac, but he loved books, and treated them with 
 respect, and when Handel, visiting at his house one 
 day, laid a greasy muffin on one of his volumes, 
 Sir Hans was justly indignant. 
 
 " To be sure it was a gareless trick," said Handel 
 afterwards, " put it tid no monstrous mischief ; 
 put it but the old poog-worm treadfully out of sorts. 
 I offered my best apologies, put the old miser would 
 not have done with it." 
 
 " It is really a want of feeling to do these things," 
 said Sir Hans, when relating the incident to a friend. 
 " If it had been a biscuit it would not have mattered, 
 but muffin and butter — only think, Mr Martin 
 Folkes!" 1 
 
 Sloane made no secret of his intentions with regard 
 to the disposal of the " museum " after his death, 
 and when the Prince and Princess of Wales went to 
 
 1 De Quincey relates an instance of similar boorishness on the 
 part of Wordsworth, whom he describes as tearing his way through 
 an uncut volume with a buttery knife " that left its greasy 
 honours behind it upon every page." 
 
48 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Chelsea to see the old man and his treasures, the 
 Prince told him that the collection was " an ornament 
 to the nation, and that great honour would redound 
 from the establishing of it for the public use, to the 
 lastest posterity." After Sir Hans' death in 1753, 
 it was found that, subject to certain conditions, he 
 had left his museum and library to the nation. 
 
 " Having had from my youth, a strong inclination 
 to the study of plants and all other productions of 
 nature, and having through the course of many years 
 with great labour and expense gathered together 
 whatever could be procured either in my own or 
 foreign countries that was rare and curious, and 
 being fully convinced that nothing tends more to 
 raise our ideas of the power, wisdom, goodness, 
 providence, and other perfections of the Deity, or 
 more to the comfort and well-being of his creatures, 
 than the enlargement of our knowledge in the works 
 of natuiv. I do will and desire that for the promoting 
 of these noble ends, the glory of God and the good 
 of man, my collection in all its branches may be, if 
 possible, kept and preserved together, whole and 
 entire, in my manor-house in the parish of Chelsea 
 situate near the physic-garden, given by me to the 
 Company of Apothecaries for the same purposes." 
 So runs the preamble to Sir Hans Sloane's will. 
 
 He then proceeds to bequeath to a long list of 
 important executors " all that my collection or 
 museum at, in, or about my manor-house at Chelsea 
 aforesaid, which consists of too great a variety to be 
 
THE SLOANE BEQUEST 49 
 
 particularly described, but I mean all my library 
 of books, drawings, manuscripts, prints, medals, 
 and coins, ancient and modern, antiquities, seals, 
 etc., cameos, and intaglios, etc., precious stones, 
 agates, jaspers, etc., vessels, etc., of agate, and 
 jasper, etc., chrystals, mathematical instruments, 
 drawings and pictures and all other things in my 
 said collection or museum ..." 
 
 He wished these to be placed under the care of 
 certain " learned, experienced and judicious persons, 
 who are above all low and mean views " — namely, the 
 King, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cumberland, 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being, the 
 Lord Chancellor for the time being, other officers of 
 State for the time being, and the Bishop of London 
 for the time being. The number of Trustees was 
 never to exceed fifty. 
 
 Then follows a stipulation that there should be 
 paid to his executors a consideration of £20,000, a 
 sum which in no wise expressed the value of the 
 museum, and failing the acceptance of his offer by 
 the English Government, the collections were to be 
 offered to foreign academies. If no foreign body 
 would buy them, then they were to be dispersed and 
 sold as best they might. 
 
 A subsequent codicil revoked the bequest so far as 
 it concerned the manor-house of Chelsea, and thus 
 the nation was left free, in the event of its acquiring 
 the museum, to house it wherever it might be thought 
 desirable. Regulations were to be drawn up, and 
 
 D 
 
50 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 the collections were to be open to all persons who 
 wished to see them. 
 
 As it usually happens in such cases, the Government 
 were not eager to avail themselves of the opportunity 
 afforded them. The King, named in Sloane's will 
 as first of the Trustees, declined to act, saying that 
 he did not believe there were £20,000 in the Treasury, 
 though probably a point of etiquette may have stood 
 in the way of his holding such an office in any case. 
 The dilettante of Strawberry Hill had only derision 
 for the scheme. " Sir Hans Sloane is dead." he 
 wrote to a friend, " and has made me one of the 
 tru-tees of his museum, which is to be offered for 
 twenty thousand pounds. ... He valued it at four- 
 score thousand pounds, and so would anybody who 
 loves hippopotamuses, sharks with one ear, and 
 spiders as big as geese ! You may believe that those 
 who think money the most valuable of all curiosities 
 will not be purchasers." 
 
 Fortunately, the Speaker of the House of Commons 
 at this time was Arthur Onslow, one of the Trustees 
 of the Cottonian Library, and himself a lover of books. 
 He subsequently bequeathed his collection of printed 
 Bibles to the library of the Museum which he helped 
 to establish. He saw in Sir Hans Sloane's offer the 
 opportunity for bringing the Cottonian Library out 
 of its obscurity, and for adding to it the Harleian 
 manuscripts, then in the market, and lent all his 
 influence in aid of the plan. 
 
 The matter was referred to a committee of the 
 
THE SLOANE BEQUEST 51 
 
 House of Commons, which reported that the Sloane 
 museum was of much greater intrinsic value than the 
 price asked for it, and made the following recom- 
 mendations : — 
 
 That the sum of £20,000 be paid for the museum, 
 which was to be kept entire and maintained for the 
 use and benefit of the public. 
 
 That a proper repository be provided for the better 
 reception and more convenient use of the Cottonian 
 Library and of any additions thereto. 
 
 That the bequest of Major Edwards to the 
 Cottonian Trustees be applied either towards pro- 
 viding such repository or towards purchasing addi- 
 tions to the Cottonian Library agreeably to the 
 provisions of his will. 
 
 That the Harleian collection would be a proper 
 addition to be made to the Cottonian Library, and 
 that £10,000 be paid for it. 
 
 That the sum of £20,000 and such further sums as 
 shall be necessary for all these purposes be raised by 
 lottery for a sum not exceeding £700,000. 
 
 The Act of Parliament passed in general accord- 
 ance with these recommendations received the Royal 
 Assent in June, 1753. It was entitled " An Act for 
 the Purchase of the Museum or Collection of Sir 
 Hans Sloane and of the Harleian Collection of Manu- 
 scripts, and for providing one General Repository for 
 the better Reception and more convenient Use of the 
 said Collections and of the Cottonian Library and of 
 the additions thereto." It provided for funds by 
 
52 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 authorising a public lottery in which there should be 
 100,000 shares at £3 each. £200,000 was to be set 
 aside for prizes, and £100,000 applied to the purposes 
 set forth in the title of the Act. Further, within the 
 cities of London or Westminster or their suburbs 
 " one general repository " was to be " erected or pro- 
 vided for Sloane's museum, the Cottonian Library, 
 the Harleian manuscripts, and Edwards's additions," 
 though these several collections were to be kept 
 separate and not blended. The Act also incorporated 
 the Trustees appointed by Sloane's will, with the 
 exception of the King, and with the addition of two 
 of the Cottonian Trustees, two Sloane family Trustees, 
 and two Harley family Trustees, by the name of The 
 Trustees of the British Museum, and thus settled the 
 title of the new institution. 
 
 Free access to the collections was to be afforded 
 " to all studious and curious Persons." 
 
 It will be seen that the popular belief that Sir Hans 
 Sloane " founded the British Museum " is partly 
 right and partly wrong. He indeed initiated that 
 important part of it which comprises natural history 
 specimens, but the foundation of the national library 
 to which the Sloane collections were linked on, as 
 well as of the antiquities, was laid by the gift of Sir 
 John Cotton. Cotton's gift included, besides price- 
 less manuscripts, a number of " coins, medals, and 
 other rarities and curiosities." It is not ungracious 
 to say that the library, being already in existence, 
 would have developed and grown without Sir Hans 
 
THE SLOANE BEQUEST 53 
 
 Sloane's help or intervention. The Act of Parlia- 
 ment establishing the Museum did not merge the 
 Sloane collections in the Cotton collections and addi- 
 tions, or vice versa ; it simply brought them together 
 and provided that they should be housed under one 
 roof and one name, and ordered by the same admini- 
 stration. But the dominant importance of the great 
 libraries now brought together over the antiquities 
 and natural history specimens was marked, if not by 
 styling the officers " Librarians," at any rate by the 
 appointment of the Principal Librarian as chief officer 
 of the Museum. He was to be appointed, moreover, 
 not by the Trustees, but by the King, from two 
 persons nominated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 the Lord Chancellor and the Speaker, and he was 
 required to give a bond of £1000 (now increased to 
 £10,000) for the faithful discharge of his duties. 
 
 It is true that the first three Principal Librarians, 
 Gowin Knight, F.R.S., Matthew Maty, M.D., F.R.S., 
 and Charles Morton, M.D., F.R.S., were all men of 
 science, though Maty at any rate was equally a man 
 of letters. But whenever the office has fallen vacant, 
 it has been filled by promoting one of the staff of 
 either the Department of Manuscripts or the Depart- 
 ment of Printed Books. The Principal Librarian has 
 never been chosen from outside the Museum staff 
 since the appointment of the first holder of the title 
 in 1756, nor from any department save that of the 
 Manuscripts or Printed Books. 
 
 More than a hundred years after the incorporation 
 
54 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 of the British Museum this question of the relative 
 importance of the chief departments was raised by 
 certain memorialists who disapproved of the proposal 
 to separate the natural history collections from the 
 rest. These memorialists included the most eminent 
 naturalists and scientific men of the day, and they 
 roundly asserted, with remarkable lack of scientific 
 precision, that the British Museum, when established 
 by Act of Parliament, was essentially a Natural 
 History Collection (see Ch. VIII.). They do not appear 
 to have read the Act they professed to quote. 
 
 They further stated that by far the greater number 
 of visitors to the Museum were those " who frequented 
 the halls containing the Natural History collection." 
 But they would probably have admitted that the 
 majority of these were not students, but sight- 
 seers. In The Synopsis of the Contents of the British 
 Museum. 1808, the first official guide, it is plainly de- 
 clared that the chief use of the institution lay in 
 the assistance it gave to men of letters and artists by 
 affording them materials for the prosecution of their 
 studies, and that the provision of amusement for 
 sightseers was " a popular, though far less useful 
 application of the Museum." 
 
THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BRITISH 
 MUSEUM 
 
 The Act of 1753 laid down that a general repository 
 should be provided for the Sloane, Cottonian and 
 Harleian collections, and various schemes were con- 
 sidered by the Trustees. The plan for a building at 
 Westminster, which in time should make part of a 
 group including the Houses of Parliament, was again 
 rejected, on account of the expense, and a suggestion 
 for using the Banqueting Room at Whitehall found 
 no favour. The Trustees' choice at last lay between 
 Buckingham House, now Buckingham Palace, which 
 was offered for £30,000, and Montagu House, Blooms- 
 bury, offered for £10,000. The matter of price settled 
 the question, and notwithstanding the lessons which 
 should have been taught by the vicissitudes of the 
 Cottonian Library through the damp and disrepair of 
 Cotton House, the dilapidations and inconvenience 
 of Essex House and the fiery disaster of Ashbumham 
 House, yet another handsome but ramshackle old 
 mansion was chosen as the receptacle for two or three 
 invaluable libraries and the Sloane museum, instead 
 of a building especially and appropriately designed, 
 
 55 
 
56 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 The proceeds of the lottery which was to defray 
 the cost of carrying out the provisions of the Act of 
 1753 amounted to about £95,000 after expenses were 
 paid, and this was disbursed, in round figures, as 
 follows : — 
 
 Sloane Collections 
 
 £20,000 
 
 Harleian Manuscripts 
 
 10,000 
 
 Purchase of Montagu House 
 
 10,000 
 
 Repairs and Fittings 
 
 13,000 
 
 Removal and other expenses 
 
 13.337 
 
 Invested for maintenance . 
 
 28,663 
 
 
 £95.ooo 
 
 The first Montagu House was built about 1674 by 
 Ralph, first Duke of Montagu, sometime Ambassador 
 to the Court of France. It was planned by Robert 
 Hooke, and is described by Evelyn as " a stately and 
 ample palace, . . . built after the French pavilion 
 way. " Less than a dozen years later it was destroyed 
 by fire. On the original foundations, and on what 
 remained of the walls, a new house was erected, under 
 the direction of the French architect Puget, and 
 decorated within by French artists. It had a spacious 
 garden, and the whole occupied seven or eight acres. 
 Adjoining the grounds on the north was a famous 
 duelling-place, called the Field of the Forty Foot- 
 steps, from a duel fought there by two brothers for 
 love of a lady. The lady herself sat on a bank hard 
 by and watched the combat. Both brothers were 
 
EARLY DAYS 57 
 
 killed, and legend says that where their feet had 
 trodden in the struggle the grass never grew 
 again. 
 
 The first meeting held by the Trustees in Montagu 
 House was in April, 1754. By the following spring 
 the alterations were sufficiently advanced to admit 
 of the reception of the collections. The Harleian 
 manuscripts were the first to arrive, the Sloane and 
 Cottonian libraries came next, and lastly the Sloane 
 museum, all being in place by the end of 1755. But 
 the repairs to the house were not completed till three 
 years later. 
 
 The south part of the present Museum occupies 
 the ground covered by Montagu House, and the 
 northern buildings stand on what was formerly the 
 garden. 
 
 On 15th January 1759 the British Museum was 
 opened to the public, under Dr Gowin Knight, F.R.S., 
 as Principal Librarian. Knight was a man of 
 science, noted for his researches in magnetism, and 
 the inventor of an improved compass which was 
 adopted for use in the navy. He was appointed 
 in 1756. 
 
 The first guide to the Museum seems to have been 
 an anonymous and unofficial pamphlet, without date, 
 but conjecturally assigned to the year 1760, entitled 
 A View of the British Museum relating what is most 
 remarkable and curious to be seen there. Collected 
 from several authentic Reports for the Benefit of Those 
 who have a Mind to be acquainted with the principal 
 
58 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Parts of it. From this we leam that the institution 
 at that time consisted of three departments. 
 
 I. Manuscripts, Medals and Coins, deposited in 
 six rooms, up one pair of stairs, on the east side of 
 the house. 
 
 II. Natural and artificial products, in six rooms on 
 the west side. 
 
 III. Printed Books. Maps, Globes, Drawings, etc., 
 in twelve rooms on the first story. 
 
 The rooms on the ground floor, level with the 
 garden, were either " designed for the convenience of 
 such as came to peruse or study the books," or were 
 filled with duplicates or articles for which there was 
 no space elsewhere. The reader is given an extremely 
 brief description of some of the busts, pictures, 
 painted ceilings and mummies, but no further in- 
 formation regarding the library. 
 
 This pamphlet was followed, in 1761, by another 
 anonymous and unofficial publication directed to a 
 similar purpose — viz. The General Contents of the 
 British Museum, with Remarks serving as a Directory 
 in viewing that noble Cabinet, London, 1761. It is 
 a worthy attempt to give a bird's-eye view of the 
 treasures of the collections and to assist the visitor 
 to an intelligent grasp of the mass of material before 
 him. But it does not give any idea of the appearance 
 of the old house, nor does it provide a plan, though 
 its account of the arrangements is more detailed than 
 its predecessor's. The six rooms of the first depart- 
 ment contained manuscripts, etc., as follows : — 
 
EARLY DAYS 59 
 
 I. Royal 1 and Cottonian manuscripts. 
 II., III., IV. Harleian manuscripts. 
 
 V. Sloane collection of medals (coins). 
 
 VI. Sloane manuscripts. 
 
 The eight rooms of the third department contained 
 the Printed Books : 
 
 I.; II. Royal Printed Books. 1 
 
 IV.-VI. Sloane Printed Books. 
 
 On the upper floor " a Saloon is appropriated for 
 the Reception of Company that happen to come 
 before the Hour mentioned in their Tickets, who, 
 after having viewed the articles contained in the 
 Hall and first Room already mentioned, and the 
 Paintings, cannot spend their Time disagreeably 
 here ; as from the Windows you not only have an 
 agreeable View of the Gardens belonging to the 
 House, which are far from being inelegant, but a 
 delightful Prospect of the Hills and high Grounds of 
 Hamfstead, Highgate, and the circumjacent Places." 
 
 Visitors were also expected to admire the ceilings 
 and decorations painted by the French artists, De 
 La Fosse, Rousseau and Monoyer. 
 
 It seems that no official guide or description was 
 issued till the publication of the Synopsis of the Con- 
 tents of the British Museum, London, 1808, by which 
 time the collections filled thirty-eight rooms. On 
 the lower floor, the Printed Books occupied Rooms 
 I. -XII., and Rooms XIII. and XIV. in other parts of 
 the house. On the upper floor, Room III. contained 
 1 The Royal Library was presented in 1757. 
 
60 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 the Lansdowne Manuscripts (purchased in 1807) ; 
 Room IV.. the Sloane and Birch Manuscripts (the 
 latter received by bequest in 1765) ; Rooms V. and 
 VI. the Harleian Manuscripts and additions ; Room 
 VIL, the Royal Manuscripts (presented in 1757). 
 and the Cottonian Manuscripts. 
 
 The Reading-room was Room XIV. on the ground 
 floor. Here wore kept Parliamentary records, 
 gazetteers and newspapers. 
 
 Rules for the use of the Museum, including the 
 Reading-room, were drawn up by the Trustees in 
 1757. They provided that the Museum was to be 
 shown every day except Saturday, Sunday, Good 
 Friday, and a week at Christmas, Easter and Whit- 
 suntide. Ten persons only were admitted at one 
 time, and that by ticket, and these parties of ten 
 were conducted through the rooms by officers of the 
 institution. They were at first allowed three hours 
 to make the round, but this was reduced, in 1768, to 
 two hours. They were to be first conducted through 
 the Sloane collection, then through the Sloane library, 
 and lastly through the two libraries of manuscripts 
 and the library of Major Edwards. No officer or 
 servant of the Museum was to accept any fee or 
 gratuity. No children were to be admitted. Cata- 
 logues of the books, manuscripts and other objects 
 were to be placed in each of the rooms to which they 
 related, and the books, etc., were to be numbered in 
 accordance with the catalogue. 
 
 A particular room was to be allotted where persons 
 
EARLY DAYS 61 
 
 who had obtained leave from the Trustees might read 
 and write without interruption, and any book, or 
 other part of the collection, so far as was consistent 
 with the safety thereof, was to be brought to a 
 reader at his request, by the messenger, who was 
 likewise to furnish readers with pens and ink, if 
 desired. 
 
 Readers and students were to be admitted to the 
 Reading-room on obtaining leave from the Trustees 
 and agreeing to observe the rules. The leave was 
 given for six months, and could be renewed on 
 application. A person wishing to transcribe might 
 not lay the paper on which he wrote on the book 
 or manuscript transcribed from. No manuscript or 
 the greater part of one was to be transcribed without 
 the Trustees ' permission . Every reader was to return 
 the book or other object borrowed from the collec- 
 tions to the officer in charge of the Reading-room. 
 
 The Reading-room was situated at the corner of 
 the basement, and fitted with a table covered with 
 green baize, and twenty chairs. It opened by a 
 glass door into the garden, and the garden was a 
 pleasant spot, well stocked and planted. It is said 
 that in the year following its restoration, after 
 a period, doubtless, of utter neglect, it contained 
 six hundred species. Flower borders and a terrace 
 occupied the western side, and a lime avenue the 
 eastern, and between these was a lawn beyond 
 which the view extended across the Field of the 
 Forty Footsteps to the open country. But by the 
 
62 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 beginning of the nineteenth century the view over 
 the fields was blocked by houses. 
 
 In 1768 the regulations were extended. Among 
 other things, they permitted the Trustees and 
 officers to use the gardens and to take their friends 
 there, but the friends were not to be allowed to 
 remain in the gardens alone. Stringent precautions 
 were to be observed against fire, and the premises 
 were to be searched at night in case any nefarious 
 person should be lurking there. As regards the use 
 of the library, written notice had now to bo given 
 the day before of the book or manuscript required, 
 and certain specially valuable or fragile specimens 
 were not to be removed out of the collection to which 
 they belonged. A catalogue of these was to be kept 
 by the offia 1 of the Reading-room. No part of the 
 collection was to be carried out of the general 
 repository, except books, deeds, etc., required for 
 evidence in a court of law, and these were to be taken 
 by the under-librarian, who was to remain with 
 them the whole time and bring them back with him, 
 " for which extraordinary trouble and attendance 
 it is expected that a proper satisfaction be made 
 him." 
 
 For the first year readers were admitted by a 
 committee of Trustees, but in January, 1760; the 
 Principal Librarian was empowered to grant ad- 
 mittance when there was no quorum, or in cases of 
 emergency. 
 
 The first list of readers admitted to the use of the 
 
EARLY DAYS 63 
 
 Reading-room, by a committee of Trustees meeting 
 on 12th January 1759, was as follows : — 
 
 " The Rev. Dr Taylor, Residentiary of St Paul's, 
 for 6 months. 
 
 " The Rev. Dr Lowth, Prebendary of Durham, for 
 a months. 
 
 " Daniel Wray, Esq., for 6 months. 
 
 " Mr Musgrave, Editor of the Hippolytus of 
 Euripides, for 6 months. 
 
 " Mr Edward Langton, at the desire of Lord 
 Royston, for 6 months. 
 
 " Mr Stuart, of Grosvenor Street, for 6 months. 
 
 " The Rev. Dr Chandler, for 3 months. 
 
 " Taylor White, jEsq., for 1 month ; and that the 
 said Mr White having occasion to make drawings of 
 some cinnamon and cassia, such books of dried plants 
 as contain the said specimens be carried to him into 
 the Reading-room for that purpose." 
 
 One hundred and forty readers were admitted 
 during the first year. Dr Johnson was admitted 
 on 8th May 1761, but it does not seem that he used 
 his privilege. He preferred to study at the Royal 
 Library at Buckingham House. 
 
 The first, and for ten years the only woman reader 
 was Catherine Macaulay, the historian, the lady 
 whose statue, in the character of History, was set 
 up during her lifetime in the Church of St Stephen's, 
 Walbrook, to testify to the admiration felt for her 
 by the incumbent, Dr Wilson. 
 
 Gray, the poet, admitted 20th July 1759, thus 
 
64 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 describes his co-readers. " We were : a man that 
 writes for Lord Royston, a man that writes for Dr 
 Burton of York, a third that writes for the Emperor 
 of Germany, or Dr Pocock, for he speaks the worst 
 English I ever heard ; Dr Stukely, who writes for 
 himself, the very worst person he could write for, 
 and I, who only read to know if there were anything 
 worth writing, and that not without some difficulty. 
 I find that they have printed iooo copies of the 
 Harleian Catalogue and have sold four-score ; that 
 they have £900 a year income, and spend £1300 ; 
 and that they are building apartments for the under- 
 keepers, so I expect in winter to see the collection 
 advertised and set to sale." 
 
 Gray was right as to the poverty of the Museum. 
 The Principal Librarian was then paid £200 a year, 
 and his subordinates in proportion. 
 
 It is curious to notice that the French Revolution 
 caused a considerable increase in the number of 
 readers. It is stated that nearly a half of those 
 admitted in 1795 were French refugees, among them 
 being the Archbishop of Bordeaux and the Bishops 
 of Uz6s and Troyes. 
 
 On account of its dampness the first Reading-room 
 was abandoned in 1774, in favour of one on the next 
 floor directly above it, which remained in use till 
 1817. By that time the number of readers had so 
 increased that another room on the upper floor, 
 where the Harleian MSS. were kept, was prepared 
 for them. 
 
EARLY DAYS 65 
 
 By 1823, when the King's Library was presented 
 by George IV., Montagu House was very much in 
 need of repair ; it was not fireproof — the flues being 
 defective — and in other ways it was unsuited for a 
 public building, for which, besides, it was not 
 originally intended. Plans for a new building had 
 been prepared in 1821, but some legal difficulties 
 arose as to the right of the Trustees to build to the 
 north of the existing house. The Court of Chancery 
 decided in the Trustees' favour, but the acquisition 
 of the King's Library and the decision to provide 
 special accommodation for it caused the earlier 
 plan to be superseded. The new scheme took into 
 account the future as well as the present, and the 
 provision of an exclusive apartment for the King's 
 Library was the beginning of the rebuilding of the 
 whole museum. 
 
 Sir Robert Smirke, appointed Architect to the 
 Museum in 18^5, prepared a design which was 
 substantially that of the British Museum of to-day, 
 in the classical style made fashionable by the 
 influence of the Elgin Marbles, which had been 
 added to the collections in 1815-1816. The first 
 part of the new building to be completed was the 
 east wing, containing the noble gallery known as 
 the King's Library, where George IV. 's gift is housed 
 for all time. The room above it was at first intended 
 for the nation's pictures, but this idea was wisely 
 abandoned. Particular care was taken to render 
 the new building as far as possible fireproof. 
 
 E 
 
66 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 The King's Library, and three smaller rooms at 
 its south end, two of which were assigned as reading- 
 rooms for a hundred and twenty readers, were com- 
 pleted by the middle of 1826. In a few years' time 
 the number of readers was in excess of the accom- 
 modation, and a proposal was made to use the King's 
 Library itself as a reading-room. This was not 
 carried out. But — apparently about 1838 — the 
 readers were removed to two apartments in the new 
 north wing, afterwards used as the Music and 
 Catalogue rooms. 
 
 It was shortly before this time that the Museum 
 admitted to a comparatively humble post in its 
 service one of its greatest servants and one of the 
 most illustrious librarians who have ever lived. 
 
VI 
 ANTHONY PANIZZI 
 
 Of all the scholarly and industrious men whose 
 work has raised the national library to its present 
 importance and efficiency, the most prominent is 
 Anthony Panizzi, an Italian, who has been called 
 not only " the Napoleon of librarians," but " the 
 second founder of the British Museum." When 
 appointed Keeper of the Printed Books, Panizzi 
 was subjected to a torrent of angry abuse merely 
 because he was a foreigner. But though we may 
 regret that it was not an Englishman who played 
 Panizzi's part in the history of the library, we need 
 not be ashamed that an English institution was then, 
 as always, generous enough to appoint to the vacant 
 post the best man available, without regard to more 
 or less irrelevant considerations. 
 
 Panizzi, born in 1797, was a lawyer by profession. 
 His patriotic interference in his country's affairs 
 brought him under the displeasure of the Govern- 
 ment of Modena. He was sentenced to death, but 
 saved himself by flight to England. The Modenese 
 authorities then hanged him in effigy and sent him 
 the bill for the expenses. 
 67 
 
68 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 For some time after his arrival in England he 
 taught languages in Liverpool. One of his pupils, 
 an heiress, was induced to leave her school by a 
 man named Wakefield, who was subsequently tried 
 at Leicester on a charge of abduction. Panizzi was 
 much interested in the affair, and attended the trial. 
 By his knowledge of foreign marriage law he was 
 able to make himself of use to Mr (afterwards Lord) 
 Brougham, one of the counsel engaged in the case, 
 to whom he was introduced by William Roscoe, and 
 through Brougham's influence he was appointed, in 
 1828, Professor of Italian at University College. 
 When Brougham became Lord Chancellor and a 
 Trustee of the British Museum he obtained for 
 Panizzi the post of additional assistant librarian 
 in the national library. This was in April, 1831. 
 Panizzi already had influential friends, among them 
 Thomas Grenville, diplomat and book collector, 
 with whom he shared a great love for books in 
 general and an interest in Italian literature in 
 particular. Grenville also was a Museum Trustee, 
 and no doubt seconded Brougham's efforts on 
 Panizzi's behalf. In 1832 Panizzi took out letters 
 of naturalisation. 
 
 Panizzi had had no experience of librarian's 
 work before his appointment to the British Museum, 
 but he possessed not only a natural inclination 
 towards literary study, as shown by his editions 
 of Boiardo and Ariosto, but also innate genius for 
 bibliography, and he collected books for his own 
 
ANTHONY PANIZZI 69 
 
 amusement. He soon measured the needs, the 
 shortcomings and the potentialities of the national 
 library. He threw all his energies and interest into 
 his work, and did not take too restricted a view of 
 the duties of an assistant librarian. For one thing, 
 he suggested to the Trustees that they should try 
 to secure some of the books from the convents then 
 being suppressed in Spain and Portugal, where there 
 were many valuable specimens which had been 
 brought from Italy at the time that the early printers 
 were producing their masterpieces. But the policy 
 of the Trustees at this time was narrow and short- 
 sighted, and the suggestion was ignored. Again, 
 in regard to cataloguing, his zeal was such that the 
 Finance Committee in 1835 recommended that his 
 salary of £275 should be increased to £350, but the 
 Trustees refused to agree to the recommendation 
 " on general grounds." 
 
 Panizzi was also instrumental in bringing about 
 reforms in the Reading-room. Hitherto, the reader 
 had merely handed in the name of the book desired, 
 leaving the press-mark to be supplied. Panizzi now 
 required him to consult the catalogue and transcribe 
 from it the particulars necessary for the identifica- 
 tion of the book. After he was made Keeper he 
 introduced tickets for books very similar to those 
 now in use, bearing on the back rules which, with 
 some slight modifications, are still in force. All 
 this gave great offence to foolish people. 
 
 On the retirement of the Rev. H. H. Baber, in 1837, 
 
70 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Panizzi was appointed Keeper of the Printed Books, 
 over the head of his senior officer, the Rev. H. F. 
 Cary. It was not until Panizzi heard from Cary 
 himself that the Trustees would not have appointed 
 him (Cary) in any case, considering him physically 
 unsuited to such an arduous post, that Panizzi 
 applied for the Keepership. When he received it, 
 a storm of indignation arose. His foreign origin, 
 his manners, his methods, everything about him, 
 in the eyes of some of his critics, were all objection- 
 able. A large part of the Press abused him in 
 language sometimes childish, often vulgar, and 
 always spiteful. One journal referred to him as 
 " the Italian harlequin, who jumped over the heads 
 of so many better men into the Keepership of the 
 Printed Books at the British Museum," and pro- 
 ceeded to further insolent abuse solely because 
 Panizzi had enforced a very reasonable rule made 
 when the Reading-room was first opened — that 
 readers must return the books they had used. 
 
 During practically the whole of his term of office 
 at the Museum, Panizzi had jealous enemies to 
 contend against. Indeed, it has been said that a 
 curious chapter might be written on the subject 
 of " Museum Quarrels." It need not, however, be 
 written here, but it is interesting in this connection 
 to recall an instruction issued by the Trustees to 
 the Museum staff in 1768, which seems to have been 
 drafted by a prophetic pen, unless, perhaps, history 
 repeated itself : 
 
ANTHONY PANIZZI 71 
 
 " It is the desire and intention of the Trustees, 
 and they do expect, that a good understanding should 
 as far as possible ever subsist among all the officers 
 belonging to the Museum, . . . and that all of them 
 in general should consider themselves, and the other 
 officers, as gentlemen living under the same roof, 
 and equally engaged in carrying on the same noble 
 work, and among whom, for that, as well as for other 
 reasons, no personal pique or animosity should ever 
 find the least place, but the most perfect harmony, 
 and a true spirit of benevolence, ought always to be 
 cultivated and prevail." 
 
 No doubt Panizzi was overbearing, and arrogant 
 under criticism, but his far-sightedness, his firm grasp 
 of the possibilities of the library, and his jealousy 
 for its welfare and progress, made it most natural 
 that he should fail in patience with those, less clear- 
 sighted than himself, who would build for the moment 
 rather than for posterity. He seems to have been the 
 only man then really eager to bring the library to the 
 highest pitch of perfection, to make good its defects, 
 and to render it at once useful to the poor student 
 and worthy of a great nation ; and with these large 
 views he combined careful attention to details that 
 should ensure orderly working and efficient service. 
 
 " I want a poor student," he told the Committee 
 of the House of Commons that sat in 1835-1836 to 
 inquire into the management and affairs of the 
 British Museum, " to have the same means of indulg- 
 ing his" learned curiosity, of following his rational 
 
72 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 pursuits, of consulting the same authorities, of 
 furthering the most intricate inquiry, as the richest 
 man in the kingdom, as far as books go, and I con- 
 tend that the government is bound to give him the 
 most liberal and unlimited assistance in this respect. 
 I want the British Museum library to have books 
 of both descriptions [both modern, ordinary works, 
 and costly rarities] and I want an extra grant for 
 those rare and costly works which we have not, and 
 which cannot be bought but upon opportunities 
 presenting themselves." 
 
 Panizzi also told the Committee that he considered 
 the library of the British Museum far inferior to the 
 Royal Library in Paris, and was of opinion that it 
 required a special grant of not less than £10,000 a 
 year for ten years to bring it up to what it ought to 
 be, and that the ordinary grant of £2000 should 
 be raised to £3000. Also, to give additional space, 
 the natural history collections should be removed 
 elsewhere. 
 
 As regarded the vexed question of the Catalogue, 
 he considered an alphabetical catalogue an essential 
 need and much more important than a classed one. 
 He saw the difficulties of making a classed catalogue, 
 and entirely disapproved of the attempt. 
 
 The enormous increase both of books and of readers 
 which the near future was to bring seems to have 
 been anticipated by no one save, perhaps, Panizzi. 
 The free and easy methods advocated by some of his 
 critics, which might possibly have been adopted in 
 
ANTHONY PANIZZI 73 
 
 the library then, would certainly be out of the ques- 
 tion to-day. For example, Sir Nicholas Harris 
 Nicolas, in his pamphlet of 1846, complained of the 
 tickets Panizzi introduced, to be filled up by readers 
 with the name and other particulars of the book 
 desired. " To compel a reader to fill up the present 
 ticket," he said, "is in fact to impose upon him a 
 duty which belongs to the paid servant to the public. ' ' 
 How would the paid servants of the public get 
 through their work to-day if they had to fill up all 
 the readers' tickets ? 
 
 Panizzi also realised the difference between a 
 library such as that of the British Museum and a 
 library of education. He favoured the establish- 
 ment of separate educational libraries, and the 
 crowded state of the Reading-room justified him. 
 It was incredible then, and it is incredible to-day, 
 that every reader there is engaged in research so 
 recondite, or studies so advanced, as to need the 
 vast resources of the greatest library in the world. 
 This was presently recognised by the Trustees. It 
 was calculated that one-fifth of the readers in the 
 greatly overcrowded room were young persons who 
 had not completed their education, and who came 
 to read elementary works easily obtainable else- 
 where. On 20th May 1862 notice was given that 
 the age limit for readers was to be raised from 
 eighteen to twenty-one. Persons under twenty-one 
 are not now admitted except by special permission 
 of the Trustees, given only in very rare cases. 
 
74 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 In 1838 the Trustees decided that a new catalogue 
 of the books in the library down to the end of 1839 
 should be compiled and printed. Entirely against 
 his better judgment, Panizzi endeavoured to carry 
 out their wishes. Through some confusion — perhaps 
 in the drafting of the Trustees' instructions — the 
 work was performed under such disadvantageous con- 
 ditions that it proved a complete failure. The first 
 and only volume, that of items under A, appeared 
 in 1841, and then the scheme was abandoned. The 
 work was a failure, not as regards its methods of 
 dealing with the material, but merely because, from 
 the difficulties attending its production, it did not 
 include all the books it should have included, and 
 was therefore no guide to the A items of the library. 
 But nevertheless this solitary volume was a notable 
 piece of work, because it was the first catalogue 
 compiled on scientific and well-thought-out lines. 
 Panizzi and John Winter Jones, then an assistant 
 in the library, were the leading spirits in the drafting 
 of the Ninety-One Rules on which it was based, and 
 these rules have ever since formed the foundation of 
 all scientific book-catalogues. To use Dr Gamett's 
 picturesque expression, they are " the Magna Charta 
 of cataloguing." 
 
 Henceforth Panizzi steadfastly set his face against 
 a printed catalogue of the general library. 
 
 In 1845 Panizzi presented to the Trustees an 
 account of the printed books in the library in a 
 " Private and Confidential " Report. He gave a 
 
ANTHONY PANIZZI 75 
 
 short sketch of the history of the library, and of its 
 arrangements, and - offered suggestions as to its 
 further extension. By a masterly comparison of the 
 books in the various branches of literature in the 
 Museum, with other collections, private and public, 
 and by reference to standard bibliographies and to 
 catalogues of important libraries, he showed the 
 many lacunae in our national collection. A large 
 sum of learning, general as well as bibliographical, 
 went to the making of this Report. 
 
 Of Bibles, the Museum then possessed only 389 
 to a certain private collector's 906. The books of 
 Biblical criticism numbered 67, while Harvard 
 owned 106. 
 
 Of English Liturgies there were but 33 out of 84 
 named in Lowndes' Bibliographer 's Manual. A few 
 years previously, when it was desired to find out 
 whether the Office for the Healing had appeared in 
 any English Prayer Book since the accession of the 
 House of Hanover, no such Prayer Book was to be 
 found in the national collection, but in a private 
 library there were at least four editions in which 
 this Office was included. 
 
 In scholastic theology the Museum could show only 
 20 works to Sion College's 45. 
 
 As regards natural sciences, the library was nearly 
 perfect, and the Trustees had done their best to keep 
 it up to this pitch of excellence. 
 
 The music collection showed large gaps, and not- 
 withstanding the collections of Sir J. Hawkins and 
 
76 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Eh- Burney. the Museum owned but 22 works out 
 of the 94 named in Lichtental's Bibliografia delta 
 Musica. As regards musical compositions its plight 
 was worse, for the English publishers were not 
 ashamed to evade the Copyright Act by sending to 
 Stationers' Hall a title-page only, or an imperfect 
 proof, or an odd number. In foreign music the 
 deficiencies were amazing — nothing of Handel's, 
 nothing of Mozart's, nothing of Beethoven's or 
 Rossini's. While the Report was being prepared, 
 however, Arnold's edition of Handel's works, on large 
 paper, subscribed for by George III., and the works 
 of Palestrina lately published in Rome, had been 
 added. 
 
 The French History collections were very satis- 
 factory, and those concerning the French Revolu- 
 tion were almost as complete as they could be. But 
 modern French works were very deficient. 
 
 Although the older specimens of English literature 
 were extensive and valuable, books such as the first 
 editions of Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, 
 Byron, Scott, etc., etc., were wanting altogether. 
 
 Even while the Report was being drawn up, the 
 question of how to provide more space and shelf- 
 room was already pressing, and Panizzi again pointed 
 out the desirability, if not the necessity, of dividing 
 the Museum collections, and of housing the natural 
 history and the art departments in different buildings. 
 As regards the natural history exhibits, his suggestion 
 was carried out thirty-five years later (see Ch. VIII.). 
 
ANTHONY PANIZZI 77 
 
 The result of Panizzi's Report was the grant by the 
 Treasury of an allowance of £10,000 a year for the 
 express purpose of remedying deficiencies and com- 
 pleting the library. The great increase in the library 
 under Panizzi's administration was due partly to 
 this grant and partly to his stern enforcement of 
 the Copyright Act. 
 
 Panizzi arrived at the conclusion that the Copyright 
 Acts, by which the Museum was entitled to receive 
 a copy of every book published, had frustrated their 
 own purpose of supplying the national collection 
 with current English books. It was presumed that 
 they fulfilled that purpose and rendered other sources 
 of supply unnecessary, but as a matter of fact these 
 Acts were largely evaded or ignored. Relying on 
 the observance of the law, too, Parliament, up to 
 1832, had forbidden the purchase of English books 
 by the Museum. Thus the library was left poor 
 in the very department where it should have been 
 opulent. 
 
 This " special and disagreeable duty," as Panizzi 
 called it, of enforcing the observance of the Act of 
 1842, was transferred in 1850 from the Secretary, to 
 whom it properly belonged, to Panizzi, who was voted 
 a yearly gratuity for his services. He gave notice 
 to the publishers that the provisions of the Act were 
 to be enforced, and arrears to be claimed. Failing 
 to secure an entirely satisfactory response, he next 
 had recourse to compulsion. The late Mr Bonn was 
 one who showed himself particularly rebellious, and 
 
78 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LffiRARY 
 
 seventeen different summonses were taken out against 
 him. The court upheld the Museum rights, though 
 only nominal penalties were imposed. But most of 
 the publishers resigned themselves to the inevitable 
 and sent in their books. In 1852 the number of 
 articles sent in was 13.934. In 1854 it was 19,578. 
 
 When Pdnizzi became Keeper of the Printed Books, 
 in 1837, the British Museum Library stood seventh 
 on the list of the great European libraries. By 1859 
 it had risen to the second place, and was inferior only 
 to the Bibliotheque Imp^riale. Between 1837 and 
 1851 its contents were nearly doubled, and after 1851 
 they increased by 27,000 yearly. 
 
 Panizzi's administration was also marked by the 
 amount of work done to bring order into the other 
 library departments. The music, the maps, the 
 Chinese books, and an enormous mass of pamphlets, 
 were all catalogued and made available for use, and 
 every volume of the King's Library was given a dis- 
 tinguishing mark. But the monument by which 
 Panizzi is best remembered by the Museum student is 
 the great Reading-room (see Ch. VII.). It was built 
 after bis own design, and he superintended the whole 
 work down to the minutest detail, though for the 
 dome, and other aesthetic details, the credit rests with 
 the architect, Sydney Smirke. 
 
 Before the room was finished, Panizzi had 
 succeeded Sir Henry Ellis, who retired in 1856, as 
 Principal Librarian, and its completion in 1857 was 
 the chief event during his tenure of that office. In the 
 
ANTHONY PANIZZI 79 
 
 same year the gallery containing the King's Library 
 was made public. It had previously been opened to 
 general visitors only during the Great Exhibition of 
 1851. 
 
 On Panizzi's appointment to the highest office in 
 the Museum the standing Committee of Trustees 
 drew the Government's attention to the great ser- 
 vices he had rendered to the institution, and to the 
 extension of its means of instructing and accommo- 
 dating the public, and especially commended his in- 
 ventiveness and energy in planning the new Library 
 and Reading-room, with the efficient assistance of the 
 architect. The Trustees considered the Reading- 
 room to be without a rival on the Continent. 
 
 Panizzi retired in 1866, and three years later 
 was made a K.C.B. He had previously declined a 
 knighthood on the ground that he was unwilling to 
 be the object of a further mark of royal favour, 
 which might " attract too much publick attention 
 to one like himself, a foreigner by birth, who will be 
 considered by many to have already received too 
 high a reward for his exertions." He died in 1879. 
 His bust by Marochetti stands over the inner entrance 
 to the Reading-room of the library of which he was 
 one of the most able and devoted servants. 
 
 Panizzi's letters and papers, rilling sixteen heavy 
 volumes, were purchased by the Museum in 1892, but 
 by order of the Trustees they were not made accessible 
 to the public until ten years later. They contain 
 comparatively little concerning Museum matters, 
 
80 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 and practically nothing of interest about the library, 
 but are largely concerned with Italian politics and 
 trivial literary affairs. They include correspond- 
 ence with many notable men both at home and 
 abroad. 
 
VII 
 
 LATER DAYS OF THE BRITISH 
 MUSEUM 
 
 By 1845 the present south front, replacing old 
 Montagu House, had been added, with the north and 
 west wings, thus forming, with the King's Library, a 
 hollow square. The total spent on these buildings, 
 from 1823 to 1850, was £696,000. Yet even these 
 additions were not adequate. Before 1845 the 
 Library was calling for more space, and by 1850 the 
 Reading-room (now the Music and Catalogue Rooms) 
 was crowded and uncomfortable. Thomas Carlyle 
 complained that often he could not find a seat, and 
 had to sit on top of a ladder, and, besides, that he 
 never entered the room without getting what he 
 called " the Museum headache." But though the 
 Library was appreciated by the readers, the Museum 
 as a whole was not a popular institution. It was 
 considered to have a formidable rival in the Crystal 
 Palace, then an admired novelty. The exhibits were 
 ill arranged, and very crowded, and Panizzi's sug- 
 gestion, first made in 1835, and repeated in 1845, to 
 separate the natural history specimens from the rest 
 of the collections, came to be seriously considered. 
 f 81 
 
82 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 It was the opinion of some that these might advan- 
 tageously be removed to " the rising suburb of 
 Albertopolis, South of the Kensington Road." and in 
 1857 a special committee of the Trustees resolved 
 that it was expedient that the natural history 
 collections be removed from the Museum. 
 
 Thereupon arose a clamour. A memorial was pre- 
 sented to the Government strongly protesting against 
 the proposed separation. It was signed by Lord 
 Wpitti-sley, President of the Royal Society, by 
 Huxley, Tyndall, Darwin, Owen, Whewcll, by the 
 officers of the several natural history departments 
 of the Museum, and by many other scientific men. 
 They asserted that the British Museum, when estab- 
 lished by Act of Parliament " in 1755 " {sic) " was 
 essentially a Natural History Collection " ; that 
 natural history students, under present arrange- 
 ments, had the advantage of being able to consult 
 every work which could help their researches, and 
 that the removal would involve either the transfer 
 of a large part of the library as well, or the costly 
 purchase of a new natural history library. They also 
 stated that the number of visitors who came to the 
 natural history department was larger than to any 
 other part of the Museum. 
 
 The memorial merely illustrates the platitude that 
 specialists are apt to overrate the position of their 
 own specialities at the expense of other subjects. 
 The Act of Parliament of 1753 (not 1755), establishing 
 the British Museum, certainly did not contemplate 
 
LATER DAYS 83 
 
 it as essentially a natural history collection, but as a 
 joining of the Sloane collections of natural history 
 specimens, antiquities, books and manuscripts, with 
 the library already in the national possession and 
 the prospective addition to that library of the great 
 Harleian collection of manuscripts. The Act also 
 tacitly, if not expressly, gave the library the para- 
 mount place when it called the officers " librarians " 
 and made the Principal Librarian the chief officer of 
 the institution (see Ch. IV.). 
 
 The advantage of having under one roof both the 
 objects of study and the books to assist in that study 
 is in the case of the British Museum merely nominal. 
 At the beginning, objects from the various collections 
 were permitted to be taken to the Reading-room for 
 the convenience of students, but that very soon be- 
 came impracticable; and obviously so. No reasonable 
 person could now expect any object to be carried 
 out of its own department into the Reading-room, 
 neither could he expect to be allowed to infringe the 
 rule which forbids readers to take books out of the 
 Reading-room. Even in the case of serious students 
 the risk of damage to the national property, and the 
 additional labour thrown on the staff, would prohibit 
 any such arrangements, while the probability, or 
 rather the certainty, of trivial and unreasonable 
 applications, alone would render the granting of such 
 facilities an impossibility. 
 
 But there is little practical difficulty for the genuine 
 student, since all departments have their own special 
 
84 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 libraries of standard works on the subject of their 
 respective collections, and all possible assistance 
 is freely and courteously afforded him. 
 
 Notwithstanding the protest of the naturalists 
 and men of science, therefore, the arrangements for 
 dividing the Museum collections went forward. A 
 site was acquired at Kensington from the Commis- 
 sioners of the Exhibition of 1851, on the ground 
 formerly occupied by the Exhibition of 1862, and the 
 new building was begun. 
 
 The crying need for more accommodation, both 
 for books and for readers, had now become so in- 
 sistent that in July, 1854, a Parliamentary grant was 
 made and the building of a new Reading-room and 
 library exttnsii >n was t.iken in hand. It was an obvi- 
 ous thing that the quadrangular space about which 
 the Museum buildings were grouped should not be 
 left vacant, and Panizzi was not the first to whom 
 the idea occurred of utilising it as a site for a Reading- 
 room. It was a question whether this space should 
 be given up to a Hall of Sculpture, or to the Reading- 
 room, but the Reading-room and New Library 
 triumphed. Panizzi sketched a rough design for a 
 circular room surrounded by iron galleries, and bis 
 plan, with the addition of a dome, was carried out 
 by Sydney Smirke, brother of Sir Robert Smirke. 
 
 The room was begun in May, 1854, and finished in 
 May, 1857. It was said by The Quarterly Review to 
 be "the only structure erected in London, within the 
 memory of man, which has escaped censure," and 
 
LATER DAYS 85 
 
 Dean Milman, then one of the Museum Trustees, 
 spoke of it as " the envy and admiration of 
 Europe." The opening was celebrated by a large 
 breakfast-party given by Panizzi in the Reading- 
 room itself, the only occasion when the austere 
 walls of the British Museum have witnessed a 
 social gathering. 
 
 The Reading-room is a circular building 106 feet 
 high, with clerestory windows rising above the sur- 
 rounding libraries. The dome which spans the whole 
 is 140 feet in diameter, and the largest in Europe 
 except that of the Pantheon at Rome, which is two 
 feet wider. The framework of the building is iron, 
 and the dome is supported by twenty piers. So 
 accurately was the work carried out that when 
 the scaffolding of the dome was removed there 
 was no " set " whatever, and when the building 
 was thoroughly overhauled and tested, exactly fifty 
 years later, it was found that the ironwork was 
 as good as ever, and that " scarcely a rivet had 
 failed." 
 
 The interior appointments are familiar to many. 
 The walls are covered, as far as the clerestory, with 
 shelves accommodating seventy or eighty thousand 
 books. Two galleries give access to the upper shelves ; 
 the lower shelves, which can be reached from the 
 floor of the room, are furnished with reference- 
 books in all branches of knowledge, which readers 
 may freely take down for themselves, without 
 writing tickets or applying to the attendants. 
 
86 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 These books are arranged in the following order 
 of subjects : — 
 
 Theology Philology 
 
 Law Geography 
 
 Philosophy British Topography 
 
 Science History 
 
 Art Biography 
 
 Bibliography Heraldry 
 
 Literary History Genealogy 
 
 Poetry Encyclopaedias 
 
 Drama Periodicals ;ind 
 
 Classics (Greek and Latin) Publications of Learned 
 
 Societies 
 
 The readers' desks occupy long tables, which radiate 
 like spokes of a wheel from a hub consisting of con- 
 centric circular tables, under which are shelves con- 
 taining the Museum catalogues, general and special, 
 and subject-indexes ; catalogues of other libraries ; 
 indexes to periodicals various directories and hand- 
 books, Statutes of the Realm, The Encyclopedia 
 Britannica, etc. , etc. The innermost table or counter 
 encloses a slightly raised space, within which is the 
 Superintendent's desk. At the counter attendants 
 are stationed to deal with the tickets for books 
 given in by readers, to receive back books for 
 which tickets have been written, and to answer 
 inquiries. 
 
 There are also ten little bookcases placed at 
 intervals round the outer catalogue desk, containing 
 
LATER DAYS 87 
 
 bibliographies. This arrangement was introduced 
 in 1879. 
 
 Each reader's desk is supplied with blotting-pad, 
 fixed inkstand, and penwiper, an adjustable book- 
 rest, and a shelf which folds back when not in use. 
 Paper-weights and paper-knives are also provided. 
 Each long table is divided down the centre by a high 
 partition, which practically ensures the privacy of 
 each student. Between these long tables are shorter 
 ones, provided with pens and ink, but not with parti- 
 tions or book-rests. Every table is marked by a 
 letter of the alphabet, and every desk by a number. 
 The total number of readers the room will accom- 
 modate at once is 458. 
 
 As far as possible all unnecessary noise is prevented. 
 The floor is covered with cork-carpeting, which 
 muffles the sound of footsteps ; the tables and desks 
 are substantially padded — the padding also serving 
 the purpose of preserving the books ; the trolleys 
 which convey volumes of the catalogue to and from 
 the catalogue-room work silently on rubber tyres, 
 and a placard requesting that silence shall be observed 
 as far as possible confronts every person who enters. 
 
 The arrangements for heating and airing the room 
 are elaborate. Immediately under the floor is a 
 chamber fitted with hot-water pipes, and flues for 
 admitting fresh air. The hot air enters the room 
 through the hollow pedestals of the writing-tables ; 
 the cold air comes through the gratings at the top of 
 the partition running down the centre of each table, 
 
88 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 The windows are double, and by means of pipes the 
 temperature is so regulated that no moisture accumu- 
 lates on the glass. The lantern of the dome is fitted 
 with apparatus for extracting vitiated air. 
 
 Electric light was first used in the room in 1879. 
 The lighting has been gradually improved, and there 
 are now five arc lamps, a glow-light practically to 
 every two readers, and other glow-lights over the 
 catalogue desks and bookshelves. 
 
 The n>om was closed for repairs and decoration 
 for over six months in 1907, and the new scheme of 
 decoration then introduced was white and gold only, 
 which rendered the room much lighter than formerly. 
 
 Readers are admitted, on the recommendation of a 
 householder of known position, for a period of six 
 months, the permission being renewable. To obtain 
 a book from the general library the reader must 
 transcribe from the catalogue, on one of the tickets 
 provided, the name of the book and its author, its 
 date and its pressmark. To this ticket he adds his 
 signature, the date, the letter of his table, and the 
 number of his desk, and then places it in a box at 
 the centre counter. He may have to wait for his 
 book from twenty minutes to half-an-hour, or even 
 more, occasionally less, for although by means of 
 telephones and pneumatic tubes, communication and 
 the dispatch of tickets between the different depart- 
 ments of the library has been greatly facilitated, yet 
 the actual space to be traversed before the book can 
 be brought from its press to the reader's table is 
 
LATER DAYS 89 
 
 often considerable. When the book is taken from the 
 shelf, a label with its name and the name of the reader 
 requiring it, and other particulars, is left in its place. 
 Formerly, these were also entered in a register, but 
 the elimination of this process has resulted in the 
 saving of a considerable aggregate of time in the day. 
 
 Everything is done to make the Reading-room 
 of the utmost service to those who use it, and to ensure 
 their comfort. There are no restrictions but such as 
 are imperative for the preservation of the nation's 
 property and the protection of the rights of the 
 readers in general. A student may spend the whole 
 of the day at his desk, with as many books as he 
 chooses, and he may consult the Superintendent in 
 cases of difficulty, meeting always with the courteous 
 attention characteristic of the officers of the Museum 
 in their dealings with the public, and often obtaining 
 valuable assistance in his researches. The same 
 facilities are afforded to the obscure as to the cele- 
 brated. Nor are fees exacted for any of the Museum 
 privileges except that of photographing articles in 
 the collection, and this requirement is an innovation 
 of late years introduced on account of the large 
 number of applications received. No gratuity may 
 be given to any servant of the Museum. 
 
 But it is desired that only bona fide students shall 
 use the Reading-room. Readers whose thirst for 
 knowledge can be slaked at the nearest local library, 
 those who want to consult directories to obtain 
 addresses for circulars, or encyclopaedias to enable 
 
90 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 them to enter for competitions, or who seek to amuse 
 themselves with novels or magazines, are merely 
 dogs in the manger when they monopolise valuable 
 places in the Reading-room of the national library, 
 and quite literally their room is preferable to their 
 company. 
 
 The plan of the Now Library is rectangular, and 
 measures 258 x 184 feet. In the centre is the circular 
 Reading-room, surrounding which, on the outer side, 
 are three concentric circles of book presses. Beyond 
 these circles the presses are disposed in rows, and 
 fill all the available space. Immediately round the 
 Reading-room the presses are four stories high, 
 elsewhere three, and they rise from a basement below 
 the level of the Reading-room floor. The structure 
 is almost entirely of skeleton ironwork, minimising 
 the risk of destruction by fire, and permitting a 
 freer circulation of air than is possible with solidly 
 constructed floors and partitions. 
 
 The galleries of the New Library were fitted 
 originally with five and twenty miles of shelving, 
 holding, roughly, a million and a half of books. But 
 in less than thirty years this accommodation was 
 exhausted, and the problem of how to enlarge the 
 library further again pressed urgently for solution. 
 At Bethnal Green Library one day Dr Gamett 
 noticed a device which struck him as eminently 
 useful, and this device, modified to suit Museum 
 requirements, became the sliding-press — a simple 
 but effective means of providing for almost unlimited 
 
LATER DAYS 91 
 
 extension of book-space. It was adopted by Mr 
 (afterwards Sir) E. A. Bond, Principal Librarian, 
 1878-1888. It consists of a supplementary bookcase 
 or press, containing rows of shelves back and front, 
 which is hung in front of the stationary press, and 
 works on overhead wheels backward and forward. 
 It can be pushed back flat against the stationary 
 press, and pulled out when books have to be taken 
 from one or the other. On the basement floor the 
 sliding-presses run on the ground instead of being 
 suspended, and are used for specially large and heavy 
 volumes. The Museum Library — the New Library 
 more particularly — being primarily for storing 
 books, and not, like the library of a private house, 
 serving a decorative as well as a literary purpose, 
 it does.not matter if the face of a bookcase is doubled 
 in this way. It was estimated that by means of the 
 sliding - presses the accommodation of the New 
 Library could be more than doubled. The cost is 
 small — small, that is, in comparison with the expense 
 of erecting a new building. 
 
VIII 
 
 RECENT HISTORY OF THE 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Panizzi was succeeded in the office of Principal 
 Librarian, in 1866, by John Winter Jones, Keeper 
 of Printed Books, whose administration was not 
 marked by any salient ewnt. Winter Jones ictircd 
 in 1878, and was followed by (Sir) Edward A. Bond, 
 Keeper of the Manuscripts, who brought about 
 various changes and reforms made necessary by the 
 growth of the institution. 
 
 Mr Bond s fiist achievement was to initiate the 
 printing of the General Catalogue of Printed Books 
 (see Ch. XL). He also caused the Museum to be 
 opened to the public daily instead of reserving three 
 days in the week for students only. In 1879 the 
 White Wing, on the south-east side, was added to 
 the Museum buildings, from funds bequeathed by 
 William White in 1833, subject to the life interest 
 of his widow. This wing, when completed, contained 
 newspaper rooms and additions to the Department 
 of Manuscripts, besides other extensions not con- 
 nected with the library. 
 
 In 1880-1883 the great step was taken of removing 
 
 92 
 
RECENT HISTORY OF LIBRARY 93 
 
 the natural history collections to a new museum 
 in Cromwell Road, South Kensington, where they 
 could obtain the justice" they deserve, and re- 
 ceive accessions without embarrassment. An Act 
 had been passed (1878) empowering the Trustees to 
 remove the collections relating to Zoology, Geology, 
 Palaeontology, Mineralogy and Botany "to a 
 building in course of erection at Kensington, there 
 to remain and be preserved for public use to all 
 posterity," and the British Museum (Natural History) 
 was opened to the public on 18th April 1881. The 
 galleries at Bloomsbury left vacant by the transfer 
 were immediately filled with antiquities hitherto 
 meanly lodged in the basement. 
 
 The Reading-room accommodation was now be- 
 coming extremely inadequate to the demands made 
 upon it, and a fear was expressed that persons 
 engaged in genuine research would be crowded out 
 by readers seeking merely general information. It 
 was suggested that a separate room should be pro- 
 vided, as at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, for 
 those whose needs could be satisfied by ordinary 
 modern reference works, in default of limiting 
 admission to those who came for the purposes of 
 research. During the first six months after the 
 Reading-room was opened the number of readers 
 averaged 398 daily. Thirty-one years later they 
 averaged 622 daily. To relieve the pressure, the 
 newspapers and Parliamentary Papers were removed 
 to the White Wing, and had a reading-room specially 
 
94 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 allotted to them. Restrictions also were placed on 
 the reading of novels. Novels less than five years 
 old cannot now be obtained in the Reading-room 
 without special permission from the Superintendent. 
 
 Further storage space was made when by the 
 authority of Acts of Parliament of 1767 and 1807 Mr 
 (afterwards Sir) Edward Maunde Thompson (Principal 
 Librarian, i8S8-i<»o9) withdrew from the library all 
 duplicates not needed for Museum use. These were 
 presented to other public libraries throughout the 
 country. The duplicate works on botany had already 
 been transferred to the Natural History Museum. 
 
 In 1900 a Bill was brought forward to empower 
 the Trustees to deposit copies of local newspapers 
 received by them since 1837 with local authorities 
 in England and Scotland, and to oblige such 
 authorities to make provision for housing the files. 
 It also propo-rd to authorise the destruction or 
 rejection of any printed matter received which was 
 not worth preserving. 
 
 But the Bill was promoted by the Treasury rather 
 than by the Museum authorities — that is to say, for 
 financial reasons rather than for the welfare of the 
 Museum library — and it provoked so much dis- 
 approval that it was withdrawn. No one could wish 
 to see the library collections, even of newspapers, 
 scattered over the kingdom, and the destruction of 
 apparently worthless ephemeral and miscellaneous 
 matter might prove a serious loss to the antiquary 
 of the future. 
 
RECENT HISTORY OF LIBRARY 95 
 
 The newspapers, however, were undeniably a bulky 
 and tiresome part of the library ; so two years later 
 land was acquired at Hendon, in Middlesex, seven 
 or eight miles distant, and the British Museum 
 Act, 1902, authorised the erection of a building there 
 in which might be stored newspapers and other 
 printed matter not in general use, provided that 
 they were made accessible to the public at Blooms- 
 bury on due notice being given. This repository 
 was begun in 1903, and two years later was ready 
 to receive 48,000 volumes of English provincial 
 newspapers, and Scottish and Irish journals. The 
 interleaved copy of the Newspaper Catalogue at 
 Hendon in this year filled eleven volumes. 
 
 The new library and galleries on the north side, 
 recently completed, were begun in April, 1906, the 
 late Mr Vincent Stuckey Lean having in 1899 left 
 £50,000 chiefly for the extension of the library. 
 This sum was augmented by a Treasury grant of 
 £150,000 under the Public Buildings Expenses Act. 
 The new wing is called King Edward the Seventh's 
 Galleries. It occupies the sites of houses acquired 
 by purchase in 1895, and consists of a basement and 
 sub-ground floor, for storage ; ground-floor galleries 
 for library extension, a mezzanine for studies, etc., 
 and above, a range of exhibition galleries. The 
 architect is Mr J. J. Burnet, who has designed a 
 very dignified and handsome north front, worthy 
 of the rest of the building. 
 
 The foundation-stone of the new buildings was 
 
96 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 laid by King Edward VII., who was accompanied 
 by the Queen, on 27th June 1907, in the presence of 
 the principal Trustees. As Prince of Wales, King 
 Edward had himself held the office of Trustee. 
 
 On 7th May 1914, the new galleries were opened 
 by King George V., who was accompanied by the 
 Queen and Princess Mary. The ceremony took place 
 in the North Library, when the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury read an address to the King summarising 
 the history of the Museum. In his reply, the King 
 spoke of the pride he felt in the Museum, as a former 
 Trustee of this ureat national institution. " The 
 new galleries which we are met to open to-day," 
 said his Majesty, " form a worthy addition to one 
 of the nobkst public buildings of my capital. They 
 will enable your ever-growing collections to be 
 displayed to more advantage, and will provide better 
 accommodation for students and for the work of 
 the staff, and will thus, I trust, extend and enhance 
 the influence of the Museum as one of the chief 
 educational agencies of the world." 
 
 The day was unhappily marred by the sudden 
 death, at the Museum, of Mr A. W. K. Miller. Mr 
 Miller had been an officer of the British Museum 
 since 1870, and in 1896 was appointed Assistant 
 Keeper of the Printed Books. From 1890 onwards 
 he edited the General Catalogue. 
 
 During the rebuilding of the North Library the 
 " Large Room " readers — i.e. those who wished to 
 consult books too valuable to be sent into the 
 
RECENT HISTORY OF LIBRARY 97 
 
 Reading-room — were accommodated in the old 
 Reading-room at the east end of the north 
 wing. 
 
 The latter days of the library have been unevent- 
 ful, though the collections are steadily increasing, 
 being added to yearly, partly by purchase, partly 
 by benefactions from public-spirited persons. But 
 in the official Return made in 1905 it was pointed 
 out that the continual rise in prices — very largely 
 due, no doubt, to American competition — makes 
 it increasingly difficult for the Museum to ac- 
 quire rarities, especially illuminated manuscripts or 
 original literary autographs, and that for such as 
 these it must more and more depend on gifts and 
 bequests. 
 
 Baron Ferdinand Rothschild's bequest of illumin- 
 ated manuscripts — some exceedingly fine — was 
 received in 1899. In 1910 the Huth Bequest was 
 received (see pp. 130-133). This is the most im- 
 portant addition of manuscripts and printed books 
 acquired by the Museum since the bequest of the 
 Grenville Library in 1847. 
 
 The Music Department has recently been enriched 
 by the King's loan of the royal Musical Library 
 from Buckingham Palace. This great collection, 
 numbering about 1000 manuscripts and 3000 printed 
 books, is now deposited in the Museum, and will 
 be housed in a special room of the new wing. In 
 accordance with the will of William IV. — that 
 the books of the royal palaces shall on no pretence 
 
98 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 whatever be alienated from the Crown — this collec- 
 tion remains Crown property, but it is the King's 
 wish that it shall be accessible to the public on the 
 same terms as the rest of the Museum Library. 
 Another addition to the Music Department, made in 
 1914, consisted of a collection of autograph scores 
 by great composers, deposited on loan by the Royal 
 Philharmonic Society. The Museum has published 
 a catalogue of these manuscripts. 
 
 Of late years special attention has been paid to 
 the perfecting of the incunabula — that is, of the 
 books printed in the fifteenth century, when the 
 art of printing was in the cradle. The Museum 
 collection is now one of the first, if not the first, in 
 the world. It includes over 9000 specimens, ex- 
 clusive of duplicates, notable even more for their 
 rarity than for their number. A detailed Catalogue 
 of Books Printed in the XVth century now in the 
 British Museum is in progress. The first classifica- 
 tion of this collection was made by the late Mr 
 Robert Proctor, of the Department of Printed 
 Books, who had the remarkable gift of remembering 
 all the different incunabula he had once seen and 
 of being able to visualise them at will — a faculty 
 of infinite value in such exacting work. 
 
 An interesting and useful feature of the work of 
 the library has been the arrangement of special 
 exhibitions of manuscripts and books, together with 
 prints and medals when these are available, to 
 illustrate matters of topical interest. Among the 
 
RECENT HISTORY OF LIBRARY 99 
 
 events thus illustrated or celebrated have been the 
 Fourth Centenary of Luther (1883), the Quincen- 
 tenary of Wyckliffe (1884), the History of Music, 
 in connection with the International Exhibition of 
 Inventions (1885), the Commemoration of the 
 Domesday Survey (1886), the Invention of Short- 
 hand (1887), the History of the House of Stuart, 
 (1888), the History of Printing (1901), the Alfred 
 the Great Millenary (1901), the Coronation (1902), 
 the Nelson Centenary (1905), and the Tercentenary 
 of the Authorised Version of the Bible (1911). 
 
 Happily there has been no catastrophe to chronicle 
 in the history of our national library, save the dis- 
 astrous fire at Ashbumham House, in 1731, which 
 destroyed part of the Cottonian collection. Fire, 
 War and Neglect are the three enemies which 
 have wrought havoc among books in all ages, but 
 from the beginning the authorities of the British 
 Museum have taken such careful precautions against 
 danger of any kind that the Museum collections 
 have never been seriously threatened. 
 
 At first the Museum was guarded at night by 
 two watchmen, who were stationed in the lodge at 
 the great gate, and charged to make the rounds, in 
 turn, every hour. They were specially enjoined to 
 look to the back of the house, which, lying open 
 to the garden and the fields beyond, was exposed 
 to risk of depredations. The watchmen, however, 
 were not very trustworthy or zealous, and in 1808 
 they were replaced by a military guard, which was 
 
100 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 employed till 29th December 1863. The guards' 
 duties included the keeping of order by day at the 
 entrance and in the courts and garden, and they were 
 expected to use their utmost exertions in case of 
 fire, riot, or other danger. 
 
 The fear of tire has always been present with 
 those responsible for the safety of the Museum. 
 From the first it was forbidden to bring naked 
 lights within the buildings. When lights were 
 necessary they were carried in lanterns which had 
 been lighted outside, and locked, and the keys of 
 which had been left outside also. The one exception 
 to this rule was made when the standing Committee 
 of Trustees met at night. Candles were provided 
 for them, but as soon as the meeting was over the 
 Secretary in person had to see that the candles and 
 fire were s.ifely extinguished. When Professor 
 Maskclyne was Keeper of the Mineralogical collection 
 he caused great alarm by using a spirit-lamp and 
 blowpipe for the purpose of some scientific experi- 
 ments in his study, and he was ordered to abandon 
 them, as such practices were entirely against the 
 statutes. The lanterns used in the Museum are 
 still locked, when lighted, and the fires in the old- 
 fashioned grates in the studies and offices are shut 
 in by iron guards of close-meshed wire. The whole 
 building has been built as fire-proof as possible, and 
 the roof is fitted with fire-proof partitions. The 
 use of the electric light in the galleries and reading- 
 rooms — a privilege granted only of late years — 
 
RECENT HISTORY OF LIBRARY 101 
 
 is made with caution and precaution. Smoking 
 within the Museum or its precincts is sternly for- 
 bidden. Fire-hose and hydrants, of course, are 
 fixed at all convenient spots, and by means of mains 
 on the roofs water can be thrown right over the 
 dome of the Reading-room. 
 
 Bells are fitted throughout the building so that 
 alarm can be given at once in case of fire or of any 
 untoward event which renders it necessary to warn 
 the attendants or to close the gates. 
 
 At the time of the Gordon Riots, in 1780, troops 
 were stationed in the Museum garden, and old 
 prints exist showing the encampment. Cowtan, an 
 assistant in the Library under Panizzi's administra- 
 tion, has left an entertaining account of the precau- 
 tions taken against an attack by the Chartists in 
 1848. When it was known that the agitators were 
 to gather in Russell Square, hard by, the Temple 
 of the Muses turned garrison. All the staff, high 
 and low, were sworn in as special constables. A 
 military detachment of fifty-seven men and two 
 officers, with twenty Chelsea pensioners, reinforced 
 the Museum levies. Arms and three days' pro- 
 visions were laid in. All entrances save the main 
 gate were strongly barricaded, and no stranger was 
 permitted to pass the military, guard at the lodge. 
 But, to the disappointment, no doubt, of the gallant 
 defenders, nothing happened. Not a. Chartist lifted 
 a finger against the Museum. 
 In 1912 the outrages on public buildings committed 
 
102 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 by some fanatics for the purpose of influencing public 
 opinion in favour of the political enfranchisement 
 of women, led to the closing of the Museum to the 
 general public. The Reading-room and Library; 
 however, remained available for students, as even 
 " militant suffragist " readers might be presumed 
 to value their unique privileges too highly to forfeit 
 them by misbehaviour. When the Museum was 
 again opened, a new rule was made — namely, that 
 all bags and muffs capable of concealing weapons 
 of offence were to be shown to an attendant. 
 
 Since the outbreak of war, precautions have been 
 taken against damage by hostile aircraft, and 
 specially valuable books and other objects have been 
 removed to safes and strong rooms. 
 
 When the King Edward VII. galleries were begun, 
 ten years ago, a fear was expressed that it was 
 dangerous to allow any nart of the Museum to abut 
 on the street without i £ protection of an inter- 
 vening space and railing, in case of an attack by an 
 excited mob. Mob-risings are rare in this country, 
 but nevertheless it is satisfactory that the new 
 buildings stand some yards back from the roadway, 
 and will be protected by heavy iron railings. 
 
 That the British Museum Library is paramount 
 among all the libraries within the Empire is accepted 
 as a matter of course, but there has always been an 
 inclination, prompted more by patriotism, probably, 
 than by a pure desire for knowledge, to make com- 
 parisons between the French national library and 
 
RECENT HISTORY OF LIBRARY 103 
 
 our own, with a view to discovering which is the 
 greater. 
 
 It must be admitted that in the earlier part of the 
 last century the Bibliotheque Royale was undoubtedly 
 far superior in its number of books to the library of 
 the British Museum. Indeed, it was the first library 
 in the world. But as regards administration, cata- 
 loguing, and the facilities afforded to readers, the 
 British Museum has always been foremost. 
 
 The number of books in a large library is always 
 difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain, and one collec- 
 tion cannot be exactly measured against another 
 because no uniform method of enumeration has been 
 decided upon. The books in a library, consisting, 
 say, of : (a) a volume entitled Tracts, and contain- 
 ing twelve different pamphlets on twelve different 
 subjects, and (b) the Chinese Encyclopedia, filling 745 
 volumes, might be counted in three different ways : 
 
 1. As 2 books (1 book of Tracts and 1 Encyclo- 
 paedia). 
 
 a. As 13 books (13 titles). 
 
 3. As 746 books (746 volumes). 
 
 Thus in dealing with vast collections, probably the 
 length of shelving occupied would be a safer basis of 
 comparison. As far as can be ascertained, however, 
 the Museum has now the advantage in point of 
 numbers. It is reckoned to possess between 3,500,000 
 and 4,000,000 printed books to the Bibliotheque 
 Nationale's 3,500,000. Its catalogues and service 
 remain incomparable. 
 
104 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 According to the enumeration published in 191a; 
 the contents of the Museum Library then occupied 
 forty-six miles of shelves, and stood approximately 
 as follows : — 
 
 Volumes of MSS. . . 50,500 
 Charters and Rolls . 76,000 
 
 Greek and Latin Papyri . 1,900 
 
 Printed Books . . 3,500,000 to 4,000,000. 
 
 The following additions have since been made : — 
 
 In 1913 In 1914 
 
 MSS 
 
 Charters and Rolls 
 
 Greek and Latin Papyri 
 
 Printed Books (complete) 
 
 Printed Books (in progress, 
 exclusive of Maps, Music, 
 and Newspapers) . . 78,597 71,831 
 Figures for 1915 are not yet available. 
 
 War economy has now (1916) dictated the 
 temporary closing of the Museum at Bloomsbury. 
 The Library remains in use, but the service is 
 restricted, and the projected reissue of the General 
 Catalogue of Printed Books is indefinitely post- 
 poned. The Roll of Honour in the entrance-hall 
 proclaims that the goodly heritage of the Past only 
 renders more compelling the bugle-call of the Present. 
 
 152 
 1,290 
 
 375 
 860 
 
 3 
 38,116 
 
 37 
 
 32,539 
 
IX 
 
 ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, BEQUEST 
 OR PURCHASE 
 
 The national library began, as we have seen, with 
 the gift of the Cottonian collection, to which some 
 additions were afterwards made. These, with the 
 Sloane Manuscripts and Books, were all united as 
 part of the British Museum at its establishment in 
 1753, and the bequest of the Madox Manuscripts was 
 received as an addition to the Cottonian Library in 
 1756. Since then there has been practically no dis- 
 tinction between additions to the Cottonian Library 
 and accessions to the British Museum Departments of 
 Manuscripts and Printed Books. Accessions by gift, 
 bequest or purchase have been many : some of the 
 greater are tabulated on pp. 206-208, but smaller 
 items, though often relatively of equal importance, 
 are too numerous for inclusion in the list. Of the larger 
 collections received the following are of outstanding 
 interest, or have histories which it is worth while to 
 recall. 
 
 § 1. The Royal Library 
 
 In June, 1757, the Trustees of the British Museum 
 were informed that King George II. " had been 
 105 
 
106 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 graciously pleased to give orders for a BD1 to be 
 prepared for his Royal Signature, to be passed under 
 the Great Seal, for a donation to the Trustees of the 
 British Museum of all that his Royal library or 
 libraries, with the appurtenances whatsoever, now 
 deposited in the Old Dormitory at Westminster." 
 In the preamble to the deed of gift, the monarch who 
 saw no good in " bainting and boetry " declared that 
 " the encouragement of all arts and the advancement 
 of science constitute one essential part of the true 
 wisdom and greatness of a king," and affirmed his 
 desire that the Royal Library " should not only be 
 made useful to the present times, but be preserved 
 and transmitted for the good of posterity under the 
 care of public trustees." 
 
 The same document credits the origin of the Royal 
 Library to James I., but the collection embraces 
 books gathered by the sovereigns of England from at 
 latest the reign of Henry VII., when the library first 
 became of any importance. And it is hardly to be 
 doubted that the English kings had always possessed 
 a library of sorts, even in Saxon days, though the 
 references to it are few and fragmentary. The 
 catalogue of Athelstan's books still exists, and is pre- 
 served among the Cottonian Manuscripts. Edward I. 
 had eleven books. In the Close Rolls, 1252, there 
 is an incidental reference to the " custos librorum 
 regis," the keeper of the king's books. Edward IV. 's 
 collection, when moved from London to Eltham, 
 filled four boxes. There is an account, dated 1416, 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 107 
 
 for velvet and satin for covering the books of 
 Henry V. 
 
 Henry VII., led on the one hand by the spirit of 
 the Renaissance and on the other by his natural 
 love of art and letters, enriched his library with a 
 magnificent collection of the beautiful vellum books 
 published by Antoine Verard of Paris, and did not 
 grudge paying for them, as the Privy Purse accounts 
 show. " To a Frensheman, for certaine bokes, fifty- 
 six pounds four shillings." " To Antony Verard, for 
 two bokes called the Gardyn of Helthe (1502), six 
 pounds," and so on. These books were lodged at 
 Richmond Palace. 
 
 Henry VIII. did not disdain to add to the library 
 valuable volumes from the despoiled monasteries, 
 such as an early book of Gospels, given by Athelstan 
 to Christchurch, Canterbury. He distributed his 
 books between his palaces at Richmond, Westminster 
 and St James's. 
 
 In the fury against the old service-books that was 
 shown at the Reformation, not only were those in 
 common use destroyed by authority, but even those 
 in the King's library at Westminster were hunted 
 out and done away with. Under Edward VI. this 
 library was purged of all " masse-bookes, legendes, 
 and other superstitious books," by an Order in 
 Council. 
 
 The catalogue of the books then at Westminster 
 still exists. Divinity, classics, and law form the chief 
 subjects, but lighter matters were included as well, 
 
108 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 such as a manuscript book of Balades, the Roman 
 de la Rose, the works of Boccaccio and of Froissart, 
 and the poems of Marot. The Primer ad Usum 
 Sarum. the Pricke-song booke of Masses and Anthems, 
 the " Primer gilded and covered with velvet, another 
 Primer bound in leather and gorgeously gilded, and 
 a manuscript Primer covered with cloth of gold," 
 probably perished under the ordinance above 
 mentioned. 
 
 The books continued scattered among the various 
 Royal residences at Windsor, Greenwich, Whitehall, 
 Westminster and elsewhere. In Queen Elizabeth's 
 time the library at Whitehall was described as well 
 stored with books in Crock. Latin, French and Italian, 
 all bound in red velvet, with gold and silver clasps ; 
 some were decorated with pearls and jewels. All 
 the EnidUh my.il collectors appreciated handsome 
 bindings, and so their books wore coats of orange 
 velvet embroidered with gold cord, of green velvet 
 inlaid with satin and embroidered with pearls, of 
 crimson velvet with comers, clasps and centre-pieces 
 of enamelled gold, as well as of richly tooled calf and 
 morocco, deerskin and sheepskin. 
 
 James I. was one of the most bookish of our 
 sovereigns. He added to the library the collection 
 made by his son Henry, Prince of Wales, who died in 
 1612, including the Prince's own copy of Basilicon 
 Doron, the work written for him by his father. But 
 he also gave permission to Sir Thomas Bodley to 
 choose whatever of the Royal books he liked for the 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 109 
 
 newly founded Bodleian Library, at Oxford. At 
 this time the collection of Henry VII. was still kept 
 at Richmond and called by his name. 
 
 In the reign of Charles I. a very valuable and 
 famous book was received by gift from the Patriarch 
 of Constantinople. This was the Codex Alexandrinus. 
 The Patriarch intended it as a present to James I., 
 but it did not reach this country until after James's 
 death (see p. 173). 
 
 At the establishment of the Commonwealth all the 
 goods of " the late King, Queen, and Prince " were 
 ordered to be sold, but an exception was presently 
 made by Parliament in the case of the Royal Library 
 at St James's. St James's Palace was now considered 
 as one of the houses belonging to the Commonwealth, 
 and the Council of State was enjoined by Parliament 
 to take care of the " Publique Library " there. It 
 was evidently looked upon as valuable, for the in- 
 junction to the Council concerning it was made three 
 times. It was now augmented by the Whitehall 
 books, and at the Restoration Charles II. found the 
 library undiminished and unharmed. He added to it 
 the Theyer collections, notable as containing the 
 commonplace books of Archbishop Cranmer and the 
 books of Llanthony Abbey. These latter had de- 
 scended to the Theyers through the sister of the last 
 Abbot of Llanthony, who married a member of that 
 family. But the chief increase of the library in this 
 reign was largely due to the Act of 1662 " For Pre- 
 venting Abuses in Printing," which ordered a copy 
 
110 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 of every book printed, or reprinted with additions, in 
 the English dominions, to be sent to the King and also 
 to the two Universities. Later, Dr Bentley, Royal 
 librarian, found that this Act was very little observed, 
 and by the measures he took to enforce it he added 
 nearly a thousand volumes to the Library. 
 
 Dr Bentley 's proposal to make the Royal Library 
 a public one has already been noticed. Although 
 his scheme was not acted upon, it may have been due 
 to his influence that Queen Anne, in 1708, sent the 
 library from St James's to join Sir Robert Cotton's 
 at Cotton House, when the Cottonian collection 
 became national property. The two remained 
 together and shared the same vicissitudes until 
 removed to Montagu House, on the establishment 
 of the British Museum. 
 
 When George II., possibly following Queen Anne's 
 intention, definitely transferred the Royal Library to 
 the nation, he transferred with it the privilege con- 
 ferred by the Act of 1662 of receiving a copy, of the 
 largest and best paper, of every book entered at the 
 Hall of the Company of Stationers. Such books were 
 delivered in quires, unbound, and all books subse- 
 quently received by the nation under this privilege 
 were distinguished by a rose and crown stamped on 
 the binding. The practice of marking the binding 
 ceased at the passing of the Copyright Act of 1814, 
 which conferred on the British Museum its own right 
 to a copy of every book printed in the kingdom. 
 The royal privilege thus fell into abeyance. It is 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. Ill 
 
 possible that the Museum might claim two copies of 
 every book, if the authorities cared to do so. . It does 
 not itself need duplicate copies, but they could be 
 given, perhaps, by special arrangement, to some other 
 library at home or overseas. 
 
 The books collected in the several reigns were 
 formerly kept separate, under the names of the re- 
 spective sovereigns, but when the Royal Library 
 came to the British Museum this arrangement, some- 
 what unfortunately, was no longer observed. 
 
 § 2. The Thomason Tracts 
 
 In 1762 George III. made an important gift to the 
 British Museum Library. This was the remarkable 
 collection of books, pamphlets and news-sheets of 
 the period of the Civil War, known as the Thomason 
 Tracts. It comprises about 30,000 books and tracts, 
 uniformly bound in what originally numbered some 
 2000 volumes. Twenty-nine volumes are now 
 missing. 
 
 This collection was begun in 1640, at the time of 
 the meeting of the Long Parliament, by George 
 Thomason, a bookseller carrying on business at the 
 sign of the Rose and Crown in St Paul's Churchyard. 
 Some romantic stories have gathered round this 
 work of Thomason's, and were first circulated in a 
 broadsheet advertisement issued probably by Samuel 
 Meame, into whose hands the collection subsequently 
 passed, when he tried to sell it. It was said that 
 
112 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Charles I., being anxious to see a certain pamphlet, 
 and hearing that no copy was to be found except at 
 Thomason's, ordered his coach and drove to the Rose 
 and Crown. Then and there he perused the pamphlet 
 and commended Thomason, giving him ten pounds 
 for his encouragement, and desiring him to continue 
 the collection. Thomason accordingly set himself to 
 keep the pamphlets up to date and complete, but 
 found the task so unexpectedly troublesome that he 
 would have abandoned it had it not been for the 
 King's request. It lay a heavy burden on himself and 
 his assistants for above twenty years, " during which 
 time he buryed three of them, who took great paines 
 both day and night with him in that tedious employ- 
 ment." Then, fearful lest Cromwell should hear of 
 the books and confiscate them, Thomason sent them 
 on journeys for the purpose of baffling any inquirers. 
 " When the Army was Northwards, he pack'd them 
 up in several Trunks, and by one or two in a Week 
 sent them to a trusty friend in Surry, who safely 
 preserv'd them ; and when the Army was West- 
 ward, and fearing their Return that way ; they 
 were sent to London again ; but the Collector durst 
 not keep them, but sent them into Essex, and so 
 accordingly as they lay near Danger, still, by timely 
 removing them, at a great Change, secur'd them." 
 After they came from Essex, Thomason planned to 
 send them either to Scotland or to Holland — it is 
 not clear which — but fearing after all to trust them to 
 a sea journey, had tables made with false tops, in 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 113 
 
 which he concealed them in his warehouse. But 
 these stories are not supported by such evidence as 
 is available. 
 
 On the fly-leaf of one of the books in the collection, 
 a volume containing fourteen different articles, is a 
 note in Thomason's handwriting, stating that in 1647 
 Charles I. wished to see a certain pamphlet which 
 could not be obtained anywhere. It being reported 
 to the King that Thomason was making a collection 
 of the literature of the day, the King's messengers 
 came to inquire of him concerning the pamphlet, and, 
 if he had it, to ask the loan of it for his Majesty. 
 Thomason replied that all that he had was at the 
 King's service, but that if he lent this book and lost 
 it, it could not be replaced, and his collection " would 
 lose a limb." The King was informed accordingly, 
 and sent the messengers back to say that " upon the 
 worde of a King he would safely return it," where- 
 upon Thomason gave up the book. It was duly 
 returned to him, with a message from the King de- 
 siring him to continue the collection he had begun. 
 The King had let the volume fall in the mud, and the 
 stain is still to be seen. 
 
 Dr G. K. Fortescue, who prepared the official 
 catalogue of the Thomason collection, says, that 
 as this particular volume consists mainly of news- 
 papers, sermons and satirical pamphlets, " it may 
 be assumed that the tract Charles I. wished to 
 see was either The Reasons of the Lords and Commons, 
 why they cannot agree to the alteration and Addition 
 
 H 
 
114 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 in the Articles of Cessation offered by His Majesty. 
 With His Majestic' s gratious answer thereunto. April 
 4, 1643, or, .-1 Declaration concerning the present 
 Treaty of Peace between His Majesty and Parliament, 
 April 7, 1643." This, then, is the authentic version 
 of the story of Charles I.'s use of the Thomason 
 collection. 
 
 As for the tales of the travels into Surrey and Essex 
 for fear of confiscation by the Protector's minions, it 
 is difficult to know how much credence to give them. 
 It would be strange if they were pure fabrications, 
 yet no obvious reason appears why such a collection 
 should have excited Cromwell's animosity ; it was 
 quite impartially made, without any political bias, 
 and aimed only at completeness. But it seems clear 
 that for some reason or other a feigned sale was ulti- 
 mately made to the University of Oxford, probably 
 while Thomason was in prison on account of his share 
 in the Love conspiracy of 1651. To Oxford, there- 
 fore, the books were sent, and remained there in the 
 case of Dr Barlow, Bodley Librarian. Thomason, 
 meanwhile, after his release from prison, continued 
 his work of collecting. 
 
 Dr Barlow recognised that the collection was 
 unique, and that it ought to be made accessible to 
 " learned and sober men." He considered that it 
 should be added either to the King's Library or to 
 the Bodleian, or to some public library, and, had funds 
 permitted, he would have bought it for the Bodleian. 
 
 A manuscript memorandum in one of the volumes, 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 115 
 
 written 24th March 1658/9, shows that at one time 
 Thomason was so weary 01 his work that he decided 
 to abandon it. " March 24. This day," he says, 
 " I did cease my elaborate Collection, because the 
 number was soe exceedinge few and inconsiderable 
 and not worth my labour, and the yeare 1658 begin- 
 ning to-morrow I did prefer to put an end to my 
 great paynes and charges." However, he continued 
 the collection till 1661. 
 
 When Thomason died, in 1666, his collection was 
 still at Oxford. His will directed that it should be 
 sold for his children's benefit, and Dr Barlow, on being 
 made Bishop of Lincoln, asked George Thomason 
 the younger to relieve him of the care of it. The 
 next that is heard of it is that it was in the possession 
 of Samuel Mearne, the King's Stationer, who was 
 trying to sell it, and who probably issued the inter- 
 esting but somewhat inaccurate broadsheet quoted 
 above, perhaps in 1685. The broadsheet may be 
 taken as a piece of sensational advertising. There 
 was some talk of the books being bought by Sir 
 Joseph Williamson for the Royal Library, but the 
 negotiations failed. 
 
 The collection remained in the hands of Mearne's 
 descendants till it was bought by the Earl of Bute, 
 and purchased from him by George III. and pre- 
 sented to the nation in 1761, to be kept, with the 
 Royal Library already in the Museum, for the use of 
 the public. 
 
 The Thomason Tracts form an almost complete 
 
116 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 collection of the books, pamphlets, newspapers and 
 broadsheets, political, religious or literary, published 
 in London between 1640 and 1661. It also includes 
 some provincial and foreign publications. 
 
 Thomason, as a collector, has been stigmatised as 
 " utterly ^discriminating, ' ' but it is the fact that he 
 did not attempt to discriminate, but aimed instead 
 at completeness, that makes his collection of such 
 importance. Moreover, it was made from a his- 
 torical and not from a bibliographical standpoint, 
 and while Thomason tried to include every work 
 published within the period referred to, he did not 
 necessarily strive after every impression of those 
 works. 
 
 Some of the broadsheets bear a note in Thomason's 
 handwriting, stating that they had been scattered 
 in the London streets during the night. 
 
 Mearne's advertisement, if it was Mearne's, rightly 
 estimated the value of the pamphlets in stating that 
 " they may be of very great Use to any Gentleman 
 concerned in Publick Affairs both for this Present, 
 and After Ages, there being not the like in the World, 
 neither is it possible to make such a collection." 
 This testimony was echoed nearly two centuries 
 later by Thomas Carlyle, who had largely used the 
 Thomason papers in writing his Oliver Cromwell. 
 He stated that he found them " most invaluable." 
 " In value, I believe," he told the committee on the 
 British Museum in 1848, " the whole world could not 
 parallel them." They were " greatly preferable to 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 117 
 
 all the sheepskins in the Tower, and other places, 
 for informing the English what the English were 
 in former times. I believe the whole secret of the 
 seventeenth century is involved in that hideous mass 
 of rubbish there." 
 
 The " hideous mass of rubbish " includes not only 
 the ephemeral publications of the Commonwealth 
 period, transcripts of Royalist writings which none 
 dared publish, and Cromwell's letters and dispatches, 
 but first editions of Milton's Areopagitica, 1664, with 
 MS. note — " Ex dono authoris " — Herrick's Hes- 
 perides, 1648, EIkwv Baa-tXiKr), 1648, and Milton's 
 reply, EikowkWt?7s, 1649, Lovelace's Lucasta, 1649, 
 Walton's Compleat Angler, 1653, and copies of other 
 famous works of that time. Among the newspapers 
 are The Parliament Scout, Mercurius Britannicus, 
 The Scottish Dove, The Man in the Moon, The Spie, 
 The True Informer, The Kingdome's Weekly In- 
 telligencer, The London Post, etc., etc. 
 
 Thomason catalogued every item most minutely, 
 and arranged them in chronological order, marking 
 most with even the very day of issue. His catalogue 
 is in manuscript, and fills ia volumes folio, but its 
 value is diminished by its arbitrary division of the 
 books according to their sizes. The British Museum 
 has issued a printed chronological catalogue, with 
 a subject index — prefaced by a full history of the 
 collection — which makes the contents of the collection 
 easily ascertainable (The Thomason Tracts, by 
 G. K. Fortescue. a vols. 1908). 
 
118 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 § 3. The King's Library 
 
 To fill the gap left by George II. s gift of the old 
 Royal Library to the nation, George III. set to work 
 to build up another, as it was not seemly that the 
 sovereign should have no books. As a foundation he 
 purchased, in 1762, at a cost of £10,000, the collection 
 made by Joseph Smith, British Consul at Venice. 
 
 Smith's collection was rich in fine and early 
 editions of Latin, French, and Italian authors. 
 In 1727 he compiled a catalogue, limited to twenty- 
 five copies, of his rarest books, and a catalogue of 
 the whole library was printed at Venice in 1755. 
 George III. made a great point of extending this 
 collection, and for some fifty years he spent £2000 
 a year upon it. He sent his librarian, Mr (after- 
 wards Sir) Frederick Barnard, to travel on the 
 Continent in search of rare and desirable books, and 
 Dr Johnson, who was allowed to use the library, and 
 took great interest in it, wrote Barnard a letter of 
 advice as to how best to fulfil his errand. (See 
 Appendix, p. 217.) The suppression of the " Jesuits' 
 houses " and the dispersion of their libraries gave 
 great opportunities for the cheap purchase of 
 rarities — the Florence Homer of 1488, for example, 
 was bought for ten shillings. 
 
 The new library also received valuable accessions 
 by way of gifts or bequests from admiring book- 
 lovers, as, for instance, the incunabula collected 
 by Jacob Bryant. 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 119 
 
 It was at first kept at the Old Palace at Kew, and 
 when the Old Palace was demolished in 1803 it 
 was taken to Buckingham House, where it was 
 placed at the disposal of students with royal 
 liberality. It was now rich in books in all depart- 
 ments of learning : in classics, in English history, 
 in French, Italian and Spanish literature, in geo- 
 graphical and topographical articles, and it possessed 
 a collection of important military plans from very 
 early times upwards. The incunabula were especi- 
 ally noteworthy, and included copies of the Gutenberg 
 or Mainz Bible, the Bamberg Bible, the First and 
 Second Mainz Psalters, 1 and thirty-nine Caxtons, 
 as well as a number of block-books. 
 
 In 1820 Sir Frederick Barnard published a 
 catalogue in five folio volumes, Bibliotheca Regies 
 Catalogus, dedicated to George IV. It is a com- 
 bination of the author and class systems. 
 
 This fine library was coveted by the Emperor 
 Alexander I. of Russia, and George IV., with pitiful 
 lack of patriotism, was on the point of selling it 
 when the proposed transaction came to the know- 
 ledge of Lord Farnborough and the noted book- 
 collector; Richard Heber. Through their efforts 
 the King was approached, and persuaded to change 
 his mind and to keep the library in the country by 
 presenting it to the nation. On 15th January 1823 
 the King wrote to the Earl of Liverpool as follows : — 
 
 1 The First Mainz Psalter was retained when, later, the bulk of 
 the library was transferred to the nation. 
 
120 THE BRITISH ^ttJSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 " Dear Lord Liverpool, — The King, My late 
 revered and excellent Father, having formed during 
 a long series of years a most valuable and extensive 
 Library, consisting of about 120,000 l volumes, 
 I have resolved to present this collection to the 
 British Nation. 
 
 " Whilst I have the satisfaction by this means of 
 advancing the literature of My Country, I also feel 
 that I am paying a just tribute to the memory of a 
 Parent, whose life was adorned with every public 
 and private virtue. 
 
 " I desire to add, that I have great pleasure, My 
 Lord, in making this communication through you. 
 
 " Believe me, with great regard, 
 
 " Your sincere friend, 
 
 "G. R. 
 
 '.' Pavilion, Brighton, 
 '.'January 15/A, 1823. 
 
 " The Earl of Liverpool, K.G." 
 etc., etc., etc. 
 
 Neither in this letter, nor in the Treasury minute 
 thereon, nor in the minutes of the British Museum 
 Trustees, nor on the marble tablet in the King's 
 Library gallery recording the gift, is any mention 
 made of the fact that the royal generosity had 
 required a stimulant before asserting itself. This 
 stimulant took the form of an honorarium secretly 
 provided out of a fund known as the Droits of 
 
 1 This is considered an excessive estimate. 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 121 
 
 Admiralty, moneys once the perquisites of the Lord 
 High Admiral, but surrendered by Prince George 
 of Denmark, when he was appointed to that office 
 in 1702, for public uses. 
 
 The committee appointed to consider George IV. 's 
 gift to the nation, before recommending that it 
 should be added to the library already lodged in the 
 British Museum, first assured themselves that the 
 regulations governing the admittance of students 
 to the British Museum were in accordance with the 
 spirit of the royal gift. They found that these 
 regulations were necessary to the existence of the 
 library, and that for want of similar rules some of the 
 Continental libraries had suffered severely. They 
 also found that in practice the rules were interpreted 
 with the utmost liberality. So, despite some attempt 
 to keep the King's collection in one of the royal 
 residences, where, no doubt, it might have con- 
 tinued as a jewel of the Crown without hindrance 
 to its use by the King's lieges, it was settled that 
 it should be housed with the rest of the national 
 library at Bloomsbury. 
 
 The committee sensibly recommended the erection 
 of a new building for this large accession, pointing 
 out that Montagu House was unfitted for public 
 purposes. It was therefore decided that a room 
 should be built specially to receive George IV *s gift, 
 and that that collection, henceforward to be known 
 as the King's Library, should be for ever kept in it. 
 
 To avoid confusion between the Old Royal Library 
 
122 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 and the King's Library it may be briefly stated 
 again, though the foregoing sections should have 
 made it clear, that the Old Royal Library was that 
 collected by English sovereigns down to George II., 
 and by him given to the nation in 1757, while the 
 King's Library is that collected by George III., 
 transferred to the country by George IV., in 1823, and 
 removed to the British Museum in 1828, partly from 
 Buckingham House, partly from Kensington Palace. 
 William IV., finding himself " the only monarch 
 in Europe without a library," collected one, which he 
 settled by will on the Crown. The codicil to this 
 effect, dated 10th July 1833. is in the British Museum, 
 with an autograph confirmation dated 30th November 
 1834, and signed and sealed by the King, declaring 
 that all the books, drawings and plans collected in 
 the royal palaces "shall for ever continue Heir- 
 looms to the Crown, and on no pretence whatever 
 to be alienated from the Crown " (Additional MS. 
 30, 170, f. 8). 
 
 § 4. The Cracherode Collection 
 
 The Cracherode Collection was received by bequest, 
 in 1799. Its collector, the Rev. C. M. Cracherode, 
 F.R.S., F.S.A. (1730-1799), was a man of wealth, and 
 though he held for a while the curacy of Binsey, 
 near Oxford, he soon abandoned clerical work and 
 retired to a bookworm's seclusion in London. He 
 practically never left town afterwards, nor did he 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 123 
 
 follow any occupation or indulge in any amusement 
 outside his daily routine of a walk in the Strand or 
 elsewhere to look at old bookshops. He is said to 
 have suffered from painful shyness. His property 
 included an estate held on the condition that in the 
 event of a coronation the tenant should present a 
 cup to the newly crowned sovereign, but his whole 
 life was embittered by the dread that he might be 
 called upon to perform this service. 
 
 The books he sought for in his daily walk were 
 those notable for their fine printing or their rarity, 
 combined with perfection of condition. His collec- 
 tion — about 4500 volumes — is comparatively small, 
 but remarkably choice, and specially distinguished 
 by its copies of the classics. It includes examples 
 from the libraries of the great French bibliophile, 
 Jean Grolier, Vicomte d'Aguisy, and that famous 
 Italian collector, Thomasso Maioli, unknown save 
 through his collection of books and the beauti- 
 ful bindings he provided for them. Among the 
 Cracherode treasures are Grolier's copy of Pliny, 
 printed at Venice by Jenson in 1476 ; the first 
 edition of ^Esop's Fables, Milan, c. 1480 ; Maioli's 
 copy of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Venice, 
 Aldus, 1499 ; and Petrarch's Sonetti e Canzoni, 
 Venice, Aldus, 1501. 
 
 The catalogue of the Cracherode books has never 
 been printed. There are two manuscript copies ; 
 one in the Department of Manuscripts — viz. 
 The Catalogue of Books and Prints bequeathed by 
 
124 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 C. M. Crachcrode to the British Museum (Addi- 
 tional MS. 1 1360) — and a copy made by Ayscough 
 (King's MS. 387). 
 
 § 5. French Historical Tracts, etc., and the 
 joursanvault manuscripts 
 
 In 1817 a collection of pieces, now known as the 
 F. Tracts, was purchased from a French collector, 
 and formed the foundation of the British Museum's 
 unrivall' d store of literature of the time of and 
 concerning the French Revolution. To these were 
 added, in 183 1 and 1856, the collections F.R. and 
 R. Tracts respectively, made by John Wilson Croker. 
 The whole number about 48,579 books, tracts and 
 periodicals. What the Thomason Tracts are to the 
 English Commonwealth period, these French Tracts 
 are to the time of the Terror. Even before the 
 acquisition of the third collection Panizzi was able 
 to state (1845) that the Museum's " great collection 
 of Tracts on the French Revolution seemed to leave 
 little to desire." 
 
 A wider period of French history is covered, though 
 not so completely, by a series consisting of 242 
 volumes containing transcripts of State and official 
 papers chiefly relating to affairs in France, made 
 for Henri Auguste de Lomeme, Comte de Brienne, 
 Secretary of State to Louis XIII. These were 
 received from the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, 
 in exchange for twenty-two leaves which at some 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 125 
 
 former time had been removed from certain manu- 
 scripts in the Bibliotheque and had found their way 
 into the Harleian collection and so into the Museum. 
 They were returned to the French nation in 1878. 
 
 In 1829 the Museum acquired a small but extremely 
 interesting parcel of documents relating to the 
 English rule in France, and apart from their historical 
 value the story of their acquisition is of interest. 
 
 It came to the knowledge of the Trustees that the 
 Baron de Joursanvault, of Pomard, near Beaune, 
 was desirous of selling his magnificent collection of 
 historical and genealogical manuscripts. Sir Henry 
 Ellis, then Principal Librarian, visiting Paris on 
 private business, obtained from the French Foreign 
 Minister, the Prince de Polignac, an introduction 
 to the Baron, and extended his journey to Pomard 
 to examine the collection. The Courier des Electeurs 
 was enraged at what it considered to be the Prince's 
 perfidy. " Thus," it shrieked, " our history's 
 records, and authentic documents concerning our 
 old vassalage, will be in possession of the English, 
 who will insolently glory in them, and a French 
 ministry makes itself party to such a bargain ! " 
 
 Sir Henry found the Chateau of Pomard a large, 
 decayed building in a remote and miserable village. 
 The Baron's price for his library and manuscripts 
 was 111,000 francs, together with a verbal under- 
 standing that Sir Henry would obtain for him, 
 through the Duke of Wellington, the French title 
 of Comte, or, if that were impossible, the right to 
 
126 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 export a certain quantity of wine to England free 
 of duty. 
 
 The Baron afforded his visitor every opportunity 
 for examining the documents. In his study there 
 was only a handful of manuscripts and early printed 
 books, but the cream of the collection was contained 
 in 249 cardboard boxes stowed away in two garrets. 
 The boxes were piled up to the roof, and about 
 150 bundles of documents lay about on the floors. 
 All were in good order, however, and properly 
 catalogued. Xo ladder was available for reaching 
 the upper boxes, but as the contents of those which 
 could be examined corresponded exactly with the 
 catalogue, there was no reason to suspect that such 
 as were out of reach did not also correspond. Accord- 
 ing to another account, however, the collection was 
 found at the Baron's death, some years later, to be 
 in great confusion. 
 
 Sir Henry Ellis gathered that the bulk of the 
 collection consisted of the archives of the Earls of 
 Blob, great feudal lords of the Middle Ages, and 
 genealogical and heraldic pieces chiefly relating 
 to France. But of the correspondence between 
 important personages of England and France of the 
 mediaeval period, which he had been led to expect, 
 he found no trace. However, he did not have all 
 his trouble for nothing. He lighted on a packet 
 of about one hundred documents, apparently not 
 catalogued, labelled, in a modern hand, " Documens 
 relatifs a 1 'occupation de France par les Anglois, 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 127 
 
 1400," containing manuscripts relating to Charles, 
 Duke of Orleans, while prisoner in England after 
 the battle of Agincourt, and to the Duke of Bedford ; 
 muster-rolls ; Henry V.'s acquittance to certain 
 villages of payments on account of the war ; various 
 grants by the same King for military service 
 rendered ; a grant to Sir William Bourchier of the 
 estates of the Earl of Eu ; an order concerning the 
 grants of the Kings of England and the Dukes of 
 Normandy to the House of Lepers at Dieppe, etc., etc. 
 It is supposed that these documents came from 
 the Garde Meuble, in Paris, where the records of the 
 English in France were preserved until the time of 
 the Revolution, when the mob threw them out of the 
 window. The father of the Baron de Joursanvault, 
 an enthusiastic collector of manuscripts, was said 
 to have rescued a large number, during those days 
 of frenzy, by his adroitness in persuading the crowd 
 that parchment did not make good cartridges. He 
 augmented his collection with many specimens 
 from municipal and monastic archives despoiled 
 at that period. This particular packet of treasures 
 discovered by the emissary of the British Museum 
 in the old Chateau of Pomard was gladly bought by 
 the Trustees for £160. The Joursanvault collection 
 appears to have been more extensive and interesting 
 than could be gathered from a brief inspection, and 
 when it came to be sold in Paris, after the Baron's 
 death, the British Museum made a further purchase 
 of over 2500 documents. 
 
128 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 § 6. The Grenville Library 
 
 In 1846 the British Museum received by bequest 
 the Grenville Library, which in Panizzi's opinion 
 was its most important accession, with the single 
 exception of the King's Library ; an accession which 
 placed the national collection " in some respects 
 above all other libraries, and in others left it in- 
 ferior only to the Bibliotheque Royale, Paris." The 
 Athenaum described it as " the noblest bequest to 
 the nation (not excepting Sir Hans Sloane's) ever 
 made by a private person in this country." 
 
 Thomas Grenville (1755- 1846) was for many years 
 a Trustee of the British Museum. In 1800 his 
 political and diplomatic services to the country were 
 rewarded by his appointment to the sinecure office 
 of chief justice in eyre south of Trent, to which 
 a salary of £1000 was attached. He was already 
 a rich man, and this honorarium enabled him to 
 indulge to the full his taste for old books. He was 
 not attracted so much by rarity as by perfection of 
 condition, but he gathered rarities too in the course 
 of his fifty years' collecting. His library of 20,240 
 volumes, the binding of which alone cost over £56,000; 
 includes the finest editions of the Latin classics, 
 among them the only perfect copy known of the 
 editio princeps of Ovid, printed by Azoguidus at 
 Bologna, 1471. It also contains a splendid series 
 of editions of iEsop. The English works include 
 the rarest editions of the poets ; the earliest edition 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 129 
 
 of The Canterbury Tales, printed by Caxton, and a 
 unique edition printed by Wynkyn de Worde ; the 
 first edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets ; and the copy 
 of Dr Donne's Poems which belonged to Charles I., 
 and bears the pencil-marks he placed against his 
 favourite passages. The English Bibles or parts 
 of Bibles are another conspicuous feature of the 
 collection. The early voyages and travels are also 
 very important. The Spanish and Italian collec- 
 tions were considered better than any others outside 
 Spain and Italy. 
 
 The books on vellum include The Book of St 
 Albans, Wynkyn de Worde, i486 ; the Salisbury 
 Primer, printed by Regnault, of Paris, 1531, and 
 the Sforziada of Simoneta, Milan, 1490 — " a most 
 splendid volume even in so splendid a library." 
 The only other vellum copies known of this last are 
 two in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. 
 
 Grenville and Panizzi became friends soon after 
 Panizzi's arrival in England, finding a common 
 ground of interest in Italian literature. When, in 
 1835, his fellow-Trustees of the British Museum 
 refused to carry out the Finance Committee's 
 recommendation to increase Panizzi's salary, 
 Grenville was so angry that he left the room and 
 never attended a meeting of the Trustees again. 
 
 While, during his lifetime, Grenville generously 
 
 allowed any scholar, however obscure, to use his 
 
 books, his original intention was that at his death 
 
 they should pass to his nephew, the Duke of 
 
 1 
 
130 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Buckingham. But largely from personal regard for 
 Panizzi, who coveted the collection for his beloved 
 Museum, Grenville changed his mind and bequeathed 
 the library to the nation. " A great part of my 
 library," he said in his will, " has been purchased 
 from the profits of a sinecure office given to me by 
 the public, and I feel it to be a debt and a duty that 
 I should acknowledge this obligation by giving that 
 library so acquired to the British Museum for the use 
 of the public." The conditions of the bequest were 
 (i) that the collection should be kept together and 
 not broken up, and (2) that the remainder of the 
 catalogue should be printed. 
 
 The catalogue was entitled Bibliothcca Grenvilliana, 
 and two volumes out of three had been completed 
 by J. T. Payne and H. Foss in 1842. The third 
 volume was subsequently added by order of the 
 British Museum Trustees. 
 
 The books in this collection are indicated in the 
 General Catalogue by the special press-mark G., 
 and are not usually sent into the Reading-room. 
 When required by readers they can be seen in the 
 North Library. 
 
 § 7. The Huth Bequest 
 
 Mr Alfred Henry Huth, who died in 1910, by his 
 will made in 1903, directed that if the fine collection 
 founded by his father, Henry Huth, and augmented 
 by himself, should at any time be sold, the Trustees 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 131 
 
 of the British Museum should first select from it fifty 
 volumes for the national : library. He stipulated, 
 however, that they should not choose any duplicate 
 or more perfect copy of any book already in the 
 national library, except by way of exchange with 
 the Huth library, and that every copy so exchanged 
 should count as one out of the fifty: He also made 
 it a condition that the books thus added to the 
 Museum collection should be called the Huth 
 Bequest, and catalogued separately. 
 
 In the opinion of the Museum authorities, this 
 bequest is the most important accession to the 
 library since the Grenville books were received, and 
 has " allowed the national collection to acquire 
 exactly those books which to it were of the greatest 
 importance, and which yet it could not hope to be 
 able to acquire in competition at public auction." 
 There are now so many wealthy collectors, and 
 American buyers are so keenly alive to the desir- 
 ability of rare and beautiful books, that the Museum 
 purse, none too abundantly filled, has no chance 
 against them. 
 
 The Trustees, advised by the experts of the staff, 
 selected thirteen manuscripts of different schools-^- 
 viz. one English, five French, including a Bible in 
 two volumes, one German, one Dutch, two Flemish 
 and twoTtalian, taking care to supply the deficiencies 
 of the Museum library. Thus, as the Museum claims 
 to possess by far the finest collection of English 
 illuminated manuscripts in existence, the selections 
 
182 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 from the Huth specimens are mostly foreign 
 examples. One of these is described on pp. 80, 81. 
 
 Of the thirty-seven printed books chosen for the 
 Museum, one was an exchange. This is a large and 
 exceptionally fine copy of Caxton's Dictes or 
 Sayengis of the Philosofhres, of which the national 
 library already possessed two inferior copies. There 
 are also some valuable French incunabula, and the 
 rare Shakespeare quartos, King Richard II,, 1597; 
 King Richard III., 1597; and The Merry Wives of 
 Windsor, 1602. In the words of the preface to the 
 catalogue of the Huth Bequest, " the British Museum 
 now possesses, with the exception of the very doubt- 
 fully Shakespearean Titus Andronicus, the First 
 Edition of every play printed in 4 before 1623." 
 These at least would surely have gone to America 
 if the Museum had not had a prior opportunity of 
 securing them. 
 
 Another piece, of more purely bibliographical 
 interest, is the first edition of Cervantes' Galatea, 
 Alcala, 1585, of which no copy is now known in 
 private possession. Four of the volumes are believed 
 to be unique — viz. The Cast ell of Labour (a transla- 
 tion, probably by Alexander Barclay, of Pierre 
 Gringore's Chasteau de Labour), printed by R. 
 Pynson, c. 1505 ; The Loves of Daphnis and Chloe, 
 1587, translated by Angell Day from Bishop Amyot's 
 French version of the Greek original, one of the 
 earliest prose romances known ; Anthony Munday's 
 Banquet of Daintie Conceits. Furnished with verie 
 
ACCESSIONS BY GIFT, ETC. 183 
 
 delicate and choyse inuentions, to delight their mindes, 
 who take pleasure in Musique, and there-withall to 
 sing sweete Ditties, either to the Lute, Bandora, 
 Virginalles, or ante other Instrument," 1588; and 
 a book of Elizabethan Ballads. These ballads 
 are rare in any case, and such a large collection 
 is exceedingly valuable and interesting. 
 
 In accordance with Mr Huth's wishes, an illustrated 
 catalogue has been published by the Museum, giving 
 a full description of the books acquired under his 
 will. 
 
X 
 
 ACCESSIONS THROUGH THE COPY- 
 RIGHT ACTS 
 
 §i 
 
 The right of all to shari- in the heritage of knowledge 
 given to the world by its thinkers and teachers 
 was asserted by the Council of Paris in 1212, when it 
 removed the ban laid upon the lending of certain 
 books in monastic libraries. The same spirit lies 
 at the root of the Copyright laws. " Copyright " 
 not only protects the author's rights against the 
 public, but it maintains the public's rights — granting 
 that they are rights — against the author or his heirs 
 or assigns. Literary property is the only property 
 that must in time and by law pass to the community. 
 The creator — that is, the author — has only a limited 
 tenure. A man's land or house or furniture are 
 entirely his while he lives, and at his death may 
 pass to his heirs or — bar entail — to whomsoever 
 he pleases — but an Act of Parliament decrees that 
 the book which is the fruit of his brain must be 
 handed over for the benefit of the community — 
 first, immediately on publication, in the form of a 
 
 134 
 
COPYRIGHT ACTS ACCESSIONS 135 
 
 free copy delivered to the library of the British 
 Museum, and other free copies, given on demand, 
 to certain other public libraries ; and secondly, 
 when, after a specified number of years shall have 
 elapsed, the rights of reproduction are thrown open 
 to all who care to exercise them. Copyright, there- 
 fore, so far as authors are concerned, is a merely 
 temporary and taxed monopoly, and as concerns 
 the community, it is a deferred benefit derived from 
 the confiscated aftermath of voluntary individual 
 labour. ' 
 
 The same spirit, too, actuated most of the great 
 book-collectors. They, also, recognised a distinction 
 between literary property, in the shape of a collection 
 of books, and all other property, and opened their 
 libraries to the needy with more alacrity than they 
 would have opened their parks or their purses. 
 Whether, as authors, they would have shown equal 
 liberality, to their own financial detriment, it is not 
 possible to say. But it seems that the greater the 
 collector and the more extensive his collection, the 
 more desirous he was that his treasures should be 
 useful to others as well as himself, and that after 
 his death they should not be dispersed. These 
 twin motives— a generous acknowledgment of the 
 intellectual rights of others and a real affection for 
 the books themselves, together, no doubt, with an 
 innocent and benevolent pride — gave us the nucleus 
 of the national library, and prompted some of its 
 noblest benefactions. 
 
136 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 But for long the attitude of the State was quite 
 opposite to that of individuals. Directly printing 
 revealed itself both as a bread-winning craft and 
 as a force of almost limitless potency for good or 
 for evil, restrictions were set upon its practice. 
 The printers desired protection for their craft 
 against foreign competitors, while Church and 
 State united in fearing it as an instrument of 
 heresy and sedition. The attitude of the printers 
 on the one hand, and that of Church and State 
 on the other, were of reciprocal benefit, and by 
 guarding the craft. Church and State also guarded 
 themselves. Although a statute of Richard III. 
 allowed the importing and free sale of books 
 cither written or printed, Henry VIII. forbade 
 not only the possession or circulation of books 
 " perverting the Scriptures,'' but also, for trade 
 reasons, the importing of books printed abroad. 
 In 1557 the State virtually allied itself with the 
 craft for mutual protection by granting to the 
 Company of Stationers of London a charter giving 
 them the monopoly — save for certain rights of 
 the two universities — of printing in England 
 and her dominions, with power to seek out illegal 
 presses, and to punish the printers. Elizabeth 
 confirmed this charter in 1559, and in the same 
 year she issued an injunction against every book 
 printed without licence from the Crown, the Privy 
 Council, the Archbishops, or the Bishop of London. 
 These measures, however, were not enough, and in 
 
COPYRIGHT ACTS ACCESSIONS 137 
 
 1584, if not before, 1 the Star Chamber drew up 
 regulations "for suppressing abuses in printing." 
 Nevertheless, books continued to be illegally im- 
 ported, printed and sold, as shown by the pro- 
 clamations and Star Chamber decrees made against 
 these practices from time to time. 
 
 Thus almost the first attitude of the State towards 
 books and printing was one of suspicion and re- 
 pression, and this lasted till, in 1696, Parliament 
 refused to sanction a censorship of the press. 2 - 
 
 At the present day, so far has the pendulum swung; 
 the State no longer suppresses books, but insists; 
 through the Copyright laws; that copies of all books 
 published in this country shall be made gratuitously 
 accessible to the public, and there is no monopoly, 
 apart from the limited monopoly sanctioned by these 
 same laws, nor any censorship or restriction except 
 in the case of such books as are deemed to be openly 
 blasphemous, seditious, libellous or indecent. 
 
 §2 
 When Sir Thomas Bodley founded the library at 
 
 1 " A Decree of Starre Chamber concerning Printing " was 
 printed, by order, in 1637. This has been stated to be the first 
 decree of the kind. But it was only the first printed. It refers 
 to " divers decrees and ordinances ... for the better govern- 
 ment of Printers and Printing " made in the " three and twentieth 
 yere of Queen Elizabeth, and before." (The italics are mine.) 
 See the Calendar of State Papers (Domestic Series), for decrees 
 made in 1584 and 1586. 
 
 2 1 have been unable to discover precisely when the Company 
 of Stationers' monopoly ceased. Application to the Company 
 elicited no information to the point at all. 
 
188 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Oxford which bears his name, among other benefac- 
 tions that he secured for it was a promise, made 
 in 1610, by the Company of Stationers, of a copy 
 of every book printed by a member of the Company 
 and not before printed. 
 
 This happy idea of making the Stationers' very 
 monopoly assist the spread of le.irning, originated 
 with Thomas James, Bodley's librarian, and was 
 the source of the spring whence our great libraries 
 to-day derive their constant supply of contemporary 
 English books. For had there been no monopoly of 
 printing at this time, Bodley would not have been 
 able to make such a complete and efficient ar- 
 rangement for keeping his library up to date, and 
 it may well be that without the example set by the 
 Stationers' Company at Bodley's instigation, our 
 public libraries would not at this moment be 
 enjoying their privilege of free copies. 
 
 Undtr Charles II. the public rights in books and 
 the lack of a national library were partially and 
 obliquely acknowledged by Act of Parliament. It 
 was enacted in 1662 that a copy of every work 
 printed in this country was to be delivered for the 
 Royal Library and for each of the two Universities, 
 and it is hardly to be doubted that the Stationers' 
 concession to the Bodleian was the cause of the 
 enactment. 
 
 Under Queen Anne the first Copyright Act (1709) 
 was passed for the encouragement of learning by 
 vesting books in their authors or their assigns for a 
 
COPYRIGHT ACTS ACCESSIONS 139 
 
 period of fourteen years in the case of books not 
 already printed, and of twenty-one years in the case 
 of books already printed. Sion College, London, 
 the four Scottish Universities, and the Library of 
 the Faculty of Advocates, . Edinburgh, were now 
 added to the list of the privileged. An Act of 1775 
 made the delivery of library copies a condition of 
 copyright. An Act of 180 1, passed after the union 
 with Ireland, added to the former list Trinity College, 
 Dublin, and the Society of King's Inn, Dublin. 
 Hitherto English works had been pirated in Ireland 
 and vice versa. 
 
 When the Royal Library was given to the nation 
 in 1757, the royal right to a copy of every new book 
 was transferred with it. In 1814 an Act of Parlia- 
 ment placed the British Museum at the head of the 
 privileged institutions, and henceforth the royal 
 privilege was merged, in practice at any rate, in 
 the Museumtprivilege. Subsequent Copyright Acts 
 have continued this right. On the other hand, in 
 1836, Sion College, the four Scottish Universities, 
 and King's Inn, Dublin, were weeded out from the 
 literary free list, but they were voted an annual grant 
 of money by way of compensation. 
 
 The rights of the remaining libraries were further 
 confirmed by the Copyright Act of 1843. But for 
 many years past the law as to free copies for public 
 libraries had been practically a dead letter, and as, 
 in spite of the new Act, it was still shamefully evaded, 
 the Museum authorities employed a collector to 
 
140 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 gather in the books due to them. The collector 
 brought back more books than had been registered 
 at Stationers' Hall. 1 The publishers continuing con- 
 tumacious, Panizzi obtained a power of attorney 
 from the Trustees and gave notice of his intention 
 of enforcing the Museum's rights. In some cases 
 he had to go to law, but these afforded salutary 
 examples, and the result of his firmness was a large 
 increase in the accessions to the national library. 
 The Copyright Act is now the one great means by 
 which the library keeps up its supplyof contemporary 
 books published in the United Kingdom. 
 
 The Royal Commission on Copyright, which sat in 
 1878, considered that the laws for giving gratuitous 
 copies of books to libraries other than the British 
 Museum should be repealed, as the libraries so 
 benefited all belonged to wealthy bodies able to buy 
 what they wanted. 
 
 The latest Copyright Act, that of 191 1, adds to 
 the five above-named institutions one other, subject 
 to the provisions of section 15 — the National Library 
 of Wales. The public libraries at present entitled 
 by law to a free copy of every book published in the 
 United Kingdom are, therefore : the Library of the 
 British Museum; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; 
 the University Library, Cambridge ; the Library of 
 the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh ; the Library 
 
 1 At this time registration at Stationers' Hall was a necessary 
 condition of the right to take action at law in respect of infringe- 
 ment of copyright. 
 
COPYRIGHT ACTS ACCESSIONS 141 
 
 of Trinity College, Dublin ; and the National Library 
 of Wales. It should be observed that to the British 
 Museum alone are books to be delivered without 
 being asked for, and they must be the best copies 
 there are. To the other five libraries they need 
 be delivered only on written demand being made 
 within a year of publication, and they are to be 
 copies on paper such as that on which the largest 
 number of copies is printed for sale. 
 
XI 
 
 THE CATALOGUE 
 
 To understand the history of the General Catalogue 
 of the Printed Books in the British Museum, it is 
 necessary to realise first some of the difficulties of 
 cataloguing or classifying books. It is said that 
 Cardinal Borromeo was so impressed with the 
 difficulties of making a good catalogue that he 
 forbade the cataloguing of his library at Milan on 
 pain of excommunication. 
 
 At first sight, to those who have never attempted 
 it, the arrangement uf a library appears a very simple 
 matter. Almost everyone who has tried to arrange 
 his own little collection of books has started by 
 dividing them into classes according to their subjects 
 — for instance, into Religion, History, Geography, 
 Philosophy, Science, Art, Fiction, Poetry — nothing 
 seems easier than to order them in some such way, 
 and it may be easy, perhaps, when dealing with a 
 few dozen volumes. But directly the novice comes 
 to handle books by the hundred, even if only one or 
 two hundred, he discovers, to his perplexity, that 
 one particular book may quite fitly be classed under 
 several different heads ; he will find that the broad 
 classification just suggested is far too broad, and 
 
 142 
 
THE CATALOGUE 143 
 
 that Religion must be divided into Christian and 
 non-Christian, for example ; history into Roman, 
 English, French, and so on and so on, and the 
 further he goes and the more books he has to deal 
 with, the more subdivisions he has to make when he 
 comes to compile even the most meagre catalogue. 
 And even so he will be troubled by overlappings. 
 Should Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, for instance, 
 go under Geography, or Science, or Travel ? If 
 he decides that it belongs to all three categories, 
 and if he does not mind the labour of making cross- 
 references, and two or three entries instead of only 
 one, and if he continues his work on this plan, he 
 will soon be dismayed at the bulk to which his 
 catalogue is swelling. He may also run the risk 
 of error through a too hasty inspection of books 
 with which he is unacquainted, though we may take 
 it that the bookseller who classed The Pilgrim's 
 Progress as a work of travel affords an extreme 
 example of superficiality. 
 
 It is a curious thing that the difficulties of classifi- 
 cation by subject are seldom anticipated even 
 by the most far-sighted. They have to be brought 
 home by personal experience, v or by very copious 
 examples. Even cultivated minds often fail to realise 
 the almost infinite nature of the ideal classifica- 
 tion, and when this question was discussed, with 
 reference to the British Museum Catalogue, before 
 a House of Commons Committee in 1836, a learned 
 Fellow of the Royal Society made himself eminently 
 
Ui THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 ridiculous, in the eyes of those who knew, by the 
 airy way in which he laid down the law on cataloguing 
 by subject. He stated that he himself could classify 
 one thousand works in a day. 
 
 " Where it was literature I put an L. ; where it 
 was Geology, a G. ; where it was Zoology, a Z. ; if 
 it was a particular zoological treatise — for example, 
 Mammalia, I put MA. — I put a designation which 
 I should understand myself immediately." He 
 admitted, however, that he had not had much 
 experience in the compiling of catalogues of very 
 extensive libraries, but nevertheless he declared his 
 ability to classify forty titles in five minutes. 
 
 Directly one begins to think about it, it is obvious 
 that the classification of a comprehensive library 
 is practically equivalent to a classification of every- 
 thing that has ever come within man's mental grasp, 
 for there is nothing that has ever been the subject 
 of human thought, the result of human activity, or 
 the object of human observation, effort, wonder or 
 speculation, that has not been written of in books. 
 This being so, the mind that can take a bird's-eye 
 view of the whole may well feel at a loss, when 
 starting a classification of subjects, how to solve 
 even the initial question of where to begin. The 
 overlapping, the double and manifold overlapping, 
 though undoubtedly satisfactory as proof of the 
 relation and interrelation and ultimate unity of all 
 things, forbids the definite division of knowledge 
 into hard and fast compartments. Nevertheless, 
 
THE CATALOGUE 145 
 
 or perhaps we should say therefore, the classification 
 by subjects is the ideal classification, and many have 
 been the attempts to discover a system on which 
 class-catalogues of books might be drawn up. 
 A detailed class catalogue, however, was for long 
 considered impracticable, but for shelf arrangement, 
 since one book can occupy only one place, a rough 
 and ready division by subject does not prove very 
 difficult. As regards the shelf arrangement, there- 
 fore, the books of the national library are grouped, 
 broadly, according to subject. 
 
 Some systems of subject classifications begin with 
 God, and work downwards, others with Man or 
 with lowlier forms of life, and work upwards. The 
 library at Melbourne begins with Sponges, as the 
 simplest multicellular beings ; the British Museum 
 library begins with Theology. The books of this 
 class are headed by the Bible, and that very fact 
 illustrates some of the difficulties of the case. For 
 the Bible is a library in itself. But, as Dr Garnett 
 has pointed out, it " not only holds in civilised 
 countries a place unique among books, but has 
 further established its claim to precedence by the 
 practical test of being the first to get itself printed." 
 
 The arrangement of Bibles may be taken as an 
 example of the subdivisions to which every class 
 of book must be subjected. " It is obvious," says 
 the same authority, " that Bibles should precede 
 parts of Bibles ; that originals should precede 
 translations; the more ancient originals the more 
 
146 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 recent ; and Bibles in both original tongues those in 
 one original. Thus we obtain the following arrange- 
 ment at starting : — Polyglots, Hebrew, Greek. 
 
 "It is equally plain that Greek cannot fitly be 
 succeeded save by Latin ; that Latin is most natur- 
 ally succeeded by its modern derivatives ; that these 
 draw after them the other European languages in 
 due order ; the Slavonic forming a link with the 
 Oriental, which in their turn usher in the African, 
 American, and Polynesian." 
 
 The shelf classification of the British Museum 
 library is, summarily, as follows : — 
 
 Theology. 
 
 Geography. 
 
 Law. 
 
 Topography, 
 
 Science. 
 
 History. 
 
 Art. 
 
 Biography. 
 
 Bibliography. 
 
 Genealogy. 
 
 Literature. 
 
 Periodicals. 
 
 Philology. 
 
 
 For the purpose of a catalogue, however, such 
 grouping is not feasible. It has been tried and found 
 wanting. Nor is a classification by titles possible 
 in a library of any size, and in any case it would 
 presuppose a knowledge of the book itself. The 
 searcher does not always know the title of the book 
 he seeks and the title does not always describe the 
 contents of the book. Who would guess from its 
 title that Tom Tit Tot is a study of a branch of 
 folk-lore ? Or who can condemn as entirely absurd 
 
THE CATALOGUE 147 
 
 the library assistant who, unable to supply Zola's 
 La Terre, thought Geikie's The Earth would do. as 
 well ? . Maria Edgeworth's Essay on Irish Bulls 
 was ordered for the use of the Board of Agriculture, 
 and W. W. Jacobs' Sea-urchins has been noted by a 
 young naturalist as a treatise on Echinoderms. 
 Then some titles are complex — for instance, Reliques 
 of Ancient English Poetry. A person wishing for a 
 book of ancient English poetry would not look for it 
 under Reliques unless he already knew of the existence 
 of this particular work. He might, conceivably, 
 seek it under Ancient, but he might just as well 
 look under Old, where, of course, he would never 
 find it. But whether he looked under Ancient or 
 English or Poetry, he would have to read hundreds, 
 or perhaps thousands, of titles before he lighted on 
 this one, for all these three words are common to the 
 titles of numberless books. 
 
 An author catalogue, however, is a necessity, 
 whether as an inventory or as a guide, and a com- 
 paratively simple matter. Thus the Museum library 
 was to begin with, and still is, arranged mainly, 
 though not exclusively, under the names of authors. 
 Had the class catalogue planned in 1825 — pre- 
 sumably to the exclusion of an author catalogue — 
 been proceeded with, it would sooner or later have 
 become obsolete and have demanded substantial 
 readjustment. The ingenious and minute class- 
 systems devised within more recent years were then 
 undreamed of, and it is still far from clear that they 
 
148 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 could be satisfactorily applied to the Museum 
 collection. 
 
 When the difficulty of devising a satisfactory 
 system of listing the books has been in some way 
 settled, there comes the further difficulty of provid- 
 ing for additions to the list or catalogue which occur 
 either while it is being made or after it has been 
 brought up to date. In a vast collection like that of 
 the British Museum this difficulty is enormous, and 
 it was for long an obstacle to the completion of 
 the catalogue. Not until it occurred to someone to 
 use the simple device which to-day is a common- 
 place in every business office — the system, as we 
 may call it, of the movable unit — was it in any way 
 possible to reduce the enormous and daily increasing 
 mass of books in the Museum to order. 
 
 This is but a slight outline of some of the difficul- 
 ties of arranging and cataloguing any considerable 
 number of books. To those who have even the least 
 acquaintance with such work it will be superfluous, 
 and to those who have not it will give but a meagre 
 idea of the nature of the task. 
 
 In 1787 the British Museum issued the first 
 catalogue of its printed books : Librorum Impres- 
 sorum qui in Museo Britannico adservantur CcUalogus, 
 2 vols. fol. 1787. The half-title reads CcUalogus 
 Bibliolheca Musei Britannici. This catalogue gives 
 the name of the author, the name of the book, place, 
 date, size, but no press-marks — i.e. no guides as to 
 the position of the books in the library presses. The 
 
THE CATALOGUE 149 
 
 corrigenda are in Latin. There is no word of preface, 
 and the compilers are not named. It was drawn up 
 by P. M. Maty, S. Harper, and S. Ayscough, all 
 Museum officials. 
 
 In March, 1807, the work was begun of revising 
 this catalogue and adding the accessions to the 
 library since 1787. It took two years to insert all 
 the new titles. Then the old part was given a 
 much needed revision, which was completed in 
 November, 1810. The revised and enlarged edition 
 was sent to press immediately, and finished in May, 
 1819. In the course of these nine years the libraries 
 of Dr Bumey and Baron von Moll were bought by the 
 Museum, and such titles from these collections as 
 came under letters not already printed off were 
 duly added. Those that were too late for insertion 
 had to bide their time. The new edition of the cata- 
 logue, dated 1813-1819, was in 7 vols, octavo. Sir 
 Henry Ellis, Keeper of the Printed Books, did the 
 letters A to F, with P, Q and R, and the Rev. H. H. 
 Baber did the rest. It was an author catalogue, 
 mainly, but contained some class headings, such as 
 " Anglia " (including books concerning " England ") 
 "Ballads," "Bibliotheca," etc., which are open to 
 the same objections as any other attempts at 
 classification. 
 
 The advantages of the longed-for classed or sub- 
 ject catalogue, however, over an author catalogue, 
 deployed themselves in full view, while the difficulties 
 lay in ambush. So a classed catalogue was planned 
 
150 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 and money was voted for its making. Now came 
 forward the Rev. T. H. Home, not yet in the Museum 
 service, with his Outlines for the Classification of a 
 Library, respectfully submitted to the consideration 
 of the Trustees of the British Museum, of which some 
 official copies were printed in 1825 for the use of the 
 Trustees. This work recapitulated the heads of 
 twenty bibliographical systems, beginning with one 
 formed on Bacon's divisions of human learning. 
 Bacon and Dr Conyers Middleton are the only 
 Englishmen quoted. Home's own classification was 
 as follows : — 
 
 Class I. Religion. 
 
 II. Jurisprudence. 
 
 III. Philosophy. 
 
 IV. Arts and Trades. 
 V. History. 
 
 VI. Literature. 
 
 and each class is divided into a large number of 
 subdivisions. It is a good system as far as it goes, 
 but it fails to meet the needs of a great library, 
 just as its predecessors fail. However, it was 
 adopted by the Trustees, and a classed catalogue 
 according to Home's system was in preparation by 
 Home, assisted by Frederic Madden, and others, 
 for some seven years, at a cost of £7000, and then 
 abandoned about half-way through, when, in 1834, 
 the Trustees ordered the compilation of the new 
 alphabetical catalogue. 
 By this year (1834), in an endeavour to keep pace 
 
THE CATALOGUE 151 
 
 with the growth of the library, two copies of Ellis 
 and Baber's edition of the catalogue, one for library 
 and one for Reading-room use, had been inlaid, page 
 by page, on large paper, interleaved, and bound up 
 again, making 23 volumes folio instead of 7 volumes 
 octavo.- On the interleaved pages had been written 
 the titles, of the most important accessions since the 
 catalogue was printed. These interleaved copies 
 were now showing signs of wear and tear, and- the 
 written pages were becoming overcrowded. The 
 Trustees, therefore, ordered Baber to submit a plan 
 for a complete alphabetical catalogue. In response 
 Baber advised an author catalogue, the compilation 
 of which should be superintended by Panizzi. The 
 Trustees, however, made Baber responsible for the 
 plan of the work and for its execution. Home was 
 also desired to suspend his labours on the classed 
 catalogue and to assist with the alphabetical one. 
 
 In 1835-1836 a Committee of the House of Commons 
 held an inquiry into the affairs of the British Museum, 
 and Baber, in July, 1835, reported to the Trustees 
 that he was obliged to interrupt his work on the 
 catalogue in order to make the laborious researches 
 necessary to forward the committee's investigations. 
 Early in 1836 the work was further delayed while 
 a transcript of the interleaved catalogue was made 
 for use in the Reading-room. 
 
 The question of the catalogue was among the 
 matters considered by the committee. Witnesses 
 testified that all the catalogues of manuscripts, 
 
152 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 especially of the Cottonian, Harleian, King's and 
 Additional Manuscripts, were very defective ; that 
 the Arundel Catalogue was very good, and the 
 Lansdowne Catalogue very fair. 
 
 As regarded the general catalogue of printed 
 books, the majority were strongly in favour of a 
 classed catalogue as against an author catalogue, 
 and John Murray was so convinced of the desirability 
 of such a work that he stated his willingness to 
 publish it at his own expense if the Museum would 
 supply the copy, and he was of opinion that the 
 venture would be a financial success. 
 
 But Baber, Keeper of the Printed Books, con- 
 sidered that the alphabet or author catalogue was 
 likely to be the most useful, if only one of the two 
 was possible, but that both were desirable. Panizzi 
 went further, and held an author catalogue to be of 
 " essential importance," and that it was impossible 
 to make a good classed catalogue. He had never 
 heard of any, he said, nor of any two persons agreeing 
 on the plan of such a work. " The greatest men of 
 all centuries have all talked about classed catalogues 
 as a matter of theory." He thought Home's plan 
 one of the best he had seen. 
 
 Edward Edwards testified to the errors of the 
 existing catalogue. He pointed out such incon- 
 sistencies as D'Israeli in one place and Israeli, D', 
 in another ; Reports of Chancery Cases, by Jackson, 
 sometimes under Chancery and sometimes under 
 Jackson ; Reports of the British and Foreign School 
 
THE CATALOGUE 153 
 
 Society under Society, and Reports of the National 
 School Society under Education. Again, Specimens 
 of a Translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Eastern 
 Languages, by the Brethren of the Serampore Mission, 
 appeared under Specimens. 
 
 At the time of this inquiry the catalogues of 
 the printed books in the library were as follows : — 
 
 Catalogue of Books of the Royal Library of the Kings 
 
 of England, fol. (MS., no date). 
 BibliotheccB Regice Catalogus, 5 vols, fol., 1820-1829. 
 
 Barnard's catalogue of the library presented 
 
 by George IV. 
 Librorum Impressorum qui in Museo Britannico 
 
 adservantur Catalogus. Ellis and Baber's revised 
 
 and enlarged edition, 1813-1819, with interleaved 
 
 manuscript additions. 
 Catalogue of the Thomason Tracts (MS.). 
 Catalogue of Sir Joseph Banks' Library. 
 A partly completed catalogue of Pamphlets on the 
 
 French Revolution. 
 Some additional lists. 
 
 These, as regards the printed books, were to be 
 incorporated into one general catalogue. Manu- 
 scripts, as always, were to be dealt with apart. 
 
 In 1838 the Trustees decided not only to make, 
 but to print a catalogue, on the lines of Ellis and 
 Baber's, which should include every book in the 
 library up to the close of 1839. Panizzi, now Keeper 
 of the Printed Books, was strongly against printing, 
 
154 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 but the Trustees overruled his objections, affirmed 
 their "fixed determination " to proceed to print, 
 and instructed him to draw up a plan. Panizzi 
 obeyed, but against his better judgment. In 1839, 
 with the assistance of Winter Jones, Thomas Watts, 
 J. H. Parry and Edward Edwards, he drew up the 
 famous Ninety-one Rules on which the new catalogue 
 was to be framed. They are a very remarkable 
 example of the result of far-sightedness, experience 
 and a wide understanding of the work they were to 
 govern. Their number alone shows the contingencies 
 that were anticipated and provided against, and 
 their apparent complexity only simplifies the task 
 of those who use them. Yet. notwithstanding, when 
 they came to be applied in practice, they were found 
 insufficient and some supplementary clauses were 
 added. They were printed on the fly-leaf of the 
 1 84 1 catalogue, with the supplementary portions 
 in italics. They were printed separately in 1900 
 and reprinted in 1912, and they form the basis of 
 every catalogue scientifically compiled since they 
 were drawn up. 
 
 When completed, the Ninety-one Rules were 
 submitted to the Trustees, who sanctioned them 
 after making some slight amendments. 
 
 It was understood that the Trustees desired that 
 the new catalogue should be delivered to them com- 
 plete from the press by the end of 1844, and that the 
 volumes should be printed as they were made. But 
 there appears to have been some misunderstanding, 
 
THE CATALOGUE 155 
 
 or, in plain English, a muddle, though it is 
 not clear how this came about. It would seem, 
 however, that the minutes of the Trustees' proceed- 
 ings were not accurately taken down or reproduced, 
 and that a confusion was made between having 
 the catalogue ready in the press, or printed, by 
 December, 1844, and ready for the press. In the 
 effort to comply with what appeared to be the 
 wishes of the Trustees, the work was hurried on, 
 and Volume I., purporting to contain all entries 
 under A, appeared in July, 1841. It consisted of 
 457 pages, printed in double columns, and gave 
 no press-marks. 
 
 This was not only the first but the last volume 
 of the new catalogue. As regards its system and 
 arrangement, despite some inconsistencies, it was 
 far in advance of any other compilation of its kind, 
 but as a guide to the A items of the national library 
 it was hopelessly incomplete. For as other letters 
 were proceeded with, cross-references to A con- 
 stantly occurred, too late, of course, for inclusion, 
 and entries rightly belonging to A in the first place 
 were discovered under other letters, also too late 
 for insertion in their proper order. 
 
 But apart from its inevitable incompleteness, 
 which was not Panizzi's fault, the catalogue of 1841 
 met with disapproval on other grounds, for which 
 some held Panizzi to blame. Sir Nicholas Harris 
 Nicolas, who had conceived a great hatred of Panizzi 
 and all his works, published a pamphlet entitled 
 
156 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Animadversions on the Library and Catalogues of the 
 British Museum, wherein he complained, in violent 
 terms, of the mismanagement of the library, and, 
 among other things, of the " preposterous plan " of 
 Panizzi's " tnagnum opus, the new catalogue." He 
 emphasised the need of a f reshand complete catalogue, 
 and " neither the exotic capriccios of a librarian, 
 nor the pedantic whims of a Trustee, should be 
 allowed to delay its progress." He stated that the 
 public wanted, in the first instance at least, " simply 
 a practical catalogue, having the titles or authors' 
 names in alphabetical order, and not a catalogue 
 framed upon so abstruse a plan as to require ninety- 
 one ru)<s for its construction." Harris proceeded 
 to criticise the catalogue in detail, and complained 
 of the general heads, " Academies," " Periodical 
 Publications," and so on, to which readers were 
 referred on occasion. For instance, anyone wanting 
 The Annual Register is told to see "Periodical 
 Publications." Harris declared " he might almost 
 as well be referred to the Millennium, for who can 
 tell when either will appear ? " 
 
 Another critic, J. E. Gray, an assistant in the 
 Natural History Department, pointed out that while 
 professing to be an alphabetical (author) catalogue, 
 it was really a combination of alphabetical, bio- 
 graphical, geographical and class catalogues ; he 
 also complained of the length of the titles. He 
 maintained that a subject catalogue was not 
 impossible. 
 
THE CATALOGUE 157 
 
 Again, John Payne Collier, librarian to the Duke 
 of Devonshire, showed that a printed catalogue that 
 readers could consult at home would be highly 
 convenient, and that the 1841 volume was made on 
 an entirely wrong principle because of the length 
 of so many of the entries. He considered that an 
 Index was what was wanted rather than a catalogue, 
 though the full catalogue designed by Panizzi 
 might be useful as an inventory of the contents 
 of the library. " Useability " was wanted rather 
 than perfection. He would put additions into a 
 supplement. 
 
 Payne Collier offered twenty-five specimen titles 
 as examples of how a useful catalogue could be 
 speedily made. These were found, on examination, 
 to contain thirteen different kinds of error, and an 
 average of two in each entry. Mr Winter Jones said 
 they contained " every error that could possibly 
 be committed." 
 
 Not one of these critics grasped the difficulties of 
 the task, and not one of them appreciated Panizzi's 
 desire to produce a thorough and conclusive piece 
 of work. They would have had a little hand-list 
 which readers could carry home for private perusal, 
 and only Panizzi appears to have realised clearly 
 what the catalogue of a great library could be and 
 should be, and indeed must be. Obviously, while 
 the catalogue was still imperfect, everyone desiring 
 to consult it must have suffered grave inconvenience, 
 but we of to-day, reaping the fruits of Panizzi's 
 
158 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 labour and foresight, know that he was carrying out 
 his gigantic task not for his contemporaries alone 
 but for posterity to all time. 
 
 Thus as regards a printed catalogue no apparent 
 progress was made after Ellis and Baber produced 
 their last volume in 1819. But nevertheless the 
 foundations of a monumental work were being laid. 
 The Ninety-one Rules had been drawn up, and Ellis 
 and Baber's catalogue was growing daily through 
 manuscript additions, until by 1846 its original 
 seven volumes octavo had swelled to forty-eight 
 volumes folio. Of this there was but one copy. 
 Panizzi remained steadfast in his objection to 
 printing, but even his foresight failed to anticipate 
 the dimensions to which the interleaved catalogue 
 would grow. 
 
 Another commission sat in 1848 to inquire into 
 the Constitution and Management of the British 
 Museum, and published their report in 1850. They 
 gave it as their opinion that the Trustees were ill 
 advised in their attempt to print the catalogue, and 
 concurred in the decision to suspend printing. They 
 also stated that their inquiries led them to fear that 
 there was some hazard in the interference of the 
 Trustees in the details of the library. " With 
 respect to the system and form of the catalogue, 
 whatever be its defects, Mr Panizzi can be charged 
 with nothing further than the constant approval 
 and acceptance of one leading principle — that of 
 fulness and accuracy." 
 
THE CATALOGUE 159 
 
 Among those who gave evidence before the 
 commission was Thomas Carlyle. Concerning the 
 catalogue, he declared that there should be " a 
 catalogue you can carry with you." x " The want 
 of a printed catalogue of the British Museum is 
 an immense evil," he said. He also suggested 
 the compilation of specific subject catalogues— for 
 instance, on the French Revolution, the Reformation, 
 English History during the Civil War— which readers 
 could buy and take home to study at leisure. 
 This suggestion has since been in a measure acted 
 upon, and excerpts from the catalogue, on certain 
 subjects, can be bought at a price fixed according 
 to size. 
 
 Meanwhile, round the nucleus of Ellis and Baber 
 was accumulating a vast host of new entries. The 
 problem of how to incorporate the printed and the 
 manuscript entries into one was solved by the device 
 arrived at independently in 1849 by Wilson Croker 
 and by E. A. Roy of the Museum — that each entry 
 should be written on a movable slip and not on the 
 leaf itself. The slips could be lightly pasted on the 
 leaf and shifted as new ones came in, and so allow 
 the alphabetical order to be preserved. Thus the 
 " slip " idea, not a new one by any means, evolved 
 into the " movable unit " idea, the idea of the 
 card indexes and loose-leaf files now so common, 
 the idea which made practicable the completion 
 
 1 He did not say "take home with you," as is sometimes 
 stated. 
 
160 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 of the British Museum Catalogue of Printed 
 Books. 1 
 
 Accordingly, all the accumulated new titles were 
 transcribed on separate slips, and with them the 
 titles of the books daily received, also on separate 
 slips, and pasted on to the blank leaves of large folio 
 volumes, with spaces left for the insertion of fresh 
 slips, and guards for the insertion of fresh inter- 
 leaves. The new catalogue filled 150 volumes, and 
 was placed in the Reading-room for public use in 
 1850. 
 
 Four copies of each slip were made by the 
 " carbonic " process. Three were for staff and 
 Reading-room purposes ; the fourth was carefully 
 laid aside. Although Panizzi knew a perfect subject 
 catalogue to be an impossible thing, he was quite 
 alive to the value of even an imperfect work of the 
 kind, and without interfering with the progress of 
 the more practicable author catalogue, he quietly 
 laid the foundation for a catalogue of subjects. He 
 put the fourth copies away in boxes, arranging them 
 according to the position of the books on the shelves. 
 This, as we have seen, was equivalent to a classifica- 
 tion by subjects, according to the system adopted 
 by the British Museum. The " fourth slips " to-day 
 form a shelf-list which is in official use. 
 
 » Mr W. R. B. Prideaux {Liby. Assoc. Record, 1909, pp. 161-162) 
 has shown that the movable unit was anticipated by Conrad Gesner at 
 least as early as 1548. See also J. D. Brown, Library Classification 
 and Cataloguing, p. 182. 
 
THE CATALOGUE 161 
 
 The slip method of bringing and keeping the 
 catalogue up to date had its drawbacks. Hand- 
 writing, however good, is less legible and requires 
 more space than print ; there were no copies avail- 
 able for extra-Museum use ; and above all there 
 was the enormous increase in size. By 1880 this 
 slip catalogue had grown to nearly 3000 volumes, 
 some of which were almost too heavy to lift. The 
 Treasury also, which controls the expenditure of the 
 Museum, complained of the great cost of continually 
 breaking up and rebinding these enormous books. 
 
 Sir Edward Bond, appointed Principal Librarian 
 in 1878, was strongly in favour of reducing this 
 accumulation to print. He acted very rapidly. 
 He obtained the sanction of the Treasury, drew up 
 a scheme with his colleagues, and in 1879 new 
 accessions were no longer recorded in writing, but 
 in print. In 1881 the printing of the whole catalogue 
 was begun, under the editorship of Dr Richard 
 Garnett. When Dr Garnett was appointed Keeper 
 of the Printed Books, in 1890, he was succeeded in 
 the editorship by Mr A. W. K. Miller. 
 
 The Treasury agreed to allot for so long as they 
 saw fit an annual sum for the gradual conversion 
 of the manuscript catalogue into a printed one, on 
 condition that the money was applied to remedying 
 defects and reducing the most unwieldy volumes. 
 Therefore some of the later letters were printed before 
 the earlier. It has been stated that had a lump sum 
 of £100,000 been granted the whole work might have 
 
162 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 been put in band at once and completed much earlier, 
 instead of being carried out slowly and piecemeal. 
 
 For some years, while the bulk of the catalogue 
 was being printed, two sets of titles were in the press 
 together — namely, titles of books already entered 
 in the General Catalogue, and titles of books received 
 while printing was in progress. 
 
 Three or four volumes of the manuscript catalogue 
 having been chosen for reduction into print, they 
 were revised, inconsistencies and errors were removed 
 as completely as possible, and duplicate entries were 
 eliminated and replaced by the words "Another 
 copy" or "Another edition." When printed, these 
 several bulky volumes dwindled to one. Copies for 
 subscribers and extra-Museum use were printed in 
 double columns, but copies for Reading-room and 
 staff use were printed in one column to a page on 
 stout paper and bound up with guards, each page 
 having a blank space for a column of accessions, 1 
 and the guards allowing for interleaving. The main 
 object kept in view was the imperative need of 
 providing for an indefinite — one might almost say 
 an infinite — number of future accessions. 
 
 Lists of accessions are printed from time to time. 
 While some copies are temporarily placed in the 
 Reading-room for the information of readers, others 
 are cut up into single entries, and inserted in the 
 blank columns waiting to receive them. When 
 
 1 Later, the space of a page and a half, or three column*, was 
 allowed for accessions. 
 
THE CATALOGUE 163 
 
 necessary, they are removed from their temporary 
 column and incorporated into the permanent or 
 standing column, a reprint takes place, the volumes 
 are enlarged or divided, without any disarrangement 
 of the material, and so the process continues in- 
 definitely, and will probably continue in much the 
 same way until some undreamed-of revolution in 
 matters bibliographical comes to pass, or the British 
 Museum comes to an end. 
 
 This interleaved catalogue is in triplicate — a Blue, 
 a Red and a Green copy, according to their bindings. 
 
 Perhaps the loose-leaf system may come to be 
 used for the British Museum Catalogue — a system 
 recently adopted in America for catalogues and 
 encyclopaedias which require bringing up to date 
 from time to time, but so far known in England 
 only by its application to notebooks, ledgers, etc., 
 handled by a comparatively small number of people. 
 In these books the leaves are not double, quired and 
 sewn. They are single, and held together by metal 
 rings passing through perforations on their inner 
 margins, 1 or sometimes a metal fitting adjusted by 
 screws helps to secure the leaves to the cover. The 
 advantage lies in the ease with which superseded 
 pages can be removed and replaced by fresh ones. 
 But a book of this fashion is clumsy and easily 
 torn. 
 
 1 A reliure mobile, invented by Fauqueux, a stationer of Paris, is 
 described by J. P. Namur, in his Manuel de Bibliothicaire, 1834, 
 Pt. I., p. 95- 
 
164 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 To copies for extra-Museum use the movable unit 
 system cannot be applied. Small libraries would 
 have neither the staff to deal with the progressive 
 catalogue nor space .to house it. Subscribers' and 
 presentation copies are therefore printed and bound 
 like ordinary books, and the accessions are contained 
 in supplementary volumes. 
 
 The catalogue of books in the library previous 
 to the year 1881 was finished in 1900, and that of 
 books added to the library in 1882-1889 not in- 
 corporated in this list was finished in 1 905. 
 
 During i'<i4 — more recent figures arc not available 
 at the time <>f writing — the General Catalogue and 
 the Catalogues of Maps and Music wen' augmented 
 by 42,063 titles ; q<i volumes of the General Catalogue 
 were broken up and rebound in 104 volumes. 
 
 The General Catalogue now fills over 1000 volumes, 
 containing, roughly, upwards of 4,700,000 entries. 
 It is in the main an author catalogue, but anonymous 
 works, or those written under pseudonyms of more 
 than one word, are classified under the most salient 
 word in the title, and the author's name, where 
 known, is added in square brackets. For example, 
 the first edition of Miss Braddon's novel, The Day 
 Will Come, appears as follows :— " Day. The Day 
 will come. A novel. By the author of ' Lady Audley's 
 Secret,' etc. [Mary Elizabeth Braddon]," and so on. 
 There are also important class-headings — e.g., 
 
 Academies, comprising the publications of learned 
 bodies, arranged according to towns and rendered 
 
THE CATALOGUE 165 
 
 easy to consult by the provision of an index. This 
 heading was invented by Panizzi, and has been the 
 subject of a good deal of adverse criticism. It 
 harbours some inconsistencies,, but it would be 
 difficult to suggest a heading for the purpose which 
 did not. 
 
 Bible. A large and complete class-section com- 
 prising Bibles and parts of Bibles in all languages. 
 
 Directories. Arranged according to professions, 
 trades or places. 
 
 Encyclopaedias. Comprising all anonymous works 
 of this kind. 
 
 Ephemerides. Almanacks and kindred publica- 
 tions. 
 
 Liturgies. A large and complete class-section, 
 comprising liturgical works of all branches of the 
 Christian Church and sects ; with an Index. 
 
 Periodical Publications. English and foreign 
 periodical publications of all kinds (exclusive of 
 newspapers) arranged under places ; with an Index. 
 
 There are other special heads under which are 
 grouped items not directly referable to any particular 
 author, such as England, comprising only official 
 or anonymous works and therefore — unlike Bible 
 or Liturgies, for example — not a complete class- 
 section. All of these are provided with Indexes. 
 
 The Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts 
 have always been catalogued by themselves and not 
 with the general library, although they were not 
 made into a separate department until 1892. The 
 
166 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Catalogue of the Chinese Books and Manuscripts (1877), 
 compiled by the late Sir R. K. Douglas, then Senior 
 Assistant in the Department of Printed Books, is 
 believed to be " the first Catalogue ever published 
 in Europe of an extensive Chinese library." 
 
 The Music and the Maps are also catalogued 
 separately. 
 
 The official description of the General Catalogue, 
 as given in its own pages, is as follows : — 
 
 ACADEMIES. LONDON. BRITISH MUSEUM 
 
 General Catalogue of Printed Books : edited 1881- 
 1889 by R. Garnett ; 1890-1900, by A. W. K. 
 Miller. 393 pt. 1881-1900. fol. L.R. 
 
 Supplement. [Containing titles of all books 
 
 added to the Library 1882-1889 which were 
 not incorporated in the General Catalogue 
 during the process of printing. Ed. A. W. K. 
 Miller.] 44 pt. 1900-1905. fol. L.R. 
 
 [Another copy. Interleaved and containing 
 
 the titles of all books added to the Library 
 since the General Catalogue was printed.] 
 n.d. Reading-room Circles. 
 
 The press-mark L.R, which no doubt is awaiting 
 its turn for revision, signifies that the first-named 
 copy, and its Supplement, are kept in the library 
 formerly known as the Large Room. The latter and 
 interleaved copy is, of course, the great 1000-volume 
 
THE CATALOGUE 167 
 
 catalogue in the Reading-room, which is continually 
 being augmented and kept up to date. The catalogue 
 is thus always complete, but will never be finished. 
 And while it must inevitably share the imperfection 
 attaching to all human handiwork, we can proudly 
 say that it is the largest and most perfect catalogue 
 in the world. 
 
XII 
 
 THE SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 The reader will have gathered that a subject catalogue 
 is an ideal much to be desired, but in practice a 
 matter of considerable difficulty, unless confined 
 within more or less narrow limits, and that it has not 
 yet seemed applicable to the whole contents of the 
 Museum library. 
 
 When Dr G. K. Fortescue became Superintendent 
 of the Reading-room, in 1884, the lack of any kind 
 of subject catalogue was constantly brought home 
 to him by the inquiries made by readers. The first 
 question he was asked was : " What is the best guide 
 to Madeira ? " He was able to answer that Brown's 
 Guide was the standard work on Madeira, but he 
 could not give Brown's initials, nor did he know 
 whether it was Browne with an e or Brown without 
 an e. The entries in the catalogue under Brown 
 filled two volumes. On the same day he was asked 
 for books on Bulgaria, on Cremation, on Diseases of 
 Sheep, and on Land-tenure in Scotland. And the 
 inquirers generally demanded the newest books on 
 their respective subjects. 
 
 Dr Fortescue accordingly made a plan for helping 
 such readers, and for supplying them with a subject 
 
 168 
 
THE SUBJECT INDEX 169 
 
 index. He rendered his task possible by setting to 
 it certain hard and fast limits. In the first place, 
 he dealt only with works published between January, 
 1880, and August, 1885. In the second, he omitted 
 novels, poems, plays and miscellaneous essays. 
 
 The Index was not at first intended for publication, 
 but its value was so obvious that it was printed by 
 order of the Trustees in 1886. In 1891 a second 
 volume, treating books of the years 1885-1890, was 
 published ; in 1897, a third volume, treating books 
 of the years 1891-1895. In 1902-1903 the Index 
 was issued in a new edition, brought up to the year 
 1900, under the title of Subject Index of the Modern 
 Works added to the Library of the British Museum in 
 the years 1881-1900. 3 vols. 8°. 1902-1903. This 
 edition contains about 155,000 entries in one subject 
 alphabet, with press-marks. Supplements embody- 
 ing the additions for 1901-1905, and for 1906-1910, 
 were published in 1906 and 1911 respectively. By 
 means of numerous cross-references the index is 
 very easy to consult. It is not perfect— no such book 
 could be — but its utility is unbounded. It is a really 
 great work, although in bulk it seems trivial beside 
 the General Catalogue, and it forms the completest 
 guide available anywhere for modern European 
 literature outside the classes purposely excluded. 
 
 Dr Fortescue died in October, 1912, within a few 
 days of his impending retirement from the Keeper- 
 ship of the Printed Books. The carrying on of his 
 plan, which was to publish a further Supplement in 
 
170 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 1916, and in iy2i to incorporate the three Supple- 
 ments into one Index for 1901-1920, remains for 
 other hands. 
 
 In the spring of 1913 a continuation of the Subject 
 Index from 191 1 was placed in the Reading-room. 
 It is comprised in 8 vols., interleaved, and lettered: 
 "Subject Index, 191 1- . Temporary Rough List." 
 It is on the same plan as the General Catalogue — 
 that is, accessions are allowed for, and the list can 
 always be kept up to date. The entries consist of 
 slips as printed for the General Catalogue, arranged 
 under handwritten subject headings, and thus the 
 Index is the beginning of the realisation of the scheme 
 outlined first by Panizzi, and, later, by Dr Garnett. 
 
XIII 
 
 SOME TREASURES OF 
 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 An attempt to make a satisfactory selection of some 
 of the treasures of the national library and to write 
 it down in anything less dry than mere catalogue 
 form is almost a hopeless if not a ridiculous under- 
 taking. But in the belief that the reader who, 
 perhaps, has no opportunity of visiting the British 
 Museum in person and of inspecting the exhibition 
 of manuscripts and books shown in the Grenville 
 and the King's Libraries, or of making use of the 
 Reading-rooms, might wish for a glance, even though 
 a brief one, at some of its riches, I append this 
 chapter, though perfectly aware of its utter in- 
 adequacy. 
 
 From whatever side the library is approached, 
 and whatever demands are made upon it, it will be 
 found marvellously rich and representative. Not 
 only may it be said that there are few subjects, 
 or periods, or even names, upon which it does not 
 offer practically all information which has ever 
 found its way into print, but in innumerable cases 
 it offers more — it offers the sources and raw material 
 of further knowledge. 
 171 
 
172 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 A survey of the treasures begins with the manu- 
 scripts, and the manuscripts include, naturally, 
 many examples which are not books. It is puzzling, 
 perhaps, where manuscripts are concerned, to decide 
 exactly what a library should or should not contain ; 
 for instance, it is difficult to find an entirely satis- 
 factory reason for the exclusion of the Egyptian 
 Book of the Dead, while such things as seals, brass- 
 rubbings, and postage-stamps are admitted. But a 
 line has to be drawn somewhere, and if the Egyptian 
 hieroglyphic-inscribed papyri are to come within it, 
 why not the clay tablets and cylinders which bear 
 the writings of Babylonia and Assyria ? However, 
 these questions have not been left to us to settle, 
 and we must take the national library as we find it. 
 
 Beginning with the manuscripts, then, we must 
 notice that besides actual books this collection 
 possesses also a vast number of charters, records, 
 State papers, letters, and miscellaneous documents 
 of enormous historical interest and value. A library 
 is a perfectly suitable place for the preservation of 
 such things as these. As a matter of fact, however, 
 the national records have always formed a large, 
 and, of course, important category by themselves. 
 They had been kept from time immemorial in the 
 Tower, in the Chapter-house at Westminster, and 
 other places, until they were collected and deposited 
 in the new Record Office in Chancery Lane, built 
 specially for their reception and completed in 1857. 
 Nevertheless, a number of records and State papers 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 173 
 
 have found their way into the library, more parti- 
 cularly through the Cotton collection, but whatever 
 their claim to a place in the archives of the Record 
 Office, it is unlikely that they will ever be removed 
 from the custody of the British Museum. 
 
 Anticipating a question which naturally arises in 
 this connection, it may be stated here that -Domesday 
 Book is not in the British Museum. It was formerly 
 kept among the- Exchequer records in the Chapter- 
 house at Westminster, and so carefully that even 
 Sir Robert Cotton did not get hold of it. It is now 
 in the Record Office. 
 
 It will be more convenient to deal first with 
 Manuscript Books, and then with Printed Books, 
 and to take State papers and miscellaneous historical 
 and literary documents last. 
 
 Biblical Manuscripts. No original manuscript of 
 any part of the Bible has survived, but the 
 Museum possesses one of the oldest extant copies 
 of the entire Bible. This is the Codex Alexandrinus 
 (Roy. MS. i D. v.-viii.). It is written in Greek 
 uncials on vellum, and fills four volumes. It was 
 probably executed at Alexandria in the first half of 
 the fifth century, and tradition ascribes it to the 
 penmanship of a noble lady named Thekla. When 
 Cyril Lucar was transferred, in 1621, from the 
 Patriarchate of Alexandria to that of Constantinople, 
 he took this book with him, and in 1627 he presented 
 it to James I., but it did not reach England until 
 after the accession of Charles I. 
 
174 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Apart from some few small papyrus fragments, 
 there are only two Greek Bibles more ancient — viz. 
 the Codex VaUcanns, in the Vatican Library, and the 
 Code x Siniaticus, found byTischendorf in a monastery 
 on Mount Sinai, of which part is at Leipzig and part 
 at Petrograd. Both are of the fourth century. 
 
 It was suggested to Charles I. that the Codex 
 Alexandrinus should be printed in facsimile from 
 copper plates, and that such a work would appear 
 " glorious in history " after his death. " Pish ! " 
 replied the King ; "I care not what they say of me 
 in history when I am dead." So no facsimile 
 appeared until 1816-1821, when the Museum 
 published one in printed type of the Old Testament, 
 edited by H. H. Babcr, Keeper of the Printed Books. 
 A full-size autotype facsimile was subsequently 
 issued in four volumes between 1879 and 1883, and 
 a reduced facsimile, in collotype, is in progress 
 (see Appendix, 5). 
 
 The oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old 
 Testament are later than the oldest copies of the 
 Greek, Latin and Syriac versions. The Museum 
 owns a ninth-century copy of the Pentateuch on 
 vellum, which is " probably the oldest manuscript 
 now in existence of any substantial part of the Bible 
 in Hebrew " (Oriental MS. 4445). 
 
 Classical Manuscripts. No original manuscript 
 of any classical author is known to exist. The 
 oldest classical Greek manuscripts are on papyrus, 
 and have been found in Egypt, where the dry climate 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 175 
 
 has preserved the fragile material, or where the papyri 
 have been used in the making of the cartonnage 
 cases in which mummies of the later period are 
 enclosed. None are known of earlier date than the 
 latter part of the fourth century B.C. 
 
 Apart from a few fragments, the most ancient 
 Greek classic in the British Museum consists of parts 
 of Plato's Phaedo, assigned to the first half of the 
 third century b.c. It was found in a mummy case 
 (Papyrus 488). 
 
 The Museum also possesses the following papyri, 
 all found in Egypt and all unique : — 
 
 Hyperides, Oration against Philippides, probably 
 first century b.c. (Papyrus 134). 
 
 Bacchylides, Triumphal Odes and Dithyrambs, 
 probably first century b.c. (Papyrus 733). The 
 Museum published this text in 1897, and an autotype 
 facsimile, now out of print, in 1898. 
 
 Aristotle, The Constitution of Athens, written about 
 a.d. ioo, in four rolls, by four different scribes 
 (Papyrus 131). Apart from this papyrus, this 
 treatise is unknown except for some small fragments 
 preserved at Berlin. The Museum published its 
 third edition of the text in 1892, and issued an 
 autotype facsimile in 1891. 
 
 Herodas, Mimes. First or second century a.d. 
 (Papyrus 135). This is the only manuscript of 
 Herodas known. The Museum published the text 
 in its volume of Greek Classical Texts from Papyri, 
 1891, and an autotype facsimile in 1892. 
 
176 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Pindar. Paeans. Early second century a.d. 
 (Papyrus 1842). 
 
 Illuminated Manuscripts. The famous illuminated 
 manuscripts of the Middle Ages are handsomely 
 represented in the library. The art of illuminating 
 books on vellum was born in Italy in the first century 
 of the Christian era, and brought by the Byzantine 
 and other Continental schools to a high degree of 
 excellence. The Museum has early examples of this 
 foreign work in Gospels written in letters of gold, 
 or in letters of gold on purple-stained vellum. But 
 some of the most wonderful and beautiful examples 
 of pencraft were those executed by the scribes and 
 artists of the Irish monasteries. The great exemplar 
 of their work. The Book of Keils, remains in its native 
 land, the property of Trinity College, Dublin, but 
 the British Museum holds a volume almost as 
 wonderful — namely, the late seventh-century book 
 called the Lindisfarne Gospels (Cotton MS. Nero D. 
 iv.). 
 
 The marvellous pencraft of Ireland was carried 
 by Irish missionaries to Britain. From St Columba's 
 monastery on the little island of Iona, Aidan was 
 sent, in 635, in answer to the request of Oswald of 
 Northumbria for a Christian teacher for his people. 
 To Aidan, Oswald gave Holy Island or Lindisfarne, 
 and there a monastery was built ; and there was 
 written the magnificent book known as the Lindis- 
 farne Gospels, the Book of St Cuthbert, or the Book of 
 Durham. Cuthbert was made Bishop of Lindisfarne 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 177 
 
 in 685, and the book was probably begun soon 
 after his death, five years later. It was written by 
 Bishop Eadfrith in honour of St Cuthbert, and 
 Bilfrith, the anchorite goldsmith, made it a costly 
 case of jewelled gold. It contains the Four Gospels, 
 with St Jerome's preface, and each Gospel is pre 
 ceded by a full-page coloured design after the Irish 
 style, a portrait of the Evangelist, and a calendar 
 of days on which passages from that Gospel were to 
 be read. The manuscript shows the art of book- 
 work in a stage of transition from pure Irish, or 
 Celtic, to Hiberno-Saxon. The portraits prove 
 Byzantine influence, which at that time dominated 
 the Continental books, and another foreign element 
 is shown by the calendar, which corresponds with the 
 liturgical calendar of Naples, but is two hundred 
 years earlier than any Neapolitan calendar extant, 
 and about a hundred years earlier than any extant 
 Roman liturgy. n s presence is probably due to the 
 visit to Lindisfarne of Archbishop Theodore and 
 his friend Adrian, formerly abbot of a monastery 
 near Naples. Both were scholarly men, " well read 
 in sacred and secular literature, and there daily 
 flowed from them rivers of knowledge to water the 
 hearts of their hearers," says Bede. Doubtless it 
 was from some book of Adrian's that the Lindisfarne 
 scribe copied the calendar. 
 
 When the Danish invasion broke the peace of 
 Holy Island, the fugitive monks carried away with 
 them their two treasures — the body of St Cuthbert, 
 
 M 
 
178 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 and this Book. They took ship for Ireland, but a 
 storm obliged them to return. The little vessel 
 pitched so violently that the Book fell overboard and 
 sank. But thanks to St Cuthbert's good offices, 
 the monks reached shore in safety, and at low tide 
 recovered the Book, unhurt. It was taken to 
 Durham, and entered in the priory rolls as " the 
 Book of St Cuthbert, which fell in the sea." At the 
 Dissolution, when so many good books perished, this 
 one was preserved in some manner unknown, and 
 a little later was secured by Sir Robert Cotton. 
 
 The first English school of illumination grew up 
 at Winchester under Bishop .lithelwold, in the latter 
 half of the tenth century, and produced some fine 
 work, of which several specimens are in the Museum. 
 One of the earliest is a Latin Psalter (Harley MS. 
 2904). It is said that the large ornamental B at the 
 beginning of Psalm i. in this book served as a model 
 for the beginning of English-written psalters for 
 about a century afterwards. 
 
 Another interesting Winchester volume in the 
 library is The Register of New Minster, the abbey 
 founded by King Edgar in 966 (Stowe MS. 944). 
 The register contains an account of the foundation, 
 lists of the kings, bishops and others connected with 
 New Minster ; a transcript of the Life of King Alfred, 
 and other notes of matters concerning the abbey and 
 its services. It also has some drawings, in the best 
 style of English art. One represents Canute placing 
 on the altar of the church a gift of a gold and jewelled 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 179 
 
 cross ; the King is accompanied by the Queen. 
 Above, is a figure of Christ between the Virgin and 
 St Peter, to whom the abbey was dedicated. Other 
 drawings show the blessed being admitted by St 
 Peter into heaven, while the damned are thrust into 
 the jaws of hell. 
 
 Another local school was the East Anglian, which 
 flourished in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth 
 centuries. It produced magnificent work, repre- 
 sented best, unfortunately, by specimens not in 
 the Museum. The Museum possesses, however, a 
 breviary of Norwich use, which is a very good 
 example of the East Anglian book-art (Stowe MS. 
 
 12). 
 
 At the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the 
 fourteenth centuries, English illuminated manuscripts 
 were among the finest in Christendom. A magni- 
 ficent early fourteenth-century specimen in the 
 national library is known as Queen Mary's Psalter 
 (Roy. MS. 2 B. viii.) . It is not known when or 
 by whom it was executed. A note added at the end 
 relates that one Baldwin Smith, a London customs 
 officer, intercepted it as it was about to be carried 
 out of the country, and presented it to Queen Mary 
 (Tudor) , whose name it has since borne. It contains 
 the Sarum calendar, the Liturgical Psalms, and 
 Canticles, and is decorated with a series of pen-and- 
 ink drawings, representing scenes from Old Testament 
 history, of exceptionally artistic execution. The 
 calendar, according to the usual custom, is illustrated 
 
180 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 by miniatures showing typical occupations for the 
 several months, and scenes introducing the appro- 
 priate signs of the zodiac. Thus the miniatures for 
 April, for example, show (i) maidens gathering 
 flowers and making garlands ; (2) women driving 
 cows and a bull (Taurus). The Psalter contains 
 large miniatures of scenes from the Life of Christ, 
 sometimes divided into four compartments, and 
 mostly within a Gothic framework, together with a 
 series of incongruous drawings of secular scenes. 
 These last are particularly interesting. Ladies of 
 the period go rabbiting, and one puts in a ferret 
 at one side of a hillock, while her companion nets 
 the rabbit on the opposite side. Two champions tilt 
 at each other, not from horses, but from boats. 
 Men shoot small captive birds with large arrows. 
 Boys whip tops with threc-lashed whips. And so 
 on. Hawking and hunting and all the fashionable 
 sports are delightfully depicted. Finally, there are 
 drawings illustrating the miracles of the Virgin. 
 In 1912 the Museum published a facsimile of this 
 book, with an introduction by Sir George Warner, 
 late Keeper of the Manuscripts. 
 
 The invention of printing did not at once put an 
 end to the production of books in manuscript . These 
 were still valued and admired as works of art, and 
 some late fifteenth and early sixteenth century 
 examples are very beautiful. One such is a Book 
 of Hours exhibited in the Grenville Gallery (Huth 
 Bequest. Add. MS. 38,126). This exquisite piece 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 181 
 
 of work was probably executed at Bruges about 1500. 
 It is written on vellum, with floral and scroll borders, 
 and large and small miniatures, and no description 
 can convey any idea of the careful perfection of 
 detail, the daintiness of execution, and the elegant 
 beauty of this Flemish masterpiece. The artist 
 was a nature-lover. In the borders, birds, flowers 
 and fruit are minutely delineated. One of the most 
 beautiful of the smaller miniatures is inserted in the 
 text of the Mass of All Angels, and shows a naked 
 soul led by the hand of its guardian angel through 
 the fields of Paradise, among flowers and trees. 
 
 The calendar usual in books of this class has floral 
 or scroll borders containing medallions about the 
 size of a crown piece, illustrating country and 
 pastoral scenes typical of the months represented. 
 There are also a number of pictures of saints, such 
 as St Veronica with the Vernicle ; St Nicholas bless- 
 ing three boys in a tub on restoring them to life after 
 their murder ; St Catherine with the wheel ; and the 
 martyrdom of St Apollonia. 
 
 But it is the manner rather than the matter of this 
 manuscript which makes it " one of the most perfect 
 examples of Flemish illumination of the period." 
 
 Early Printed Books. Special pains have been 
 taken to make the British Museum collection of 
 incunabula — that is, of books printed in the fifteenth 
 century, while the art of printing was yet in its 
 infancy — as complete as possible, and it is now one of 
 the finest, if not the finest, in existence. One of its 
 
182 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 chief glories is its copy of the Gutenberg, Mazarin, 
 or Mainz Bibk, printed probably at Mainz, perhaps 
 by John Gutenberg, c. 1455, 2 vols, folio (King's 
 Library, C. 9. d. 3, 4), exhibited in the King's 
 Library. 
 
 The traditions respecting the invention of printing 
 from movable types are contradictory, and nothing 
 is certainly known of this momentous event. Fifteen 
 different Continental cities claim to have produced 
 the pioneer printing-press, but the first tangible 
 evidence comes from Mainz, in the form of some 
 Indulgences printed in 1454 and 1455. These were 
 granted by Pope Nicholas V. to all Christians who 
 supported the King of Cyprus against the Turks. 
 Each Indulgence consists of a single piece of vellum 
 containing either thirty or thirty-one lines of print. 
 The thirty-line example is partly in the type of the 
 Gutenberg Bible, and the thirty-one-line example 
 partly in the type of another early Bible of un- 
 certain provenance. The Museum has specimens of 
 the 1455 Indulgences. 
 
 These are the earliest examples of typography 
 bearing a definite date. But the first printed book 
 is generally believed to be the Mainz Bible, perhaps 
 the work of John Gutenberg, who also very probably 
 printed the earlier, at least, of the Indulgences, before 
 executing this magnificent book. The Mainz Bible 
 illustrates the remarkable fact that the art of print- 
 ing was born practically perfect, for its workmanship 
 has never been excelled even by the most skilful 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 183 
 
 printer and the most elaborate machinery of modern 
 times. The date to be assigned for its beginning is 
 not earlier than 1450, and it is known, on the testi- 
 mony of a manuscript colophon in the Paris copy, to 
 have been completed in 1456. Some examples are 
 on paper ; others, like the Museum specimen, on 
 vellum. The type is a bold, clear gothic or black- 
 letter, modelled on the handwriting used for the 
 Bibles and devotional books of the Middle Ages. 
 As is the case with all the earliest printed books, 
 there is no title-page, and place, printer and date 
 are not mentioned. 
 
 The new art was quickly taken up and industriously 
 practised. We may instance another from the large 
 Museum collection of books printed in Germany 
 before the end of the fifteenth century. This is the 
 first edition of De Imitatione Christi (C. 10. c. 16), 
 generally attributed to Thomas Haemmerlein of 
 Kempen, otherwise Thomas a Kempis. The editio 
 princeps was printed by Gunther Zainer at Augsberg 
 in 1471 or 1472, as part of a collection of tracts. 
 The Museum owns some 5000 editions of this world- 
 famous book of devotion. 
 
 The German printers spread the practice of 
 printing all over Europe, beginning, after their 
 own land, with Italy, where more printing-presses 
 were set up than in any other country. Conrad 
 Sweynheim and Arnold Pannartz were the first of 
 the craft to tread Italian soil, and on their way to 
 Rome they halted at the monastery of Subiaco 
 
184 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 and under the patronage of the abbot, Cardinal 
 Turrecremata, produced Cicero, Dc Oratorc, and some 
 other books, in a pleasing type, half-gothic, half- 
 roman. They then proceeded to Rome, where, 
 within rive years, they printed over eleven thousand 
 volumes. 
 
 Venice was the next Italian city, after Rome, to 
 learn the art of printing, which was introduced 
 there by John of Spires in 1469. Some famous 
 illustrated books came from the Venetian presses. 
 An edition of Malermi's translation of the Bible may 
 be instanced, which was printed in 1400 by Giovanni 
 Ragazzo (IB J3.752), which has nearly four hundred 
 woodcuts, some adapted from other works, but 
 most of them original. A curious example is that 
 illustrating the text : " The fool hath said in his 
 heart. There is no God." It shows an open-mouthed 
 idiot, his hair stuck with feathers, riding a stick as 
 hobby-horse, and carrying a toy windmill. He is 
 mocked by boys, one of whom walks behind and 
 teases him with a bramble-spray. 
 
 Another very celebrated illustrated book was 
 issued at Venice by Aldus Manutius, probably the 
 most famous of all Italian printers. This was the 
 editio princeps of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, or 
 Dream of Poliphilus, 1499, of which the Museum 
 possesses six copies, one from the Grenville Library 
 (G. 10,564), and the rest from other sources. 
 
 Aldus was notable not so much for his skill in 
 printing as for his work as the pioneer of good 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 185 
 
 literature in popular form. By his invention of the 
 small but clear Aldine or italic type he was able to 
 produce cheap, handy books, and his first venture 
 of this kind, the Virgil of 1501, measuring six by 
 three-and-a-half inches, met with immediate success. 
 
 Of all these early Italian books the British Museum 
 possesses examples. 
 
 As specimens of French incunabula in the library 
 we may notice one or two books remarkable for their 
 illustrations, beginning with La CitS de Dieu, Abbe- 
 ville, Jean du Pre and Pierre Gerard, 1486-1487, 
 2 vols. fol. (Grenville Library, 3805. e. 2). This has 
 been described as one of the finest French books 
 of the century. It has a frontispiece showing St 
 Augustine writing the book, and Raoul de Preules, 
 its translator, presenting his translation to the King 
 of France. One of the most striking of the twenty- 
 three other woodcuts represents a man in a tree, 
 to whom an angel offers a crown, while a devil 
 tempts him with money. Death is sawing the tree 
 asunder, and two dragons await their victim below. 
 The woodcuts are supposed to be the work of Paris 
 artists. The Museum owns many early editions of 
 this book, including the editio princeps, printed at 
 Subiaco, in 1467, by Sweynheim and Pannartz. 
 
 It has also a fine copy of the Danse Macabre, 
 Paris, Guiot Marchand, 1492 (Huth Bequest, IB. 
 39,618). This work, designed to afford instruction 
 in right living and holy dying, was extremely 
 popular in the Middle Ages, both in book form and 
 
186 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 as paintings in churches and elsewhere. There 
 was an example painted in the north cloister of 
 Old St Paul's, for instance. The present volume is 
 copiously illustrated by woodcuts showing how 
 Death, represented as an animated skeleton, comes 
 to persons of all ages and conditions and compels 
 them to join in his dance. He seizes alike 
 Pope, Emperor, King, Cardinal, Merchant, Doctor, 
 Hermit and Infant ; Queen, Duchess, Bride, Nun 
 and Sorceress. An edition printed at Lyons by 
 Matthias Huss in 1499 (IB. 41,735), also acquired 
 through the Huth Bequest, includes some woodcuts 
 showing Death visiting printers in their printing- 
 office and the bookseller among his books — the 
 earliest known representations of the printing-office 
 and bookshop. In the one, the compositor is seen 
 seated before his case of type, the " copy," hung on 
 a lath before him ; the composing-stick is in his 
 hand, and behind him are the press, with its big 
 wooden screw, and a man with a mallet. In the 
 other, the bookseller is sitting at his counter, 
 reading, and some seventeen or so volumes occupy 
 the shelves behind him, or lie on the counter. 
 
 The best work of the early printers was put into 
 church service-books. It is curious that the large 
 majority of English service-books were printed 
 abroad, generally at Paris or Rouen, but also at 
 Antwerp, Basle, Venice and elsewhere. The Paris 
 printers, Jean du Pr6 and Philippe Pigouchet, 
 and the publishers, Simon Vostre and Antoine 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 187 
 
 Verard, were among the chief producers of these 
 books. 
 
 A beautiful Horce ad Usum Sarum, Paris, P. 
 Pigouchet, 1501 (C. 29. h. 12), is exhibited in the 
 King's Library. It is ornamented with woodcut 
 illustrations and borders illuminated by hand in 
 gold and colours. The Museum possesses a number 
 of books of this class, and this is one of the choicest 
 specimens. 
 
 Antoine Verard was one of the most industrious 
 of the early Paris booksellers. Several of his editions 
 de luxe were bought by Henry VII., and came to the 
 national collection with the Old Royal Library. 
 
 England and Scotland are the only countries 
 which learned printing from a native and not from 
 a foreigner. England's protoprinter, William 
 Caxton, was a London apprentice who went to 
 Bruges as a wool merchant and later became 
 secretary to the Duchess of Burgundy. Either in 
 Cologne or in Bruges he acquired a practical know- 
 ledge of typography, and with the help of Colard 
 Mansion, who had a printing-office in Bruges, pro- 
 duced there his Recuyell of the Histories of Troye, 
 a translation of a fashionable romance, probably in 
 1475 (King's Library. C. 11. c. 1) and The Game 
 and Playe of the Chesse, in 1475 or 1476. (Two 
 copies. Grenville Library, 10,543, and C. 10. b. 23.) 
 In 1476 he returned to England and set up a press 
 at the sign of the Red Pale, close to Westminster 
 Abbey. A panel in the vestibule of the Westminster 
 
188 THE BRITISH MUSEITM LIBRARY 
 
 Palace Hotel professes to mark the exact spot. 
 Here he printed The Dictcs or Sayengis of the Philo- 
 sopkres, 1477, and other books. The best of the 
 three examples of the Dicies or Sayengis in the 
 British Museum was acquired through the Huth 
 Bequest (IB. 5505). 
 
 A famous but exceedingly rare book in the library 
 is The Book of Si Albans, St Albans, 1486, fol. 
 (G. 10547). It was printed by an anonymous printer 
 known as The Schoolmaster. It is the first printed 
 English book dealing with field sports and heraldry, 
 and the first book with illustrations printed in 
 colours. On the strength of the words, " Explicit 
 Dam Julyans Barnes in her boke of Huntyng," 
 which close one of the treatises it contains, it has 
 ldiig been supposed that the work was written by a 
 Dame Juliana Berners, prioress of Sopwell, near 
 St Albans. But no such lady is known to history 
 in any capacity whatever. Some think that the 
 book was compiled as well as printed by The 
 Schoolmaster. The British Museum, however, still 
 catalogues it under BERNERS, Juliana (Dame). 
 
 The Museum copy has a remarkable history. 
 Towards the close of the eighteenth century it was 
 turned out of the library of a house in Lincolnshire 
 with a number of other books condemned as rubbish. 
 The gardener rescued it, with some of its companions. 
 At the gardener's death his son threw away the 
 other volumes, but kept the St Albans book. When 
 the son died, his widow sold it and some other books 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 189 
 
 to a pedlar for ninepence. The pedlar sold his 
 purchase to a Gainsborough chemist to be used as 
 shop paper. Noticing its curious woodcuts, the 
 chemist offered the St Albans book to a stationer for 
 a guinea. The stationer would not waste a guinea 
 on it, but offered to display it in his window. This 
 brought an offer of £$ from a gentleman of the 
 neighbourhood, whereupon the stationer changed 
 his mind, bought it from the chemist for £2, and 
 sold it to a bookseller for £y, ys. Mr Grenville then 
 purchased it for £70, and at his death it came, with 
 the rest of his library, to the nation. One of the Only 
 two complete copies known was sold in 1914 for £1800. 
 
 The second edition of the St Albans book was 
 printed by Caxton's successor, Wynken de Worde, 
 at Westminster, 1496. One of the two Museum 
 copies is in the Grenville Library (G. 10,548). This 
 edition contains an additional section : " The 
 treatise of fysshinge with an angle." 
 
 A book famous in history is sliown in the King's 
 Library. This is the Assertio Seftem Sacramentorum 
 adversus Martin. Lutherum, written by Henry VIII. , 
 and printed by his Majesty's printer, Richard 
 Pynson, in 1521 (C. 25. k. 2). This is the work which 
 gained for Henry VIII. and his successors on the 
 English throne the title of " Defender of the Faith," 
 conferred on the royal author by Pope Leo X. 
 " Some of the ornaments are copied from designs 
 made by Holbein for [the printer] Froben of Basle." x 
 
 1 Official Guide to the Exhibition in the King's Library, 1901. 
 
190 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 The Museum owns two other copies of this book, 
 of which one is in the GrenvUle Library. It also 
 has editions printed in Rome, Strasburg, Lyons, 
 Antwerp and other foreign places. 
 
 Skipping a century or so, we find treasures of a 
 more literary and perhaps more general interest in 
 the early editions of Shakespeare. The Museum 
 owns four copies of the editio princeps of Shake- 
 speare's collected works — the "First Folio" — but 
 the best is that in the Grenville Library (G. 1161), 
 the other three being imperfect. This book was 
 published in the Barbican at the price of twenty 
 shillings, and registered at Stationers' Hall on 
 8th November 1623. The title-page reads as 
 follows : — Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, 
 Histories, and Tragedies. Published according to 
 the True Originall Copies : London : Printed by 
 Isaac Jaggard & Ed. Blount. 1623." The volume 
 contains a copperplate portrait of the dramatist, 
 by Martin Droeshout. 
 
 The Huth Bequest added to the collection of 
 Shakespeare editions the quarto Richard II., 1597, 
 Richard III., 1597, and the Comedie of Sir John 
 Falslaff and The Merrie Wives of Windsor, 1602, and 
 thus almost completed the Museum set of Shakespeare 
 quartos printed before 1664. 
 
 A book of historical interest, though no treasure 
 from a typographical point of view, is the work 
 attributed by some to Charles I. and by others to 
 John Gauden, Bishop of Exeter. This is the 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 191 
 
 EiKcov Baa-iXiKi] : The Portraidure of his sacred 
 Maiestie in his solitudes and sufferings, 1648 
 
 [London (?), February i6^1, 8°-] (C. 59. a. 24). 
 
 The numerous examples of the Eikon in the Museum 
 include two copies of this extremely rare first edition. 
 Many editions were issued in 1648, all of which have 
 been carefully distinguished by bibliographers. The 
 present copy has some errors in pagination ; in the 
 copy included among the Thomason Tracts, and 
 marked by Thomason as " the first impression," 
 these errors are corrected. 
 
 About fifty editions appeared within six months 
 of the King's death, to meet the great demand for 
 this work ; and within a year of publication it had 
 been translated into Latin, French, Dutch and 
 German. For Milton's reply to the " King's 
 Book," EiKovoKA.ao-Tijs, 1649, there was no demand at 
 all. One of the 1649 editions of the Eikon is of a 
 long and narrow shape, intended to symbolise a 
 coffin, in memory of the royal martyr." A great 
 deal has been written both to prove and to disprove 
 the King's authorship of this book, but Mr Edward 
 Almack, who has made an exhaustive study of all 
 the available evidence, has no doubt that the book 
 was written, as it professes to be, by King Charles I. 
 
 We will close this brief survey of a few notable 
 books in the national collection with a work which 
 is remarkable, first and foremost, for sheer size. 
 This is the Chinese encyclopaedia, Ch'in Ting Ku 
 
192 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Chin T ii Shu Chi Ch'cng, 1674-1723. This stupen- 
 dous compilation was planned by the Emperor K'ang 
 Hsi, and carried out by Ch'en Meng-lei. It consists 
 of over 800,000 pages, contained in 745 substantial 
 volumes. It is a collection of extracts from old 
 Chinese literature on all conceivable subjects, form- 
 ing an encyclopaedia which is calculated to be three 
 or four times as large as the largest European work 
 of the same class. It was printed from movable 
 types of metal, and not, according to the usual 
 Chinese custom, from wooden blocks, and it is 
 illustrated by pictures, maps and diagrams. It is 
 believed that not more than a hundred copies were 
 struck off, and that the British Museum example is 
 the only complete copy of the first edition known 
 outside China. That in the Bibliotheque Nationale 
 is incomplete. The Museum copy is stowed away 
 behind glazed doors beneath the tables in the King's 
 Library. 
 
 The list of subjects dealt with is most compre- 
 hensive, as might be expected. The work is divided 
 into six main parts, as follows : — 
 
 1. Celestial Matters. 4. Science. 
 
 2. Geography. 5. Literature. 
 
 3. Human Relationships. 6. Polity. 
 
 The arrangement is not alphabetical, but accord- 
 ing to subject. The difficulties of a subject catalogue 
 have already been touched upon (Ch. XI.), and the 
 ingenious Chinese do not show themselves more 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 193 
 
 adept in classifying their knowledge than the Western 
 nations. Their classification is sometimes very un- 
 expected. To take at random some of the things 
 dealt with, we find, besides such orthodox heads 
 as Agriculture, Bees, and so on, miscellaneous 
 matters such as 
 
 Cooking-pots, Principle of harmony in 
 
 Clever contrivances, the soul, 
 
 Dignity of demeanour, Rain clothes, 
 Steamed dumplings, Watchfulness over one- 
 
 self when alone. 
 
 There are many sub-sections dealing with women, 
 who are spoken of as Beauties of the Inner Apart- 
 ments. Mr Lionel Giles, who has drawn up the 
 British Museum official index to this work, to which 
 I am indebted for most of the foregoing data, makes 
 the interesting observation that the Chinese ency- 
 clopaedia " forms a repertory of female biography 
 such as no other nation, even at the present day, 
 can make any pretence of rivalling." 
 
 Bindings. The Museum possesses many beautiful 
 bindings. In old days the cover of a book was not 
 merely a protection more or less perfunctorily decor- 
 ated, but a real work of art. Wood and leather, 
 ivory and enamel, gold, silver and jewels, velvet, satin 
 and embroidery — all were used for the service and 
 ornament of books. 
 
 For the intrinsic interest of the thing it may be 
 pardoned if for a moment we leave the library to 
 
194 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 glance at an object in the Department of Medieval 
 Antiquities. This is the Early Byzantine leaf of an 
 ivory diptych, or waxed tablet (for receiving writing) 
 with two covers. The diptych was a Roman inven- 
 tion afterwards adopted for Christian liturgical 
 purposes. The specimen in question is extremely 
 fine, and bears a carved figure of the Archangel 
 Michael. Its connection with the subject in hand 
 is that it may have been part of one of the books 
 brought to England by St Augustine, (see Maskell, 
 Mon. Rit., I. xv. and supra, p. i). 
 
 To return to the library. A Psalter written and 
 decorated in the twelfth century for Melissenda, 
 Countess of Anjou, has wooden covers overlaid with 
 ivory exquisitely carved with sacred and allegorical 
 subjects in Byzantine style, and studded with small 
 turquoises and rubies (Egerton MS. 1139). 
 
 A book of Gospels written in the ninth century 
 has a fourteenth-century wooden binding plated with 
 silver fastened by silver nails. On the upper cover 
 is a sunk panel containing a figure of Christ, seated, 
 in high relief, the hollow within containing relics. 
 This cover is studded with brightly coloured jewels, 
 modern substitutes for the lost originals. The four 
 corners once held the symbols of the Evangelists 
 in blue enamel, but only two remain. The lower 
 cover is neither jewelled nor enamelled, and the 
 Agnus Dei occupies the centre (Add. MS. 11,848). 
 
 A charming miniature volume containing a 
 sixteenth-century metrical version of the Psalms 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 195 
 
 has a cover of gold, worked in open leaf tracery. 
 This was intended to hang from a lady's girdle by 
 rings fixed at the top edges of the covers. It is said 
 to have been given by Queen Anne Boleyn, on the 
 scaffold, to one of her maids of honour (Stowe 
 MS. 956). 
 
 Another book of metrical Psalms — Sternhold and 
 Hopkins version, 1623 — is bound in silk covered 
 with silver embroidery, with needle-worked portraits 
 of a cavalier and lady, thought by some to represent 
 Charles I. and Henrietta Maria. On the bookmark 
 is the couplet : " From prison bring youre Captive 
 King." The volume is enclosed in an embroidered 
 bag, containing also a pair of elaborately decorated 
 kid gloves. It is notable for its fine state of pre- 
 servation, and is said to have belonged to one of Queen 
 Henrietta Maria's ladies-in-waiting (C. 17. b. 27). 
 
 Magna Charta. Turning to the treasures which 
 are not books, though often the occasion or founda- 
 tion of books, we find a large collection of ancient 
 charters, and foremost among them Magna Charta. 
 There is a contemporary copy of the Articles of 
 Liberties, afterwards incorporated in Magna Charta, 
 and there are three contemporary copies of the Great 
 Charter itself. 
 
 The Articles of Liberties (Add. MS. 4838) were 
 drawn up and received the King's sanction as a 
 preliminary to the drafting of the Charter, in which 
 they were subsequently embodied. Part of the 
 Great Seal still remains attached. It has been 
 
196 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 suggested that this document may have passed, 
 with other English records, into the hands of Louis 
 of France during the civil wars which closed the 
 reign of John ; and that it was then handed over 
 to the Regent and deposited at Lambeth Palace, 
 where it remained till, at Laud's desire, before his 
 impeachment, his friend, Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of 
 Salisbury, took it into his own keeping. It after- 
 wards passed through various hands till Philip, 
 Earl Stanhope, presented it to the British Museum in 
 1769. The Museum publishes an autotype facsimile. 
 Magna Charta was granted on 15th June 1215. Of 
 the three copies in the British Museum, the chief 
 is the Cotton Charter xiii. 31. a. This is a corrected 
 copy, with contemporary amendments, and for this 
 reason it has been sometimes considered as further 
 from the original than some others. But its very 
 imperfections are testimony to its being nearer to 
 the actual original, if not the actual original itself, 
 than a fair copy would be. It measures 14$ inches 
 in breadth and 20J inches in length, and it is written 
 in Latin in a small Norman hand. It bears no signa- 
 ture — no signature of any English monarch occurs 
 anywhere earlier than that of Richard II. — but it 
 is authenticated by the Great Seal of England. 
 It suffered severely in the fire at Ashburnham House 
 in 1 73 1, so that most of it is now illegible, and the 
 Great Seal is reduced to a mere lump of wax. The 
 curious fact has been pointed out that the least 
 damaged parts remaining are the most famous 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 197 
 
 passages in the whole of the Charter — viz. Ch. 
 XXXIX. : "No freeman shall be seized, or im- 
 prisoned, or dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way 
 destroyed ; nor will we condemn him, nor will we 
 commit him to prison, excepting by the legal judg- 
 ment of his peers, or by the laws of the land " ; and 
 Ch. XL. : " To none will we sell, to none will we 
 deny, to none will we delay right or justice." 
 
 There is an apocryphal story that this document 
 fell into the hands of Sir Robert Cotton's tailor, 
 who was about to cut it up when Sir Robert appeared 
 in the nick of time and purchased the treasure for 
 a small sum. It was found, however, among the 
 records in Dover Castle by Sir Edward Dering, who 
 wrote to Sir Robert Cotton on loth May 1630 : " I 
 have heere y e Charter of K. John dat. att Running 
 Meade : by y e first safe and sure messenger it is 
 your's. So are y e Saxon Charters, as fast as I can 
 coppy them ; but in y e mean time I will close K. 
 John in a boxe and send him." 
 
 Another copy of Magna Charta in the Cotton 
 Library (Cotton MS. Augustus ii., 106) is of similar 
 appearance and handwriting, but is in much better 
 condition and has fewer emendations. Its history is 
 unknown, until it was given to Cotton by Humphrey 
 Wyems in 1628. A third copy is in the Harleian 
 collection (Harl. MS. 746). 
 
 The Museum publishes an autotype facsimile of 
 the Cotton MS. Augustus ii. 106. 
 
 As we have already noted, it was an old custom 
 
198 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 to deposit copies of State documents in the monastic 
 libraries, so that they might not be lost. Copies of 
 Magna Charta were distributed for this purpose to 
 every diocese, perhaps to every county, and such 
 copies still exist in the Cathedral libraries of Lincoln 
 and Salisbury. 
 
 Royal Autographs. The British Museum owns 
 a complete series of autographs of English sovereigns 
 from Richard II. to Victoria, attached to documents 
 of various kinds. To note briefly the contents of 
 some of these : Richard II. agrees to return the 
 Castle of Brest to the Duke of Brittany (Cotton MS. 
 Vesp. F. iii. f. 3) ; Henry V., in his own handwriting, 
 gives orders as to the French prisoners taken at 
 Agincourt, and the confinement of the Duke of 
 Orleans in Pontefract Castle (Cotton MS. Vesp. 
 F. iii. f. 5) ; Henry VIII. writes a grateful and 
 affectionate letter to Cardinal Wolsey (Cotton MS. 
 Vesp. F. xiii. f. 71) ; Jane the Quene (Lady Jane 
 Grey)- writes from the Tower to the Lord Lieutenant 
 of Surrey to announce her entry into possession of 
 the kingdom of England, and calling for his allegiance 
 against the " fayned and untrewe clayme of the 
 Lady Marye, bastard daughter to our great uncle 
 Henry th 'eight," 10th July, "the first yere of our 
 reign" [1553]. (Lansdowne MS. 1236. f. 24.) 
 Dated only nine days later is an order on behalf of, 
 but not signed by, Queen Mary, that she should be 
 proclaimed Queen in the county of Sussex, and 
 denouncing " the ladie Jane, a quene of a new and 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 199 
 
 pretie inuencion " (Add. MS. 33,230. f. 21). In 
 a little book of prayers, believed to have been used 
 by Lady Jane on the scaffold, she writes in her 
 beautiful hand a touching message to her father, 
 offering him comfort for the loss of his children, and 
 promising to pray for him in another world, signing 
 herself : " youre gracys humble daughter, Jane 
 Duddley " (Harl. MS. 2342). 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, in her own hand, drafts a char- 
 acteristic speech to the Commons, 2nd January 1567, 
 giving them a piece of her royal mind, and advising 
 them to "let this my displing stand you in stede 
 of sorar strokes never to tempt too far a prince's 
 paciens " (Cotton Charter, iv. 38 (2). 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots writes in French to Elizabeth 
 of England from her prison at Sheffield praying that 
 she might have a priest of the Church Catholic to 
 console and exhort her, and that she might be allowed 
 to write to her only child (Cotton MS. Caligula, C. iii. 
 f. 239 b.). In another document in the library 
 an eyewitness describes this unhappy Queen's 
 execution : " Then lying upon the blocke most 
 quietly and stretching out her arms [she] cryed ' In 
 manus tuas Domine,' etc., three or fowre tymes, 
 then she lying very still upon the blocke, one of the 
 executioners holding of her slitely with one of his 
 handes, she endured two strokes of the other execu- 
 tioner with an axe, she makyng very smale noyse 
 or none at all, and not stirring any parte of her from 
 the place where she lay. . . . Then one of the 
 
200 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 executioners espied her litle dogg which was crept 
 under her clothes, which could not be gotten forth 
 but by force, yet afterward wold not departe from 
 the dead corpes but came and lay betweene her 
 head and her shoulders" (Lansdowne MS. 51. 
 f. 99-102). 
 
 An interesting little collection of royal auto- 
 graphs is contained in an illuminated manuscript 
 Book of Hours which probably belonged to a lady 
 of the Court in the time of the seventh and eighth 
 Henrirs Its owner used it as an album in which 
 she collect^! the autographs of her distinguished 
 friends. At her invitation, no doubt, Henry VII. 
 wrote in this book : " Madame I pray you Remembre 
 rac, your lovying maistre, Henry R." His Queen, 
 Elizabeth, Queen Katherine of Aragon, and the 
 Princess (afterwards Queen) Mary, all write requests 
 that their friend will remember them in her prayers, 
 and Henry VIII. merely signs his name (Add. MS. 
 17,012). 
 
 The original manuscripts of compositions by royal 
 authors include Edward VI. 's Treatise on the Sacra- 
 ment of the Body and Blood of Christ, 1549 ; the 
 Prayers of Queen Katherine Parr, translated into 
 Latin, French and Italian by the Princess (after- 
 wards Queen) Elizabeth, 1545 ; and James I.'s 
 Basilicon Dor on, written for his son Henry, Prince 
 of Wales. 
 
 Among the later letters, Queen Henrietta Maria 
 writes to her son Charles, then an urchin of eight, 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 201 
 
 afterwards Charles II., a motherly scolding because 
 " I heere that you will not take phisike," and telling 
 him that if he will not take it to-morrow " I must 
 come to you and make you take it" (Harley MS. 
 6988. f. 95). 
 
 Charles II. writes in French to his sister Henrietta, 
 the day after his Restoration ; " J'ay la test si 
 furieusement etourdy par 1' acclamation du peuple 
 et le quantite d'affaires que je ne scay si j'escrive 
 du sen ou non ; s'est pour quoy vous me pardonneres 
 si je ne vous dy pas da vantage, seulement que je 
 suis tout a vous, C." Canterbury, 26th May [1660] 
 (Add. MS. 18,738. f. 102). 
 
 One of the autographs of Queen Victoria is her 
 signature pencilled in large capital letters, at the 
 age of four (Add. MS. 18,204. f. 12) . 
 
 Miscellaneous Historical Documents. Among these 
 is a Resolution passed by a Council of War 
 after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, dated 
 August, 1588. "We whose names are hereunder 
 written," it runs, " have determined and agreede in 
 counsaile to folowe and pursue the Spanish Fleete 
 untill we have cleared oure owne coaste and brought 
 the Frithe weste of us, and then to returne backe 
 again, as well to revictuall our ships (which stande 
 in extreme scarsite) as alsoe to guard and defend 
 oure own coaste at home ; with further protestations 
 that, if oure wantes of victualles and munitione were 
 suppliede, we wold pursue them to the furthest that 
 they durste have gone." This bears the signatures 
 
202 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 of Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral ; 
 Sir Francis Drake ; Sir John Hawkins, and others 
 (Add. MS. 33,740. f. 6). 
 
 Oliver Cromwell is well represented in the collec- 
 tion, not only by a number of autograph letters, but 
 by the original order of the Council of State, issued 
 from Whitehall, requiring the attendance of the 
 Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London at the pro- 
 clamation, on 12th December 1653, of " his Highness 
 Oliver Cromwell " as " Lord Protector of the 
 Common Wealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, 
 and the Dominions thereunto belonging." This 
 bears the autograph signatures of the members of the 
 Council of State (Add. MS. 18,739. f. 1). 
 
 A later manuscript dated from Whitehall is the 
 proclamation of 1st August 1745, setting a price of 
 {30,000 upon the head of Prince Charles Edward 
 Stuart, the Young Pretender (Add. MS. 37,176). 
 The Prince landed in the Hebrides the next day, 
 and three weeks later issued a counter-proclamation, 
 in print, dated from " Our Camp at Kinlocheill," 
 describing himself as Prince of Wales and Regent 
 of the Kingdoms of Scotland, England, France and 
 Ireland, and offering £30,000 for the apprehension 
 of the Elector of Hanover (George II., then absent 
 in Hanover), " whether landed, or attempting to 
 land, in any part of His Majesty's Dominions." A 
 copy of this also is in the library (C. 180-2 (93)). 
 
 Among the Nelson manuscripts is a letter written 
 to Lady Hamilton shortly before the battle of 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 203 
 
 Trafalgar. The postscript reads : " Oct. 20th [1805]. 
 In the morning, we were close to the mouth of the 
 streights, but the wind had not come far enough to 
 the westward to allow the combined fleets to weather 
 the shoals off Traflagar (sic) ; but they were counted 
 as far as forty sail of ships of war, which I suppose 
 to be 34 of the Line and six frigates. A group of 
 them was seen off the lighthouse of Cadiz this morn- 
 ing, but it blows so very fresh and thick weather 
 that I rather believe they will go into the Harbour 
 before night. May God Almighty give us success 
 over these fellows and enable us to get a Peace." 
 This is endorsed by Lady Hamilton : " This letter 
 was found open on his desk and brought to Lady 
 Hamilton by Captain Hardy. Oh, miserable and 
 wretched Emma ! Oh glorious and happy Nelson ! " 
 (Egerton MS. 1614. f. 125). 
 
 In the handwriting of the great Duke of Wellington 
 the library possesses the enumeration of the cavalry 
 under his command at the battle of Waterloo, which 
 he wrote and gave to Sir John Elley, Deputy Adjutant 
 General, before the battle (Add. MS. 7140). 
 
 General Gordon is represented by his Journal 
 written at Khartoum. The last passage, written on 
 14th December 1884, reads : " We are going to send 
 down ' Bordeen ' to-morrow with this journal. If 
 I was in command of the 200 men of Expeditionary 
 Force, which are all that are necessary for moment, 
 I should stop just below Halfyeh and attack Arabs 
 at that place before I came on here to Kartoum. I 
 
204 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 should then communicate with North Fort and act 
 according to circumstances. Now mark this, il 
 Expeditionary Force, and I ask for no more than 
 200 men, does not come in 10 days, the town may 
 fall, and I have done my best for the honor of our 
 country. Good-bye. C. G. Gordon" (Add. MS. 
 34,470. f. 108). This Journal, with other papers, was 
 bequeathed to the nation by General Gordon's sister. 
 
 Literary Autographs, etc. Of autograph signatures, 
 letters and other manuscripts of literary interest 
 the number in the library is almost bewildering. 
 Foremost comes the signature of Shakespeare, on a 
 deed of mortgage relating to a house at Black- 
 friars (Egerton MS. 1787). There are only six 
 authentic signatures of Shakespeare extant, and this 
 is one of them. The name of " William Shakespeare " 
 is also written in a book in the library, a copy of the 
 first edition of Florio's Montaigne, 1603, but its 
 genuineness is questioned. Another copy of the 
 same book bears the autograph of Ben Jonson 
 (C. 28. m. 8). 
 
 There is also Milton's Bible, in which he has 
 written notes of the births, etc., of himself and 
 members of his family (Add. MS. 32,310). 
 
 Besides these giants of English literature, many 
 other famous personages, both English and foreign, 
 are represented in the library by letters, original 
 compositions and other documents: Spenser and 
 Raleigh ; Dryden and Newton ; Swift, Defoe and 
 Pope ; Steele and Addison ; Goldsmith and Sir 
 
TREASURES OF MUSEUM LIBRARY 205 
 
 Joshua Reynolds ; Johnson and Boswell ; Burns 
 and Scott ; Coleridge, Wordsworth and Lamb ; 
 Byron, Shelley and Keats ; Tennyson and Browning ; 
 Dickens and Thackeray ; Carlyle and Macaulay ; 
 Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot ; Herbert Spencer 
 and Thomas Hardy. 
 
 Among foreign celebrities there are authentic 
 writings, chiefly letters, of Erasmus and Luther ; of 
 Albert Durer; of Michelangelo and Leonardo da 
 Vinci ; of Galileo ; of Reubens, Van Dyck and 
 Rembrandt ; of Montaigne, Corneille and Racine ; 
 Voltaire and Rousseau ; Victor Hugo ; Goethe and 
 Kant, Schiller and Heine. 
 
 One of the most important items in the library, 
 which belongs neither to the category of manuscripts 
 nor that of books, is the Buckler collection of draw- 
 ings, a unique and invaluable record of the churches, 
 castles and other ancient buildings of England and 
 Wales as they appeared in the earlier part of the 
 nineteenth century. The drawings are the work 
 chiefly of John Chessell Buckler, but many are by 
 his father, John Buckler, and his son, Charles Alban 
 Buckler. They number many thousands, and fill 
 nearly iooo volumes. The greater part was acquired 
 by purchase spread over three years and completed 
 in 1900. A supplementary collection was pre- 
 sented in 1904 by Mr C. A. Buckler, and in 1905 a 
 final instalment was received under his will. 
 
XIV 
 
 APPENDIX 
 l 
 
 CHIEF ACCESSIONS TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 The nucleus of the national library is the Cottonian 
 Library of Historical MSS., Charters, Records, State 
 Papers, Illuminated MSS., etc., presented to the nation 
 by Sir John Cotton in 1700. This collection and the 
 subsequent additions thereto, notably the Harleian MSS., 
 were joined with the Sloane MSS. and. Printed Books when 
 the British Museum was incorporated in 1753. The 
 following are the chief accessions to the British Museum 
 Library thus formed. Smaller items, though often, 
 relatively, of equal importance, are omitted : — 
 
 1756 Madox MSS- Bequeathed to the Cottonian 
 
 Library. 
 
 1757 Old Royal MSS. and Printed Books. Given by 
 
 King George II. 
 
 1762 Thomason Tracts. Given by King George III. 
 
 1765 Birch MSS. and Printed Books. Bequeathed by 
 the Rev. Thomas Birch, D.D. 
 
 1768 Onslow Collection of Printed Bibles. Bequeathed 
 by the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow. 
 
 1778-9 Hawkins Printed Books on Music. Part be- 
 queathed by Sir John Hawkins. 
 
 1779 Garrick Collection of Printed Plays. Bequeathed 
 by David Garrick. 
 
 206 
 
APPENDIX 207 
 
 1799 Cracherode Printed Books. Bequeathed by the 
 Rev. C. M. Cracherode. 
 
 1807 Lansdowne MSS. Bought. 
 
 1813 Hargrave MSS. Bought. 
 
 1815 Von Moll Printed Books. Bought with funds be- 
 queathed to the Cottonian Library by Major 
 Edwards. 
 
 1818 Burney MSS. and Printed Books. Bought. 
 
 1820 Banks Printed Books. Bequeathed by Sir Joseph 
 Banks, Bart. 
 
 1823 King's MSS. and Printed Books. Given by King 
 George IV. 
 
 1825 Rich MSS. (Oriental.) Bought. 
 
 1825 Colt Hoare Printed Books. (Italian.) Given by Sir 
 Richard Colt Hoare, Bart. 
 
 1829 Egerton MSS. Bequeathed by the Earl of Bridge- 
 water, with funds for maintaining and augment- 
 ing the collection, and for paying the salary of an 
 Egerton Librarian. 
 
 1831 Arundel MSS. Part bought, part exchanged. 
 
 1841 Tatham and Pachot MSS. (Syriac.) Bought. 
 
 1844 Welsh School and Cymmrodorian Society MSS. 
 (Welsh.) Given by the Welsh School and the 
 "Cymmrodorian Society. 
 
 1846 Church Missionary Society MSS. (Ethiopian.) Given 
 
 by the Church Missionary Society. 
 
 1847 Grenville Printed Books. Bequeathed by the Right 
 
 Hon. Thomas Grenville. 
 1847 Yule MSS. (Persian, Arabic, Hindustani.) Gift. 
 1847 Michael Library. (Hebrew.) Bought. 
 1847 Morrison Library (Chinese.) Bought. 
 
 1864 Cureton MSS. (Oriental.) Bought. 
 
 1865 Almanzi Library. (Hebrew.) Bought. 
 1865 Malcolm MSS. (Persian.) Bought. 
 1865 Erskine MSS. (Oriental.) Bought. 
 
 1875 Schneider Printed Books. (History of the Reforma- 
 tion.) Bought. 
 
208 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 1878 Elliot HSS. (Indian.) Bought. 
 
 187S Transcripts of French State and Official Documents. 
 
 By exchange with the Bibliothcque Nationale. 
 1883 Stowe MSS. Bought. 
 1888-95 Colonial Newspapers. Given by the Royal 
 
 Colonial Institute. 
 
 1899 Rothschild Illuminated MSS. Bequeathed by Baron 
 
 Ferdinand Rothschild. 
 
 1900 Ashbee Printed Books. Bequeathed. 
 is<)S-i8qq-i9oo Buckler Drawing!. Bought. 
 
 1904 Buckler Drawings (additional). Given by Charles 
 
 Alban Buckler. 
 
 1905 Buckler Drawings. Bequeathed by Charles Alban 
 
 Buckler. 
 1910 Hath MSS. and Printed Books. Bequeathed by 
 Alfred Henry Huth. 
 
 1913 Books and Papers on Philately. Bequeathed by 
 
 the Earl of Crawford. 
 
 1914 Fund (r. {10,000) for Purchase of Early English 
 
 Printed Books. Bequeathed by William Carew 
 Hazlitt. 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 
 The Trustees of the British Museum were incorporated 
 by Act of Parliament in 1753, and are as follows : — 
 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 The Lord Chancellor. 
 
 The Speaker of the House of Commons. 
 
 The Lord President of the Council. 
 
 The First Lord of the Treasury. 
 
 The Lord Privy Seal. 
 
 The First Lord of the Admiralty. 
 
 The Lord Steward 
 
APPENDIX 209 
 
 The Lord Chamberlain. 
 
 The three Principal Secretaries of State. 
 
 The Bishop of London. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 
 The Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. 
 
 The Master of the Rolls. 
 
 The Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 
 
 The Attorney-General. 
 
 The Solicitor-General. 
 
 The President of the Royal Society. 
 
 The President of the College of Physicians. 
 
 The President of the Society of Antiquaries. 
 
 The President of the Royal Academy of Arts. 
 
 The Royal Trustee. 
 
 Trustees representing Founders' Families — viz. 
 
 Sloane (two); Cotton (two); Harleian (two); 
 
 Townleian,* Elgin,* Knight,* 
 and fifteen other Trustees elected by the above. 
 
 PRINCIPAL LIBRARIANS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 
 1756 Gowin Knight, F.R.S. 
 
 1772 Matthew Maty, M.D., F.R.S. 
 
 1776 Charles Morton, M.D., F.R.S. 
 
 1799 Joseph Planta. 
 
 1827 Sir Henry Ellis, K.H. 
 
 1856 Sir Anthony Panizzi, K.C.B. 
 
 1866 John Winter Jones. 
 
 1878 Sir E. A. Bond. 
 
 1888 Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, K.C.B. 
 
 (In 1898 the title of Director was added to that 
 
 of Principal Librarian.) 
 1909 Sir Frederick G. Kenyon, K.C.B. 
 
 * Added later. 
 
!10 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 KEEPERS OF MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED BOOKS 
 
 In the early days of the British Museum the title of 
 Kei-per was unknown, and the duties were performed 
 by the Under-Librarians. No lists of these officers are 
 available, but I believe the following to be substantially 
 correct : 
 
 Keepers of Manuscripts 
 
 1756 Charles Morten, M.D. 
 1776 Joseph Planta. 
 1700 Rev. Robert Nares. 
 iSr>7 Francis Douce. 
 1812 (Sir) Henry Ellis. 
 1827 Rev. Josiah I'orshall. 
 1837 (Sir) Frederic Madden. 
 1866 (Sir) E. A. Bond. 
 1S78 (Sir) E. Maundc Thompson. 
 1888 E. J. L. Scott. 
 1 1104 (Sir)G. I- Warner. 
 imii J. P. Gilson. 
 
 Keepers of Printed Books 
 
 1756 M. Maty, M.D. 
 1765 (f) Rev. Samuel Harper. 
 1803 Rev. William Beloe. 
 1806 (Sir) Henry Ellis. 
 1812 Rev. H. H. Baber. 
 1837 (Sir) A. Panizzi. 
 1856 John Winter Jones. 
 1866 Thomas Watts. 
 1869 W. B. Rye. 
 1875 George Bullen. 
 1890 Richard Garnett, C.B. 
 1899 G. K. Fortescue. 
 
APPENDIX 211 
 
 1912 A. W. K. Miller. 
 1914 G. F. Barwick. 
 
 SOME OFFICIAL CATALOGUES, ETC. , OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 LIBRARY 
 
 i. Manuscripts 
 
 Catalogue of Ancient MSS. in the British Museum. 
 With autotype facsimiles. Part I., Greek, 1881 
 (out of print). Part II., Latin, 1883, £3. 
 
 Catalogue of Greek Papyri in the British Museum. With 
 Texts. Vol. I., 1893 (out of print). Vol. II., 1898, 
 £2, 10s. Vol. III., 1907, £2, 10s. Vol. IV., 1910, 
 
 £4- 
 
 Greek Classical Texts from Papyri, 1891, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Autotype Facsimiles of Greek Papyri in the British 
 Museum. Vol. I., 1893, £7, 5s. Vol. II., 1898, £5. 
 Vol. III., 1907, £3, 3s. 
 
 Codex Alexandrinus. Printed in facsimile. Old Testa- 
 ment, 1816-1821. 3 vols., £18. 
 
 Codex Alexandrinus. Full-size autotype facsimile. 
 Vol. I., 1881 (out of print). Vol. II., 1883, £9. 
 Vol. III., 1883, £5. Vol. IV., 1879 (out of print). 
 
 Codex Alexandrinus. In reduced facsimile. New Testa- 
 ment and Clementine Epistles, 1909, £1, 10s. Old 
 Testament, Part I., Genesis-Ruth, 1915, £1, 15s. 
 
 Facsimiles of Biblical MSS. in the British Museum. With 
 descriptive text by F. G. Kenyon, 1900, 10s. 
 
 Aristotle on the Constitution of Athens. Text. 3rd 
 edition, 1892, 10s. 6d. Autotype facsimile, 1891, 
 £2, 2S. 
 
 Index to Charters and Bolls in the Department of MSS. 
 in the British Museum. Vol. I., 1900, £1, 15s. 
 Vol. II., 1912, £1, 15s. 
 
 Catalogue of Romances. Vol. I., by H. L. D. Ward, 1883 
 (out of print). Vol. II., by H. L. D. Ward, 1893, £1. 
 Vol. III., by J. A. Herbert, 1910, £1, 15s. 
 
212 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Reproductions from Illuminated MSS., 3 series, 2nd 
 
 edition, 1910, 5s. each series. 
 Facsimiles of Autographs, 5 series, 1896-1900, 7s. 6d. 
 
 each series. (Series II. out of print.) 
 Autotype Facsimile of the Articles of Magna Chart*, 
 
 25. 6d. ; vellum, 10s. 
 Autotype Facsimile of Magna Charta, 1884. 2s 6d. ; vellum, 
 
 7s. (out of print). 
 Guide to the Exhibited Manuscripts, 1912. Part I., 6d. 
 
 Part II., 6d. Part III., 4d. 
 Subject Index to MS8. in the British Museum. In 
 
 progress. To be seen in the Students' Room, 
 
 Department of MSS. 
 
 2. Printed Books 
 
 General Catalogue of Printed Books in the British Museum. 
 1881. In progress. To be seen in the Reading- 
 room. 
 
 Catalogue of Books in the Library of the British Museum 
 printed in England, etc., to the year 1640. 3 vols., 
 18S4, £1, IOS. 
 
 Catalogue of Books printed in the Fifteenth Century now 
 in the British Museum. Part I., 1908, £1, 15s. 
 Part II., 1912, £1, 15s. Part III., 1914, £1, 15s. 
 Part IV., 1916. In progress. 
 
 Catalogues of the Pamphlets, Books, Newspapers and 
 Manuscripts relating to the Civil War, the Common- 
 wealth, and Restoration, collected by George 
 Thomason, 1640-1661. By G. K. Fortescue. 2 
 vols., 1908., £1, IOS. 
 
 List of the Contents of the Three Collections of Books, 
 Pamphlets, and Journals in the British Museum 
 relating to the French Revolution. By G. K. 
 Fortescue. 1899, 2s. 
 
 List of Bibliographies, Classified Catalogues, and Indexes 
 in the Reading-room of the British Museum. 2nd 
 edition, 1889 (out of print). 
 
APPENDIX 213 
 
 List of Catalogues of English Book Sales, 1676-1900, 
 now in the British Museum. 1915. 12s. 6d. 
 
 The Huth Bequest. 1910. £1, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Subject Index of the Modern Works added to the Library 
 of the British Museum in the years 1881-1900. By 
 G. K. Fortescu'e. 3 vols., 1902-1904, £1, 10s. each 
 volume. 
 
 Ditto, 1901-1905. 1906, £2. 
 
 Ditto, 1906-1910. 1911, £2. 
 
 Excerpts from the General Catalogue : 
 
 * Academies. 
 JEsop, is. 6d. 
 iEscnylus, is. 
 Aristotle, 2s. 
 
 Bible : Part I. Complete Bibles in all Languages, 4s. 
 
 Part II. Old Testament, 6s. 
 
 Part III. New Testament, 8s. 
 
 Appendix. Works upon the Bible, 6s. 
 Byron, is. 
 Cervantes, is. 6d. 
 Charles I., is. 6d. 
 Cicero, 2s. 
 
 * Columbus. 
 Dante, 2s. 
 
 * Defoe. 
 
 * Dryden. 
 Goethe, is. 
 Homer, is. 
 Horatius, is. 
 Jesuits, 6d. 
 Jesus Christ, is. 
 Liturgies, 10s. 6d. 
 Luther, Martin, 2s. 
 Milton, 9d. 
 
 * Napoleon. 
 
 Periodical Publications, 6 Parts, 4s. each. Index, 6s. 
 
 * Out of print. 
 
214 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Popes (Church of Rome), 2*. 
 Ptolemaeus, 6d. 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 6d. 
 Shakespeare, 2s. 
 * \'irgilius. 
 
 Roles for compiling the Catalogues in the Department ol 
 Printed Books in the British Museum. 1906, is. 
 
 Guide to the Use 0! the Reading-room. 101 2, (><1. 
 
 3. .\fusic 
 
 Catalogue of Manuscript Music in the British Museum. 
 
 By Augustus Hughes-Hughes. 3 vols., 101)6-1909, 
 
 £3, 13s. <xl. (Also sold separately) 
 Catalogue of Printed Mosio published between 1487 and 
 
 1800. now in the British Museum. By W. Barclay 
 
 Squire. 2 vols., 1912, £3, 3s. 
 
 4. Maps 
 
 Catalogue of the Printed Maps, Plans, and Charts in the 
 British Museum. 1885. 2 vols, £6, 6s. 
 
 Excerpts : England, is. 6d. London, 23. The World, 
 2> 6d. 
 
 5. Oriental 
 
 Catalogus Codicum Manuscriptorum Orientalium. Part I., 
 1838, 12s. Part II., 1847, 14s. Part II., ctd., 
 1852, 14s., Supplement, 1871, £2. Part III., 
 1847, 1 os. 
 
 Catalogue of Syriac MSS. in the British Museum acquired 
 since the year 1838. By W. Wright, LL,D. Part I., 
 1870, 15s. Part II., 1871, £1, 5s. Part III., 1873, 
 £1, ios. 
 
 Descriptive List of Syriac and Karshnni M8S. in the 
 British Museum, acquired since 1873. By G. 
 Margoliouth, 1899, 4s. 6d. 
 
 * Out of print 
 
APPENDIX 215 
 
 Catalogue of the Coptic MSS. in the British Museum. 
 
 By W. E. Crum, 1905, £4, 10s. 
 Catalogue of Ethiopic MSS. in the British Museum. By 
 
 W. Wright, LL.D., 1877, £z, 8s. 
 Catalogue of Persian MSS. in the British Museum. 3 vols. , 
 
 1879, 1881, 1883, £1, 5s. each. Supplement, 1896, 
 
 15s. 
 Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan MSS. in the 
 
 British Museum. By G. Margoliouth. Part I., 
 
 1900, £2, 7s. Part II., 1905, £3, 15s. Part III., 
 
 Section 1, 1909, £1, 14s. Sections 2-7, 1912, £1, 15s. 
 Descriptive List of the Hebrew and Samaritan MSS. in 
 
 the British Museum. By G. Margoliouth, 1893, 6s. 
 Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in the British Museum. 
 
 1867, £1, 5s. Supplement, 1894, £3. 
 Catalogue of the Sanskrit MSS. in the British Museum. 
 
 1903, £1, 10s. 
 Catalogue of the Sanskrit and Pali Books in the British 
 
 Museum, 1876 (out of print). Supplements, 1893, 
 
 £1, 16s. ; 1908, £3, 5s. 
 Catalogue of the Hindustani Books in the British Museum. 
 
 1889, 12s. Supplement, 1909, £2. 
 Catalogue of the Hindi, Panjab, and Hindustani MSS. in 
 
 the British Museum. 1899, 15s. 
 Catalogue of the Chinese Books in the British Museum. 
 
 1877, £*• Supplement, 1903, £1, 4s. 
 Catalogue of the Japanese Printed Books and MSS. in 
 
 the British Museum. By Sir R. K. Douglas, 1898, 
 
 £1, 10s. Supplement, 1904, 10s. 
 
 6 
 
 COPYRIGHT ACT, I9II 
 
 Excerpts from Section 15 : Delivery of Books to Libraries 
 
 (1) The publisher of every book printed in the United 
 Kingdom, shall, within one month after the publication, 
 
216 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 deliver, at his own expense, a copy of the book to the 
 trustees of the British Museum, who shall give a written 
 receipt for it. 
 
 (2) He shall also, if written demand is made before the 
 expiration of twelve months after publication deliver . . . 
 to some depot in London named in the demand a copy 
 of the book for, or in accordance with the directions of, 
 the authority having the control of each of the following 
 libraries, namely : The Bodleian Library, Oxford, the 
 University Library, Cambridge, the library of the 
 Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh, and the Library 
 of Trinity College, Dublin, and subject to the provisions 
 of this M-ction the National Library of Wales. . . . 
 
 (3) The copy delivered to the trustees of the British 
 Museum shall be a copy of the whole book with all maps 
 and illustrations belonging thereto, finished and coloured 
 in the same manner as the best copies of the book are 
 published, and shall be bound, sewed, or stitched together, 
 and on the best paper on which the book is printed. 
 
 (4) The copy delivered for the other authorities 
 mentioned in this section shall be on the paper on which 
 the largest number of copies of the book is printed for 
 sale and shall be in the like condition as the books 
 prepared for sale. 
 
 (5) The books of which copies are to be delivered to 
 the National Library of Wales shall not include books 
 of such classes as may be specified in regulations to be 
 made by the Board of Trade. 
 
 (6) If a publisher fails to comply with this section he 
 shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not 
 exceeding five pounds and the value of the book, and the 
 fine shall be paid to the trustees or authority to whom 
 the book ought to have been delivered. 
 
 (7) For the purposes of this section the expression 
 "book". . . shall not include any second or subsequent 
 edition of a book unless such edition contains alterations 
 or additions. . . . 
 
APPENDIX 217 
 
 OUR LADY S PEW AND COTTON HOUSE 
 
 " Report of S. Travers, Surveyor General, to Sir Chr. 
 Wren, on a reconsideration of their late report con- 
 cerning the purchase of Cotton House and Gardens. 
 Sir John Cotton derived his title to the messuage called 
 Our Lady's Pew, and two gardens, by conveyances 
 under a grant made .by King James I. in his eleventh 
 year to Robert Bowyer, Esq., and to a piece of waste 
 ground lying beside the same, next the Thames, by 
 similar conveyances, under a grant of the inheritance of 
 the soil, houses, and gardens, of the old palace of West- 
 minster, in the same eleventh year, but they took the 
 whole to be subject to the Act of 12 William III. for 
 settling and preserving the Cottonian Library. Their 
 valuation made on a view of the whole premises and on 
 consideration of what improvements might be made," 
 etc. — Calendar of State Papers, Treasury Papers, 
 xcviii. 102, 17th June 1706. 
 
 8 
 
 LETTER FROM DR JOHNSON TO MR F. A. BARNARD, KING'S 
 LIBRARIAN 
 
 Sir, 28th May, 1768. 
 
 It is natural for a Scholar to interest himself in 
 an expedition, undertaken, like yours, for the importa- 
 tion of literature ; and therefore, though having never 
 travelled myself, I am very little qualified to give advice 
 to a traveller, yet, that I may not seem inattentive to a 
 design so worthy of regard, I will try whether the present 
 state of my health will suffer me to lay before you what 
 observation or report have suggested to me, that may 
 direct your enquiries, or facilitate your success. Things 
 of which the mere rarity makes the value, and which are 
 prized at a high rate by a wantonness rather than by use, 
 are always passing from poorer to richer countries, and 
 
218 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 therefore, though Germany and Italy were principally 
 productive of Typographical curiosities. I do not much 
 imagine, that they are now to be found there in great 
 abundance. An eagerness for scarce books and early 
 editions, which prevailed among the English about half 
 a century ago, filled our shops with all the splendour 
 and nicety ofliterature, and when the Harleian Catalogue 
 was published, many of the books were bought for the 
 library of the King of France. 
 
 I believe, however, that by the diligence with which 
 you have enlarged the Library under your care, the 
 present stock is so nearly exhausted, that till new 
 purchases supply the booksellers with new stores, you 
 will not be able to do much more than glean up single 
 books, as accident shall produce them ; this, therefore, 
 is the time for visiting the Continent. 
 
 What addition you can hope to make by ransacking 
 other countries, we will now consider. English Literature 
 you will not seek in any place but England. Classical 
 Learning is diffused everywhere, and is not except by 
 accident, more copious in one part of the polite world 
 than in another. But every country has literature of its 
 own, which may be best gathered in its native soil. . . . 
 
 Thus in Italy you may expect to meet with Canonists 
 and Scholastic Divines, in Germany with Writers on the 
 Feudal Laws, and in Holland with Civilians. The 
 Schoolmen and Canonists must not be neglected, for 
 they are useful to many purposes ; nor too anxiously 
 sought, for their influence among us is much lessened 
 by the Reformation. . . . But the Feudal and Civil 
 Law I cannot but wish to see complete. The Feudal 
 Constitution is the original of the law of property, over 
 all the civilised part of Europe ; and the Civil Law, as it 
 is generally understood to include the Law of Nations, 
 may be called with great propriety a Regal study. Of 
 these books, which have been often published, and 
 diversified by various modes of impression, a Royal 
 Library should have at least the most curious edition, 
 
APPENDIX 219 
 
 the most splendid, and the most useful. The most 
 curious edition is commonly the first, and the most 
 useful may be expected among the last. Thus of Tully's 
 Offices the edition of Fust is the most curious, and that 
 of Grsevius the most useful. The most splendid, the 
 eye will discern. With the old Printers you are now 
 become well acquainted ; if you can find any collection 
 of their productions to be sold, you will undoubtedly 
 buy it, but this can scarcely be hoped, and you must 
 catch up single volumes where you can find them. 
 In every place things often occur where they are least 
 expected. I was shown a Welsh grammar, written in 
 Welsh, and printed at Milan, I believe, before any 
 Grammar of that language had been printed here. Of 
 purchasing entire Libraries, I know not whether the 
 inconvenience may not overbalance the advantage. . . . 
 It will generally be more commodious to buy the few 
 that you want, at a price somewhat advanced, than to 
 encumber yourself with useless books. But Libraries 
 collected for particular studies will be very valuable 
 acquisitions. The Collection of an eminent Civilian, 
 Feudist, or Mathematician, will perhaps have very few 
 superfluities. Topography or Local History prevail 
 much in many parts of the Continent. I have been told 
 that scarcely a village of Italy wants its historian. 
 These books may be generally neglected, but some will 
 deserve attention by the celebrity of the place, the 
 eminence of the authors, or the beauty of the sculptures. 
 . . . The old books with wooden cuts are to be diligently 
 sought ; the designs were often made by great Masters, 
 and the prints are such as cannot be made by any 
 Artist now living. It will be of great use to collect in 
 every place Maps of the adjacent country, and Plans of 
 towns, buildings and gardens. ... Of the celebrated 
 Printers you do not need to be informed, and if you did, 
 might consult Baillet, Jugemens des Sgavans. The 
 productions of Aldus are enumerated in the Bibliotheca 
 Grceca. . . . The great ornaments of a Library, furnished 
 
220 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 fa- magnificence as well as use, are the First editions, 
 of which, therefore, I would not willingly neglect the 
 mention. You know. Sir, that the Annals of Tj-pography 
 begin with the Codex, 1457, but there is great reason 
 to believe, that there are latent, in obscure corners, 
 books printed before it. . . . 
 
 There prevails among Typographical Antiquaries a 
 vague opinion, that the Bible had been printed three 
 times before the edition of 1462, which Calmet calls 
 " La premiere Edition bien averee." One of these 
 editions has been lately discovered in a Convent, and 
 transplanted into the French King's Library. Another 
 copy has likewise lu< n found, but I know not whether 
 of the same impression or another. These discoveries 
 are sufficient to raise hope and instigate enquiry. In the 
 purclrase of old books, let me recommend you to enquire 
 with great caution whether they are perfect. In the 
 first edition the loss of a leaf is not easily observed. 
 You remember how near we both were to purchasing a 
 mutilated Missal at a high price. 
 
 All this perhaps you know already, and therefore 
 my letter may be of no use. I am, however, desirous 
 to show you, that I wish prosperity to your undertaking. 
 One advice mon- I will give, of more importance than 
 all the rest, of which I, therefore, hope you will have 
 still less need. You are going into a part of the world 
 divided, as it is said, between Bigotry and Atheism : 
 such representations are always hyperbolical, but there 
 is certainly enough of both to alarm any mind solicitous 
 for Piety and Truth ; let not the contempt of Super- 
 stition precipitate you into Infidelity, or the horror of 
 Infidelity ensnare you in Superstition. I sincerely wish 
 you successful and happy, for 
 
 ' I am, Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate humble servant, 
 Sam. Johnson. 
 May 28, 1768. 
 
 To F. A. Barnard, Esq. 
 
XV 
 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Acts of Parliament : 
 
 i Richard III., c. 9 (allowing the importation of 
 books). 
 
 25 Henry VIII., c. 15 (forbidding the importation of 
 
 books). 
 
 14 Charles II., c. 33. For Preventing the frequent 
 Abuses in Printing seditious, treasonable, and 
 unlicensed Books and Pamphlets, and for 
 regulating of Printing and Printing Presses. 
 
 12 & 13 William III., c. 7. For the better settling 
 and preserving the Library kept in the House at 
 Westminster called Cotton House ... for the 
 Benefit of the Publick. 
 
 6 Anne, c. 30. For the better securing Her Majesty's 
 purchase of Cotton House in Westminster. 
 
 8 Anne, c. 21. For the Encouragement of Learning. 
 
 Subsequent Copyright Acts : 
 
 26 George II., c. 22. For the Purchase of the Museum 
 
 or Collection of Sir Hans Sloane and of the 
 Harleian collection of Manuscripts, and for 
 providing one General Repository for the better 
 reception and more convenient Use of the said 
 Collections ; and of the Cottonian Library, and 
 of the Additions thereto. 
 
 A Decree of Starre Chamber concerning Printing. 1637. 
 Calendars of State Papers. 
 221 
 
222 THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY 
 
 Parliamentary Papers : 
 
 Report from the Committee appointed to view the 
 
 Cottonian Library, 1732. 
 Report of the Committee on Papers relating to the 
 
 Royal Library. 1823. 
 Report from the Select Committee on the condition. 
 
 management, and affairs of the British Museum, 
 
 Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire 
 into the constitution and government of the 
 British Museum, 1850. 
 
 British Museum Returns, 1827-1915. 
 
 British Museum Official Publications, eto. : 
 
 Statutes and Rules, various dates. 
 
 Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum 
 
 [first edition]. 1808. 
 Panixxi, A. Report to the Trustees on the Printed 
 
 Bouks. 1845. 
 Catalogues. 
 Guides. 
 
 Unofficial Publications. 
 
 A hoh. A View of the British Museum. [1760 ?] 
 A non. The General Contents of the British Museum. 
 
 1761. 
 [BenUey, R.] A Proposal for building a Royal Library. 
 
 [1607?] 
 Clinch, G. Bloomsbury and St Giles's. 1890. 
 Cowtan, R. Biographical Sketch of Sir Anthony 
 
 PanizzL 1873. 
 Cowtan, R. Memories of the British Museum. 1872. 
 Dictionary of National Biography. 
 Edwards, E. Lives of the Founders of the British 
 
 Museum. 1870. 
 
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 223 
 
 Fagan, L. A. Life of Sir Anthony Panizzi, 2nd 
 
 edition. 1880. 
 Fletcher, W. Y. English Book Collectors. 1902. 
 Garnett, R. Changes at the British Museum since 
 
 1877. 1887. 
 Garnett, R. Essays in Librarianship. 1899. 
 Home, T. H. Outlines for the Classification of a 
 
 Library. 1825. 
 
INDEX 
 
 A 
 
 jEsop's Fables, 123, 128 
 
 Agarde, Arthur, 20 
 
 Alcala, 132 
 
 Aldus Manutius, 184 
 
 Alexandria, 173 
 
 Anne, Queen, 16, 30, 31, 46, no, 
 
 138 
 Anstis, John, 29, 32 
 Antwerp, 186, 190 
 Areopagitica, 117 
 Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 
 
 175. 211 
 Ashburnham House, 19, 33, 34, 
 
 36, 99, 196 
 Athelstan, 106, 107 
 Augsberg, 183 
 Ayscough, S., 149 
 
 B 
 
 Baber, H.' H., 69, 149, 151, 152, 
 
 174, 210 
 Bacchylides, Triumphal Odes and 
 
 Dithyrambs, 175 
 Bacon, Sir Francis, 23, 150 
 Banks Library, 153, 207. 
 Banquet of Daintie Conceits, 132 
 Barlow, Dr, 114, 115 
 Barnard, Sir Frederick, 118, 119, 
 
 152, 153, 217 
 Basilicon Doron, 108, 200 
 Basle, 186, 189 
 Bentley, Dr, 16, 31, 32, 33, 35, 
 
 36, no, 137 
 Bible, Bibles, 119, 129, 145, 165, 
 
 182, 184, 213 ; MSS., 153, 174, 
 
 2ti, and see Codex 
 
 Bibliotheque Imperiale (Royale, 
 Nationale), see Paris 
 
 Bindings, 108, and see British 
 Museum Library 
 
 Birch MSS., 60 
 
 Bodleian Library, 17, 18, 20, 41, 
 109, 114, 137, 138, 216 
 
 Bodley, Sir Thomas, 17, 108, 
 137, 138 
 
 Book of Common Prayer, 12 
 
 Book of the Dead, 172 
 
 Book of Durham, see Lindis- 
 farne Gospels 
 
 Book of St Albans, 188 
 
 Book of Kelts, 176 
 
 Book of St Cuthbert, see Lindis- 
 farne Gospels 
 
 Bologna, 14, 128 
 
 Bond, Sir E. A., 91, 92, 161, 209, 
 210 
 
 Borromeo, Cardinal, 142 
 
 Boswell, Mr, 37, 38 
 
 Bray, Dr, 18 
 
 Breviary, Norwich, 179 
 
 British Museum — 
 Act of Parliament incorpora- 
 ting, 51, 53, 54, 55, 82, 83; 
 Committee on (1836), 71, 143 ; 
 Commission on (1848), 158 ; 
 contents, early guides to, 
 54. 57.-59; directors, 209; 
 exhibitions, 98 - 99 ; King 
 Edward VII. Galleries, 95, 102 ; 
 guards and watchmen, 99 ; 
 natural history collections, 
 54, 82, 84, 92-93 ; Principal 
 Librarian, 53, 62, 64, 209 ; 
 Trustees, 52, 53, 208-209, and 
 see British Museum Library 
 
 225 
 
•226 
 
 INDEX 
 
 British Museum Library — 
 Accessions. 105- 141, 306; 
 autographs, 198-201, 202. 203, 
 204, 205 ; bindings. 193 ; 
 Birch MSS.. see Birch; Buckler 
 drawings, see Buckler ; cata- 
 logue of printed books, general. 
 72. 74. 92, 142-167, 212 ; 
 excerpts. 213-214 ; rules. 134. 
 214; catalogues, some official, 
 211-213: compared with 
 Biblothequc Nationale. Paris, 
 102 103 ; contents, 104 ; deliv- 
 ery of books to. 139. 141. 
 215-216; Cottonian Library, 
 see Cottonian : Cracherodc 
 Library. see Cracherodc ; 
 electric lighting. 100; lif- 
 tccnthccntury books (in- 
 cunabula), 98. 132. I'm. 183. 
 212 ; Grenville Library, see 
 Grenville ; Harlcian MSS., 
 see Harlcian ; Hawkins 
 Library, see Hawkins; Hutb 
 Bequest, see Huth ; Joursan- 
 vault MSS.. sec Joursanvault ; 
 Keepers of MSS , 2 10 ; of 
 Printed Books. 210; King's 
 Library built. 81, and see 
 King's Library ; " Large 
 Room." 96 ; manuscripts, 76, 
 124, 131, 166, 173-181, 195, 
 207. 208, 211, 212, 214, 213; 
 music. 97, yS, 166, 214; New 
 Library, 84, 90, 91 ; news- 
 papers. 93, 95 ; North Library, 
 96. 130 ; novels. 94 ; Panizzi, 
 Anthony, see Panizzi ; Read- 
 ing-room, 61, 66, 81, 84, 85- 
 9°- 93. 94. 101 I Rothschild 
 Bequest, see Rothschild ; 
 Royal Library, see Royal ; 
 Sloane Collections, see Sloane ; 
 Thomason Tracts, see Thom- 
 ason ; subject index, 168- 
 170; White Wing, 92, 93, 
 and see British Museum 
 
 Brougham, Lord, 68 
 
 Bruges. 181. 187 
 Bryant, Joseph, 118 
 Buckingham House, 53, 63. 119; 
 
 Palace. 55, 97 
 Buckler drawings, 203. 208 
 Burnet, Mr J.T.. 95 
 Burney Collections, 4 
 
 207 
 
 40, 7'., 149, 
 
 Camuridgb, 13, 140, 216 
 Camden, 19, ai, 22 
 Canterbury, 9. 107 
 Canterbury Tolas, 129 
 Carlyle, Thomas, 81, 116, 15.J, 
 
 205 
 Carte, 17 
 
 Gary, Rev. H. F.. 70 
 Caaley, David, 32, 34, 33, 44 
 Costeil of Labour, 1 32 
 Caxton, William, 129, 132, 187, 
 
 188, 189 
 Chamberlain, 21 
 Charles I,, 24. 23, 37, 109, 112, 
 
 113, 114, 129, 173, 174, 190, 
 
 191. 195 
 Charles II., 109, 139, 200, 201 
 Chartists, 10 1 
 
 Chelsea manor-house, 47, 48, 49 
 Chinese Encyclopaedia, 191-192 
 Cicero, De Oratore, 184 
 Citt de Dieu, La, 183 
 Codex Alexandrinus, 34, 109, 
 
 173-174, 211 ; Siniaticus, 174; 
 
 Vaticanus, 174 
 Collier, John Payne, 157 
 Cologne, 187 
 
 Compltat Angler, The, 117 
 Constantinople, 173 ; Patriarch 
 
 of, 109 
 Copyright Acts, 76, 77, 134, 140, 
 
 141, 213-216 
 Cotton, Sir John (the first), 28, 
 
 29, 52, 206 ; (the second), 30. 
 
 31, 217 
 Cotton, Sir Robert, 13, 17, 19* 
 
 38, no, 173, 178, 197 
 
INDEX 
 
 227 
 
 Cotton, Sir Thomas, 24, 25, 26, 
 
 27, 28 
 Cotton House, 25, 26, 28, 31, 
 
 32, 33, no, 217 
 Cotton Library, see Cottonian 
 
 Library 
 Cottonian Catalogue, 29, 152 
 Cottonian Library, 16, 17, 19, 
 
 38, 39, 4°. 44. 45. 5°. 5i. 52, 
 
 53. 55. 57. 59. 60, 99, 105, 
 
 no, 173, 196, 198, 206, 207, 
 
 217 
 Cottonian Trustees, 29 
 Courten (or Charleton), William, 
 
 46 
 Cowtan, R., 10 1 
 Cracherode Collection, 122-124, 
 
 206 
 Cranmer, Archbishop, 109 
 Croker, J. W., 124, 159 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 112, 114, 202 
 Crystal Palace, 81 
 
 D 
 
 Danse Macabre, 185, 186 
 Dee, Dr, 13, 14, 28 
 De Imitatione Christi, 183 
 Dering, Sir Edward, 197 
 D'Ewes, Sir Simon, 24, 40 
 Dickinson, Mr, 25, 37, 38 
 Dictes or Sayengis of the Philo- 
 
 sophres, The, 132, 1.88 
 Doddridge, John, 15 
 Domesday Book, 173 
 Douglas, Sir R. K., 166 
 Dover Castle, 197 
 Dublin, King's Inn Library, 139 ; 
 
 Trinity College Library, 141, 
 
 176, 216 
 Dugdale, 22, 26, 27 
 -Du Pr6, Jean, 185 
 
 Edinburgh, Library of Faculty 
 
 of Advocates, 139, 140, 216 
 Edward I., 10, 106 
 
 Edward IV., 107 
 
 Edward VI., 13, 17, 27, 107, 200 
 
 Edward VII., 96 
 
 Edwards' Bequest, Major, 39, 
 
 40, 45, 51, 52, 60, 207 
 Edwards, E., 152, 154 
 Egerton Librarian, 207 
 EikonBasilike, 117, 191 
 Eikonohlastes , 117, 191 
 Elgin Marbles, 65 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 15, 27, 108, 
 
 136, 199 ; Library of, 15 
 Ellis, Sir Henry, 78, 125, 149, 
 
 209, 210 
 Elphinstone, John, 31, 32 
 Eltham, 106 
 Elvanus, 9 
 Essex House, 33 
 Evelyn, John, 56 
 
 F 
 
 Farnborough, Lord, 119 
 
 Fauqueux, 163 f.n. 
 
 Florence, 14 
 
 Fcedera, 39 
 
 Fortescue, Dr G. K., 113, 117, 
 
 168, 169, 210 
 Foss, H., 130 
 Froben, 189 
 
 Galatea (1585), 132 
 
 Game and Playe of the Chesse, 
 
 The, 187 
 Garnett, Dr R., 74, 90, 161, 166, 
 
 170, 210 
 George I., 16, 46 
 George II., 16, 46, 105, no, 118, 
 
 122, 202 
 George III., 115, 118, 122 
 George IV., 65, 119, 121, 207 
 George V., 96 
 Gerard, Pierre, 185 
 Gesner, Conrad, 160 f.n. 
 Giles, Mr Lionel, 193 
 
228 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Gordon Riots. 101 
 
 Gray, the poet. 63 
 
 Gray, J. E.. 156 
 
 Greenwich, 108 
 
 GrenviUe Library, 97. 128-130, 
 
 131, 184, 185, 187. 189. too, 
 
 207 
 GrenviUe, Thomas. 68, 128-130, 
 
 189.207 
 Grey Friars' library. 12 
 Groiier. Jean. 123 
 Guildhall library. 12 
 Gutenberg, Johann. 182. 
 
 H 
 
 Hanbuky. William. 20, 31, 32 
 
 Handel. 47 
 
 Harley. Earl of Oxford. Edward, 
 
 Harley. Earl of Oxford. Robert. 
 
 40. 141 
 Harteian Catalogue. 132 
 Harleian MSS.. 17, 40-44, 30, 
 
 5«. 5*. 55. 56. 59. to. &♦. 83. 
 
 125. 178. 197. 206 
 Harleian Printed Books, 42. 43 
 Harper. S., u-i. 210 
 Hawkins Collections, 75. 206 
 Hay, Andrew, 41 
 lleber. Richard. 119 
 llendon. 93 
 
 Henry V.. 107. 127, 198 
 Henry VII., 16. 106. 107, 109, 
 
 187. 200 
 Henry VIII., 27. 107, 136, 189, 
 
 198. 200 
 Henry. Prince of Wales, 108, 200 
 Herodas. Mimes. 175 
 Hesperides. Herricks. 117 
 Holbein. 189 
 Hooke. Robert, 56 
 Horae, see Hoars, Book of 
 Home, Rev. T. H., 44, 150. 152 
 Hours. Book of. 180-181, 187 
 Huss. Matthias, 186 
 Hnth Bequest. 97. 130-133, 180, 
 
 185, 186, 188, 190, 208, 213 
 
 Hutton, M., 29 
 
 H vperides.Oro/i'ort against Philip- 
 
 pid*s, 173 
 Hvpntrotomarkia Poliphili, 123, 
 
 184 
 
 I 
 
 lONA, I76 
 
 Ireland, 176, 178 
 Italy, 176. 183 
 
 J 
 
 Jambs, Thomas. 138 
 ames, 1., 20, 21. 23. 106, 108, 
 109. 173. 200, 217 
 
 Johnson. Dr. 63. 11S, 20s. 217 
 ones, John Winter, 74, 92, 154, 
 137, 209, 210 
 Joursanvault MSS., 123-127 
 
 K 
 
 Kensington Palace, 122 
 Kenyon, Sir F. G., 209, 21 r 
 Kew, 119 
 King's Library, 65, (St. Si, 119- 
 
 122, 152, 207 
 Knight, Dr Gowin, 33, 57, 209 
 
 Lambeth Palace, 196 
 
 Lapthorne, R., 27, 28 
 
 Lean, Mr Vincent Stuckey, 93 
 
 Lee, James, 15 
 
 Lichfield, 41 
 
 Lincoln, 198 
 
 Lindisfarne, 177 ; Gospels, 176- 
 
 178 
 Liverpool, Earl of, 1 19, 120 
 Llanthony Abbey, 109 
 Longarard. 11 
 Lows XIII., 124 
 
INDEX 
 
 229 
 
 Louis XIV., 29 
 
 Loves of Daphnis and Chloe, 132 
 
 Lucasta, 117 
 
 Lyons, 186, 190 
 
 M 
 
 Macaulay, Catherine, 63 
 Madden, Sir Frederic, 150, 210 
 Madox, T„ 44; MSS., 206 
 Magna Charta, 10, 195-198 
 Mainz, 182 ; Bible, 119; Psalter, 
 
 119 
 Maioli, T., 123 
 Malermi's Bible, 184 
 Mansion, Colard, 187 
 Mansion House, 17 
 Marchand, Guiot, 185 
 Mary (Tudor), Queen, 13, 27, 
 
 179, 198, 201 
 Mary, Queen of Scots, 27, 199 
 Maskelyne, Professor, 100 
 Maty, Dr M., 53, 209, 210 
 Maty, P.M., 147 
 Mazarin Bible, 182 
 Mearne, S., in, 115, 116 
 Melbourne, 145 
 Middleton, Dr C, 150 
 Milan, 41, 129 
 Miller, Mr A. W. K., 96, 166, 
 
 211 
 Milman, Dean, 85 
 Milton, 117, 191, 204; Excerpt 
 
 from Catalogue, 213 
 Montagu House, 55, 56, 57, 59, 
 
 65, 81, no, 121 
 Morton, Dr, 53, 209, 210 
 Murray, John, 152 
 
 N 
 
 Namur, J. P. 163 f.n. 
 Naples, 42, 177 
 Nicolas, Sir N. H., 155 
 Norwich Breviary, 179 
 
 O 
 
 Onslow, Arthur, 34, 50, 206 
 Our Lady's Pew, 217, and see 
 
 St Mary de la Pewe 
 Ovid, ed. pr., 128 
 Oxford, 11, 13, 17, 109, 114, 115, 
 
 122, 138, 140, 216 
 
 Panizzi, Anthony, 67-80, 81, 
 85, 92, 124, 128, 129, 140, 153, 
 154, 157, 158, 160, 170, 209, 
 210 
 Pannartz, Arnold, 183, 185 
 Paris, 127, 163 f.n. ; Biblio- 
 theque Nationale (Imperiale, 
 Royale), 78, 93, 103, 124, 128, 
 129, 192, 208; Council of, 11, 
 
 Parker, Archbishop, 13 
 
 Payne, J. H., 130 
 
 Petrarch's Sonetti e Canzoni, 
 
 (1501), 123 
 Philobiblon, 11 
 
 Pigouchet, Philippe, 186, 187 
 Pindar, Paeans, 176 
 Planta, Joseph, 38, 209, 210 
 Plato, Phaedo, 175 
 Pomard, 125 
 Portland, Duchess of, 43 
 Prideaux, Mr W. R. B., 160 f.n. 
 Primer, Sarum, 108 
 Printing, restrictions on, 109- 
 
 110, 136-137 
 Proctor, Robert, 98 
 Psalter, Mainz, 119 : Queen 
 
 Mary's, 179 
 Psalters, English illuminated, 
 
 178 
 
 Ragazzo, Giovanni, 184 
 Record Office, 172, 173 
 Recuyell of the Histories of 
 Troye, 187 
 
230 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Register of Stm Minster, 178 
 
 Regnault, 129 
 
 Richard II.. 196, 198 
 
 Richard III.. 136 
 
 Richmond. 107, 109 
 
 Roman it Im Rose. 108 
 
 Rome. 42. 85, 183. 184, 190 
 
 Roscoe. WilUam. 68 
 
 Rothsch i ld Bequest. 97, 208 
 
 Rouen. 186. 187 
 
 Royal Library, 16. 17, 31, 32. 33. 
 
 3°. 37. 59. 60. 105-m, us. 
 
 118. 138. 139. 173, 179: 
 
 Catalogue. 152 
 Royal Library at Buckingham 
 
 llause. 6 1. and see King's 
 
 Library 
 Rymer. 39 
 
 St Albans. 188 
 
 St Augustine (Archbishop of 
 
 Canterbury), 9. 194 
 St Augustine (Bishop of Hippo), 
 
 185 
 St Chad. Gospels of. 41 
 St Columba, 11. 176 
 St Cuthbert. 178 
 St James's Palace. 16, 30, 31, 
 
 107, 109. no: Park, 16 
 St John of Jerusalem, Clerken- 
 
 well 1 s 
 St Mark s, Venice. 14 
 St Mary de le Pewe, 26, and 
 
 see Onr Lady's Pew 
 St Paul's, 32. 186 
 St Peter's. Cornhill, 9 
 St Stephen's Chapel. West- 
 minster, 25, 26 
 Salisbury, 129, 198, and see 
 
 Sarum 
 Sarnm Horse. 187; Primer, 109, 
 
 129 
 Savoy Hospital, 15 
 Schoolmaster, The, 188 
 Sforiioda, 129 
 
 Shakespeare, early editions. 129, 
 
 132, 190, 191 ; signature, .'04 ; 
 
 Excerpt from Catalogue, 214 
 Sion College, 75. 139 
 Sloane Collections, 46-54, 55. 
 
 S^. 57, 59. 60. 200 ; Trustees, 
 
 49 
 Sloane. Sir Han9, 41,4.1. 46-53 
 Smirke, Sir Robert, 05. S4 
 Smirke. Sydney, 78. .s. t 
 Smith. Joseph, 118 
 Smith, Thomas, 38 
 Sopwell, 188 
 Spires, John of. 184 
 Stanhope. Philip, Earl. 196 
 Star Chamber, 137, and f.n. 
 Stationers, Company of, 17, 
 
 no, 136, 137 f.n., 138; Hall, 
 
 76, 140, 190 
 Strasburg, 190 
 Strawberry HiU, 50 
 Subiaco, 183, 185 
 Swcynhelm, Conrad, 183, 185 
 
 Tbnison. Archbishop, 18 
 Theodore, Archbishop, 177 
 Theyer Collections, 109 
 Thomason Collections, m-117, 
 
 124, 153, 191. 206, 212, 213 
 Thompson, Sir £. M , 94, 209, 
 
 210 
 Tower, The, 10, 32, 33, 35, 1 17, 
 
 172, 198 
 Turrecremata, Cardinal, 184 
 
 Vatican Library, 14, 25, 174 
 
 Venice, 185, 186 
 
 Verard, Antoine, 107, 186-187 
 
 Virgil, the Aldine. 185 
 
 Von Moll Library, 40, 149, 207 
 
 Vostre, Simon, 186 
 
INDEX 
 
 231 
 
 w 
 
 Wales, National Library of, 140, 
 
 216 
 Wanley, Humphrey, 29, 41, 42, 
 
 44 
 
 Warner, Sir G. F., 180, 210 
 
 Watts, T., 154, 210 
 
 Westminster, 16, 18, 24, 37, 
 55, 189 ; Abbey, 187; chapter- 
 house, 10, 172, ; cloisters, 34; 
 Hall, 25 ; Palace, 10, 25-26, 
 27, 107, 108 ; Palace Hotel, 
 187-188 ; School, 19, 34, 36, 
 
 37 
 Whitehall, 55, 108, 109 
 Whittington, Lord Mayor, 12 
 William IV., 97, 122 
 
 Williamson, Sir Joseph, 115 
 Wilson, Sir T., 20 
 Winchester, 178 
 Windsor, 108 
 Wordsworth, 47 f.n., 205 
 Wren, Sir C, 30, 31, 217 
 Wyems, Humphrey, 197 
 Wynken de Worde, 129, 189 
 
 York, 9 
 
 Zainer, Gunther, 183 
 
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