Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/597

BRITISH MUSEUM. 521 BRITISH MUSEUM. Sir Hans Sloane (q.v.), his great natural his- tory and art oolleotioiis. with a large number of books and manuscripts, were in 1753 offered to the Government for £20,000, the first cost having been over £50,000. The necessary funds were raised by a lottery, and the collection, to- gether with the Harleian and Cottonian libraries (the latter of which, presented to the nation in 1700, was the real beginning of the museum). were arranged in Montague House, which was bought for the puiijosc. The institution was opened in 1759, under the name which it now bears. The acquisition of new collections made enlargement necessary; and linally, in 1823, the eastern wing of the present building was erected, to receive the library of George III. The com- pletion of the structure was delayed until 1847. It is a hollow square, Ionic in architecture, with an imposing facade 370 feet long on Great Russell Street, flanked by the residences of the chief officers. The principal subsequent addition was the splendid reading-room erected within the quadrangle (1854-57), at a cost of £1.50.000. It is circular in form, with a dome 106 feet in height and 140 in diameter. The library of the museum contains over three miles of book- cases, eight feet high, which is equivalent to space for 1.000,000 octavo volumes. The read- ing-room proper in the dome contains 60,000 more. It has accommodation for 200 readers, and in details of arrangement, ventilation, etc., is admirably adapted to its purpose, thanks very largely to the imwearying care of Sir Antonio (then Mr.) Panizzi (q.v.), the principal li- brarian, during its construction. When the nat- ural-history departments claimed more space, a new building was erected for their exclusive use in Cromwell Road, near the South Kensington Museum, at a cost of nearly £400.000. To this> which has been in use since 1881, the zoological, mineralogical, geological, and botanical depart- ments were transferred, all very rich in speci- mens and constantly increasing. The main building was also considerably enlarged in 1873 and 1888, for the benefit of the departments of Greek sculpture and of prints; and several acres of ground adjoining were secured in 1895 for future extension. Only a brief account can be given of the wealth of collections contained in the museum. They were originally arranged in three depart- ments — printed books, manuscripts, and objects of natural histori-. There are now eight in the museum proper. Printed Boohs. — This is the largest depart- n;ent. and, from Sir Hans Sloane's original col- lection of 50,000 volumes, has grown to enor- mous proportions, by purchase, bequests, and donations. Under the Copyright Act of 1842, it receives a copy of every book published in England. The annual increase from all sources is nearly 50,000 volumes, and the total number of printed books is now about 2,000,000, exceed- ed only by the Biblioth^que Nationale in Paris. The old manuscript catalogue, which used to extend to some 3000 volumes, has at last been superseded b' a printed one, begun in 1881 under the supervision of the learned librarian. Dr. Garnett, and requiring about 600 volumes. The most extensive and valuable additions have been the royal eolleetions f^iven by the last three Georges, David Garrick's collection of plays (1779), the natural-history library of Sir Joseph Ranks (1820). and the Grenville collection (1847). Over 50.000 printed and 20.000 manu- s'-ript maps form a special sub-department. Ac- cess to the library is granted by tlie issuing of a reader's ticket, on a written a])plication accom- panied by the recommendation of a householder. The total number of persons using the reading- room in 1900 was 198,566. Mantixcript Department. — This now contains upward of 35,000 volumes, besides eharters, seals, and Egyptian, Greek, and Roman papyri. It includes the Cottonian manuscripts (see CoT- Tox, Sir Robert Bruce), rich in documents re- lating to English history; the Harleian collec- tions (see Harlet, Robert), specially rich in illuminated and classical manuscripts; those from the royal library given by George II. in 1757, and containing, among other very valu- able things, the Codex Ale.xandrinus (q.v. under Uini.E) ; the Basilicon Doron of .lames I. in his own handwriting: and many priceless literary autographs. The most important recent addi- tions to this department are the Stowe manu- scripts, purchased from Lord Ash1)urnham. and 430 volumes of the Duke of Newcastle's papers. There is a separate department of Oriental printed books and manuscripts, established in 1892; and the former antiquities department,, dating from 1807, was in 1861 divided into the three which follow. Greek and Roman Antiquities. — Sir Hans Sloane's small collection was the nucleus of this department, which for a niunber of years made slow progress. In 1772, by the piirchase of Sir W. Hamilton's collections, a number of impor- tant vases were secured, and at the end of the same century the Dilettanti Society (q.v.) gave the results of their expedition to Ionia. In 1805 the collection of Grieco-Ronian sculpture formed by Charles Townley was purchased for £20,000, to be followed in 1814 by the Townley collection of bronzes, gems, and coins. In the same year the frieze of the temple of Apollo at Bassse (see Phigaliax iIRBi.ES) was purchased. It was, however, in 1816 that the most valuable acces- sion reached the museum, in tlie shape of the Elgin Marbles (q.v.), purchased for £35,000, and including the statues and reliefs from the Par- thenon. Since then the display of sculpture has been increased bv the Lvcian monuments brought back by Sir" Charles" Fellows (1842), and by the results of the excavations at Hali- carnassus, Cyrene, Ephesus, and Priene, as well as by the purchase of collections and single monuments. To the vases and small objects have been added the Burgon and other collec- tions, including a valuable series of vases from Camiros and Naucratis. The collection of gold, silver, and gems was greatly enriched by the addition of the Castellani collections in 1872-73. Coins and Medals. — This, whose beginning came from the Cotton and Sloane collections, iias grown to be a large and interesting depart- ment, arranged as Greek, Roman, Mediaeval and Modern English, and Oriental. In 1872 £10,000 were spent in purchasing the finest Greek and Roman specimens of the Wigan collection. Eijyptian and Assyrian .Intiquities (imtil 1881 called Oriental Anticpiilics) .— This collec- tion began with the antiquities which fell into British hands at the capture of Alexandria in 1801; but its most valuable acquisitions date from the middle of the century, and are due to