The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/British Museum

BRITISH MUSEUM, a national depository of science, literature and art, in London, which owes its origin to the will of Sir Hans Sloane, an eminent physician and naturalist, who, dying in 1753, bequeathed to the nation his collection of medals and coins, antiquities, seals, cameos, drawings and pictures, and his library, consisting of 50,000 volumes and manuscripts, on the condition of the payment of $100,000 to his heirs. This offer was agreed to by Parliament, which authorized a lottery of $500,000 to implement the bargain, as well as to purchase other collections. Montague House, which was bought for the purpose, was appropriated for the museum, which was first opened on 15 Jan. 1759. The original edifice having become inadequate, a new building was resolved on in 1823, the architect being Sir R. Smirke, whose building was not completed till 1847. It forms a hollow square, facing the cardinal points. The south, or Russell street front, is the principal one, having an imposing columnar façade of the Ionic order. This, as well as the other three, looks into the central square court, which measures about 320 feet by 240. There are two stories of galleries and rooms round the greater part of the building. Smirke's designs were no sooner completed than it was found that additional accommodation was needed in various departments, and several new rooms were provided; but the library accommodation being wholly inadequate for the accommodation of the readers, as well as for the reception of new books, a grant was obtained from Parliament for a new library building in 1854, and it was completed and opened in 1857, at a cost of $750,000. It was erected in the interior quadrangle and contains a circular reading-room 140 feet in diameter, with a dome 106 feet high. The whole arrangements were completed with the utmost economy in regard to space, and, besides ample accommodation for books, the reading-room contains accommodation for 300 readers comfortably seated at separate desks, which are provided with all necessary conveniences. The accommodation having become again inadequate, it was resolved to separate the objects belonging to the natural history department from the rest and to lodge them in a building by themselves. Accordingly a large natural history museum was erected at South Kensington and the specimens pertaining to natural history (including geology and mineralogy) were transferred thither, but they still form part of the British Museum. Subsequent additions to the main museum building include the southeast White Wing, built in 1879, and the Annex, opened in 1911. The British Museum is under the management of 48 trustees, among the chief being the archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor and the speaker of the House of Commons. In all, the staff of the institution numbers over 320 persons. The museum is open daily, free of charge. Admission to the reading-room as a regular reader is by ticket, procurable on application to the chief librarian, there being certain simple conditions attached. An average of over 220,000 persons use the reading-room and over 720,000 persons visit the general collections annually. The institution contains over 4,000,000 volumes in the department of printed books. A copy of every book, pamphlet, newspaper, piece of music, etc., published anywhere in British territory must be conveyed free of charge to the British Museum. There are various catalogues and handbooks prepared by the officers of the museum and containing classified descriptions of the contents of the different departments. Of these there are eight, namely, the department of (1) printed books, maps, charts, plans, etc.; (2) of manuscripts; (3) of natural history; (4) of Oriental antiquities; (5) of Greek and Roman antiquities; (6) of coins and medals; (7) of British and mediæval antiquities and ethnography; (8) of prints and drawings.