British Museum. The British Museum, an important national institution in London, originated in a bequest of Sir Hans Sloane, in accordance with which his extensive collection of objects of natural history, works of art, books and manuscripts, was offered in 1753 to the government, for the sum of £20,000, or two-fifths of its original cost. The offer was accepted; the necessary funds were raised by a lottery; and the collection, along with the Harleian and Cottonian Libraries, was arranged in Montague House, which had been purchased for £10,250. The new institution, thenceforth called the BRITISH MUSEUM, was opened in 1759. The presentation by George III. of a collection of Egyptian antiquities in 1801, the purchase of the Townley Marbles in 1805, and of the Elgin in 1816, necessitated the erection of a new wing. Soon afterwards the old house was condemned, and plans were prepared by Sir R. Smirke for new buildings; but none were undertaken till 1823, when the eastern wing of the present building was erected for the reception of the library of George III., which had been presented to the museum by George IV. The building, a hollow square in the Ionic order of architecture, was not completed till 1847. Its principal front is towards the south, facing Great Russell Street, and presenting an imposing columnar façade, 370 feet in length. On each side of the museum there is a semi-detached house, containing the residences of the chief officers of the establishment.
Scarcely had Smirke's plans been carried out, when it was found that the increase of the library, both in books and readers, made fresh building imperative. A plan devised by Mr (afterwards Sir Antonio) Panizzi, the keeper of the department of printed books, was accepted. Parliament voted the first grant for it in 1854, and it was executed in three years, at a total cost of £150,000. The new building was erected in the interior quadrangle, which it almost completely occupies. The reading-room is circular and contains ample and comfortable accommodation for over 300 readers. It is constructed principally of iron, with brick arches between the main ribs. The dome is 106 feet in height, and its diameter 140 feet, being second only to the Pantheon of Rome, and that but by feet. Equally remarkable has been the saving of space in the fitting up of the library. The shelves are formed of galvanised iron plates, edged with wainscot and covered with leather, and are supported on malleable-iron standards. With the exception of those placed against the external walls, the bookcases are all double, a lattice of ironwork being fixed for the longitudinal separation of the books. Thus, throughout the whole interior of the new building, walls are dispensed with, the divisions being in all cases formed of the double ranges of books. The building contains 3 miles lineal of bookcases 8 feet high. Assuming them all to be spaced for the average octavo book size, the entire ranges form 25 miles of book-shelves, and would accommodate 1,000,000 such volumes. In addition to this, the dome-room, which is the reading-room, has accommodation for 60,000 volumes.
With the rapid increase of the collections, both by donation and purchase, the need of space was soon again felt, and the trustees resolved to erect a building to be devoted entirely to Natural History—that is to say, to the departments of Botany, Zoology, Geology, and Mineralogy—on the site occupied by the International Exhibition of 1862. Parliament voted in the year 1873, £80,000 for this purpose, and the new rooms began to be occupied in 1881. The whole cost of the new museum very nearly reached the sum of £400,000. This elegant terra-cotta edifice, which is situated at Kensington in the Cromwell Road, was designed by Mr Alfred Waterhouse. Its galleries are finely proportioned and well lighted, and the entrance-hall is one of the finest of modern erections. In 1879 the reversion of a bequest of about £65,000, left more than half a century earlier, by Mr William White, enabled further important additions to be made to the building at Bloomsbury. On the west side has been erected a new gallery, measuring 153 feet by 40, for the exhibition of Greek sculpture; on the east, on ground formerly occupied by the principal librarian's garden, are buildings containing a complete set of rooms for the department of prints, and new accommodation for readers of manuscripts and newspapers, which were opened to the public in 1888.
Contents.—At first the contents of the museum were arranged under three departments—Printed Books, Manuscripts, and Objects of Natural History. From time to time the number of the departments has been increased, so that, instead of three, there are now eleven—viz. Printed Books (with the sub-department of Maps), Manuscripts, Prints and Drawings, Oriental Antiquities, Greek and Roman Antiquities, Coins and Medals, British and Medieval Antiquities and Ethnography, Zoology, Botany, Geology, and Mineralogy. In noticing the contents of the museum, we shall refer to them in this order.
Printed Books.—This is the largest department in the museum. It occupies the whole of the ground floor on the north and east sides, the new building erected in the quadrangle, and a considerable portion of the basement of the museum.
The original bequest of Sir Hans Sloane consisted of 50,000 volumes. In 1757 George II. presented the library of printed books which had been collected by the kings of England since Henry VII., and which included the libraries of Cranmer and Casaubon. He also annexed the important privilege, which the Royal Library acquired in the reign of Queen Anne, of being supplied with a copy of every publication entered at Stationers' Hall. Among subsequent additions to the library may be mentioned the voluminous collection of pamphlets, &c. relating to the civil wars of England between 1640 and 1660, presented by George III.; the musical libraries of Sir J. Hawkins and Dr C. Burney; Garrick's collection of old English plays; Dr Bentley's collection of the classics, annotated by his own hand; the Rev. C. M. Cracherode's library of about 4500 volumes, remarkable for their beauty and excellence of condition; Sir J. Banks's valuable and extensive collection on natural history; and a large mass of tracts and pamphlets relating to the French Revolution, purchased from J. Wilson Croker, and of very great value. The most important addition was made in 1823, when George IV. presented the splendid library that had been collected by his father during his long reign, at an expense of little less than £200,000. The mag- nificent library of the Right Honourable Thomas Grenville was bequeathed to the museum in 1846. It consists of 20,240 volumes, which cost upwards of £54,000. In the same year was obtained also the extensive collection of Chinese works, amounting to 11,509 volumes, which belonged to Robert Morrison. By purchases, bequests, and donations, the library has become one of the first in the world, containing now about 1,500,000 printed volumes. See LIBRARIES. During the year 1886, there were added 33,844 volumes, including music and volumes of newspapers. In 1892, exclusive of 170,618 newspapers, 41,097 distinct works were added to the National Library, 12,715 being purchased, 15,761 acquired under the Copyright Act, and 12,131 presented.
A catalogue of the printed books, in seven octavo volumes, was published in 1813–19. So great have been the additions to the collection, that in 1880 the general MS. catalogue occupied upwards of 2000 volumes folio. The adoption in that year of the plan of printing the title-slips, has checked this rapid rate of growth, and a printed catalogue is now in progress. At the end of 1887, 169 printed volumes had taken the place of 633 in manuscript, and it is calculated that the beginning of the 20th century will see the whole of the catalogue represented by some 600 printed volumes. The adoption of printing has also facilitated the commencement of a subject-catalogue of all new acquisitions, and the first instalment of this was issued in 1886. Another important catalogue issued by this department is that of old English books published previously to 1641, a work of the highest bibliographical importance.
The right of access to the library is easily obtained. Any person desiring it is 'to apply in writing, addressed "To the Principal Librarian of the British Museum," specifying his description and place of abode, and accompanying his letter with a written recommendation.' Since the adoption (1880) of electric light in the reading-room, the number of readers has greatly increased, and in 1893 they reached the total (not so large as in 1892) of 194,102. The number of books consulted by these readers was 1,402,875.
Maps.—There are over 50,000 published and 20,000 manuscript maps in the museum. A catalogue of these in two large quarto volumes has been published.
Manuscripts.—The manuscripts are contained in several rooms in the south-east angle of the building. The collection consists of: (1) The Sloane manuscripts, relating chiefly to medical and natural history subjects. (2) The Cotton manuscripts, rich in documents referring to the history of Britain, including two of the originals of Magna Charta, in registers of English monasteries, and in original letters of royal and illustrious personages. This collection contains the Durham Book—a copy of the Latin Gospels, with an interlinearly Saxon gloss, finished in the year 720. (3) The Harleian manuscripts, a collection rich in illuminated MSS., in ancient, civil, and ecclesiastical records, in manuscripts of the classics, among which is one of the earliest known copies of the Odyssey, and in early English poetry. (4) The manuscripts of the Ancient Royal Library. These were collected by our kings, from Richard II. to George II.; many of them were obtained from the monasteries at the dissolution. Amongst the most valuable treasures here are the Codex Alexandrinus, a manuscript of the Bible written in uncial Greek, before the close of the 5th century, and the Basilicon Doron of James I., in his own handwriting. (5) The Lansdowne manuscripts. This collection comprises the Burghley and Cæsar papers, the manuscripts of Bishop Kennett, and numerous valuable historical documents and state papers. (6) The Hargrave manuscripts, almost exclusively connected with law. (7) The Burney manuscripts, containing a large collection of the Greek and Latin classics. Among them is a copy of the Iliad, answering that of the Odyssey in the Harleian collection. (8) The Howard-Arundel manuscripts, obtained from the Royal Society. This collection is singularly rich in materials for the history of our own country and language. (9) The Oriental manuscripts, a collection composed of several purchases and bequests. It includes the manuscripts acquired by Mr Rich while consul at Bagdad, and consists of numerous Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and other oriental codices. A large series of Ethiopic manuscripts was obtained at Magdala on the occasion of the Abyssinian war. (10) Additional manuscripts. This collection consists of innumerable bequests, donations, and purchases, which from the establishment of the museum have been and are still being acquired. Catalogues of the complete collections have long been in existence, while that of the additional manuscripts is continually being increased by fresh volumes. Separate catalogues have also been issued of the collections of Greek and Latin, and also of Persian manuscripts, and a valuable catalogue of romances is in progress. The most important recent additions to the department have been the purchase of the Stowe manuscripts from Lord Ashburnham, and the gift by the Earl of Chichester of the Duke of Newcastle's papers in 430 volumes. In 1887 the department contained upwards of 50,000 volumes, 47,000 charters and rolls, nearly 10,000 detached seals and casts of seals, and upwards of 100 ancient Greek, Coptic, and Latin papyri.
Prints and Drawings.—The collections of this department are kept in rooms in the new buildings erected from the bequest of Mr William White. They consist of prints and drawings bequeathed to the museum in 1799 by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode; of those bequeathed in 1824 by Mr Payne Knight; and of numerous smaller bequests and donations. No purchases were made for this department until about 1840, when a sum was first included in the estimates for this purpose. The collection now contains examples in all English and foreign schools of original drawings, etchings, and engravings, also of prints from pictures by well-known masters. It is peculiarly rich in early Italian and early German, and Dutch and Flemish engravings. Among the drawings are fine examples of Raphael, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Dürer, and Claude; among the water-colours, of David Cox, Girtin, and W. Müller. The collections of etchings by Rembrandt and of engravings by Hogarth are alike unrivalled. There is also an extensive collection of English and foreign portraits and of satirical prints. A large number of Japanese drawings and paintings have recently been acquired, and of these a catalogue was issued in 1887.
Oriental Antiquities.—The Egyptian monuments in this department date from a period as remote as 2000 years before the Christian era, and come down to the Mohammedan invasion of Egypt (640 A.D.). The collection comprises the antiquities which fell into the hands of the British army at the capitulation of Alexandria; presents from General Vyse, the Duke of Northumberland, &c. The sculptures are formed of granite and basalt; they represent human and allegorical figures, sometimes of colossal size. There are several beautifully sculptured sarcophagi. The key to the Hieroglyphics (q.v.) was furnished by the celebrated Rosetta Stone (q.v.), which is placed in the centre of the gallery. The smaller Egyptian remains are exhibited in a gallery on the upper floor; they consist of objects relating to religion, as representations of divinities and sacred animals in wood, metal, stone, and porcelain; of objects relating to civil and domestic life, as dress, personal ornaments, household furniture, artistic and writing implements, armour, and weapons of war, &c.; and of objects relating to death and burial, as mummies and coffins, with the scarabæi, amulets, and other ornaments found with them.
The Assyrian antiquities are contained in a suite of rooms erected on the outside of the Egyptian Gallery, and in a spacious room on the basement. The collection consists of sculptures excavated at Nimrud, Khorsabad, and Koyunjik by Layard in 1847–50, and more recently by Rassam and Loftus, under the direction of Sir H. C. Rawlinson. The Nimrud sculptures are the oldest, belonging to a period ranging from 930 to 747 B.C. Those obtained from Khorsabad seem to have been executed under a monarch who reigned about 747–721 B.C., while the collection from Koyunjik belong to the time of Sardanapalus, apparently 721–625 B.C. The monuments consist chiefly of slabs of gypsum, alabaster, and limestone sculptured in low relief, the subjects being the exploits of the king whose palace walls they ornamented.
Greek and Roman Antiquities.—This collection occupies a series of rooms extending from the reading-room to the north-west angle of the museum. The Lycian Gallery contains a series of architectural and sculptural remains from ancient cities in Lycia, obtained by Sir C. Fellowes in 1842–46. The Elgin Gallery contains the sculptures from Athens and Attica, the greater portion of which were obtained by the Earl of Elgin, and purchased from him by parliament in 1816 for £35,000. The most important series in the gallery is the decorations of the Parthenon (q.v.), which, notwithstanding their dilapidated condition, form the most valuable monument of Greek art which has descended to modern times. The gallery contains also sculptures and casts from the Temple of Wingless Victory, the Temple of Theseus, and the Erechtheum, at Athens. The Hellenic Gallery contains a number of antiquities brought from Greece and its colonies at different times. The most important are twenty-three slabs of a frieze sculptured in mezzo-relievo, which, from the locality where they were found, are called the 'Phigalian Marbles.' In a new gallery, built out of the White bequest, are the remains of the famous Mausoleum (q.v.) at Halicarnassus, erected in honour of Mausolus by his widow Artemisia. These remains were discovered by C. T. Newton, Esq., in 1857–59.
The gallery on the south side of the building is occupied with the Roman and Græco-Roman sculptures. The bulk of the collection was formed by Charles Townley, Esq., and purchased in 1805 for £20,000. It contains an interesting series of Roman portrait sculptures, and a very extensive mythological series, amongst which are some of universal fame—the Venus, Clytie, the Discobolus, and many others. A room on the basement is appropriated to mosaics and miscellaneous monuments, such as representations of animals, architectural and decorative fragments, and sacred and domestic implements. A fine collection from Southern Italy, exhibiting specimens of the arts of the Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans, was bequeathed to the museum by Sir William Temple in 1856. The former reading-room of the department of prints in the north-west angle is now occupied by a collection of Greek and Roman sepulchral monuments.
The collections of smaller remains are placed in a suite of rooms on the upper floor. They consist of (1) An extensive series of vases, commonly, though not correctly known as Etruscan, formed from the collections of Sir W. Hamilton, &c., and from excavations in Sicily, Rhodes, and on the sites of Greek colonies in Cyrene and elsewhere. (2) A miscellaneous collection of terra-cottas, mural paintings, and other objects. (3) Bronzes of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman workmanship, consisting of sculptures, and various domestic and other articles, as candelabra, lamps, vases, horse-trappings, armour, &c. (4) The collection of engraved gems and gold ornaments, now, since the addition of the Blacas and Castellani collections, perhaps the richest in the world.
Coins and Medals.—The very large collection of these objects is arranged in chronological order under five great divisions—viz. : Greek, Roman, Medieval and Modern, English, and Oriental.
British and Medieval Antiquities and Ethnography.—The British collection is arranged in chronological order. The oldest series contains the antiquities of the Stone and Bronze periods, consisting of celts, daggers, swords, shields, and early pottery. The British-Roman antiquities comprise specimens of earthenware, lamps, and miscellaneous articles. A small collection of sepulchral urns, weapons, and personal ornaments represents the Anglo-Saxon period. The Ethnographical collection contains antiquities as well as objects of modern use. In 1855 Mr Henry Christy bequeathed to the museum his extensive collections of antiquities and ethnography, and these are now exhibited in the former 'Bird Gallery.' Another valuable bequest is the Slade collection, illustrating the history of glass in all its branches. But the department has had no more generous donor than its present keeper, Mr A. W. Franks, whose numerous gifts to it cannot be valued at less than £20,000.
Natural History Museum at South Kensington.—In 1856 the trustees united the Natural History departments under Professor Owen, who was then appointed superintendent of Natural History. In the spring of 1881 the new building erected at South Kensington, for the reception of the zoological, mineralogical, geological, and botanical departments, was opened to the public. The following departments, therefore, though belonging to the British Museum, now form the Natural History Museum at Cromwell Road, South Kensington.
Zoological Department.—This department contains a collection of animals arranged in systematic order in the galleries, comprising stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes, and the hard portions of radiate, molluscan, and articulate animals. A room is specially devoted to the fauna of Britain. In rooms on the ground and basement floors are arranged the collections of insects, of osteology, and of specimens preserved in spirits. In 1873 the unique and extensive collection of birds formed in the Eastern Archipelago by Wallace, was acquired by purchase. Recent additions are the magnificent Gould collection of humming-birds, and the Walsingham collection of birds' nests.
Botanical Department.—The herbarium of Sir H. Sloane, the nucleus of this collection, consisted of about 8000 species, bound in 262 volumes. In 1820 the magnificent herbarium of Sir Joseph Banks was bequeathed to the museum, and under the superintendence of Robert Brown, was transferred to two rooms prepared for it in the south-east angle of the building. The collection has since been rapidly increasing: during the year 1880 about 9000 species of plants were added; and in 1873 William Wilson's herbarium of British and foreign mosses was acquired by purchase. The collection contains an extraordinary number of typical specimens—the identical plants from which the original descriptions were taken by Linnæus, Aublet, Jacquin, Brown, Bentham, Ben- nett, and others. The exhibition rooms contain a series of specimens illustrating the most striking characteristics of the great divisions of the vegetable kingdom, arranged in order; and a series of fossil plants, the value of which is increased by the transparent sections showing their structure, which are placed beside them.
Geological Department.—This collection occupies the wall-cases of the principal gallery on the north side of the museum. It contains an extensive series of the fossil remains of plants and animals from the various fossiliferous strata; it is especially rich in the fossils of the secondary formations. Amongst its more valuable contents may be mentioned the collections of Dr Mantell, the Tertiary fossils collected by Dr Falconer in India, and the remarkable fossil birds from New Zealand.
Mineralogical Department.—The minerals are contained in the table-cases in the Geological Gallery. They are arranged according to a chemical classification. Many valuable and unique specimens exist in the collection, which is rapidly increasing.
The expenses of the museum are paid by grants of public money. The sum provided by the estimates in some years considerably exceeds £150,000.
While the usefulness of the museum must always be gauged by the help it renders to real students, much of late years has been done to increase its popularity with casual visitors. To every article exhibited is attached a label, giving its name, and where needful, something of its history. In departments, the bulk of whose treasures cannot be displayed, selections are placed in show-cases, among the most interesting of which are those containing autographs of celebrated personages; ancient, oriental, and illuminated manuscripts, books illustrating the history of printing in various countries, rare bindings, &c. By the Department of Prints a permanent exhibition is given of works illustrating the history of etching and engraving, and arrangements have been made for temporary exhibitions of rarities. During the last few years also exhibitions have been given in the King's Library in connection with the centenaries of Luther, Wyclif, &c. The number of visitors to the museum in 1892 (the largest since 1885, 1893 showing a small falling off) amounted to 558,548 to the parent institution, and some 400,000 to the museum of Natural History.