WONDERS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 173, 14 August 1909, Page 3

WONDERS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

FOUNDED BY A LOTTERY. The resignation of Sir Edward Maundc Thompson from the post of director and principal librarian of the British Museum creates a vacancy worth £ISOO a year and a house to live in. The post, however, is no sinecure. There are over 2,000,000 printed volumes' for which the chief librarian is responsible—the only larger collection is the 2,<i00,000 volumes of the Bibliothcquc Nationalc of France —not to mention 70,000 valuable maps, over 100,000 manuscripts (many of which could not be replaced if stolen or destroyed), and a magnificent collection of prints and drawings. Altogether there are eleven departments in the British Museum, which originated in 1753 with three—namely, printed books, manuscripts, and objects of natural history. 100,000 £3 TICKETS. The manner in which the British Museum was founded forms a curious story. Sir Hans Sloanc offered to the nation his natural history collection, coins, manuscripts, and printed books for £20,000, about one-fourth of their estimated value. M the same time Parliament was reminded that the manuscripts collected by Robert Harlcy, Earl of Oxford, were still purchasable for £IO,OOO. and that no proper building had yet lieen provided for those collected by Sir Ribert Cotton, and handed over to the nation in 1700 by his descendant, Sir John Cotton. The Government declared itself unable to find money for these purposes, but, as a compromise, passed a Bill authorising a lottery, with 100,000 £3 tickets, for prizes amounting to a total of £200,000. the balance of £IOO,OOO. after deducting expenses', to be handed to Sir Hans Sloane's trustees to purchase the Sloanc and Harleian collections, acquire a building, and invest whatever w-as left to produce an income. The 100,000 tickets were all sold, anil thus the British Museum came into existence.

The present reading-room of Mr British Museum cost £150,000. The] dome, which Is 100 ft in height and 140 ft' irfdlauietcr, Is second only to the Pan- j theon at Home. The part of the Museum devoted to printed books contains altogether three miles of bookcases, Bft high. One of the most valuable bequests ever made to the Museum was that of George IV., who in 1823 presented a splendid library that had been collected by his father during his long reign at an expense of little less than £200,000. In the opinion of Dr. Fortescuc, keeper of the printed books in the British Museum, this library contains the Museum's greatest treasure, namely, a collection, made by George Thomason, a London bookseller, of every book published between 1041 and 1003, in all about 24,000 volumes. Tlie magnilieMil library of the Right Hon: Thomas' firenville was also bequeathed to the Museum, and contains over 20.000 volumes, costing upwards of £54.000.

The value of the antiquities Is almost vefiUnliable. 'Parliament, for instance, !«iid C 35,000 for the Elgin Marbles ncf.ilx- one hundred years ago, and £20,000 for the additional collection, p| lioinan Bculn.tutee, • : .