British Library, 2021

July 28th we trudged up the 4 blocks to Euston Avenue and the British Library. We're old enough to have visited it when it was still part of the British Museum. The new, purpose-built building opened in 1998, on the site of the former Midlands Railway Town Goods Yard and Potato Market (!), and contains the ever-expanding collection of 200+ million items of every description. Unless you're a researcher, the main thing to see is the Sir John Ritblat Gallery, which contains originals of many of the world's great books, manuscripts, maps, and more. Also a sizeable display on the history of printing and books. It's required visiting if you're a literary or library or intellectual type. As usual, I took too many pix but will show only a few here. One of the world's great institutions.

As it appeared in 2016

As it appeared last week: proof that history repeats itself, or
that I take the same pix of the same things from the same angles,
etc.

Needs no introduction

Letter in verse from Jane Austen to her brother; on her writing
desk

Very early Charlotte Bronte notebook; the book is no more than
postcard size...really, really tiny handwriting...because they did
not want the grown-ups reading their stuff!

Durer sketchbook

Papal Bull annulling the Magna Carta; as if...

Actual (copy of; there were several) Magna Carta

Lindisfarne Gospel, c. 700

Manuscript of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, 1749;
because we're living on Handel St; alas, my pix of the Beatles'
Yesterday did not turn out, nor did my shot of a manuscript
left by 8 year old W. A. Mozart during his London tour in the
1760s...everybody just knew he was going to make it big...

Consanguinity tree, England, c. 1200

Gutenburg Bible, c. 1455

Codex Sinaiticus, 4th century; earliest complete copy of the New
Testament

Map of Europe and Mediterranean, c. 1550; the map is about
2ft by3 ft; more extremely tiny handwriting

Christopher Wren's plans for the Great Fire Monument

A letter from David Hume denouncing Rousseau...they had a
falling out

The chained book bench, as it was last week, a family favorite

And as it was in 2016, with three generations of readers

But wait there's more department: outside in the piazza is Eduardo
Paolozzi's over-sized sculpture Newton: after William Blake; the
posture has always intrigued/amused me...

Above is Blake's 1805 print Newton; interestingly, Blake hated
science, and Newton, condemning him especially along with
Bacon and Locke [from the Wikipedia article]; so why would
the British Library place this unloving sculpture of the nation's
greatest scientist at its entrance?

Oh well...right down the street, next door neighbor to the Library,
is the Francis Crick Institute, Europe's largest biomedical research
center; science wins