Coordinates: 51°31′09.91″N, 0°07′37.47″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

The British Museum Reading Room, situated in the centre of the Great Court of the British Museum, used to be the main reading room of the British Library. In 1997 this function moved to the new British Library building at St Pancras, London, but the Reading Room remains in its original form. Designed by Sydney Smirke on a suggestion by the Library's Chief Librarian Anthony Panizzi, following an earlier competition idea by William Hosking, the Reading Room was in continual use from 1857 until its temporary closure in 1997. The Reading Room's dome roof is metal framed, and the surface that makes up the ceiling is a type of papier mache. Access was restricted to registered researchers only; however, reader's credentials were generally available to anyone who could show that they were a serious researcher. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (4968x1572, 3083 KB) Summary The British Museum Reading Room. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Panoramic photography. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate... Sydney Smirke (born 1798; died 1877) was a British architect during the 19th century. ... View of the Great Court. ... The British Museum in London is one of the worlds greatest museums of human history and culture. ... British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ... St Pancras is the name of a place in London. ... Sydney Smirke (born 1798; died 1877) was a British architect during the 19th century. ... Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (17 September 1797 - 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalized British librarian of Italian birth and an Italian patriot. ... The Royal Academy where William Hosking exhibited in the 1820s William Hosking FSA (November 26, 1800 - August 2, 1861) was a writer, lecturer, and architect who had an important influence on the growth and development of London in Victorian times. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Famous Readers

The Reading Room was used by a large number of famous figures, including notably Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde, Mohandas Gandhi, Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, Vladimir Lenin and H. G. Wells.^[1] Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883, London) was a German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: , Hindi: , IAST: mohandās karamcand gāndhī, IPA: ) (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948), was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. ... This article is about the British author. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... George Bernard Shaw (born 26 July 1856, Dublin, Ireland died November 2, 1950, Hertfordshire, England) was an Irish writer. ... “Lenin” redirects here. ... Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man and The Island of Doctor Moreau. ...

Current Use

Following the collection's move to the new site, the old Reading Room was opened to the public in 2000, following a renovation and addition of a gridshell roof by noted architect Norman Foster. It contains a collection of books on history, art, travel, and other subjects relevant to the British Museum's collections, on open shelves. Reading is a process of retrieving and comprehending some form of stored information or ideas. ... Public is of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; opposed to private; as, the public treasury, a road or lake. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Multihalle in Mannheim, wooden gridshell structure designed with Frei Otto. ... An architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person who is involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ... The restored Reichstag in Berlin, housing the German parliament. ... A chained book in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side, and within protective covers. ... History studies the past in human terms. ... The Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). ... Statue dedicated to the traveller. ...

In 2006 the British Museum announced it planned to modify the Reading Room to house a temporary exhibition of Chinese art. This will involve building a new floor above the existing reading desks.

The Reading Room stands in the centre of the Great Court, which now has a glass roof

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1107x1557, 536 KB) The Great Court of the British Museum, with the new tessellated roof designed by w:Foster and Partners arching around the original, circular, Reading Room of the British Library. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1107x1557, 536 KB) The Great Court of the British Museum, with the new tessellated roof designed by w:Foster and Partners arching around the original, circular, Reading Room of the British Library. ...

References in art and popular culture

The British Museum Reading Room has become iconic. It is the subject of an eponymous poem, The British Museum Reading Room, by Louis MacNeice. Much of the action of David Lodge's 1965 novel The British Museum Is Falling Down takes place in the old Reading Room. In the 2001 Japanese anime OVA Read or Die, the Reading Room is used as the secret entrance to the British Library's fictional "Special Operations Division." Alfred Hitchcock used the Reading Room and the dome of the British Museum as a location for the climax of his first sound film Blackmail (1929). Frederick Louis MacNeice (September 12, 1907 – September 3, 1963) was a British and Irish poet and playwright. ... Three David Lodge titles. ... See also: 1964 in literature, other events of 1965, 1966 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The British Museum Is Falling Down (1965) is a comic novel by David Lodge about a 25 year-old poverty-stricken student of English literature who, rather than working on his thesis (entitled The Structure of Long Sentences in Three Modern English Novels) in the reading room of the British... For the 1968 science-fiction film and novel, see 2001: A Space Odyssey The year 2001 in film involved some significant events. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... A scene from an episode of the Casshan OVA Original Video Animation ), abbreviated OVA ), is a term used for anime titles that are released direct-to-video, without prior showings on TV or in theaters. ... This article is about the Manga and Anime Ova. ... Blackmail (1929), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was one of the first British films with sound. ...

References

1. ^ Charles Godfrey-Faussett, Footprint England, Footprint Travel Guides, ISBN 1903471915

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

British Museum Reading Room

• British Museum Reading Room information
• BBC information

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