25 - The first century of the British Museum library

Summary

There was no major library available to the general public in London until the British Museum was founded in 1753 under a body of Trustees. One department was concerned with ‘Natural and Artificial Productions’ and from this developed all the antiquities departments of the later British Museum, and the Natural History Museum. The other two original departments (those of Manuscripts and of Printed Books) contained the library. In Montagu House, the original home of the British Museum, up to three-quarters of the accommodation was occupied by the books and manuscripts.

Of the three original collections of the library departments, two (Cotton and Harley) consisted of manuscripts. The third was the collection of printed books and manuscripts (approximately 50,000 volumes, including about 5,000 volumes of manuscripts) owned by Sir Hans Sloane whose books, manuscripts, prints, drawings, coins, and natural history and antiquities specimens were acquired by the nation to form the basis of the British Museum. To these collections were added the 3,800 volumes of Major Arthur Edwards’s library (left to the nation in 1743), and the books and manuscripts of the Royal Library (about 9,000 volumes) presented by George II in 1757. There was very little money for purchases, and most additions came in the form of gifts. In 1769 and 1788 there were sales of duplicate printed books to raise money, and the 8,000 duplicates disposed of in this way probably exceeded the number of items acquired by gift and purchase. So probably by the end of the century there were fewer printed books in the collections than when the museum opened to the public in 1759.