MODERN BRITISH LIBRARIES State Libraries, British Museum.—The British Museum ranks in importance before all the great libraries of the world, except the National Library of France, and excels in the ar rangement and accessibility of its contents. The library consists of about 3,200,000 printed vols. and 56,000 mss. ; the shelves measure about 55 miles. This extraordinary opulence is princi pally due to the enlightened energy of Sir Anthony Panizzi (q.v.).
The foundation of the British Museum dates from 1753, when effect was given to the bequest (in exchange for L20,000 to be paid to his executors) by Sir Hans Sloane, of his books, manu scripts, curiosities, etc., to be held by trustees for the use of the nation. A bill was passed through parliament for the purchase of the Sloane collections and of the Harleian mss., costing Lio,000. To these, with the Cottonian mss., acquired by the coun try in 1700, was added by George II., in 1757, the royal library of the former kings of England, coupled with the privilege of ob taining a copy of every publication entered at Stationers' Hall. A lottery having been authorized to defray the expenses of pur chases, as well as for providing suitable accommodation, the museum and library were established in Montague House, and opened to the public Jan. 15, 1759. In 1763 George III. pre sented the Thomason collection (in 2,220 vols.) of Civil War and Commonwealth tracts. The Rev. C. M. Cracherode bequeathed his collection of choice books in 1799, and Sir Joseph Banks his library (16,000 vols.) of natural history and travels, in 1820. Of other libraries since then incorporated in the museum, the most valuable are George III.'s collection, 15,000 volumes of tracts and 65,259 vols. of printed books, which was transferred (for a pe cuniary consideration) by George IV. in 1823, and that of the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville (20,240 vols. of rare books, be queathed in 1846). The Cracherode, Banksian, King's and Gren ville libraries are still preserved as separate collections.
The collections of newspapers, starting with those in the Thomason and Burney collections, are unique; provincial news papers have, since 1906, been stored at a repository at Hendon.
Of newspapers published in the United Kingdom 3,126 are annu ally filed and bound.
The department of mss. is equal in importance to that of the printed books. The collection of European mss. contains 54,00o vols., over 8o,000 rolls, a rich series of charters, etc., and a vast quantity of papers, ranging from the 3rd century B.C. down to our own times, and includes the Codex Alexandrinus of the Bible, the old historical chronicles of England, the charters of the Anglo-Saxon kings, the Arthurian romances, and also unprinted works by English writers. The famous collections of mss. made by Sir Robert Cotton and Robert Harley, earl of Oxford, have already been mentioned, and from these and other sources the museum has become rich in early Anglo-Saxon and Latin codices, such as Beowulf, the charters of King Edgar and Henry I. to Hyde abbey, which are written in gold letters ; or the Lindisfarne gospels (A.D. 70o), containing the earliest extant Anglo-Saxon version of the Latin gospels. The museum can boast of an early copy of the Iliad, and one of the earliest known codices of the Odyssey. Among the unrivalled collection of Greek papyri are the unique mss. of several works of ancient literature, such as Aris totle, On the Constitution of Athens, the Mimes of Herodas, and the Odes of Bacchylides. Irish, French and Italian mss. are well represented. For illuminated mss. special reference may be made to the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Bedford Hours, the Sforza Book of Hours, and Queen Mary's Psalter. The collections of local and family history, of maps, and of music are very rich. Oriental printed books (I16,000), and mss. (16,20o) form, since 1892, a separate department. The collection includes the library formed by Mr. Rich (consul at Baghdad in the early part of the 19th century) ; the Chambers collection of Sanskrit mss. ; and a library of Hebrew mss., including that of the great scholar, Michaelis, and codices of great age, brought from Yemen. The collection of Syriac mss. is important.