RECONSTRUCTORS AND PROJECTORS.
‘What do we, as a nation, care about books? How much do you think we
spend altogether on our Libraries, public or private, as compared with
what we spend on our horses? If a man spends lavishly on his Library,
you call him mad,—a Bibliomaniac. But you never call any one a
Horse-maniac, though men ruin themselves every day by their losses,
and you do not hear of people ruining themselves by their books. Or,
to go lower still, how much do you think the contents of the
bookshelves of the United Kingdom, public and private, would fetch, as
compared with the contents of its wine-cellars.’—
RUSKIN, _Sesame and Lilies_, pp. 75–77.
_The various Projects and Plans proposed, at different times, for the
Severance, the Partial Dispersion, and the Rearrangement, of the
several integral Collections which at present form_ ‘The British
Museum.’
[Sidenote: GROSLEY’S IDEA OF SEVERING THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS, 1765.]
The first reconstructor, in imagination, of the British Museum on the
plan of severing the literature from the scientific collections, was a
speculative and clever Frenchman, Peter John GROSLEY, who visited it
within less than six years of its being first opened to public
inspection. GROSLEY expressed great admiration for much that he saw, and
he also criticised some of the arrangements that seemed to him
defective, with freedom but with courtesy. Some of my readers will
probably think that he hit a real blot, at that time, when he said: ‘The
Printed Books are the weakest part of this immense collection. The
building cannot contain such a Library as England can form and ought to
form for the ornament of its capital. It has a building quite ready in
the “Banquetting-House” [at Whitehall], and that building could be
enlarged from time to time as occasion might require.’
Other writers, at various periods, have advocated the severance of
collections which seemed to them too multifarious to admit of full,
natural, and equable development, in common. There is perhaps no
apparent reason, on the surface, why a great Nation should not be able
to enlarge the most varied public collections as effectively, and as
impartially, within one building, as within half a dozen buildings. Nor
does there seem to be any necessary connection between the wise and
liberal government of public collections, and their severance or
division into many buildings, rather than their combination within a
single structure. Nevertheless it is certain that many thinkers have, by
some process or other, reached the conclusion that severance would
favour improvement.
[Sidenote: MR. WATTS’ PROPOSITION FOR THE SEVERANCE OF THE MUSEUM
COLLECTIONS, 1837.]
Seventy years after GROSLEY wrote, Thomas WATTS revived the proposition
of dividing the contents of the British Museum, but he revived it in a
new form. His idea was to remove the Antiquities and to retain at
Montagu House both the Libraries and the Natural History Collections.
‘The pictures have been removed,’ wrote Mr. WATTS in 1837, ‘why should
not the statues follow? The collections at the Museum would then remain
of an entirely homogeneous character. It would be exclusively devoted to
conveying literary information; while the collection at the National
Gallery would have for its object to refine and cultivate the taste.’
It was not by any oversight that Mr. WATTS spoke of the ‘homogeneity’ of
Manuscripts, Printed Books, and Natural-History Collections. He (at the
time) meant what he said. [Sidenote: Watts, in _Mechanics’ Magazine_,
vol. xxvi, pp. 295, seqq.] But I doubt if the naturalists would feel
flattered by the reason which he gives in illustration of his opinion.
‘The various curiosities accumulated at the Museum might be considered,’
he continues, ‘as a vast assemblage of _book-plates_, serving to
illustrate and elucidate the literature of the Library.’
Be that as it may, the idea of removing either the Antiquities or the
Printed Books has long ceased to be mooted. All who now advocate
severance advise, I think, that the Natural History Collections should
be removed, and none other than those. But hitherto the idea of
severance, in any shape, has been uniformly repudiated both by Royal
Commissions of Inquiry, and by Parliamentary Committees. The question,
however, is sure to be revived, and that speedily. Ere long it must
needs receive a final parliamentary solution—aye or no.
In this chapter I shall endeavour to state,—and as I hope with
impartiality,—the main reasons which have been severally adduced, both
by those who advocate a severance, and by those who recommend the
continuance of the existing union of all the varied and vast Collections
now at Bloomsbury. There can be no better introduction of the subject
than that which will be afforded by putting before the reader, on the
one hand, a detailed and well-considered plan which contemplated the
maintenance of the Museum as it is; and, on the other, the elaborate
report in favour of transferring the scientific collections to a new
site,—in order to gain ample space at Bloomsbury for a great Museum of
Literature and Archæology, such as should be in every point of view
worthy of the British Empire,—which was approved of by a Treasury Minute
more than eight years ago.
Of the several schemes and projects of extension which rest on the
twofold basis of (1) the retention at Bloomsbury of nearly all the
existing collections, with ample space for their prospective increase,
and (2) such an effective internal re-arrangement of the collections
themselves as would greatly increase the public facilities of access and
study, none better deserves the attention of the reader than that which
was submitted in the first instance to the Trustees of the British
Museum, and subsequently to Parliament (in 1860) by Mr. Edmund OLDFIELD,
then a Senior Assistant in the Department of Antiquities, entrusted (in
succession to Mr. C. T. NEWTON, on his proceeding to Greece) with the
charge of the Greek and Roman Galleries. By this plan it is proposed to
erect on the west side of the Museum a new range of Galleries for Greek
and Roman Antiquities. The façade in Charlotte Street—prolonged to the
house No. 4 in Bedford Square—would extend to about 440 feet in length,
with an usual depth of 140, increased at the southern extremity to 190
feet. This new range would provide for the whole of the present Greek,
Roman, Phœnician, and Etruscan Antiquities, and for considerable
augmentations. To Assyrian Antiquities would be assigned the present
Elgin Gallery, the ‘Mausoleum Room,’ and the ‘Hellenic Room,’ together
with two other rooms—gained in part by new adaptations of space
comprised within the existing buildings. [Sidenote: MR. OLDFIELD’S
PROJECT OF RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GALLERIES OF ANTIQUITIES (1858–1860).]
The rooms now devoted to the Antiquities of Kouyunjik and Nimroud would
then be applied to the reception of Egyptian Antiquities, together with
a room to be constructed on the site of the present principal staircase.
The Lycian Gallery would retain its site, with an enlargement westward.
I quote Mr. OLDFIELD’S own descriptive account of his project, in full,
from the Appendix to the _Minutes of Evidence_ of 1860.
[Sidenote: ENTRANCE HALL.]
I. _Entrance Hall._—On the north side is a staircase, such as
suggested by Mr. PANIZZI, forming the access to the galleries of
Natural History.
[Sidenote: PRIVATE ROOM FOR SCULPTURES.]
II. Room for the first reception, unpacking, and examination of
sculptures, the consideration of such as are offered for purchase, the
cleaning and repairing of marbles and mosaics, and storing of
pedestals, mason’s apparatus, and machinery, &c.
[Sidenote: FIRST EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
III. _First Egyptian Room._—The present two staircases, and the wall
at the east end of the Assyrian Transept being removed, a handsome
entrance would be obtained to the galleries of Antiquities. The room
would be about seventy-six feet by thirty-five, and though not very
well lighted, might suffice for the monuments of the first twelve
dynasties of Egypt, at present in the northern vestibule and lobby,
which have no very artistic character.
[Sidenote: SECOND EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
IV. _Second Egyptian Room._—The monuments of the Eighteenth Dynasty
would here commence. Terminating the vista from the north would be the
head of Thothmes III, more advantageously seen than in its present
position, where it stands in front of a doorway, and exposed to a
cross light.
[Sidenote: THIRD EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
V. _Third Egyptian Room._—For smaller remains of the same period. The
alcoves should be removed, and a door opened on the north side.
[Sidenote: FOURTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
VI. _Fourth Egyptian Room._—To remedy the darkness of this room, an
opening should be made in the ceiling, inclosed by a balustrade in the
room above (_v._ Plan of Upper Floor), and covered with glass; whilst
the roof of this upper room should be lightened, at least in the
central compartment, by substituting glass for its present heavy
ceiling. The small space thus sacrificed in the floor of the upper
room would be a less serious loss than the virtual uselessness of so
large an apartment below. With the proposed improvement in the
lighting, the Fourth Egyptian Room would be well adapted for the
colossal monuments of Amenophis III; without it, the room could hardly
serve for any purpose but a passage.
[Sidenote: FIFTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
VII. _Fifth Egyptian Room._—In the middle would be arranged, in two
rows, the remaining sculptures of the Eighteenth and part of those of
the Nineteenth Dynasty. In the recesses between the pilasters might be
fixed wall-cases, which would rather improve than impair the
architectural effect of the room, and for which the light is well
adapted, the rays from the opposite windows striking sufficiently low
to obviate the shadow occasioned by shelves in rooms lighted from
above. Such cases would contain small objects from the Egyptian
collection now on the Upper Floor.
[Sidenote: SIXTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
VIII. _Sixth Egyptian Room._—This room, originally ill lighted, has
been further darkened by the new Reading-Room, erected within a few
yards of its windows. If, however, an opening were made in the ceiling
(as proposed for Room VI), and if the roof of the room above were
somewhat modified, light might be thrown both on the magnificent bust
of Rameses II and on the east wall of the room. The middle window in
that wall, which furnishes no available light, might then be blocked
up; and before it might stand the cast from the head of the colossus
at Abousimbul, now placed over a door in the northern vestibule, but
which ought, in any re-arrangement, to be united with the other
monuments of Rameses II, and which would finely terminate the vista,
looking from the west.
[Sidenote: SEVENTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
IX. _Seventh Egyptian Room._—Here would be the sculptures, both of the
native dynasties posterior to the Nineteenth, and of the Ptolemaic and
Roman periods, which at present occupy the southern Egyptian Gallery.
In the recesses between the pilasters might be wall-cases.
[Sidenote: EIGHTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
X. _Eighth Egyptian Room._—This, and the two succeeding rooms, would
be appropriated to smaller Egyptian remains. The light on the western
side of these rooms falls so nearly vertically, from the overshadowing
mass of building adjoining, that wall-cases would have their contents
completely thrown into shade by the shelves, or by the tops of the
cases. Objects in the middle of the room, on the other hand, would be
in uninterrupted light. It is, therefore, proposed to place against
the walls inscribed tablets, which are best seen under an acutely
striking light; painted plaster friezes, which, from their strong
colours and coarse execution, do not require much light; and framed
papyri, which are liable to injury from exposure to powerful light.
Along the centre of the room would be arranged mummies, and mummy
cases, in glass frames, with table-cases for scarabæi, and other small
objects, which are most conveniently exhibited on flat or sloping
surfaces.
[Sidenote: NINTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
XI. _Ninth Egyptian Room._—The thoroughfare is here too great for
objects to be conveniently arranged in the centre; but the walls might
be occupied as in the preceding room.
[Sidenote: TENTH EGYPTIAN ROOM.]
XII. _Tenth Egyptian Room._—To be arranged similarly to the Eighth.
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.]
SUMMARY of the Accommodation provided in the plan for EGYPTIAN
ANTIQUITIES:—
1. The large sculptures would gain Rooms III, IV, and VI, in lieu of
the northern vestibule.
2. The inscribed tablets, which at present occupy the recesses of
Rooms VII, VIII, IX, containing four hundred and twenty-two linear
feet of wall-space, and the walls of the northern vestibule,
containing about eighty feet, or altogether about five hundred and two
feet, would share with the framed papyri and painted plaster friezes
the walls of Rooms III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, containing
altogether about nine hundred and sixty feet.
3. The mummies, overcrowded in a room containing two thousand and
fourteen square feet of available open space, and the coffins in the
present ‘Egyptian Ante-room,’ would be arranged, with several table
cases, in Rooms X and XII, containing altogether about four thousand
and eighty square feet.
4. The small objects, now in wall-cases extending to two hundred and
thirty-seven feet of linear measurement, and in three table-cases,
would be arranged in wall-cases, extending to three hundred and
eighty-three feet, and in several table-cases, of which the exact
extent cannot be fixed.
The additional space here provided for large Egyptian sculptures is
not so much needed for the present as is the case in some other
series; but the greater comparative difficulty of moving objects so
bulky makes it advisable to secure, as far as possible, the permanence
of any re-arrangement, by leaving room for the probable incorporations
of future years. The accommodation provided for smaller objects is
little more than they already require for advantageous display.
[Sidenote: FIRST ASSYRIAN ROOM.]
XIII. _First Assyrian or Nimroud Room._—This room, on the site of the
basement room, would be formed by demolishing the small room, with the
adjoining students’ room and staircase; by extending over their site
the glass roof of room; by throwing a floor, on a continuous level
with those of the adjoining galleries, and supported upon iron
pillars, over so much of room as is coloured brown in the plan; and by
carrying up thin partitions from this floor to the glass roof, so as
to inclose a new apartment. This apartment would, at the south end,
extend across the whole breadth of room, but elsewhere it would be
limited to a central space, nineteen feet wide, corresponding to the
present central compartment of room, so as to leave open an area of
ten feet wide on each side. The open areas would serve to light both
the whole room below, of which the central portion would be partially
obscured by the new structure, and also the rooms in the adjoining
basements, which, though no longer used for exhibition, might be
serviceable for other subordinate purposes. In one of the open areas
might be a private staircase to the basement. Room XIII would be
considerably loftier than the present ‘Nimroud Side Gallery,’ and it
would contain two thousand nine hundred and seventy superficial feet,
and three hundred and fourteen linear feet of wall-space, instead of
two thousand one hundred and seventy-six superficial feet, and two
hundred and seventy-eight feet of wall-space. In this new room would
be placed the earliest of the Assyrian monuments, those of
Sardanapalus I; at the south end those found in the two small temples
at Nimroud, including the colossal lion, the arched monolith and
altar, and the mythological figures from a doorway; in the northern
portion, the sculptures from the North-west Palace at Nimroud,
including the small winged lion and bull, now in room.
[Sidenote: SECOND ASSYRIAN ROOM.]
XIV. _Second Assyrian Room._—This would contain a continuation of the
series from Nimroud. On the west side the colossal winged lions now in
the western compartment of the Assyrian Transept, which would complete
the monuments of Sardanapalus I; in other parts of the room, the few
but important sculptures of Divanubara, Shammaz-Phal, and Pul, now
somewhat scattered for want of the requisite accommodation in room,
but for which there would here be ample space, and an advantageous
light.
[Sidenote: THIRD ASSYRIAN ROOM.]
XV. A proposed new room, to be entitled the _Third Assyrian or
Khorsabad Room_, the Assistant-Keeper’s study being removed, and
accommodation being provided for him elsewhere. The room might be
forty-seven feet by forty, about the same height as XIV, and similarly
lighted by a central skylight; beneath it would be a basement room for
the uses of the establishment. Room XV would contain, first, the
bas-reliefs of Tiglathpileser II from the South-west edifice of
Nimroud; and secondly, the Khorsabad collection, or monuments of
Sargina, which is next in chronological order to the Nimroud
collection. The two colossal bulls of Sargina are marked in the plan
as facing each other, an arrangement common at Khorsabad. Deducting
space for the bulls, upwards of eighty linear feet of wall-surface
would remain in the room, which is considerably more than the
bas-reliefs of Tiglathpileser and Sargina require. The new building
would necessarily obscure some of the windows of the adjoining
basement, but this is of minor importance; and the evil might be
diminished on the western and southern side, by leaving open spaces in
the floor behind each of the colossal bulls. Between the bulls would
be a passage to
[Sidenote: FOURTH ASSYRIAN ROOM.]
XVI. _Fourth Assyrian or Sennacherib Room._—Here would be the first
part of the collection discovered at Koyunjik, the monuments of
Sennacherib, now inconveniently divided, and arranged partly in the
‘Koyunjik Gallery,’ and partly in the ‘Assyrian Basement Room.’ These
monuments consist, almost entirely, of bas-reliefs, extending as at
present arranged, to about three hundred and fifty-one feet (two
hundred and eight on the ground floor, and one hundred and forty-three
in the basement). In a lofty and wide room, however, such as XVI, an
upper row of bas-reliefs might be introduced over many of the smaller
slabs, now arranged in a single row only; by this means the sculptures
of Sennacherib might all be included on the east, west, and north
sides of the room, containing three hundred and seventeen linear feet
of wall-space, leaving the south side, or twenty-seven feet, for
sculptures of Sardanapalus III, the last monarch of the Assyrian
series. In the centre of the room would be glass cases for the
numerous tablets, cylinders, and other small objects of this
collection, which it is most instructive to exhibit in connection with
the sculptures. The only architectural alteration desirable in the
room would be to open skylights in the lateral portion of the roof,
and to close those in the central, in order to obtain a sharper light,
upon the principle so successfully adopted in the present ‘Nimroud
Side Gallery.’
[Sidenote: FIFTH ASSYRIAN ROOM.]
XVII. _Fifth Assyrian Room._—Here would be the continuation of the
monuments of Sardanapalus III, which conclude the Assyrian department;
they are at present divided like those of Sennacherib, and part
exhibited in the ‘Koyunjik Gallery,’ part in the basement room;
altogether they now extend to three hundred and seventy-three feet;
but as the greater part might, in Room XVII, be very well arranged in
double rows, and some of those in single rows might, without injury,
be less widely spread, two hundred and twenty-five feet would suffice
for their exhibition; of this space twenty-seven feet would be
supplied by Room XVI, and the remainder by XVII. The centre of the
room should be appropriated as the preceding, and the lighting
similarly modified.
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES.]
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SUMMARY OF THE ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED IN THE PLAN FOR ASSYRIAN │
│ ANTIQUITIES. │
├──────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┤
│ _Amount of Wall-space now in use │_Amount of Wall-space in the Plan │
│ for Assyrian Bas-reliefs._ │ for Assyrian Bas-reliefs._ │
│ │Linear│ │Linear│
│ │feet. │ │feet. │
│Nimroud Side Gallery │ 278│Room XIII │ 314│
│Nimroud Central Saloon │ 82│Room XIV │ 95│
│Assyrian Transept │ 125│Room XV │ 145│
│Koyunjik Gallery │ 242│Room XVI │ 344│
│Assyrian Basement Room │ 243│Room XVII │ 199│
│ │ ———│ │ —————│
│ │ 970│ │ 1,097│
│Bas-reliefs in the middle │ │ │ │
│ of Basement Room │ 254│ │ │
│ │ —————│ │ │
│ │ 1,224│ │ │
└───────────────────────────┴──────┴───────────────────────────┴──────┘
It thus appears that the wall-space provided in the plan, though one
hundred and twenty-seven feet more than the wall-space in the existing
rooms, falls short by one hundred and twenty-seven feet of the total
linear extent of the bas-reliefs, as now arranged. In lieu, however,
of placing slabs in the middle of a gallery, as is done in the
basement room, and as it would likewise be possible to do in XVI or
XVII, it is thought better, in these last rooms, to provide the
additional space by simply carrying up the slabs to a greater height.
The space for central cases for small objects, which is at present
four thousand and eighty square feet in rooms would be eight thousand
one hundred and seventy square feet in Rooms XVI and XVII, an amount
so abundant as to supersede the necessity for any wall-cases.
The accommodation here provided for Assyrian antiquities is little
more in quantity, though much better in quality, than the present. But
this is nearly the only branch of the archæological collections to
which there seems little probability of future additions. If, contrary
to expectation, any such should be made, a supplemental room might be
built on the vacant space to the north of the Assyrian galleries.
[Sidenote: PERSIAN ROOM.]
XVIII. _Persian Room._—The sculptures to be here exhibited, which are
all bas-reliefs, would probably not occupy more than half the
wall-space, which is forty-seven linear feet. They belong chiefly to
the sixth century, B.C., and properly therefore succeed the Assyrian,
which range from the tenth to the seventh century, B.C.
[Sidenote: LYCIAN GALLERY.]
XIX. _Lycian Gallery._—It is intended to reserve this room for the
monuments peculiarly characteristic of Lycia, and to transfer to the
Greek galleries those in which the Greek element is predominant; such
as, particularly, the sculptures of the Ionic trophy monument or
_heroum_ from Xanthus, now scattered over the room, and, if necessary,
the casts from the rock tomb at Myra. This would leave abundant space
for the purely Lycian remains. The harpy tomb, of which the
bas-reliefs furnish a very important illustration of archaic Greek
art, might best be placed in an isolated position near the entrance to
the Greek galleries, where it would be favourably lighted and
conspicuously seen. Its present place might be filled by the rude
sarcophagus with sculptures of lions. The lighting of the Lycian room,
which is very defective, should be improved by an alteration in the
roof; but it is thought better not to enter into the details of such
alteration in the present paper.
[Sidenote: FIRST GREEK ROOM.]
XX. _First Greek or Inscription Room._—The room beneath this being
supposed to be withdrawn from exhibition, the staircase at the west
end should be separated by a partition, and entered through a private
door. All Greek inscriptions, except the sepulchral, and such as are
engraved on architectural or sculptural monuments, would be here
collected.
At this point the new buildings commence with—
[Sidenote: SECOND GREEK ROOM.]
XXI. _Second Greek or Branchidæ Room_, thirty feet by twenty-four.—The
height both of this and the four succeeding rooms should be about
twenty feet. This would contain the earliest Greek sculptures, of
which the principal are those procured by Mr. NEWTON from Branchidæ.
The ten seated statues would be arranged on each side, as in the
‘Sacred Way’ at that place, and the recumbent inscribed lion and the
sphinx placed at the end of the room.
[Sidenote: THIRD GREEK ROOM.]
XXII. _Third Greek Room_, twenty-four feet by seventeen.—This would
contain other archaic works, including the casts from Selinus.
[Sidenote: FOURTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXIII. _Fourth Greek or Æginetan Room_, thirty-eight feet by
twenty-four.—Here would be fixed, in two recesses, the restorations of
the two pedimental groups from Ægina, which are exactly of the length
of this room, and which might be placed at a more convenient level for
examination than their present elevated position in room.
[Sidenote: FIFTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXIV. _Fifth Greek Room_, seventeen feet by twenty-four.—On a
pedestal, facing the great Greek gallery, might stand the semi-archaic
Apollo, from Byzantium.
[Sidenote: SIXTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXV. _Sixth Greek or Phigaleian Room_, thirty-eight feet by
twenty-four.—Here would be the casts from the Temple of Theseus, and
the sculptures and casts from the Temple of Wingless Victory, both of
the middle of the fifth century, B.C.; also the Phigaleian collection,
which is a somewhat later production of the same school. The friezes,
arranged in two rows, would just fill the room.
[Sidenote: SEVENTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXVI. _Seventh Greek or Parthenon Room._—Here would commence the grand
suite of galleries for large sculptures, of which the general breadth
would be forty-two feet, and the height from thirty to thirty-five
feet. By its side would run a secondary suite, twenty feet wide, and
from fifteen to twenty feet high, for minor specimens, of which the
interest generally is rather archæological than artistic. These latter
objects are both more conveniently classified, and more favourably
seen, in small rooms; if placed in large galleries, beside grand
monumental works, they lose importance themselves, whilst they fritter
away the effect of what is really more valuable. The Seventh Greek
Room, which is two hundred and forty-one feet long, would contain only
the remains of the Parthenon; which might be arranged as indicated in
the Plan, so as at once to keep the pedimental groups and the frieze
from interfering with each other, and to distinguish, more accurately
than is now done, the original connection or disconnection of the
several slabs of the frieze. As we possess the entire frieze from the
east end of the temple, and casts of the entire frieze from the west,
these two are here arranged opposite each other, towards the middle of
the two side walls of the room. On either side are the slabs from the
north and south flanks of the temple, which are mostly disconnected.
In front of the casts from the west is a proposed full-sized model of
part of the entablature, supported by one original and five restored
capitals, with the upper parts of their shafts, and incorporating ten
of the metopes, so as to explain their original combination with the
architecture. The total height of this model might be about eighteen
feet. The metopes not included in it should be attached to the wall
opposite, over the frieze. The finest of the pedimental groups would
face the grand entrance from the Lycian Gallery, through which the
whole might be seen in one view, from any distance less than
forty-eight feet. If it were desired to retain the two small models of
the Parthenon in the room, they might stand near the south end.
[Sidenote: EIGHTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXVII. _Eighth Greek or Erechtheum Room_, sixty-five feet by
twenty-six, for monuments of the era between Phidias and Scopas, of
which the principal are the remains of the Erechtheum.
[Sidenote: NINTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXVIII. _Ninth Greek, or Mausoleum Room_, one hundred and twenty feet
in length, forty-two in breadth, and eighty across the transept.—Here
would be, 1. The marbles procured by Lord STRATFORD and Mr. NEWTON,
from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; in the west transept, the group
from the _quadriga_, and in the southern part of the room the other
important sculptural and architectural remains of the building,
including the frieze. 2. In the east transept, the colossal lion from
Cnidus, with a few other sculptures of the same school. 3. In the
northern part of the room, the Xanthian Ionic monument, here placed
for comparison with the remains of the Mausoleum. The whole upper
portion of this monument, commencing with the higher of the two
friezes which surrounded the original base, might be reconstructed,
though not restored, and would form a striking termination to the
vista through the galleries. The lower frieze might be arranged
against the adjoining walls of the room.
[Sidenote: TENTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXIX. _Tenth Greek Room._—Having thus passed through the great
monumental series of Greek sculptures in chronological order, the
visitor would return south by the side rooms, containing minor remains
of the same school. The Tenth Greek Room would be forty-two feet by
twenty, and would contain the latest of the smaller sculptures.
[Sidenote: ELEVENTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXX. _Eleventh Greek Room_, thirty-three feet by twenty.—This should
be appropriated to the small fragments from the Mausoleum, which would
thus be in immediate connection with its larger sculptures, without
impairing their grandeur of effect.
[Sidenote: TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH GREEK ROOMS.]
XXXI, XXXII. _Twelfth and Thirteenth Greek Rooms_, together one
hundred and thirty-five feet in length and twenty in breadth.—The
exact position of the wall separating these rooms might be reserved
till the arrangement of their contents was settled. In one might be
architectural fragments, from buildings not represented in the large
galleries; in the other, small tablets, votive offerings, altars, and
other minor sculptures.
[Sidenote: FOURTEENTH GREEK ROOM.]
XXXIII. _Fourteenth Greek or Sepulchral Room_, ninety-three feet by
eighteen.—Here would be all the Greek sepulchral monuments now in the
basement. The casts from the sculptured tomb at Myra, of which the
style is more Greek than Lycian, might also be here placed, as
indicated in the plan, in case it should be thought desirable to
remove them from the Lycian Room, though the expediency of this
transfer may perhaps be doubted. Wherever placed, these casts ought to
be so put together as to explain the true arrangement of the
originals.
[Then follows a Summary of the Accommodation provided in the Plan for
Greek Sculptures, amounting to a superficial area of twenty-seven
thousand four hundred and ten square feet, and to two thousand one
hundred and ninety-one lineal feet of wall-space.]
[Sidenote: ETRUSCAN ROOM.]
XXXIV. _Etruscan Room._—The next parallel on the ground floor would be
devoted to the monuments of ancient Italy. The earliest are the
Etruscan, which, being altogether taken from tombs, would properly be
placed adjacent, on the one side to the Greek, on the other to the
Roman, sepulchral collections. The principal portion of the Etruscan
Room would be fifty-five feet by forty, with additional recesses at
the south end, the whole about twenty feet high. Two rows of pilasters
would divide the room into three compartments, the central for the
gangway, the other two to be fitted up as a series of tombs, of which
the sides would be formed of the mural restorations, with fac-similes
of paintings from Corneto and Vulci. Within these restored tombs would
be such sarcophagi as we possess, found in the tombs themselves. The
fac-similes of the painted roofs of two of the tombs might be fixed
above them, at such a height as not to obstruct the light. In the
central compartment, which contains six shallow recesses between the
pilasters, might be monuments from various tombs other than those here
restored.
XXXV. _Staircase Room_, forty feet by thirty, and of the same height
as the three united stories of the western galleries.—Four successive
flights of steps would be required to reach each floor. The landings
between the first and second, and between the third and fourth
flights, might each be supported by Caryatid or Atlantic figures,
which would give the whole composition an ornamental effect, as seen
from the east side. Beneath one side of this staircase might be a
private one leading to the western basement.
To the north is another private staircase, conducting to the basement
under the Greek galleries. The adjoining passage leads to—
[Sidenote: FIRST GRÆCO-ROMAN ROOM.]
XXXVI. _First Græco-Roman Room._—The Etruscan monuments are succeeded
chronologically by the Græco-Roman, here placed so as to adjoin the
galleries both of Greek and of Roman art. In accordance with the
character of Græco-Roman sculpture, the apartments containing it
should be somewhat ornamentally constructed and arranged, as in the
great continental museums, where works of this class form the staple
of the collections. The position of the principal objects in all this
series of rooms is marked in the plan, without distinguishing them
individually, as none are of such a character as to require any
special architectural provision. The first room is one hundred and six
feet by twenty-six, exclusive of the alcoves. Its height need not, for
the display of statuary, exceed twenty feet; but if, for architectural
effect, a vaulted ceiling is preferred, the height must be increased.
In the Braccio Nuovo, in the Vatican Museum, which is probably the
finest gallery of this kind in Europe, and has a cylindrical vault,
with a central skylight, the proportion of height to breadth is about
thirty-seven feet to twenty-seven; but in the darker climate of London
the height should not, if possible, exceed the breadth.
[Sidenote: SECOND GRÆCO-ROMAN ROOM.]
XXXVII. _Second Græco-Roman Room, or Rotunda_, sixty feet in diameter,
and about sixty feet high in the centre, being surmounted by a
hemispherical dome.—This room is, with slight variations, and on a
somewhat smaller scale, a copy of the Rotunda in the Museum of Berlin,
an apartment universally admired for its architectural beauty, and
only defective as a hall for sculpture from the unnecessary smallness
of the central skylight. The entablature over the columns would
support a gallery, opening into the first floor of the western
buildings.
[Sidenote: THIRD GRÆCO-ROMAN ROOM.]
XXXVIII. _Third Græco-Roman Room_, similar to the first, but only one
hundred and one feet long, exclusive of the northern alcove.
The spaces between the lateral alcoves on the east side of the First
and Third Græco-Roman Rooms might either be covered with glass, or
left open for ventilation, though the second arrangement would involve
a provision for the drainage below.
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR GRÆCO-ROMAN SCULPTURES.]
The amount of accommodation for Græco-Roman sculptures cannot, from
the form of the rooms, be stated with the same exactness as that for
the Greek. Exclusive of the alcoves, there would be in the—
┌─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ │Superficial Area.│ Length of │
│ │ │ Wall-space. │
│First Galley │2,756 square │ 180 linear │
│ │ feet. │ feet. │
│Third Gallery │2,626 „ │ 152 „ │
│ │————— │ ——— │
│ │5,382 „ │ 332 „ │
└─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘
The Rotunda would not have available space in proportion to its size.
Twelve statues or busts between the columns, and perhaps a large
sculpture in the centre, would be the natural complement of the room.
The wall-space behind the columns would not be available for
sculpture. The total accommodation in the three rooms would amply
suffice for our present collection, even somewhat enlarged. [Sidenote:
MEANS OF FUTURE ENLARGEMENT.] As it increased, however, further space
might be obtained by erecting in the first and third rooms transverse
walls, opposite the alcoves in the Roman galleries, thus subdividing
the first room into three principal compartments, with a small lobby
at each end, and the third into three compartments (of which the most
northern would need some modification), with a lobby at the south end.
The doorways through these walls might be twelve feet wide, so as to
preserve the continuous appearance of the suite; and they would still
leave one hundred and twelve feet of additional wall-space in the
first room, and eighty-four in the third. The lighting would be
somewhat improved by such an alteration.
[Sidenote: WESTERN GALLERIES.]
The last suite of galleries on the ground floor would contain the
Roman and Phœnician remains. To avoid any obscuration from the houses
on the west side of Charlotte Street, the windows should be as high in
the wall as possible, and as broad as architectural propriety would
admit, whilst the rooms should be not less than twenty-five feet high.
[Sidenote: FIRST ROMAN ROOM.]
XXXIX. _First Roman Room_, one hundred and ten feet by twenty-eight,
exclusive of the alcoves.—It would contain mosaics, including those
from Carthage, and miscellaneous sculptures, altars, architectural
fragments, &c.; the mosaics indifferently placed on all sides of the
room, the sculptures on the east side and against the two end walls.
[Sidenote: HALL.]
XL. _Hall_, fifty-six feet by seventeen.—Here might be an entrance
from Charlotte Street, which on many occasions would furnish a
convenient relief to the principal entrance to the Museum. It would
open immediately into the Rotunda, and through the vista beyond would
be seen, in the distance, the cast of the colossal head from
Abousimbul. Within the two abutments of the Rotunda would be recesses
for the attendants to sell catalogues, receive umbrellas, &c.
[Sidenote: SECOND ROMAN ROOM.]
XLI. _Second Roman or Iconographical Room_, fifty-four feet by
twenty-eight, without the alcoves.—This would contain the series of
portrait statues and busts, in chronological order. The west, or dark
side of the room, could only be used for very inferior sculptures.
[Sidenote: THIRD ROMAN ROOM.]
XLII. _Third (or Anglo-) Roman Room_, the same size as the preceding,
for Roman monuments found in this country. The rude character of many
would admit of placing them on the west side.
[Sidenote: FOURTH ROMAN ROOM.]
XLIII. _Fourth Roman or Sepulchral Room_, eighty-two feet by
twenty-six, containing Roman sarcophagi for which the west side might
be partially available, and sepulchral cippi, and inscriptions. At the
north-east angle would be a Columbarium, twenty-three feet by
fourteen, fitted up like that in the present Sepulchral Basement Room,
but with the advantage of a skylight.
[Then follows a Summary of Accommodation provided in the plan for
Roman Sculptures, amounting to a superficial area (without alcoves) of
eight thousand five hundred and fifty-eight square feet, and seven
hundred and seventeen linear feet of wall-space.]
[Sidenote: MEANS OF FUTURE ENLARGEMENT.]
The first three rooms, when their contents sufficiently increased,
would admit of an easy alteration, which would not merely increase the
wall-space, but much improve the lighting, by simply inserting
transverse walls between each window. Against these walls the
sculptures would have a true side light, whilst those against the east
wall would be protected from double lights. It may even be doubted
whether such an arrangement should not be adopted in the first
instance, without waiting till the additional accommodation is
actually required.
[Sidenote: PHŒNICIAN ROOM.]
XLIV. _Phœnician Room_, twenty-six feet square.—Here would be the
_stelæ_ and bas-reliefs from Carthage and its vicinity, with the few
Punic inscriptions which we possess. The room contains six hundred and
seventy-six superficial feet, and eighty-eight of wall-space.
[Sidenote: SUPPLEMENTAL ROOM.]
XLV. A similar room to the preceding, which, in case of necessity,
might serve for extending the Phœnician collection. In the mean time
it might perhaps be used for exhibiting such miscellaneous inferior
sculptures as could be advantageously weeded from the regular series,
though circumstances might temporarily prevent their removal from the
Museum. In such case it might be entitled ‘Supplemental Room.’
In accordance with a suggestion made in the Committee now sitting, the
writer has added to the new buildings proposed in his plan another
story, or second floor, over the first. The advantage of this is, that
it would provide for objects which it might be more costly or
inconvenient to accommodate elsewhere. But it involves necessarily two
evils: [Sidenote: PLAN OF UPPER FLOORS. ADVANTAGES AND EVILS OF A
SECOND STORY.] 1. That the height of the second floor, involving an
ascent of perhaps nearly one hundred steps (though this is not more
than is common in continental museums), might excite complaint in
English visitors. 2. That so lofty a building, by excluding all
oblique rays from the east side of the Græco-Roman galleries, would
make the light on the statues and busts there placed somewhat too
vertical.
[Sidenote: COLLECTIONS RETAINED OR REMOVED.]
With regard to the collections to be provided for on the upper floors,
it is here assumed, though of course without any express authority,
that Ethnography and Oriental Antiquities would be removed from the
Museum, and better accommodated elsewhere. The British and Mediæval
Collections, however, are supposed to be retained; if they are
removed, a modification of this plan must in consequence be made.
[Sidenote: FIRST FLOOR OR NEW BUILDINGS FOR ANTIQUITIES; ITS
CONSTRUCTION.]
The apartments should all be about eighteen feet high, the windows of
the same breadth as those below, but, except in the Terracotta Room,
only about eight feet high, and as near the ceiling as possible. On
the east side should be corresponding windows, so that each wall would
be illuminated; for cross lights, though so injurious to sculptures,
are generally desirable for galleries filled with wall-cases. All the
windows should have ground glass, to prevent injury to the collections
from the sun.
[Sidenote: VASE GALLERY.]
1. _Vase Gallery._—Two hundred and twenty-two feet long, the southern
half twenty-six feet wide, and the northern twenty-eight feet. The
wall-cases should be about eight feet high, like those in our First
Vase Room; and the transverse projections, flanked by pilasters, would
be only of the same height, so as not to shut out the view of the
upper part of the gallery; having glass on each side, they would serve
for vases with double paintings, such as we now exhibit only in dwarf
central cases. The most important vases should stand isolated on
tables, or pedestals, on each side the gangway; as in the present
arrangement of the Temple Collection. [Sidenote: ITS ACCOMMODATION.]
Although the superficial area of this gallery (five thousand nine
hundred and ninety-two feet) is little more than a third greater than
that occupied by vases in the present buildings (four thousand three
hundred and twenty-one feet), the amount of accommodation it would
afford is nearly double. For the present wall-cases, eight feet high,
extend to one hundred and forty-six feet of linear measurement; those
ten feet high will, when the collection is fully arranged, extend to
eighty-four feet; the whole therefore may be reckoned as equivalent to
two hundred and fifty-one feet of cases, eight feet high. The total
extent, however, of such wall-cases in the proposed gallery is four
hundred and fifty-five feet. The projections also, with the tables and
pedestals, may safely be estimated as providing twice the
accommodation for vases painted on both sides which is now furnished
by the dwarf central cases, besides exhibiting them much more
conveniently. It should be added that the vases would be better
lighted than at present; whilst the length and comparative openness of
the gallery would produce a more striking impression on the passing
visitor.
[Sidenote: PROPOSED ETRUSCAN APARTMENT.]
The accommodation here provided being so ample, it might be desirable
to appropriate one compartment of the gallery to an exclusively
Etruscan Collection, comprising not merely the pottery of the
Etruscans, properly so called, but that for which they were really
more distinguished in ancient times, their bronze and other metal
work.
[Sidenote: TERRACOTTA ROOM.]
2. _Terracotta Room._—Fifty-six feet by seventeen. As no windows could
be made on the east side, there should be no cases on the west; but
the western windows, which do not correspond with the others of this
story, should extend from near the ceiling to four or five feet from
the floor. A sloping case might then be placed in each window, for
lamps and other small objects, requiring a strong light. Against the
east wall should be cases for vases, and other large objects.
[Sidenote: GALLERY OF ROTUNDA.]
3. _Gallery of the Rotunda._—From one hundred and eighty to one
hundred and ninety feet in circumference, and about nine feet wide.
The powerful light from the centre of the dome would be favourable to
terracotta statuettes and bas-reliefs, which could all be contained in
shallow wall-cases, that would not materially narrow the gangway.[48]
The Townley Collection of bas-reliefs, now in the Second Vase Room,
might be arranged in panels all round, so as to produce a decorative
effect, agreeable to their original destination.
[Sidenote: ACCOMMODATION FOR TERRACOTTAS.]
The entire space provided in these two rooms is much more than our
terracottas can absolutely require; but this will facilitate an
ornamental arrangement of the collection, appropriate to the character
of the larger room. The small spaces between the Rotunda and the main
building would serve for closets.
[Sidenote: GLASS ROOM.]
4. _Glass Room_, twenty-eight feet by twenty-six.—The fittings proper
for glass being different from those of terracottas, it is desirable
to give it a separate room. This should be similarly arranged to the
Vase Gallery, with wall-cases eight feet high, and table-cases in the
centre.
[Sidenote: BRONZE GALLERY. ITS ACCOMMODATION.]
5. _Bronze Gallery_, three apartments united; together eighty-two feet
by twenty-eight.—As the advantage of a skylight for the bronze
statuettes is necessarily sacrificed by the adoption of an upper
floor, it would be best to place them, as far as possible, against
each side of the transverse projections, separating those sides by
internal partitions, and employing some contrivance to protect the
bronzes from the cross light of the further windows, an arrangement
possible with small objects in glass cases, though not with large
statuary. In the middle of the gallery might be table-cases, placed
longitudinally, or important objects on pedestals. The increase of
accommodation in the Bronze Gallery, as in the Vase Gallery, is more
than proportionate to the increase of space. Though the superficial
area is only two thousand two hundred and ninety-six feet, in lieu of
our present quantity, two thousand and twenty-one, the extent of
wall-cases, which now is only one hundred and thirty-eight feet,
would, even allowing doorways of twelve feet wide between each of
these compartments, be increased to two hundred and fifty feet,
equivalent, after allowing for the difference in height of the cases,
to two hundred feet. This, if the Etruscan bronzes were transferred as
already suggested, would liberally provide for the Greek and Roman
Collection.
[Sidenote: SECOND FLOOR OF NEW BUILDINGS FOR ANTIQUITIES.]
Each room should be fifteen to eighteen feet high; the windows
exclusively on the east side, and extending from the ceiling to four
or five feet from the floor. As the aspect is nearly N.E., the sun
could not be injurious, and the glass of the windows, therefore, had
better be unground.
[Sidenote: BRITISH ROOMS.]
1. _British Rooms_, each twenty-seven feet by twenty-six.—That which
adjoins the staircase (and, if necessary, those on each side), should
be lighted from the roof, and have wall-cases all round, with a
separate case in the centre. The other rooms should have wall-cases on
the west side, and shallower cases against the transverse walls. Two
long table-cases in each room might extend from the windows to a line
with the doorway.
[Sidenote: MEDIÆVAL ROOMS.]
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODATION FOR BRITISH AND MEDIÆVAL.]
2. _Mediæval Rooms_, each twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, and
similarly arranged to the British.—Though the entire superficial area
in the British and Mediæval Rooms is only five thousand and
seventy-two feet, in lieu of four thousand and forty-six, the amount
in the present building, yet the wall-space is four hundred and
sixty-six feet, instead of only two hundred and ninety-seven, and the
cases, having no windows above, might, if necessary, be made ten feet
high, like the present. The gain in table-cases would be much greater.
In lieu of six, there would be twelve, each sixteen or eighteen feet
long, instead of ten; whilst the central case in the room adjoining
the staircase might be at least as capacious as the large separate
case in the present British and Mediæval Room. The lighting would
throughout be more advantageous for these collections than at present;
and the rooms, from the character of the windows, might be bright
instead of gloomy.
[Sidenote: GEM ROOM.]
3. _Gem Room._—As the contents of this and the succeeding room have
more or less intrinsic value, an iron door might be placed at the end
of the Mediæval Gallery, to be open only when the public are admitted
to the Museum. The Gem Room, twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, would
be fitted like the preceding. The gems would occupy the table-cases,
which would accommodate a far larger collection than ours, and would
exhibit them in the best possible light for such objects. In the
wall-cases might be displayed the gold and silver ornaments, which
would have much more space than as now arranged, though in a room only
of the same size.
[Sidenote: COIN AND MEDAL GALLERY.]
4. _Coin and Medal Gallery_, fifty-six feet by seventeen.—As the dome
of the Rotunda would only rise a few feet above the floor of this
gallery, and would, from its curvature, recede to a distance of
several feet, windows on the east side would be quite unobstructed. In
each might stand a table-case, six or seven feet long, on which would
be exhibited, under glass, a series of coins and medals which, though
not the most valuable of our collection in the eyes of a numismatist,
would suffice to give the public an interesting and instructive view
of the monetary art. In the drawers of these cases might be kept the
moulds and casts of the Coin Collection. Against the side walls might
be upright cases, or frames, for extending the exhibition; but the
walls facing the windows, having a front light, would be unsuitable
for coins or medals, and must be employed for some other purpose.
[Sidenote: PRIVATE ROOMS OF COIN DEPARTMENT.]
5. The rooms which remain would be a private suite for the Coin
Department. The present rooms of that department are arranged in an
order the reverse of what is best for security and convenience, the
coins being kept in an outer room, which must be passed in going
either to the Keeper’s study, or to the Ornament Room, a room open to
all persons merely on application. In the accompanying plan the
contents of the Ornament Room have been transferred to the Gem Room;
and the Keeper’s study is placed near the beginning of the private
suite.
[Sidenote: OUTER COIN ROOM.]
_Outer Coin Room_, twenty-eight feet by twenty-seven, for the freer
exhibition of coins to properly introduced persons, for the use of
artists copying coins or other minute objects, and all other purposes
now served by the Medal Room, except the custody of the collection,
and work of the department.
[Sidenote: INNER COIN ROOM.]
_Inner Coin Room_, fifty-five feet by twenty-eight, secured by a
strong iron door, of which the Keeper, Assistant-Keeper, and
Principal-Librarian, would alone have keys.—In this room, to which
none but the departmental staff would be admitted, the coins and
medals would be preserved, arranged, and catalogued; they would be
carried hence by the officers into the Outer Room when required for
inspection. The room is somewhat more than half as large again as the
present Medal Room; and as the absence of visitors, and of the
barriers their presence now requires, would leave the whole space
free, there would be ample accommodation for any probable enlargement
of the collection. The library of the department might be arranged
partly in this, partly in the Outer Room.
Of the apartments reserved as private, two are placed at the south end
of the first and second floors, and each of these might, if necessary,
be subdivided into two small studies, each twenty-six feet by
thirteen, for the use either of officers or students. [Sidenote:
PRIVATE ROOMS IN PLAN. OTHERS SUGGESTED.] Private rooms are, however,
required on the ground floor, to replace the female students’ room,
and the Assistant-Keeper’s study, proposed to be removed for the new
Nimroud and Khorsabad Galleries. The most effectual provision for
these and other wants would be one which has been suggested during the
present inquiry, namely, to transfer to the Department of Antiquities
the several rooms now occupied as the Trustees’ Room and adjoining
offices, and to remove the official establishment to new rooms to be
erected on the east side of the Museum. Should this be found
impracticable, the present Insect Room, and adjoining studies, might,
in the event of the transfer of this part of the Zoological Department
to the upper floor, furnish the required accommodation. In default of
both these alternatives, rooms might be constructed north of the new
Assyrian Galleries, though, in the opinion of the writer, this ground
should only be built over as a last resort.
[Sidenote: USE OF BASEMENT.]
The basement, both of the old and new buildings, would, though
unfitted for exhibition, and shut up from the public, be more or less
available for workshops, storing-places, retiring-rooms, &c. No part
of the existing basement would be made altogether useless, though the
rooms under the present Greek Galleries would all be somewhat
darkened. [Sidenote: LIGHTING OF BASEMENT.] The basement under the new
buildings may, with reference to lighting, be divided into three
classes:—1. The rooms under the first six or small Greek Rooms, the
south end of the Etruscan Room, and the north end of the Greek
Galleries, would all have ordinary windows, and be better lighted than
any part of the basement now used for the purposes mentioned. 2. The
rooms under the Roman Galleries, which would also have windows, would
be less well lighted than the preceding, being some feet below the
level of Charlotte Street, and being further somewhat obscured by the
grating over the area, and the parapet to screen it from passengers in
the street, which would both probably be thought necessary. 3. The
basement under the Græco-Roman, and greater part of the small Greek
Galleries, would receive a partial light from the openings between
them. To increase this, however, and to furnish the only light to the
basement under the Fourteenth Greek Room, and the apartments adjoining
its west side, panels of strong glass or open metal work might be
inserted at convenient places in the various floors, and serve rather
as an ornament to them. With the aid of some such arrangement, the
last-mentioned portions of the basement would serve as storing-rooms;
in default of it, they could merely be available for any apparatus
used in heating or ventilation.
[Then follows a General Summary of Additional Space provided for the
Collections of Antiquities, amounting to a net addition of forty-one
thousand nine hundred and fifty-six square feet of superficial area.]
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF SPACE FOR ANTIQUITIES.]
This is somewhat less than the additional space demanded in the
estimate supplied to the Committee by Mr. HAWKINS; but it supposes the
removal of the Oriental and Ethnographical Collections, which Mr.
HAWKINS, when considering only the existing department, and not the
question of its modification, included in its contents.
[Sidenote: EXTRA SPACE.]
In addition, however, to the space provided for the collections, the
new buildings would comprise about eight thousand six hundred feet on
the three principal floors, for studies, closets, staircases, &c.
[Sidenote: SPACE IN BASEMENT.]
The space in the basement it is unnecessary to estimate in detail,
being manifestly superabundant for its purpose.
[Sidenote: SPACE TRANSFERRED TO NATURAL HISTORY.]
The Plan of the Upper Floors shows the accommodation which might be
provided, upon the present scheme, for the Departments of Natural
History, by transferring to them the galleries and studies on that
floor now occupied by Antiquities, and constructing an upper room on
the site of the staircase, to unite the Central Saloon (Return 379,
Plan 18, No. 1), into which the new principal staircase would conduct,
with the galleries so transferred. The apportionment of the space
amongst the different collections of Natural History must be left to
more competent authorities than the present writer. He may, however,
add a few words on the general character of the apartments
comprehended in the transfer. [Sidenote: PUBLIC GALLERIES.] The public
galleries are similar to the present Zoological Galleries, not merely
in their structure, but in their fittings. The wall-cases, therefore,
might be available, without alteration, for the new collections; and
the central cases might either be retained for Natural History, or
removed to the new upper floors for Antiquities, as was found more
convenient. [Sidenote: STUDIES FOR OFFICERS AND STUDENTS.] The present
Medal and Ornament Rooms might serve for the use of students, whilst
the four private studies numbered 6, 7, 10, and 10 in Plan 18, would
be used by the officers. [Sidenote: SUGGESTION FOR INCREASING THOSE
FOR STUDENTS.] The rooms for students might, if necessary, be further
increased by a trifling alteration, in the event of the official
establishment being transferred to the east of the Museum. In place of
the closet adjoining the Medal Room, a private staircase might descend
by a few steps to the entresol below, the whole of which might then be
made an appendage to the upper, instead of the lower floor, and would
furnish two convenient rooms for students, over those numbered 4 and 6
in Plan 17. The same staircase, falling in with one already existing
between the entresol and Secretary’s Office, would supply a private
communication between the upper and lower floors, in lieu of that
abolished for the construction of the First Egyptian Room (III, 69).
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF SPACE FOR NATURAL HISTORY.]
The total area of the apartments transferred to Natural History may be
summarily stated thus:—
┌──────────────────────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┐
│ │ │ Without │ With │
│ │ │Entresol.│Entresol.│
├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│Public Galleries: │ │ │ │
│ Present Galleries of Antiquities│ 19,185│ │ │
│ Proposed room over III (69) │ 2,660│ │ │
├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│ │ │ 21,845│ 21,845│
│Students’ Working Rooms │ │ 1,749│ 3,168│
│Officers’ Studies │ │ 868│ 868│
│Closets, Passages, and Staircase │ │ 936│ 1,557│
├──────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│ Total addition │ │ 25,398│ 27,438│
└──────────────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘
[Sidenote: CONVENIENCE OF GIVING IT A DISTINCT FLOOR.]
Independently of the increased accommodation, the advantage of
acquiring for Natural History the exclusive possession of the upper
floor is obvious and unquestionable, though the gain is not limited to
that department. By separating its galleries entirely from those of
Antiquities, the practical superintendence of each would be
simplified; one department would no longer be a necessary thoroughfare
to another; the confusion of ideas experienced by ordinary visitors
from the juxtaposition of collections so incongruous would be avoided;
and as each department would have a separate entrance, a facility
would be given for varying their periods or regulations of admission,
as the circumstances of each might at any time require; considerations
which must hereafter acquire increasing weight in proportion to the
increasing magnitude of the Museum.
[Sidenote: ESTIMATE OF APPROXIMATE EXPENSE.]
The ground immediately round the Museum, on the average of its three
sides, is valued in the Report of the Special Committee of Trustees
(twenty-sixth November, 1859), at about forty-three thousand five
hundred pounds per acre. [Sidenote: EXPENSE OF GROUND.] The houses in
Charlotte Street are inferior in character to those on the other two
sides, and might doubtless be purchased at a proportionately less
price; but the writer, being anxious to err only on the safe side,
assumes the average price as necessary. The ground proposed to be
taken is about four hundred and fifty feet long, by a breadth
generally of one hundred and fifty feet, but at the south end not
exceeding one hundred and ten feet; so that the total area is about
sixty-four thousand seven hundred square feet, or somewhat less than
an acre and a half. The price, therefore, may be set down at
sixty-five thousand pounds.
Buildings are estimated in the same report to cost about two pounds
per square foot, reckoned upon the total internal area of the
principal floors, without the basement. This calculation is founded on
buildings consisting of a basement, a ground floor, and one upper
floor. [Sidenote: OF BUILDINGS.] The buildings proposed by the writer
are in one respect more costly than these, as their basements bear a
larger proportion to those floors on which the cost is calculated. But
in two other respects they are more economical:—1. Because they
include, in one part, a second floor, which swells the space from
which the expense is calculated, without involving any addition to the
basement. 2. Because some of the galleries on the ground floor are not
really separate buildings, but parts of a single block of buildings,
subdivided merely by partition walls. On the whole, therefore, the
estimate of two pounds per foot seems the safest basis of calculation.
Now the quantity of internal area or floor space in the proposed new
buildings is—
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│For the collections 71,760 square feet.│
│For studies, staircases, &c. 8,600 „ │
│ ______ │
│Total 80,360 „ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This gives, therefore, one hundred and sixty thousand seven hundred
and twenty pounds for buildings, which, added to sixty-five thousand
pounds for ground, would amount to two hundred and twenty-five
thousand seven hundred and twenty pounds. A further sum must be added
for alterations of the existing building, particularly for the removal
and reconstruction of the staircase, and the formation of the two
rooms described as III (69) and XIII (15). Assuming the expense of
these alterations, quite conjecturally, at ten thousand pounds, the
total cost would be two hundred and thirty-five thousand seven hundred
and twenty pounds. The largeness of the valuation allowed for the
ground gives reason to believe that the actual expense of ground and
buildings would not exceed, and might probably fall short of, this
estimate.
[Sidenote: MEANS OF FUTURE EXTENSION.]
[In concluding his remarks on this plan of reconstruction, Mr.
OLDFIELD points out that if ever hereafter further extensions should
be required, they might be obtained without material disturbance of
the proposed galleries. [Sidenote: _Appendix to Minutes of Evidence_,
1860, pp. 245, _ad fin_.] For Antiquities, one or more additional
houses might be purchased either in Bedford Square, commencing with
No. 4, or in Charlotte Street, commencing with No. 3. The former would
be required for the prolongation of the Greek, Græco-Roman, or Roman
Galleries; the latter for the Etruscan or Phœnician. For the minor
collections on the upper floors either side would be equally
appropriate. If further space were needed for Natural History,
galleries might be built as suggested by Professor MASKELYNE,
extending either northwards to Montague Place, or eastwards to
Montague Street, as found convenient.]
To the clear and forcible exposition of his plan, thus given by its
framer in the paper submitted to the Committee of 1860, many further
elucidations were added in evidence. But enough has already been quoted
for the perfect intelligibility of the plans so proposed for the
sanction of the Trustees and of Parliament. [Sidenote: _Minutes of
Evidence_, June, 1860, Q. 2034, p. 143.] ‘I think,’ said Mr. OLDFIELD,
when questioned, in the Committee, as to the extent of provision _for
the probable future_ requirements of the Museum, ‘the proper mode is to
secure so much space as will at least meet those demands which are
likely to occur during the construction of the building; and then, above
all, to adopt a system of construction which would at any future time
admit of an extension, without derangement of that which now exists, and
so would obviate the very great expense and inconvenience which has
hitherto occurred from alterations and reconstructions.’
In reporting upon this plan, originally framed in 1858, the Committee of
1860, after comparing with it two other but only partial plans of
extension and re-arrangement, prepared respectively by Mr. Sydney SMIRKE
and by Mr. Nevil STORY-MASKELYNE, observe: ‘Your Committee have reason
to think that if any of these plans were adopted—involving the
[immediate] purchase of not more than two acres of land, with the
[immediately] requisite buildings and alterations—the cost would not
exceed three hundred thousand pounds. If, however, only this limited
portion of land should be at once acquired, it is probable that the
price of what remains would be enhanced. If the whole were to be
purchased, as your Committee have already recommended, the cost above
stated would be, of course, increased.’
The recommendation here referred to has been already quoted in a
preceding chapter, together with a statement of the grounds on which it
was based.
[Sidenote: See Chap. III of Book III.]
The only additional elucidation, on this head, which it seems necessary
to give may be found in a passage of the evidence of one of the
Trustees, Sir Roderick MURCHISON, who, in 1858, with other eminent men
of science, presented a Memorial to the then Chancellor of the
Exchequer, praying that the British Museum might _not_ be dismembered by
any transference of the Natural History Collections to another locality.
After saying: ‘I entirely coincide still in every opinion that was
expressed in that Memorial, and I have since seen additional and
stronger reasons for wishing that [its prayer] should be supported,’ Sir
Roderick added: ‘When it was brought before us [that is, before a
Sub-Committee of Trustees] in evidence, that if we were largely to
extend the British Museum at once _in sitû_, and that as large a
building were to be made _in sitû_ as might be made at Kensington, we
then learned that the expense would be greater. But I have since seen
good grounds to believe that by purchasing the ground rents or the land,
to north, east, or west, of the Museum, according to a plan which I
believe has now been prepared and laid before the members of the
Committee [referring to that of Mr. OLDFIELD, just described], and
availing ourselves of the gradual[49] power of enlargement ...
[Sidenote: _Minutes of Evidence_, 1860, Q. 1243–1250, pp. 102, 103.] the
Nation would be put to a much less expense for several years to come,
and would in the end realise all those objects which it is the aim[50]
of men of science to obtain.’
The chief alternative plan is based on the transference of the Natural
History Collections to an entirely new site, and on the devotion to the
uses of the Literary and Archæological Departments of the Museum of the
whole of the space so freed from the scientific departments.
[Sidenote: PLAN FOR THE TRANSFERENCE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS
TO KENSINGTON (OR ELSEWHERE). 1861–62.]
The Committee of 1860 condemned this plan in the main (but only, as it
seems, by a single voice upon a division), but what that Committee had
under consideration was only the first form into which the plan of
separation had been shaped. At the end of the year 1861 and beginning of
1862, that plan was again brought before a Sub-Committee of the
Trustees, at the express instance of the Lords of Her Majesty’s
Treasury, and it was thus reported upon:—
[Sidenote: REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE OF TRUSTEES, Jan., 1862.]
Your Committee, to whom it has been referred to consider the best
manner of carrying into effect the Treasury Minute of the thirteenth
of November, 1861, and the Resolution passed at the special general
meeting of the third of December of the same year, have unanimously
agreed to the following report:[51]—
[Sidenote: MINUTE OF TREASURY.]
The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury state in that
Minute, ‘That, in their judgment, some of the collections ought to be
removed from the present buildings, and that they will be prepared to
make proposals at the proper time to the Royal Commissioners of the
Exhibition of 1851, with a view to the provision, on the estate of the
Commissioners, of space and buildings, which shall be adequate to
receive in particular, at first the Mineralogical, Geological, and
Palæontological Collections, and ultimately, in case it shall be
thought desirable, all those of the Natural History Departments.’
Their Lordships, after having invited the Trustees to prosecute the
further examination of the question, continue as follows:—‘It will
have to be considered what other or minor branches of the collections
may, with propriety or advantage, be removed to other sites, or even
made over, if in any case it might seem proper, to other
establishments.’
Your Committee have, therefore, thought it their duty at the outset to
examine whether all the Natural History Collections, viz. the
Zoological and Botanical, in addition to the Geological,
Palæontological, and Mineralogical, specified in the Treasury Minute,
might with propriety and advantage be removed from the present British
Museum buildings. [Sidenote: ALL COLLECTIONS OF NATURAL HISTORY TO BE
REMOVED.] The importance, as regards science, of preserving together
all objects of Natural History, was forcibly urged by Sir R.
MURCHISON, at the special general meeting of the third of December. In
a Memorial laid before the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1858, and
signed by more than one hundred and twenty eminent promoters and
cultivators of science,[52] it was represented ‘that as the chief end
and aim of natural history is to demonstrate the harmony which
pervades the whole, and the unity of principle, which bespeaks the
unity of the Creative Cause, it is essential that the different
classes of natural objects should be preserved in juxtaposition under
the roof of one great building.’ Your Committee concur in this
opinion, and they have come to the conclusion that it is essential to
the advantage of science and of the collections which are to remain in
Bloomsbury, that the removal of all the objects of Natural History
should take place, and, as far as practicable, should be
simultaneously effected.
[Sidenote: BOTANY.]
With regard to Botany, it is a question whether the existence of the
Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew does not suggest an exception as to the
place to which the British Museum Botanical Collection should be
removed, reserving a small series for the illustration of fossil
Botany, in connexion with Palæontology.
It is to be kept in view that the removal of the Palæontology,
Geology, and Mineralogy, would leave unoccupied only two very
inconveniently placed rooms in the basement, besides the north half of
the north gallery on the upper floor (about four hundred feet in
length, by thirty-six in width); whereas the recently imported marbles
from Halicarnassus, Cnidus, Geronta, and Cyrene, fill completely the
space under the colonnade, extending to about five hundred and forty
feet in length. Nor can your Committee omit to add, that should the
removal of the Botany and Zoology be delayed, the final and systematic
arrangement of the collections which are to remain must be equally
delayed; while, if any portions of these were removed to other
situations in the Museum, or their final transfer postponed, many of
the objects retained would have again to be shifted for the sake of
congruity and economy of space.
It is, therefore, recommended by your Committee, that all the Natural
History Collections be speedily and simultaneously removed.
[Sidenote: ETHNOLOGICAL COLLECTION TO BE REMOVED.]
Together with these the Ethnological Collection ought to be provided
for elsewhere. Most of the objects which it contains have no affinity
with those which are contained in the other parts of the Museum, nor
is the collection worthy of this country for its extent, nor yet,
owing to its exceptional character, is it brought together in a
methodical and instructive manner. Occupying but a secondary place in
the British Museum, it cannot obtain either the space or the attention
which it might obtain, were it not surrounded and cast into the shade
by a vast number of splendid and interesting objects which have
irresistible claims to preference. Mr. HAWKINS was of opinion, ‘that
if Ethnography be retained,’ it would be necessary to quadruple the
space for its exhibition. The Select Committee in their report (p.
vii), state that ‘they have received evidence from every witness
examined on this subject in favour of the removal of the
Ethnographical Collection.’ If it were to be retained, an area of ten
thousand feet (same report, p. xi) would be required. Your Committee
cannot, therefore, hesitate to recommend the removal of the
Ethnographical Collection to a fitter place. [Sidenote: PORTRAITS.]
Nor can they hesitate in proposing the removal, from the present
Ornithological Gallery, of the Collection of Portraits hanging on the
walls above the presses containing the stuffed birds. Those paintings
having no connexion with the objects for the preservation of which the
Museum was founded, would never have been placed there had there been
a National Portrait Gallery in existence for their reception.
[Sidenote: SPACE LEFT VACANT.]
The following is a detailed statement of the space which would be left
vacant in various parts of the Museum by the removal of the above
collections....
Then follows an enumeration, first, of the space left vacant by the
removal of the Geological, Palæontological, and Mineralogical
Collections, amounting in the whole to an area of twenty thousand one
hundred and thirty-five feet; secondly, of the space left vacant by the
removal of the Zoological Collection, amounting to an area of
thirty-five thousand four hundred and twenty-eight feet; thirdly, of the
space left vacant by the removal of the Botanical Collection, amounting
to five thousand nine hundred feet; and, finally, of the space left
vacant by the removal of the Ethnological Collection, namely, a room on
the south side of the upper floor, marked ‘3’ on the plan, ninety-four
feet by twenty-four, giving an area of two thousand two hundred and
fifty-six feet; and giving, in the whole, an aggregate area of
sixty-five thousand and seventy-nine feet.
[Sidenote: TREASURY MINUTE; ALTERATION OF PRESENT BUILDING.]
Having enumerated the collections which might, with propriety and
advantage, be removed from the British Museum, and stated the extent of
new accommodation which would consequently be gained for other
collections, the Committee proceeded to consider, in the words of the
Treasury Minute, ‘the two important questions—first, of such final
enlargement and alterations of the present buildings as the site may
still admit, and as may be conducive to the best arrangement of the
interior; secondly, of the redistribution of the augmented space among
the several collections that are to remain permanently at the Museum,
among which, of course, my Lords give the chief place to the Library
Departments and the Antiquities.’
The Committee, agreeing with their Lordships that the chief claims in
the redistribution of the augmented space are those of the Antiquities
and of the Library Departments, then proceed to say that—
They have thought themselves bound also to pay attention to certain
other important purposes, to which a portion of the space to be
obtained by alterations within and by building on some remaining spots
of unoccupied ground, might be beneficially applied.
[Sidenote: TRUSTEES’ OFFICES.]
Your Committee have, in the first place, had their attention drawn to
that part of the existing buildings appropriated to the administrative
department of the Museum. The want of space for clerks, for Museum
publications, for stationery, for the archives of the Trust, for
papers of all descriptions, for the transaction of business with
officers and servants of the Trustees, and with tradesmen, as well as
the want of a waiting-room for strangers of all ranks who have to
attend on the Trustees, or wish to have interviews with their chief
officer or any of the persons attached to his office, is the cause of
great embarrassment and discomfort. To which is to be added the
inconvenience caused by the unsuitable arrangement of the rooms, which
renders those who occupy them liable to perpetual interruptions.
Moreover, by the strict rule forbidding the admission of artificial
light into the Museum, the period of available working time is
occasionally much abridged. Another site must be found for this
department; there are no means of providing on its present site
against the evils above mentioned.
In the next place, your Committee have taken into consideration the
absolute necessity of providing for the exhibition of specimens of
coins and medals, always intended by the Trustees, but never carried
into effect for want of space. [Sidenote: EXHIBITION OF COINS AND
MEDALS.] And not only a selection of coins and medals, but also one of
gems, cameos, and valuable ornaments, should be exhibited to Museum
visitors. The want of room for such a purpose is the source of great
trouble and inconvenience. The present Medal Room is much too confined
even for the arrangement and preservation of its contents, and for
such accommodation of its officers as is necessary to enable them to
perform properly their duties. Moreover, as visitors cannot be
indiscriminately admitted to the Ornament Room, still less to the
Medal Room, such of them as do not take the proper steps for gaining
access to those rooms are debarred from seeing even specimens of
objects which acquire a peculiar interest in proportion to the
strictness with which they are guarded. The general visitors should
have an opportunity of satisfying their laudable curiosity by seeing a
good selection of coins, just as they can at the present time see
interesting specimens of manuscripts and printed books; scholars and
persons who have special reasons for examining coins leisurely and
minutely, ought to have the means of doing so comfortably under proper
regulations, and in a separate room, in the same manner as readers are
allowed to use books; but no stranger should be admitted into the room
where the Collection of Coins and Medals is preserved unless in rare
and exceptional cases, and always in the presence of the
Principal-Librarian, or the keeper of the department.
[Sidenote: EXHIBITION OR PRINTS AND DRAWINGS.]
In the third place, your Committee, being aware of the importance of
space for the due exhibition of prints and drawings, and of the
repeated complaints of the keeper of that department, who cannot find
room wherein to arrange the collection so as to have it safely
preserved as well as readily accessible, have given their best
attention to those complaints. Most of the inconveniences which are
felt by visitors, as well as by Museum officers, in the existing Medal
Room, are equally felt in the existing Print Room; and many of the
wants which it is suggested should be provided for to make the
Collection of Coins and Medals as useful and instructive as it ought
to be in a great national institution, are wants against which
provision must be made in order to render equally useful and
instructive the Collection of Prints and Drawings. These wants are
ample space for classing, arranging, and preserving the bulk of the
collection, as well as ample space wherein to exhibit, for the
amusement and instruction of the public generally, such a selection of
prints and drawings as may be calculated to give a general notion of
both arts from their infancy to comparatively modern times, in various
countries, and according to the style of the most celebrated masters.
Studies should likewise be provided for the keeper, and also for an
assistant-keeper, in this department, as well as accommodation for
artists who come to copy or study critically any of the objects, or
classes of objects, forming part of this collection, and for those who
come for the purpose of researches requiring less minute attention,
and who desire to see a variety of prints and drawings in succession.
[Sidenote: BINDERS’ SHOPS.]
In the fourth place, your Committee have taken into consideration the
want of space for carrying on the binding of the Museum books. The
Collection of Manuscripts, and, much more, that of Printed Books, have
of late years been increasing with unexampled rapidity; but the
bookbinders’ accommodation has not been increased in a corresponding
ratio. The damage caused, particularly to new books, placed unbound in
the readers’ hands, may well be conceived; and the Trustees were
compelled, by the necessity of the case, to sanction an expedient of
doubtful legality, by allowing a large number of books, which in case
of misfortune might be easily replaced at a comparatively small
outlay, to be taken out of the Museum to be bound in a house
immediately opposite to it, hired by the bookbinder. Your Committee
think that such an arrangement, avowedly a temporary one, ought not to
continue a moment longer than is unavoidable; and that adequate
provision should be made as speedily as possible within the Museum
premises for binding all books belonging to the Trust.
[Sidenote: ALTERATIONS AND REDISTRIBUTION OF SPACE GENERALLY.]
Your Committee will now proceed to consider the questions of the final
enlargement and alterations of the present buildings, and of the
redistribution of the augmented space for the several purposes above
mentioned. In making the following proposals, your Committee have kept
in view the principle that it would not be advisable for the Trustees
to appropriate specifically to particular objects any particular
space. They will, therefore, as much as possible, confine themselves
to stating how the augmented space should be generally redistributed
among the remaining collections, giving the chief place to the
Antiquities and Library; the arrangement of the particular objects or
classes of objects should rest on the responsibility of the head of
each department, who would in due time submit his views to the
Trustees. Your Committee also wish it to be clearly understood that
the structural details herein suggested or implied, must be considered
liable to such modifications as the farther development of the scheme
may require.
[Illustration:
BRITISH MUSEUM.
PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR.
]
[Sidenote: NEW STAIRCASES.]
In the building as now arranged, the principal staircase (No. 69 on
the plan of the ground floor) is situated on the left in the Entrance
Hall (No. 2); opposite to the entrance is the corridor (No. 80)
leading to the Reading-Room; east and west of that corridor, between
the main building and the new Library, there is an area (No. 70 and
79) about thirty feet wide unoccupied. It has long been suggested that
the principal staircase should be removed from No. 69, and that two
staircases be erected on the area 70 and 79, one on each side of No.
80. The hall entrance (No. 2) would be lighted by the skylight already
existing in the roof, and by a corresponding opening to be made in the
upper floor. The site of the principal staircase, No. 69, would be
occupied by a large room, seventy-five feet by thirty-five, giving an
area of two thousand six hundred and twenty-five feet, exactly like
the one opposite to it (No. 58) in height as in every other respect,
with a floor on a level with the rest of the building.
[Sidenote: PRESENT ROMAN GALLERY.]
There are blank windows on the north side of the principal staircase
that would have to be cut through to light the new room, and
additional light could be admitted if necessary. On the south of the
projected new room is a narrow room, ninety-four feet by twenty-four
(No. 3), designated as the Roman Gallery, the light of which is very
defective, especially on the side of the windows opening under the
front colonnade. The Collections of Antiquities contain some large
objects, more interesting archæologically than artistically, for which
light on each side of them is very desirable. If the wall now
separating the staircase from No. 3 were removed, and pilasters or
columns substituted (the upper part of that wall in the floor above
might likewise be removed if desirable), a room ninety-four feet by
sixty, giving an area of five thousand six hundred and forty feet,
admirably adapted for antiquities of this kind, would be obtained.
[Sidenote: TRUSTEES’ PRESENT OFFICES.]
At the western extremity of the Roman Gallery (No. 3), and turning
southward, are the Trustees’ room (No. 4), two rooms for clerks (No. 5
and 6), and the study of the Principal-Librarian (No. 7). It is
proposed to remove all the partition walls inside the space occupied
by No. 4, 6, and 5, and by the corridor on the east of No. 4, and to
open windows on the west side at the same height, and uniform with
those in the gallery No. 17, of which this part of the building would
then be a continuation, opening a communication like that on the
corresponding side on the east (between No. 56 and 63). The Egyptian
Gallery might thus be extended to the total length of four hundred and
sixty-five feet.
[Sidenote: NEW BUILDINGS ON NO. 11.]
By removing the corridor and study No. 7, as well as the projection on
the north side of the house now occupied by Mr. CARPENTER, so far west
as the point at which it would intersect a prolongation to the south
of the west wall of the first Elgin Room, a plot of unoccupied ground,
one hundred feet by seventy-five, might be turned to great advantage.
The interior arrangement of this newly acquired space would depend on
the purposes to which the Trustees should think fit to apply it:
whether, for instance, it might be advisable to throw into it the
third Græco-Roman Saloon (No. 10), which is now by common consent too
narrow, or whether the western part of that plot of ground had not
better be set out as a continuation of the Elgin Room, which should be
carried through the end of the above room (No. 10) and of the Lycian
Room (No. 13). Before finally deciding this point it would be
imperative to determine what is to be done with the Lycian Room, which
is in an unfinished state, because it neither is nor ever was large
enough for the collection for which it was intended; whilst, on the
other hand, it contains objects which ought never to have been placed
there, and which ought to be removed. [Sidenote: SPACE ACQUIRED (NO.
4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13).] Until the keeper of the department has
before him a correct plan of all the space which he may eventually
have at his disposal, and until he has well considered how the objects
to be placed ought to be arranged, he cannot give a decided opinion
upon any scheme for building on the plot now under consideration. For
the present purpose it is enough to say that the Trustees’ room and
those annexed (No. 4, 5, and 6), giving an area of about two thousand
nine hundred and fifty feet on the ground floor, and a large piece of
ground, one hundred feet by seventy-five, may be beneficially applied
to the Department of Antiquities.
[Sidenote: BUILDINGS ON NO. 31 AND 32, AND ALTERATION OF PRESENT PRINT
ROOM.]
No. 14 and 18 are the two Elgin Rooms, containing the finest reliques
of Greek art in existence, which have remained unarranged for years,
owing to the difficulties which the space hitherto available presented
for their definitive arrangement, and to the uncertainty of the final
appropriation of the space No. 31. It seems, however, to be generally
admitted that on the unoccupied plot of ground, No. 31, a continuation
of the second Elgin Room should be erected of the same width, to
include the Print Room, the floor of which should be lowered to the
general level of the Museum ground floor, and its width extended
westward about seven feet. Another gallery might thus be formed
altogether four hundred and seventy-five feet long and thirty-seven
wide. Should it not extend farther than the southern extremity of the
first Elgin Room (No. 14), its length would be three hundred and
thirty feet. The plot of ground, No. 32, ought also to be applied to
the accommodation of Antiquities. The study No. 23 should be done away
with. [Sidenote: ALTERATION OF STAIRCASE, NO. 27.] The two lower
flights of the N.W. staircase, No. 27, should be taken down and
reconstructed in No. 26 and 36, with the necessary alterations to
reconnect them with the two upper flights, which would remain as they
are now. The studies No. 28, and passage No. 29, should be cleared
away, as well as those above them, together with the lower part of the
western wall of No. 27, the southern wall of that space being
continued to No. 30, thus forming a passage or gallery, about
twenty-two feet wide, for communication between the Northern Egyptian
Gallery and the new gallery to be erected at the north of the Elgin
Rooms. From the new passage thus formed there should be an opening on
the south side, and a flight of steps to descend to the gallery which
is to be built on No. 32. There would be room under the new staircase,
in the space No. 36, to form an additional study for the Printed Book
Department, where it is much wanted. Upon No. 32, a gallery should be
erected from the basement, like the Assyrian Gallery, No. 15, to both
of which access might be had by two handsome staircases, descending
north and south of No. 19, from which it is taken for granted the
Phigaleian Marbles and other objects, now there, would be removed, the
central space being applied to better purposes.
[Illustration:
BRITISH MUSEUM.
PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR.
WITH THE
PROPOSED ALTERATIONS.
]
It does not appear to your Committee that any farther accommodation
for Antiquities can be procured on the ground floor, without
interfering with rooms now appropriated to the Library.
[Sidenote: NEW GALLERY ON NO. 32, LIKE ONE NOW ON NO. 13.]
On the north side of the upper floor, all that portion marked 21, 32,
31, 30, 29, 33, 28, and 27, on the plan of that floor, now occupied by
Geology, Palæontology, and Mineralogy, should be transferred to the
Antiquities. It would be desirable to remove the two studies, marked
21, at the western extremity of that floor, and to add so much more
space to the gallery for exhibition.
[Sidenote: SPACE FOR ANTIQUITIES ON NORTH UPPER FLOOR.]
But before proceeding farther, your Committee wish to make one or two
remarks on the advantages which all the galleries on the upper floor
offer for the exhibition of Antiquities, even of considerable size and
weight, were any of the space on this floor wanted for such objects.
[Sidenote: FITNESS OF UPPER FLOOR FOR SUCH PURPOSES.] With respect to
light, as all these galleries may, if requisite, be lighted by
skylights (those on the east and west being so already), they will so
far meet with the approbation of those who are considered judges of
the kind of light peculiarly required for the exhibition of
sculptures. The size of the rooms gives ample space for the public
exhibition of Antiquities, including statues, not much less than
life-size, if necessary; whilst the galleries, though lofty, will not
dwarf them. Competent critics have pronounced that it is a mistake to
suppose that all sculptures look better in magnificent rooms. The
solidity of the Museum building, throughout, leaves no doubt of its
upper floor being strong enough to receive ordinary marble statues,
not to speak of busts and smaller objects. The floor of the western
end of the northern gallery, marked No. 21 and 32 on the plan, offers
extra solidity, as it rests on substantial walls at intervals of
twelve feet from each other. Your Committee have been assured by their
architect that a mass of marble, weighing several tons, might be
safely deposited on any part of that floor.
[Sidenote: STUDIES.]
With respect to the northernmost central portion (No. 33) of the
gallery now under consideration, it could not be better applied than
to studies for the officers of the Department of Antiquities. Five
such studies might be formed therein, each eighteen feet by sixteen,
opening on a corridor six feet wide and eighty-four long, in which
might be kept the Departmental Collection of Books for the common
daily use of the occupiers of those studies.
The whole of the eastern side of the upper floor, including rooms 35
to 40 (all Zoology), together with the rooms marked 41 (Zoology), 42,
43 (Botany), 1 (Zoology), 2 (the site of the principal staircase, as
well as the smaller staircase on the west of it), and finally No. 3
(Ethnography), should be transferred to the Departments of
Antiquities; subject to the consideration whether the rooms No. 42 and
43 might not be reserved for the Department of Manuscripts, if at any
time required. Space is wanted, not only for Antiquities now
unprovided with any accommodation, but also for the display of future
additions, and for the better arrangement of what is now
unsatisfactorily exhibited, either too far from the eye or in dark
corners. [Sidenote: SPACE FOR ANTIQUITIES ON THE EAST AND SOUTH UPPER
FLOORS.] A large number of objects, to be seen as they ought to be,
must be spread over twice the space which they fill at present; a
great many more, now placed where they cannot be seen at all, ought to
be removed to more suitable situations. [Sidenote: WEST SIDE OF UPPER
FLOOR TO REMAIN FOR ANTIQUITIES.] The whole of the west side—that is,
rooms 9 to 15—would continue to be applied to the exhibition of
Antiquities; it is not, however, to be assumed that the objects now
there would necessarily be left where they are, nor yet that, for
instance, Egyptian Antiquities should necessarily occupy the same
galleries which they occupy at present. From room No. 14 must be
removed either the Egyptian Antiquities now in it, or the Temple
Collection, which was placed there from absolute necessity, there
being no other space whatever where it could be exhibited. The British
and Mediæval Collections would probably have to be removed to some
other part of the upper floor, now occupied, or which it is now
proposed should be occupied, by Antiquities, where the transition
would be less abrupt than from Egyptian to Mediæval.
[Sidenote: EXHIBITION OF COINS AND MEDALS.]
As before suggested, space should be set apart for the exhibition of
Coins and Medals, besides that which is required for their safe
custody, arrangement, and study. Your Committee will presently state
how the latter ought to be provided for. As to the public exhibition
of coins, the three rooms, 8, 5, and 4, in which the coins, medals,
gems, &c., are now kept, would be admirably adapted for the purpose,
after the internal partition walls are removed. It would be desirable
to preserve the two rooms, 6 and 7, the one as a study for an
assistant, who should be always at hand to give information connected
with the coins exhibited close by, and to answer such questions as
would not require reference to the general collection; the other as a
waiting-room, to which a stranger might be more safely and freely
admitted, on the understanding that nothing valuable be kept in it,
whilst admission to the assistant’s room should be much more sparingly
granted. An obvious reason for applying this part of the premises to
the above purpose is, that it is provided with special doors, windows,
and locks, for the safety of the present contents. And as the objects
which it is proposed should be therein exhibited would be of some
considerable value, advantage should be taken of the existing
arrangements for their security. It is to be noted that this
exhibition would not interfere with the arrangement of any Collection
of Antiquities, with none of which could the coins and medals properly
mix, although so nearly allied to them.
[Illustration:
BRITISH MUSEUM.
PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR.
]
The corresponding part of the upper floor on the south-east corner,
No. 44 and 45, is perfectly well adapted for the exhibition of prints
and drawings. As to space for the arrangement and preservation of the
prints and drawings, for the tranquil examination and study of them,
for the studies of the officers, &c., your Committee will presently
lay before you their views.
[Sidenote: EXHIBITION OF PRINTS AND DRAWINGS.]
Your Committee have endeavoured to show how far a portion of the new
accommodation to be gained by removing the Natural History and
Ethnographical Collections, by alterations within the now existing
buildings, and by building on some remaining spots of unoccupied
ground, may with propriety and advantage be applied to the Departments
of Oriental, Mediæval, and Classical Antiquities, of the Coins and
Medals, and of the Prints and Drawings; your Committee will now show
what part of that accommodation might be made available for Printed
Books and Manuscripts.
[Sidenote: PRINTED BOOKS.]
When the erection of the new Library and Reading-Room was suggested,
it was stated that that Library would hold eight hundred thousand
volumes; that is, the annual increase for forty years, calculating
that increase at twenty thousand volumes. But the annual increase has
been, during the last five years, at the rate of upwards of thirty
thousand volumes, and during the last four years at the rate of about
thirty-five thousand, which number, however, is ultimately reduced by
the practice of binding two or more volumes of the same work in one;
while, on the other hand, the new building will certainly contain two
hundred thousand volumes more than it was originally estimated to
hold; so that if the present rate of increase continues, as it ought,
the new Library will be full in about twenty-five years from this
date. It was necessary to say thus much, as a notion seems prevalent
that a great deal more was promised when that building was suggested,
and that the number of books, which that new Library can hold, may
reach an almost fabulous quantity, and the space be sufficient for an
extravagant number of years.
[Sidenote: ROOMS IN BASEMENT TRANSFERRED TO PRINTED BOOKS.]
The rooms on the basement floor of the north side, both marked 15 on
the plan of that floor, and now occupied by Geology, cannot be
otherwise appropriated than to the Department of Printed Books; the
same is to be said of the seven small rooms, marked 17, now used for
Geology, as well as of rooms 18 and 19 on the east side, now used for
Zoology; all these rooms are immediately under the Department of
Printed Books, and naturally belong to it. The rooms marked 13, 14,
and 16, from west to east, were formerly appropriated to the
Department of Printed Books, to which they should now be restored.
When the first importation of Halicarnassian Antiquities took place,
they were deposited temporarily in these rooms, as no other space
whatever could be found in which to shelter and unpack them. In this
space are now arranged the Inscriptions, which have had to be removed
from under the colonnade to make room for the Marbles recently arrived
from Cyrene. Appropriate space for the Inscriptions will be found
without difficulty in the Department of Antiquities, enlarged
according to the foregoing suggestions, or, at all events, in the
basement, either now existing or to be built under the galleries for
Antiquities on the west side of the Museum, where sufficient light may
be procured for objects like these, which are of no great interest to
sightseers, and therefore need not be publicly exhibited; enough that
they be easily accessible to the small number of antiquarians and
scholars who may wish to examine them.
[Sidenote: PART OF NORTH GALLERY IN UPPER FLOOR TO PRINTED BOOKS.]
The north galleries on the upper floor are divided lengthways, from
east to west, into two portions; that now containing Zoological
Collections (No. 22 to 26) can be advantageously appropriated to the
Department of Printed Books when required. The volumes placed there
can be easily lowered down and returned through a hoisting apparatus
to be placed at either the south-east or south-west corner of No. 24,
immediately above No. 41 on the ground floor—the nearest point of any
in the main Library to the Reading-Room. By these various alterations
space would be provided for about two hundred and fifty thousand
printed volumes, in addition to that which still remains available in
that department, from which, however, space for about fifty thousand
volumes would have to be deducted, as will be presently shown.
[Sidenote: WANT OF SPACE IN DEPARTMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS.]
Although there is now space remaining in the Department of Manuscripts
for the accommodation of twelve thousand volumes, and although the
annual average increase of manuscript volumes may be safely reckoned
at less than six hundred and fifty, your Committee have, nevertheless,
felt that prospective increased accommodation should now be provided,
not only for the Collection of Manuscripts, but still more for artists
and readers who have occasion to refer to select manuscripts, as well
as for assistants, of whom two, together with one attendant and eight
readers, are pent up in a space of thirty feet by twenty-three,
crowded with tables, chairs, &c., which scarcely allow room for moving
from one place to another or for access to the officers’ study on each
side. The Head of the Department of Manuscripts has recently
represented to the Trustees his want of six assistants; but he has, at
the same time, been obliged to state that, if appointed, he should not
know where to place them. The Trustees have complied with his request,
to the extent of granting two new assistants; and he will experience
great difficulty in placing the two who are to be appointed. Add to
this, the interruption to which each of these persons is unavoidably
liable from each of the others in the performance of his duties and
occupations, owing chiefly to the narrow space in which they are
confined.
[Illustration:
BRITISH MUSEUM.
PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR WITH THE PROPOSED ALTERATIONS.
]
On account of its locality, the Department of Manuscripts cannot
derive any direct advantage from the removal of the Natural History
Collections; no space which will thus become vacant can be rendered
available for the purpose of remedying the inconveniences here stated.
As, however, the Department of Printed Books obtains the additional
accommodation before mentioned, a portion of the space now occupied by
Printed Books, very conveniently situated to supply the wants of the
Department of Manuscripts, ought to be transferred to this department.
[Sidenote: SPACE TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM PRINTED BOOKS TO MANUSCRIPTS.]
It is, therefore, proposed that the study, marked No. 57 on the ground
floor plan, be removed to the north end of No. 55, now occupied by
Printed Books, and that the site of No. 55 be attached to the
Department of Manuscripts. In that gallery, one hundred and fifteen by
eighteen, excellent accommodation, with abundance of light, would be
found for twenty thousand manuscript volumes—for fifteen students at
least (this number is ample if admission be strictly and _bonâ fide_
limited to the class of persons for whom it is intended) at separate
seats, each having a table space of two feet and a half in depth and
four in length,—and for ten assistants or more, admirably placed for
superintendence. The area of the eastern recess of No. 56 would then
be quite clear, and available for the exhibition of manuscripts, like
the western recess in the same room. And when as large an exhibition
of manuscripts as the space permits is accessible to the public (and
still more accommodation for this exhibition might be found in the
present Department of Manuscripts), the same restrictions as have been
suggested with respect to coins and to prints ought to be imposed on
the handling of select manuscripts.
It now remains to find space wherein to provide proper accommodation
for the binder, as well as for the Trustees’ offices, for the
Collection of Prints and for the Collection of Coins.
[Sidenote: BUILDINGS IN THE GARDEN ATTACHED TO PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIAN’S
HOUSE.]
On the east side of the roadway parallel to the Department of
Manuscripts, there is a piece of ground extending to Montague Street
on the east, to the house No. 30, in that same street towards the
north, and to the Principal-Librarian’s house on the south. On a
portion of this ground stands an old building, now partly appropriated
to the binder and partly used as a guard-house; the remainder forms
the garden attached to the residence of the Principal-Librarian. It
appears to your Committee that by substituting a new building for the
one existing, and by building on the greater part of the garden, ample
accommodation will be found for what is wanted. Your Committee cannot
abstain from mentioning that this great sacrifice of personal
convenience on the part of the Principal-Librarian was suggested and
brought under their notice by that officer himself.
It was some years ago suggested by the Government that the military
guard might be dispensed with at the Museum; at times when the
services of the army were pressingly required, it was felt that
soldiers might be more usefully employed than in being kept for mere
show at the Museum. It was, however, thought that on removing the
military guard, better provision should be made for the safety of the
Museum.
[Sidenote: MILITARY GUARD DISCONTINUED.]
Then follow various details of minor consequence; to which succeed an
enumeration of the additional space gained for the Collections of
Printed Books, Manuscripts, Prints and Drawings, Antiquities, Coins and
Medals, as well as for offices, store-rooms, bookbinders’ shops, &c., by
the proposed alterations, as respects each of the several Departments of
Printed Books, Manuscripts, and Antiquities; and a summary of the whole,
from which it appears that the additional space gained by the Department
of Printed Books amounts to an area of seventeen thousand eight hundred
and three square feet; that the additional space gained by the
Department of Antiquities amounts to sixty-seven thousand six hundred
and ninety-two square feet; and, finally, that the additional space
gained by the Department of Manuscripts amounts to three thousand four
hundred and thirty square feet.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ RECAPITULATION. │
├───────────────────────────────┬───────┬─────────┬──────────┬────────┤
│ │Present│Proposed │ Proposed │Proposed│
│ │Space. │Addition.│Deduction.│ Total. │
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ PRINTED BOOKS. │ │ │ │ │
│Basement │ 33,998│ 14,667│ │ 48,665│
│Ground floor │ 83,748│ │ 2,070│ 81,678│
│Upper floor │ │ 5,206│ │ 5,206│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ │117,746│ 19,873│ 2,070│ 135,549│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ MANUSCRIPTS. │ │ │ │ │
│Basement │ 210│ 1,360│ │ 1,570│
│Ground floor │ 12,968│ 2,070│ │ 15,038│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ │ 13,178│ 3,430│ │ 16,608│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ ANTIQUITIES. │ │ │ │ │
│Basement │ 33,868│ 16,036│ 6,767│ 43,137│
│Ground floor │ 39,334│ 13,775│ │ 53,109│
│Upper floor 21,532│ │ │ │ │
│ Less Coins and Medals 2,950│ │ │ │ │
│ ——————│ 18,582│ 44,648│ │ 63,230│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ │ 91,784│ 74,459│ 6,767│ 159,476│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ COINS AND MEDALS. │ │ │ │ │
│Upper floor │ 2,950│ │ │ │
│New building │ │ 4,950│ │ │
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ │ 2,950│ 4,950│ │ 7,900│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ PRINTS AND DRAWINGS. │ │ │ │ │
│Upper floor │ 2,600│ 3,204│ 2,600│ │
│New building │ │ 4,950│ │ │
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ │ 2,600│ 8,154│ 2,600│ 8,154│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ COMMITTEE ROOM, OFFICES, │ │ │ │ │
│ STORES, &C. │ │ │ │ │
│Basement │ 1,290│ │ 1,290│ │
│Ground floor │ 3,565│ │ 3,565│ │
│Upper floor │ 1,869│ │ 1,869│ │
│New Building (Basement) │ │ 5,400│ │ │
│New Building (Ground) │ │ 4,950│ │ │
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ │ 6,724│ 10,350│ 6,724│ 10,350│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ BINDERS. │ │ │ │ │
│Basement │ 1,360│ │ 1,360│ │
│Detached building │ 3,179│ │ 3,179│ │
│New building │ │ 7,760│ │ │
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ │ 4,539│ 7,760│ 4,539│ 7,760│
└───────────────────────────────┴───────┴─────────┴──────────┴────────┘
Your Committee, proceeds the Report, do not think it necessary to give
the particulars of the accommodation which the unappropriated portions
of the basement floor would afford for the preservation of moulds, as
well as for the formatore, for making and preserving casts of statues
and other large objects, as well as of gems and seals, and also for
providing such decent and suitable conveniences as the health and
comfort of the thousands who visit the Museum absolutely require.
[Sidenote: FUTURE USE OF BASEMENT.]
It is, perhaps, unnecessary to do more than simply to remind the
Trustees that the want of space at the Museum has been felt and has
been urged on the Government for several years past, and that during
the last four or five years the additions to the Collections of
Antiquities have been so rapid and so numerous, as to render it
impossible to do more than provide for them temporary shelter at a
considerable expense, and to the great disfigurement of the noble
façade which entitles the Museum to claim rank among the most
classical buildings of modern times. [Sidenote: URGENCY OF BUILDING AT
ONCE.] Should the above proposals of your Committee meet with the
approbation of the Trustees and the sanction of the Government, they
ought to be carried into effect without delay. The Government would,
doubtless, lose no time in providing a proper building for the
reception of such collections as are to be removed from the Museum;
until this removal has taken place, no redistribution of the vacated
space can be undertaken; but the new structures proposed to be erected
on ground now unoccupied ought to be proceeded with at once, that they
might be rendered available as speedily as possible.
[Sidenote: WHAT TO BE FIRST PUT IN HAND.]
Your Committee are of opinion that the new building facing Montague
Street, the building for the bookbinder, the building intended to be
erected on the ground now vacant between the Elgin Room and the Print
Room, and the construction of the new principal staircases, should be
commenced immediately. The building intended to be erected on the
vacant ground on the west of the Trustees’ Room (No. 11 on the plan),
must, necessarily, be postponed for awhile. The alterations which
might and ought to be rapidly completed, are those which will be
required on the east side of the King’s Library (No. 55 and 57), to
transfer the gallery to the Department of MSS. from that of Printed
Books.
[Sidenote: COMMITTEE OF TRUSTEES TO BE APPOINTED.]
The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury state that ‘they
will be prepared to enter upon the details of these questions in
communication with the Trustees, and even, if it should be desired, to
offer suggestions upon them.’ Your Committee are of opinion that the
proffered assistance should be at once accepted; and that in order to
derive all possible advantage from that assistance a small Committee
of Trustees should be appointed to carry on the necessary
communications with the Treasury, either verbally or otherwise, and to
consider with their Lordships all suggestions that might be offered
respecting the points touched upon in this Report, and their details.
This Committee would be similar to that which the Trustees requested
the Treasury to appoint, by letter of the twentieth of June, 1829, and
which was afterwards appointed by the Trustees themselves, with the
approbation of their Lordships, to direct and superintend, not only
the works then in progress, but those to be afterwards undertaken.
On the tenth of February, 1862—after the communication of this Report to
each of the Trustees individually—the recommendations of the
Sub-Committee were unanimously approved, at a Special General Meeting of
the Trustees, at which twenty-four members of the Board were present.
[Sidenote: _Correspondence Relating to the British Museum_, No. 97 of
Session 1862.] After the adoption of the plans thus accepted, another
Sub-Committee of Trustees was appointed to confer with the Treasury in
order to their realisation.
Before Parliament, this plan of severance and of re-arrangement—after
some modifications of detail which are too unimportant for remark—was
supported, in 1862, with the whole influence of the Government. But it
failed to win any adequate amount either of parliamentary or of public
favour. Some men doubted if the estimated saving, as between building at
Bloomsbury and building at Kensington, would or could be realized.
Others denied that the evils or inconveniences attendant upon severance
would be compensated by any adequate gain on other points. [Sidenote:
THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE OF 1862.] The popularity of the Natural History
Collections; the facilities of access to Great Russell Street; the
weighty—though far from unanimous—expressions of opinion from eminent
men of science in favour of continuance and enlargement, rather than of
severance and removal; all these and other objections were raised, and
were more or less dwelt upon, both in the House of Commons and in
scientific circles out of doors, scarcely less entitled to discuss a
national question of this kind. The Commons eventually decided against
the project by their vote of the 19th May, 1862.
Substantially,—and in spite of small subsequent additions from time to
time to the buildings at Bloomsbury—the question of 1862 is still the
question of 1870. As I have said, it has been my object to state that
question rather than to discuss it.
Should it seem, after full examination, that good government may be
better maintained, and adequate space for growth be efficiently
provided, by enlarging the existing Museum, would it be worthy of
Britain to allow the additional expenditure of a few scores of thousands
of pounds—an expenditure which would be spread over the taxation of many
years—to preponderate in the final vote of Parliament over larger and
more enduring considerations?
In the session of 1866 Mr. Spencer WALPOLE spoke thus: ‘You must either
determine to separate the Collections now in the Museum, or buy more
land in Bloomsbury.... I have always been for keeping them together. I
am, however, perfectly willing to take either course, provided you do
not heap those stores one on another—as at present,’ (July, 1866)—‘in
such a manner as to render them really not so available as they ought to
be to those who wish to make them objects of study.’ Few men are so well
entitled to speak, authoritatively, on the question—because few have
given such an amount of time and labour to its consideration.
By every available and legitimate expression of opinion the Trustees
have acted in the spirit of this remark, made almost four years since,
by one of the most eminent of their number. The words are,
unfortunately, as apposite in March, 1870, as they were in July, 1866.
THE END.
GENERAL INDEX.
Abbot, George, Archbishop of Canterbury, 66, 70
Abercorn, Earl of. _See_ Hamilton
Abercromby, Sir Ralph, 548
Abyssinia, MSS., brought from, 707
Accessibility, Public, of the British Museum, Successive changes in the
Regulations and Statistics of the, 323, 336, 338, 339, 341, 368,
520, 599
Adair, Sir Robert, 373
Æginæ, Vases and other Antiquities brought from, 386 _seqq._
Africa, Pre-historic and Ethnographical Collections from, 699 _seqq._
Agarde, Arthur, and Sir Robert Cotton, 85, 86
Albemarle, Duchess of. _See_ Monk
Albums, Series of German, 457
Alexandria, Sarcophagus from, 365 _seqq._
Allan-Greg Cabinet of Minerals, 606
Almanzi, Joseph, Hebrew Library of, 42
Amadei, Victor, Marbles from the Collection of, 372
Amba-Bichoi, Biblical MSS. from the Monastery of, 615 _seqq._
America, Pre-historic and Ethnographical Collections from, 699 _seqq._
Anadhouly, Exploration by Sir Charles Fellows of, 644
_Ancient Marbles in the British Museum, Description of the_, 372
_seqq._
Anderson, Edmund (of Eyworth and Stratton), 132
Andréossi, Anthony Francis, Count, Researches in the Monasteries of
Nitria of, 610
Angouleme, Duke of, 539
Anne, Queen of England, 207 _seqq._
Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort of James I, 153, 156, 166
Ansse de Villoisin, John Baptist, G. d’, 455
Antiphellus, Researches of Sir Charles Fellows at, 644
_Antiquités Étrusques, &c._, 352 _seqq._
Apotheosis of Homer, 401
Arcadia, Archæological Explorations in, 397 _seqq._
Argos, Vases and other Antiquities from, 386
Artas of Sidon, Ancient glasswork of, 709 _seqq._
Artemisia, Ancient Sculptures from the Mausoleum built by, 664 _seqq._
Arundel, Earl of. _See_ Fitzalan
Arundel, Earl of. _See_ Howard
Arundelian Library, 198 _seqq._
Arundelian Marbles, 197 _seqq._