The Foundation Collection
The Library was established by Parliament in 1753 after the British Museum opened. The director of the museum was known as the “Principal Librarian”. The collection included the Cottonian library holdings. This was known as the foundation collection which included other private collections bequeathed to the library. King George II in 1759 presented the Royal collection. This private and Royal collection built up the library foundation which included many manuscripts and printed books. Adding to this King George III collection was donated by the Crown.
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| The King's Library in 1851 |
"When George III came to the throne in 1760, there was no substantial royal library. The so-called Old Royal Library had been moved out of St James's Palace in 1708, before being finally presented to the new British Museum by King George II in 1757. (The Old Royal Library is now dispersed in the British Library.) George III therefore inherited only small collections of books, located in various royal residences.
King George III, 1762
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He seems to have decided early in his reign to form a new library, one worthy of an 18th-century monarch. The first major step towards this was achieved in 1763 with the acquisition of the library of Joseph Smith (1682-1770), who had been British Consul at Venice. This collection was especially rich in the classics and in examples of early printing. From around this time, King George's agents attended many of the major book sales held in London and on the Continent. They acquired both individual volumes and entire private libraries, benefiting especially from the closure and dispersal of Jesuit libraries across southern Europe. Some significant works were also donated, including examples of early printing as well as contemporary works presented by their authors.From 1774, and for the rest of the King's life, Frederick Augusta Barnard (1742-1830) was the Royal Librarian. Barnard tried to develop the collection in a systematic way, and sought guidance from notable intellectual figures, including the writer and lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson. With this advice, the collection grew to be rich in classical literature, British and European history, English and Italian literature, and religious texts."
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| Chaucer's Canterbury Tales |
It also contains many examples of early printing, including a copy of the Gutenberg Bible (copy printed on paper at shelfmark C.9.d.3,4), and Caxton's first edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (shelfmark 167.c.26). But it also contained less scholarly material, including many of the more general periodicals of the day. By the time of the King's death in 1820, the Library comprised around 65,000 volumes of printed books, with a further 19,000 pamphlets. There were also manuscripts (now in the British Library Manuscript Collections), as well as bound volumes of maps and topographical views (mostly with the British Library Map Collections)".
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| Image of Gutenberg Bible |