Growth to the 20th Century

Montagu House

Montagu House in Bloomsbury was sold to the Trustees of the British Museum in 1759 and was the home of that institution until it was demolished in the 1840s to make way for larger premises. The library's first reading room was established in Montagu House which was the original home of the British Museum. As patronage increased more reading rooms were constructed. After the donation of books from King George III’s collection, the library's growth and development depended upon donations from the aristocracy of that society.

In 1837 Antonio Panizzi was given the position of “Keeper of the Printed Books”. One of his tasks was to relocate the 235,000 volumes to a new building. During his time working at the British Museum library, Panozzi developed a new cataloguing system. He was able to convince the parliament to enforce a law whereby all publishers made a legal deposit titles. A massive circular reading room constructed of glass, cast iron and concrete was opened in 1857 which contained 25 miles of shelving space. To use this room library patrons were required to apply in writing to the for a “readers ticket" from the principal librarian.

British Museum Reading Room 1857 

 During this period the library grew rapidly. Another notable person working in the library, Sir Fredrick Madden acquired a collection of valuable manuscripts which have become national treasures. Madden worked the remains of damaged books burned by the Cottonian fires (1731). By 1857 the hand written catalogue had grown to 2,250 volumes and a total of 1.25 million printed volumes were held. The library's general catalogue was not completed till 1905.

Diamond Sutra - 9th Century, China

Rare and valuable items were collected such as the Gutenberg Bible, 1215 Magna Carta. Working manuscripts from well know composers such as Bitten to Bach, other printed materials, maps and a collection know as the Oriental Department including a copy of the Diamond Sutra from the 9th Century China. The Indian Office were established through legal deposits

As the library's collection grew a new building was constructed early in the 20th Century. This was to house a Map Library, Music Library and Newspaper Library, Official Publications and a Copyright Receipt Office.