The Museum Library: a gift to the nation
"At the death of George III in 1820, the collection passed to his son George IV, Prince Regent since 1811. The new king was soon set on rebuilding the Queen's House to provide a suitable palace, and after some negotiation with the government, the library was offered as a gift to the British nation in 1823. It was decided that the gift should be placed in the British Museum, on the understanding that it would keep its separate identity. After a temporary sojourn in Kensington Palace, in 1828 the books (with the exception of a few choice items withheld by the King and today at the Royal Library Windsor) were moved to the new King's Library Gallery, designed in Greek Revival style especially for the collection by Sir Robert Smirke. The arrival of the King's Library doubled the size of the British Museum's printed book collections."
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| The British Museum: [Payne, Albert Henry, 1812-1902]. |
An engraving from the workshop of Albert Henry Payne. One of a series of "Illustration London, or a Series of the Views in the British Metropolis and it's Vicinity". [London, 1852].
The King’s Library
"The King's Library was a royal collection of books created by King George III and donated to the nation. A gallery, named after the collection, was built at the British Museum in 1827 to house them. It is the oldest room in the Museum and now home to the permanent exhibition Enlightenment: Discovering the world in the eighteenth century".