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Author Todd Wisti
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The British Library's John Ritblat Gallery:
A Wealth of History
by Todd Wisti
Whether a person's penchant is for old books, ancient documents,
religious tomes, the classic music of Beethoven, Handel or Mozart,
the 60' s pop music of the Beatles, antiquated maps, sound recordings
from years gone by or a combination of any of the above, one will
be taken with the collection of English and world history that is
available for sampling at the John Ritblat Gallery inside the British
Library.
The John Ritblat Gallery has the subtitle "Treasures of the British
Library," and provides a wealth of history with no admittance charge
to its visitors. Its namesake, Sir John Ritblat (the Chairman and
Chief Executive of the British Land Company), was a major donor to
the library while it was under construction and was kindhearted in
providing one million pounds for the purchase and installation of
the library's state of the art display cabinets.
Inside the John Ritblat Gallery's display cabinets are over two hundred
historical exhibits. Two hundred, at first take, may not seem like
a large number, but when you consider the overwhelming variety and
historical significance of these items you may find it difficult,
as I did, to visit everything you'd like to have a look at and a ponder
over while you're inside the gallery.
Strolling through the gallery, you'll come across medieval maps,
the earliest known printed book (The Diamond Sutra printed with carved
wood blocks in 868), the first book printed in Europe (the Gutenburg
Bible, from the year 1455), Shakespeare's First Folio from 1623, and
Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland with drawings by the author. Also
in the room are foresighted sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, musical
scores by the likes of Bach and Mozart, Beethoven's tuning fork and
scribbled lyrics of Lennon and McCartney (A Hard Day's Night is particularly
agreeable, being written on a sheet of stationary picturing a cartoon
train).
The 1601 death warrant for the Earl of Essex is viewable, and is
signed with royal spunk and flourish by Queen Elizabeth the First.
King John's Magna Carta from 1215 may be considered to be one of the
more celebrated of the historical records displayed in the gallery;
in this document a king is, in writing, held responsible to abide
by certain articles as law.
Illuminated manuscripts such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, dating
from the year 698, are presented in the room. The Lindisfarne Gospels
were meticulously crafted by monks in Northumberland and ornamented
with wonderfully drawn illustrations reflecting Viking and Celtic
influences.
A room off the main gallery houses the exhibit "Turning the Pages,"
where one is able to pore over a selected collection of books (the
Lindisfarne Gospels, the Sforza Hours, the Diamond Sutra and a Leonardo
da Vinci notebook) on a computer terminal and virtually turn the books'
pages. A highly commended offering, from what I have heard, although
I missed that attraction on my visit to the gallery; I had spied the
National Sound Archive exhibit, and made a beeline towards that, forgetting
about anything else.
A collection of audio from the National Sound Archive is available
to listen to: the first recording of a bird (the call of the Indian
Shama Bird, taken from a wax cylinder made circa 1889), Florence Nightingale
speaking on 30 July, 1890, and the Beatles saying hello are presented
here along with a host of other offerings. I might, in retrospect,
bring along a handkerchief dampened with a slight bit of antiseptic
to discreetly wipe down the public headphones before clamping them
onto my ears. I had hoped to linger at this section of the gallery
for awhile, but a certain aromatic gentleman was wearing the headset
next to the one I was employing, and I began feeling uneasy at the
possibility of encountering a lurking build-up of who-knows-what inside
my headphones. Yes, a quick wipe-down would be in order on my next
visit to the National Sound Archives.
The attractiveness of a library, though, is that it is available
for all to enjoy. Once you think you're done with your tour of the
Ritblat Gallery, you can certainly go back to revisit your favourite
exhibits and scrutinize them further, as well as call upon other sections
of the British Library.
© 2001 Todd Wisti
Todd Wisti writes about The British Library's John Ritblat Gallery
amongst other topics in respect to British travel in his book Full
English Breakfast. Visit the FULL
ENGLISH BREAKFAST web site or buy Todd Wisti's Book here
Full
English Breakfast: A Ramble Through London, Wales, and Yorkshire:
Travel, Adventures, and History
Also by Todd Wisti
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