Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
are the Lindisfarne Gospels,
Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales,
Handel's
Messiah,
and
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
). Items usually on view include the Magna Carta,
Shakespeare's First Folio, Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, and at least one book by
Jane Austen. If your heart's set on seeing that one particular rare Dickens book or let-
ter penned by Gandhi, call ahead to make sure it's on display.
Tours:
There are no guided tours or audioguides for the permanent collection. There are,
however,
guided tours
of the building itself—the archives and reading rooms (for
details, call 020/7412-7639 or see the website).
Touch-screen computers
in the per-
manent collection let you page virtually through some of the rare books.
Length of This Tour:
Allow one hour.
Cloakroom:
Free. Lockers require
£
1 coin deposit (no large bags). For security, bags may
be searched at the library entrance.
Services:
There's free Wi-Fi throughout the library.
Photography:
No photos allowed.
Eating:
The upper-level restaurant has good hot meals. The ground-floor café (sandwiches
and drinks) is next to the vast and fun pull-out stamp collection. From either café,
you'll see the 50-foot-tall wall of 65,000 books, a present to the people from King Ge-
orge IV in 1823. The high-tech bookshelf is behind glass and has movable lifts. For
Starring:
Bibles, Shakespeare, English Lit 101, Magna Carta, and—ladies and gentle-
men—the Beatles.
(See “British Library” map,
here
.)
Entering the library courtyard, you'll see a big statue of a naked Isaac Newton bending
forward with a compass to measure the universe. The statue symbolizes the library's pur-
pose: to gather all knowledge and promote humanity's endless search for truth.
Stepping inside, you'll find the information desk and shop. The cloakroom and WC
are down a short staircase to the right. The reading rooms upstairs are not open to the gen-
eral public. The PACCAR Gallery, down a few steps to the left, houses temporary exhibits
(sometimes requiring an admission charge).
