Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beau Brummell considered that a sedan chair was the only acceptable
vehicle for a gentleman to use in town.
Leave the square by Bloomsbury Street, then left into Great Russell Street to the British
Museum. The collection was moved here in 1759 to be housed in Montague House.
The Picture of London
instructs:
Persons who wish to see the British Museum should apply at the Assembling Room on any Monday,
Wednesday, or Friday, between ten and two when they will be required to inscribe their names and places
of abode, in a book kept for that purpose. Five companies, of not more than 15 persons each, may be
admitted in the course of the day, at the hours of 10, 11, 12, 1 and 2, when the attendant, whose turn it
is, will conduct the companies through the house.
The original British Museum, replaced in 1823 with the building we see
today.
Treasures amassed in these early years included Sir William Hamilton's collection of an-
tique vases; the Egyptian antiquities, including the Rosetta Stone, captured from the French
in 1801 after the battle of Alexandria (still, in 1807, housed in a large shed near the en-
trance); and, in 1816, the marbles from the Parthenon collected by Lord Elgin. By 1823
work had begun on the building that houses the museum today.
The Regency and Georgian exhibits are in rooms 46-7 and contain examples of the high
style of the period, including jewellery, porcelain, glass and
objets d'art
.
The British Museum has a tearoom and plenty of opportunities to sit down and rest after
your walk.
