Books Gallery

Reading Room of the Great Library at the British Museum seen from the Entrance, c1935

Reading Room of the Great Library at the British Museum seen from the Entrance, c1935. The circular Reading Room of the British Museum in central London was designed by Sydney Smirke (1798-1877). Construction began in 1854 and was completed in 1857. The Reading Room used to be the main reading room of the British Library. Famous users include Karl Marx, Lenin, Ghandi, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling and Virginia Woolf. From "Wonderful London, Volume 3", edited by Arthur St John Adcock. [The Fleetway House, London, c1935]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Baron's Prayer, 1895-1896. Creator: Aubrey Beardsley

The Baron's Prayer, 1895-1896. A man prays before a pile of books. - to Love an altar built; Of twelve vast French romances, neatly gilt. There lay three garters, half a pair of gloves; And all the trophies of his former loves'. Illustration for "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope, published privately by Leonard Smithers in 1896. Rape in this context refers not to sexual violence but to the theft and carrying away of a lock of hair, from the Latin rapere: to snatch, to grab, to carry off. From "The Best of Beardsley" edited by R. A. Walker, [The Bodley Head, London, 1948]

© Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

The Madonna with the Seven Founders of the Servite Order, c. 1728

The Madonna with the Seven Founders of the Servite Order, c. 1728. [The Order was founded in 1233 by "the seven holy founders": Bonfilius of Florence, born Bonfilius Monaldi (Buonfiglio dei Monaldi); Alexis of Florence, born Alexis Falconieri; Manettus of Florence, born Benedict dell'Antella (Benedetto dell Antella); Amideus of Florence, born Bartholemew Amidei; Hugh of Florence, born Ricovero Uguccioni (Hugh dei Lippi Uggucioni (Ricovero dei Lippi-Ugguccioni)); Sostene of Florence, born Gerardino Sostegni (Gherardino di Sostegno); and Buonagiunta of Florence, born John Manetti (Giovanni di Buonagiunta (Bonajuncta)]

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