Lives of the Founders of the British Museum, Part 1 of 2 / With Notices of Its Chief Augmentors and Other Benefactors, 1570-1870.

by Edward Edwards

CONTENTS.

BOOK THE FIRST.
EARLY COLLECTORS:—THE GATHERERS OF THE FOUNDATION COLLECTIONS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
	PAGE
Chronological Epochs in the Formation of the British Museum	[5]
CHAPTER II.
THE FOUNDER OF THE COTTONIAN LIBRARY.
The Personal and Public Life of Sir Robert Cotton.—His Political Writings and Political Persecutions.—Sources and Growth of the Cottonian Library.—The Successors of Sir Robert Cotton.—History of the Cottonian Library, until its union with the Manuscript Library of Harley, and with the Museum and Miscellaneous Collections of Sloane.—Review of some recent Aspersions on the Character of the Founder	[48]
CHAPTER III.
THE CHIEF COLLECTOR AND THE AUGMENTORS OF THE OLD ROYAL AND PUBLIC LIBRARY AT ST. JAMES’.
Life of Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James I, and virtual Founder of the ‘Royal Library.’—Its Augmentors and its Librarians.—Acquisition of the Library of the Theyers.—Incorporation with the Collections of Cotton and of Sloane	[153]
CHAPTER IV.
THE COLLECTOR OF THE ARUNDELIAN MSS.
Political Exile and Foreign Travel under Elizabeth and under James.—Life of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel.—The Consolations of Connoisseurship.—Vicissitudes of the Arundel Museum.—The gifts of Henry Howard to the Royal Society	[172]
CHAPTER V.
THE COLLECTOR OF THE HARLEIAN MSS.
The Harley Family.—Parliamentary and Official Career of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford.—The Party Conflicts under Queen Anne.—Robert Harley and Jonathan Swift.—Harley and the Court of the Stuarts.—Did Harley conspire to restore the Pretender?—History of the Harleian Library.—The Life and Correspondence of Humphrey Wanley	[203]
CHAPTER VI.
THE FOUNDERS OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM.
Flemish Exiles in England.—The Adventures, Mercantile and Colonial Enterprises, and Vicissitudes of the Courtens.—William Courten and his Collections.—The Life and Travels of Sir Hans Sloane.—His acquisition of Courten’s Museum.—Its Growth under the new Possessor.—History of the Sloane Museum and Library, and of their purchase by Parliament	[247]
BOOK THE SECOND.
THE ORGANIZERS, AND EARLY AUGMENTORS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Househunting.—The Removal of the Sloane Museum from Chelsea.—Montagu House, and its History.—The Early Trustees and Officers.—The Museum Regulations.—Early Helpers in the Foundation and Increase of the British Museum.—Epochs in the Growth of the Natural History Collections.—Experiences of Inquiring Visitors in the years 1765–1784	[317]
CHAPTER II.
A GROUP OF CLASSICAL ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS.
Sir William Hamilton and his Pursuits and Employments in Italy.—The Acquisitions of the French Institute of Egypt, and the capture of part of them at Alexandria.—Charles Towneley and his Collection of Antiquities.—The Researches of the Earl of Elgin in Greece.—The Collections and Writings of Richard Payne Knight	[346]
CHAPTER III.
A GROUP OF BOOK-LOVERS AND PUBLIC BENEFACTORS.
Notices of some early Donors of Books.—The Life and Collections of Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode.—William Petty, first Marquess of Lansdowne, and his Library of Manuscripts.—The Literary Life and Collections of Dr. Charles Burney.—Francis Hargrave and his Manuscripts.—The Life and Testamentary Foundations of Francis Henry Egerton, Ninth Earl of Bridgewater	[413]
CHAPTER IV.
THE KING’S OR ‘GEORGIAN’ LIBRARY;—ITS COLLECTOR, AND ITS DONOR.
Notices of the Literary Tastes and Acquirements of King George the Third.—His Conversations with Men of Letters.—History of his Library and of its Transfer to the British Nation by George the Fourth	[464]
CHAPTER V.
THE FOUNDER OF THE BANKSIAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY.
The Life, Travels, and Social Influence, of Sir Joseph Banks.—The Royal Society under his Presidency.—His Collections and their acquisition by the Trustees of the British Museum.—Notices of some other contemporaneous accessions	[487]
BOOK THE THIRD.
LATER AUGMENTORS AND BENEFACTORS.
1829–1870.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION, AS PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIAN, OF JOSEPH PLANTA.
Notices of the Life of Joseph Planta, third Principal-Librarian.—Improvements in the Internal Economy of the Museum introduced or recommended by Mr. Planta.—His labours for the enlargement of the Collections—and on the Museum Publications and Catalogues.—The Museum Gardens and the Duke of Bedford	[515]
CHAPTER II.
INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III (continued):—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF SIR HENRY ELLIS.
Internal Economy of the Museum at the time of the death of Joseph Planta.—The Literary Life and Public Services of Sir Henry Ellis.—The Candidature of Henry Fynes Clinton.—Progress of Improvement in certain Departments.—Introduction of Sir Antonio Panizzi into the Service of the Trustees.—The House of Commons’ Committee of 1835–36.—Panizzi and Henry Francis Cary.—Memoir of Cary.—Panizzi’s Report on the proper Character of a National Library for Britain, made in October, 1837.—His successive labours for Internal Reform.—And his Helpers in the work.—The Literary Life and Public Services of Thomas Watts.—Sir A. Panizzi’s Special Report to the Trustees of 1845, and what grew thereout.—Progress, during Sir H. Ellis’s term of office, of the several Departments of Natural History and of Antiquities	[527]
CHAPTER III.
INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III (continued):—GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND INTERNAL ECONOMY, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM DURING THE PRINCIPAL-LIBRARIANSHIP OF SIR ANTONIO PANIZZI.
The Museum Buildings.—The New Reading-Room and its History.—The House of Commons’ Committee of 1860.—Further Reorganization of the Departments.—Summary of the Growth of the Collections in the years 1856–1866, and of their increased Use and Enjoyment by the Public	[583]
CHAPTER IV.
ANOTHER GROUP OF ARCHÆOLOGISTS AND EXPLORERS.—THE SPOILS OF XANTHUS, OF BABYLON, OF NINEVEH, OF HALICARNASSUS, AND OF CARTHAGE.
The Libraries of the East.—The Monasteries of the Nitrian Desert, and their Explorers.—William Cureton and his Labours on the MSS. of Nitria, and in other Departments of Oriental Literature.—The Researches in the Levant of Sir Charles Fellows, of Mr. Layard, and of Mr. Charles Newton.—Other conspicuous Augmentors of the Collection of Antiquities	[608]
CHAPTER V.
THE FOUNDER OF THE GRENVILLE LIBRARY.
The Grenvilles and their Influence on the Political Aspect of the Georgian Reigns.—The Public and Literary Life of the Right Honourable Thomas Grenville.—History of the Grenville Library	[670]
CHAPTER VI.
OTHER BENEFACTORS OF RECENT DAYS.
Recent Contributors to the Natural History Collections.—The Duke of Blacas and his Museum of Greek and Roman Antiquities.—Hugh Cuming and his Travels and Collections in South America.—John Rutter Chorley, and his Collection of Spanish Plays and Spanish Poetry.—George Witt and his Collections illustrative of the History of Obscure Superstitions.—The Ethnographical Museum of Henry Christy, and its History.—Colonial Archæologists and British Consuls: The History of the Woodhouse Collection, and of its transmittal to the British Museum.—Lord Napier and the Acquisition of the Abyssinian MSS.—The Art Collections and Bequests of Felix Slade.—The Travels and the Japanese Library of Von Siebold	[686]
CHAPTER VII.
RECONSTRUCTORS AND PROJECTORS.
The Plans and Projects for the Severance and Partial Dispersion of the Collections which at present form ‘The British Museum,’ and for their re-combination and re-arrangement	[721]
Index	[763]