Still Mr. Hosking could not be convinced that, in other points, his design was not feloniously used and himself consequently wronged by Panizzi, and so published a long pamphlet dwelling, amongst other things, on the alleged fact that the latter must have seen the copy of the Builder which he sent to him in May, 1852.
To this allegation Panizzi gave a categorical denial; but a short statement, dated May 18th, 1858, in answer to the longer pamphlet, will show sufficiently for our present purpose the line of attack adopted by his opponent, and his own method of defence.
Remarks on Mr. Hosking’s Claims to the Design of the British Museum New Building.
1st.—Mr. Hosking having suggested “a modified copy of the Pantheon,” a massive building for the exhibition of sculpture, with no accommodation for readers or books, now claims the merit of the structure which I suggested, and which has been built, was intended, and is used, solely, for readers and for books. His scheme included quadrilateral halls, central halls, ample staircases, corridors, &c., all of the usual materials; the building which I suggested and have seen carried out, is original in plan, use of materials, arrangement, and construction. Mr. Hosking says that it is not the plan of the Pantheon that he claims, “but the application of its form, disposition, and proportions;” and the plagiarism he alleges, is the application of such his device, with certain of his combinations, contrary to honour and good faith, not only on my part, but also on that of the Trustees. It will be obvious to any one who will inspect the building, that neither the form, nor the disposition, nor the proportions of the Pantheon, have been adopted in the new building at the Museum. There is no resemblance whatever between the architectural features of the two schemes. Mr. Hosking proposed a reduced Pantheon,—a cupola 120 feet in height, and the same in diameter. The cupola of the Reading-Room is 140 feet in diameter, and 106 feet in height. Are these two conceptions alike?
2nd.—Mr. Hosking says that I am a “pirate,” having taken from his scheme my suggestions for building the Reading-Room and surrounding Libraries; which suggestions I made on the 5th of May, 1852. Instead of using hard words and dealing in generalities, it would be better that Mr. Hosking should declare specifically which of his suggestions have been adopted in the new building. I affirm none, not even the most trifling. Indeed such an appropriation was impossible, as I am going to prove. Mr. Hosking states that, on the 14th of June, 1852, he sent me a copy of that portion of the Builder, dated June 22, 1850, in which his scheme of building was set forth. I distinctly aver that I did not receive that portion of the Builder on the 14th of June, 1852, nor in any part of 1852 or 1853, and that I never knew of Mr. Hosking’s plan till the latter part of 1854, when I did see, for the first time, the extract from the Builder of the 22nd of June, 1850.
3rd.—Long after the works for the new building were begun, I found in my study at the British Museum (not at my private residence), a paper merely addressed to me, in which was carelessly wrapped up a copy of what professed to be an extract from that number of the Builder. I showed it at once to Mr. Jones and to Mr. Fielder, as a document just received, and wondering whence it came. I learned then, for the first time, from Mr. Fielder, who Mr. Hosking was.[[S]] The moment I received Mr. Hosking’s letter of the 30th of April, 1857, informing me that the extract from the Builder had been sent by him, I showed it to both those gentlemen, who recollected, immediately, my having shown them that extract, as I have just stated. The works for the new building were begun late in March, 1854, the contract was made some time after: I became acquainted with Mr. Fielder after the contract was made.
4th.—Mr. Hosking admits that I could not have received his paper in May, 1852, when I put forward my “first design,” but is positive that I had received it when I put forward “the other, early in 1854.” My answer is, that I never put forward any design whatever after May, 1852. I have freely made suggestions to Mr. Smirke; he has most unreservedly consulted me from May, 1852, to the present day; but I have never made any other design than that shown by the two plans of May, 1852, accompanying my report of the 5th of that month, and printed by order of the House of Commons on the 30th of that same month.
5th.—Mr. Hosking asserts that if the cupola rested merely on its iron supports (which it does, in fact, as any one may see) it would tumble down; and, as if to show that he has not the most distant conception of what the Museum Reading-Room ought to be, he actually proposes that the King’s Library should be used as such.
6th.—If the new Reading-Room and Libraries at the British Museum have any merit, they have, by universal consent, that of being in every way adapted to their respective purposes. The fittings, the tables, the warming, the lighting, the peculiar system of ventilation applied, the multifarious, minute arrangements adopted in order to economise space and for the accommodation and comfort of readers, as well as for the ready access to books, are certainly not less important than the building of which they form an integral and vital part, but upon none of which has Mr. Hosking put forth his views. His suggestion of placing works of art in a room 120 feet in diameter, lighted from the top of a dome at a height of 120 feet, speaks for itself.
7th.—On the publication of my plans by order of the House of Commons, in June, 1852, they were much canvassed in the public press, and severely animadverted upon in the Quarterly Review. The possibility of their success was long denied, and Mr. Hosking was silent. That success is now established, and Mr. Hosking claims the merit as his own.