Yours, &c., &c.,
Sydney Smirke.
Neither Panizzi nor Hosking lacked supporters amongst the numerous critics and judges who, as a matter of course, came forward on such an occasion; and a war, supported by newspapers on either side, was vigorously carried on for upwards of a year. Into the details of the controversy it would be tedious and irrelevant to enter; but whoever will undertake impartially to peruse the records of it (many of which are still extant), will have neither doubt nor difficulty in ascribing the victory to Panizzi.
But as “there is a river in Macedon and there is, moreover, a river at Monmouth,” so it must be admitted that there were, at least, three sterling points of resemblance between the two designs. They are as follows:—1st. That for each was chosen the same plot of ground, but that the merit of originality in such choice belongs to neither designer. 2nd. That both buildings had domes, but these domes so dissimilar that comparison is out of the question. 3rd (and here lay the most striking point of resemblance), That in design, purpose, execution, proportion, and every other detail, Panizzi’s building differs “toto cœlo” from the structure devised by Hosking.
The whole story gives occasion for melancholy reflection on the common and vulgar fortune of so many great men, whose claims to invention or discovery are constantly challenged by those of whose existence they never heard until their own works were perfected. There is reason to believe that the claimants to the invention of the Archimedean screw, are almost equal in number to those who have suggested building in the inner quadrangle of the British Museum.
The following is a description of the room:—
“The Reading-Room is circular. The entire building does not occupy the whole quadrangle, there being a clear interval of from 27 to 30 feet all round, to give light and air to the surrounding buildings, and as a guard against possible destruction by fire from the outer parts of the Museum. The dome of this Reading-Room is 140 feet in diameter, its height being 106 feet. In this dimension of diameter it is only inferior to the Pantheon of Rome by 2 feet; St. Peters being only 139; Sta. Maria in Florence, 139; the tomb of Mahomet, Bejapore, 135; St. Paul’s, 112; St. Sophia, Constantinople, 107; and the Church at Darmstadt, 105. The new Reading-Room contains 1,250,000 cubic feet of space; its ‘suburbs,’ or surrounding Libraries, 750,000. The building is constructed principally of iron, with brick arches between the main ribs, supported by 20 iron piers, having a sectional area of 10 superficial feet to each, including the brick casing, or 200 feet in all. This saving of space by the use of iron is remarkable, the piers of support on which our dome rests only thus occupying 200 feet, whereas the piers of the Pantheon of Rome fill 7,477 feet of area, and those of the tomb of Mahomet, 5,593. Upwards of 2,000 tons of iron have been employed in the construction. The weight of the materials used in the dome is about 4,200 tons viz., upwards of 200 tons on each pier.”
It may be considered that we are open to the impeachment of plagiarism, greater even than could be ascribed to Panizzi, inasmuch as we have taken our statistics from a penny book—that most accurate one sold at the Museum at this very moderate price—and having borrowed from this valuable little publication, we can but claim as our excuse the worth of its contents, and the consideration of those readers into whose hands the small publication may never have fallen.
A domed building possessing beauty of appearance is by no means easy of construction, and some of the most celebrated in the world are conspicuously deficient in grace and elegance, especially as regards the exterior.
Fortunately it has fallen to the lot of the new Reading-Room to be concerned only with the most manageable side of its dome—viz., the inside.