The British Library and the British Museum


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June 24th 2011
Published: June 27th 2011
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We headed off into the city today with Marilyn and Jim to visit the British Library which is situated very near St Pancras Station. Since we were back at King's Cross Station this morning we stopped in at St Pancras - without our luggage in tow - to take a few photos. We even took a photo of a couple of Eurostar trains which is something that we failed to do on Wednesday when we actually caught one!!

We walked from the station through the St Pancras hotel which has just reopened after begin extensively restored.

From the hotel we walked around to the Sir John Ritblat Gallery in the St Pancras building of the British Library. The gallery hosts a permanent display of many of the library's greatest treasures. It contains over 200 beautiful and fascinating items: sacred texts from many faiths, maps and views, early printing, literary, historical, scientific and musical works from over the centuries and around the world.

Really nerdy, I know, but so mind blowing to see some of the incredibly old books and documents in the collection. Having dabbled with calligraphy I was quite excited by all of the beautiful illuminated manuscripts with their decorated capitals and fine penmanship. It was also pretty amazing to see the original notebooks of a number of famous authors - Jane Austin, Charlotte Bronte, Lewis Carol, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare to name a few. There was also original sheet music composed by the likes of Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and Ravel and lyrics by John, Paul and George (Lennon, McCartney and Harrison that is!) penned on serviettes and scraps of paper.

And then there was the Magna Carta, one of the most celebrated documents in English history. This iconic document was not intended to be a lasting declaration of legal principle, but a practical solution to a political crisis caused by King John's extortionate exploitation of his feudal rights and his ruthless administration of justice.

The majority of the clauses in Magna Carta dealt with the regulation of feudal customs and the operation of the justice system and all but three of the clauses have now become obsolete and been repealed. Its most famous clause states that 'No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled . nor will we proceed with force against him . except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice'.

This statement of principle, buried deep in Magna Carta, was given no particular prominence in 1215, but its intrinsic adaptability has allowed succeeding generations to reinterpret it for their own purposes and this has ensured its longevity. In the fourteenth century Parliament saw it as guaranteeing trial by jury. Sir Edward Coke interpreted it as a declaration of individual liberty in his conflict with the early Stuart kings. The principles are also echoed in the American Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

From the library we walked towards the British Museum via Russell Square where we grabbed a bite to eat in the outdoor cafe. Yes, believe it or not, it was nice enough to eat out-of-doors in London two days in a row!!

In the forecourt of the British Museum we were confronted by another Australian Garden!! The display has been created in conjunction with the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew and will remain in the forecourt until October.

We didn't spend a great deal of time in the British Museum. We mainly popped in to revisit the Greek section where Elgin's Marbles are displayed.

Our next stop was Camera World on Wells Street. My lens has been sounding pretty unhealthy so Bernie did a little bit of research and decided that we should look at upgrading my lens to the Sigma 18-250mm. So, we looked at that lens and then the salesman suggested that we should also look at the Tamron 18-270mm lens. After weighing up the lenses (literally, the Sigma lens was noticeably heavier than my existing lens and the Tamron lens) I decided on the Sigma lens. I was somewhat swayed by the fact that the Sigma lens is manufactured in Japan whereas the Tamron lens it out of China.

We had thought that we might visit the Wallace Collection, but we had run out of time so Marilyn and Jim decided to head home while Bernie and I stayed in the city to do a bit of shopping. It had reached the point where I had decided that I really needed a hairdryer!! This holiday has probably been great for my hair - it has been a long, long time since it was blow-dried so rarely!! However, I'm a bit over the naturally dried look. We tracked down a reasonably priced hairdryer at the John Lewis store.

Back in Pinner we took Marilyn and Jim out to dinner at their local Italian restaurant, Sazio, where we all enjoyed a delicious meal.



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