Monday, September 24, 2007

British Library Faces Threat to Treasures


According to the Guardian Unlimited, the British Library is undergoing funding cuts which imperils the public's free access to some of the most important documents in all the world.

Me and my wife visited London a few years back. We visited the Tate Modern, the National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, we saw "Twelfth Night" at the Globe and spent a sunny afternoon at Kew Gardens. The best thing we did though was visit the British Library and stand in awe at the treasures they have.

And what do they have? The Magna Carta. The Gutenberg Bible (pictured above). The Lindisfarne Gospels. Shakespeare's First Folio. An original copy of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland. It has more than manuscripts and books, however. I remember looking upon musical compositions, hearing Florence Nightingale's own voice (recorded in 1890), reading Beatles lyrics on a napkin. In other words, this repository is one of the best in the world. Hopefully something can be done to keep these items free for the public to peruse because it's important and it's truly inspiring.

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