The British Library: Conservation Centre & Treasures Exhibit

The British Library was opened in 1973 following an Act of Parliament to establish a national library for the UK. It has a collection of over 170 million items and an expansive digital archive. On our arrival at the library we met our main guide, Claire, a conservator, who took us through a behind the scenes tour of the Conservation Centre. There were several rules for us to tour the center. We could only bring a notebook, pencil, and phone, but all other items had to be stored in lockers. Claire informed us that we could take pictures in the conservation room, but that the pictures cannot be shared on social media due to the copyright issues of the books or materials. Before entering the conservation room Claire explained a display of items related to tooling, a technique of impressing designs onto leather by using heated tools (see below).

The Conservation Centre

The magic happened in the conservation room where we met Gary, who walked us through a demonstration of book binding conservation. Gary has been a conservator at the museum for 41 years and has worked on countless books and materials. He did share that he once completed conservation work on King Henry VIII’s hunting book. The most thrilling part of the Conservation Tour was at the end when Anna, another conservator, decided to open a scroll that was just assigned to her for repair and that she had not seen before, so we were able to see it for the first time with her. The scroll is part of a collection that was discovered in the Mogao Cave (the “Library Cave”) in China in 1900. The scrolls from the cave range between 1000-1500 years old and this one is 30 meters long, so this will be a long project for Anna. The section that she opened for us had tears and some stains that she will be attending to. And I have a beautiful picture of the scroll that I cannot share on here. Darn rules! 

The Treasures of the British Library

The Treasures of the British Library exhibit displays numerous rare but well-known documents and books that are enclosed in cases within a dim room. My favorite item on display was the splendid manuscript of Beowulf from the 11th century (see above). The British Library holds the only known manuscript of Beowulf from the Medieval period. Beowulf actually is related to my research for Sutton Hoo, but in a periphery way as the descriptions of royal life in the poem are reflected in the Anglo-Saxon treasures found in the ship burial.

One of the most significant documents on display is the Magna Carta, a peace agreement between King John and some rebellious barons that was signed in 1215 CE (below-left). The British Library holds two of the four original copies of the Magna Carta. Shakespeare's First Folio published in 1623 is another historically valuable material (below-right). The First Folio is invaluable because it held eighteen plays by Shakespeare that had never been published before and would have remained unknown.

The Magna Carta

Shakespeare's First Folio

Finally, I am sharing one last item that I thought was so awesome that it was included in the Treasures of the British Library exhibit. See the photo below of the Monty Python "Spanish Inquisition" sketch--a real British cultural treasure for sure!