The Museum: Behind the Scenes at the British Museum - British Museum, London, UK
N 51° 31.129 W 000° 07.575
30U E 699373 N 5711437
The British Museum is dedicated to human history and culture. Admission is free but special exhibitions may incur a charge but they are usually separate to the regular displays. This book goes behind the scenes.
Waymark Code: WMNBQG
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/08/2015
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The Amazon website tells us about the book:
Egyptian mummies, Michaelangelo's drawings, sculptures from Greece and Rome, exquisite porcelain from China, bronze masterpieces from Africa, the remarkable finds from Sutton Hoo - these are just some of the awe-inspiring objects in the British Museum's famous collections. But the Museum is more than just a treasure house: it is a London landmark, a tourist magnet, a national and international resource- a museum of the world for the world.
Keeping this remarkable institution running is a team of 1000 staff who supervise the galleries, plan major exhibitions and manage a flow of nearly 5 million visitors a year. Rupert Smith has been granted special access to the huge variety of people who work in the Museum, including expert curators, conservators, heavy-object handlers and the people who clean the fabulous new glass roof of the Great Court.
Accompanying a major ten-part BBC television series, The Museum takes us behind the scenes for the first time to see how this amazing place works. Illustrated with over 120 colour photographs, and with a foreword by the Museum's director, Neil MacGregor, this fascinating book is a celebration of the British Museum and the many dedicated people who work there.
The museum is Grade I listed with the entry at the English Heritage website tellings us:
Museum. 1823-47. By Sir Robert Smirke with later additions. Portland stone. Planned as a big quadrangle with open courtyard extending north from Montague House (the original museum, demolished c1840). 2 main storeys in Greek Revival style. Built in stages. East Wing 1823-26: built to house George IV's library and Angerstein pictures (later basis of National Gallery). An early use of iron beams clad in concrete by engineer John Rastrick. Fine Grecian detail to interior with scagliola walls. West Wing 1831-4: built to house antiquities. Redecorated to Smirke's original colour scheme 1980. North Wing 1833-8: built to house antiquities. South Range 1842-7: built as the principal facade following the demolition of Montague House. 7-bay centre linked to projecting wings. Ionic octastyle portico with sculptured pediment projecting from a massive colonnade running around the wings. Ionic order from the temple of Athene Polias, Priene. Pediment sculpture depicts the "Progress of Civilisation" by Westmacott. Fine interior with grand central staircase. Round Reading Room 1852-7: by Sydney Smirke. Erected to fill the open quadrangle, with domed cast-iron roof.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the museum expanded north during the C19, the last main addition being the King Edward VII Gallery (qv), 1914, facing Montague Place. Some of the galleries were damaged during World War II and have been remodelled for display purposes.
A Bing bird's eye view of the museum can be seen here.