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With a design by Sydney Smirke (1798-1877), work on the Studying Room started in 1854. Three years later, it was accomplished. Utilizing forged iron, concrete, glass and the most recent heating and air flow techniques, it was a masterpiece of mid-Nineteenth-century expertise.
The room had a diameter of 42.6 m (140 ft), and was impressed by the domed Pantheon in Rome. Nonetheless, it is not a free-standing dome within the technical sense. The ceiling is suspended on forged iron struts hanging down from the body and is made out of papier-mache.
Many e-book stacks have been constructed surrounding the brand new Studying Room. They have been manufactured from iron to take the burden of the books and shield them in opposition to fireplace. In all, they contained 3 miles (4.8 km) of bookcases and 25 miles (40 km) of cabinets.
The Studying Room opened on Might 2, 1857. Throughout Might 8-16, the Library was opened up for a particular one-off public viewing. Greater than 62,000 guests got here to marvel on the new constructing. These wanting to make use of it needed to apply in writing and have been issued a reader’s ticket by the Principal Librarian. Amongst these granted tickets have been Karl Marx, Lenin (who signed in below the title Jacob Richter), and novelists corresponding to Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
From ‘The Studying Room’, The British Museum
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