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The British Museum

The British Museum is one of the greatest and best-known museums in the world, both in the diversity of its collections and in their wide range and high quality. It was founded in 1753 by a decision of the Parliament. The British Museum occupying a splendid great building, in the neo-classical or Grecian style, was erected between 1823 and 1847.

Of the 11 major departments into which the museum is divided, the most outstanding are the Assyrian and Babylonian, the Egyptian, and the Greek and Roman Antiquities. The last makes a particular contribution to the glory of the museum with its collection of sculptures from the Parthenon.

There are also extremely important ethnological collections, including exhibits from the Pacific islands (such as ancient Polynesian idols), and America (such as the Aztec sculptures). African civilization is also notably well represented. There is a notable and priceless collection of medieval objects of art from all the countries of Europe.

But the first thing which is associated with the British Museum is its Library. The Library, which is contemporary with the museum, consisted initially of the collection of books belonging to Sir Hans Sloane. To this library the other collections of manuscripts and books as well were added as the royal library, which provided the foundations of what was to become one of the largest and most important libraries in the world.

The British Museum Library came into world prominence under its most remarkable librarian – Sir Antonio Panizzi, an Italian by birth, who had to leave his country because of revolutionary activities. Under his direction the library took on its present character. During the thirty-five years of service with the British Museum he formulated the rules and started the general catalogue.

The British Museum Library is a reading-room and a reference library, but not a lending library. The famous circular Reading Room of the Museum, planned by Sir Antonio Panizzi, offers unique research facilities to scholars. The collection of books is being systematically increased. Today there are millions of volumes in the library store-room.

Press

Probably in no other country are there such great differences between the various national daily newspapers – in the type of news they report and the way they report it. On the one hand, there are the ‘quality’ newspapers: The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, The Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph. These concern themselves, as far as possible, with factual reports of major national and international events, with the world of politics and with arts and sport.

On the other hand, there are the ‘populars’ and ‘tabloids’, so-called because of their smaller size. The tabloids – the most widely read of which are The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Sun and The Daily Star – concentrate on more emotive reporting of stories often featuring sex, violence, the Royal Family, film and pop stars, and sport. It is often said that the popular press aims to entertain its readers rather than inform them.

The tabloid press is much more popular than the quality press.

In some countries, newspapers are owned by government or by political parties. This is not the case in Britain. Newspapers here are mostly owned by individuals or by publishing companies, and the editors of the papers are usually allowed considerate freedom of expression. This is not to say that newspapers are without political bias. Papers like The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express and The Sun, for example, usually reflect Conservative opinions in their comment and reporting, while The Daily Mirror and The Guardian have a more left-wing bias.

In addition to the 12 national daily newspapers there are nine national papers which are published on Sundays. Most of the ‘Sundays’ contain more reading matter than daily papers, and several of them also include ‘colour supplements’ – separate colour magazines which contain photographically-illustrated feature articles. Reading a Sunday paper, like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British households. Besides, nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers.

The British are one of the biggest newspaper-reading nations in the world.

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