16 MAY 1846, Page 12

THE LIBRARY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

THERE iS scarcely any one object on which the advancement of literature in England so much depends, as upon the proper ma- nagement of the Library of the British Museum ; and as the attention of Parliament has been recently drawn to it by the publication of a long Report on the Library by Mr. Panizzi, the Keeper of the Printed Books, this is a fitting occasion for offering some remarks on the subject. As a preliminary and important point, it may be proper to in- quire whether the constitution of the Board of Trustees is likely to create confidence in their government of the literary or scien- tific departments of that great institution. Those appointments obviously require, in a majority of them at least, not merely the education and learning of a gentleman, but that practical ac- quaintance with the wants of literary men which authorship only gives, and it may be added, authorship in those humble persons who are compelled to labour (not, like the Trustees, when any of them consult the Library, in a separate room, with officers and attendants anxious to anticipate his wishes, but) in the Public Reading-room, subject to the trouble and difficulties which the present Keeper has thought proper to impose. The appointment of Trustee depends partly upon choice, but much more upon acci- dent; and though there is no royal road to knowledge, Parlia- ment has discovered that the selection of those who are to pro- mote its advancement had better depend upon rank, official station, and chance, than upon any personal qualifications. The number of Trustees is forty-eight. Of these, twenty-three are what may be termed accidental Trustees. The accidental Trustees are of two kinds,-first, those who hold that situation because they hold an- other office of infinitely greater importance, of a totally different nature, andwhich occupies the greater part of their time -namely, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor, Speaker of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council, First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Privy Seal, First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Steward, Lord Chamberlain, the three Secretaries of State, the Bishop of London, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Justices of the Queen's Bench and Common Pleas, Master of the Rolls, ind the Attorney and Solicitor-General. The second class of (momenta Trustees are the "Family Trustees," that is, the re- presentatives of persons whose collections have been given to or bought by the public for the British Museum,-the Cotton, Harley, Sloane, Towneley, Elgin, and Knight families, nine in all, and of whom four are Peers and one is the son of a Duke. The Queen appoints a Trustee in consequence of the Royal Library having been given to the Museum by King George the Fourth ; and her Majesty's present representative is the Duke of North- umberland. Thus far neither literature nor science nor art has its representative ; but they appear at last in the Presidents of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy, the Society of Antiquaries, and the College of Physicians ; and these are certainly the most proper of the accidental Trustees. There is, however, yet another class of Trustees, called the Elected-i. e. of those who are sup- posed to be chosen by the others, but who are, we believe, recom- mended by the Crown. Of this class there are fifteen : and here, if anywhere, might be expected the names of many of the most distinguished men of science and literature in the country, even if that class were not entirely composed of such men. Accord- ingly, out of fifteen' there are three names known to science and literature-namely, Sir John Herschel, Mr. Hallam, and Mr. W. R. Hamilton. The other Elected Trustees are the Dukes of Rut- land, Hamilton, and Sutherland, the Marquis of Lansdowne. the Earls of Aberdeen, Harrowby, Derby, and Carlisle Lord ;Ash- burton, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Robert Inglis, and Carlisle, Thomas Grenville. Such an immense majority of official and aristocratic governors of an institution created and maintained by a large expenditure of the public money solely for the advancement of literature, science, and art, and such a thorough contempt as it implies for those laborious persons on whom the scientific and literary reputation of the country rests, is only the usual manifes- tation of the feelings of the Government and Aristocracy towards them, and to which the House of Commons has always suc- cumbed. The anomalous constitution of the Trustees is now ad- iverted to as an explanation of those defects in the management of the institution which have been often pointed out in the news- papers, but which is much better known to those within its walls, though they may not deem it prudent to declare their opinions. It would be quite absurd to suppose that the high official and noble personages above named can bestow much if any part of their time on its affairs ; and we ask, with sincere respect for all their other merits, how many of them are qualified or disposed to take a practical and efficient part in those infinite details which the proper administration of its affairs absolutely requires?

What is the natural and inevitable result of such an adminis- trative body, in such an establishment ? Its government devolves on a few amateurs ; and matters requiring thorough investiga- tion as well as profound and practical knowledge are decided upon the representations of the officers-the Trustees sometimes wrongly rejecting, and sometimes as wrongly adopting their suggestions, according as the subject may be a hobby, or the recommending officer a favourite.

• But the Library is the immediate object of our consideration ; and we shall return to it, as there is only now space to ob- serve, that perhaps the proverbial asinine patience of John Bull has rarely been more calculated upon-the consequences of a governing body of amateurs and dilettanti never more glaringly shown-or the confidence of the head of a department in his power to do as he pleases more remarkably exhibited-than in the answer of the Keeper of the Printed Books to the Trustees, who after the lapse of some years, and the expenditure of much money on a Catalogue of the Library, ventured to ask him in 1844, "At what period, according to the best calculation which under the difficulties of the case he could make. the new alphabetical Cata- logue would be finished in manuscript? "-in manuscript only, be it observed ; to which gentle inquiry they received this most satis-

factory reply-" Mr. Panizzi has the honour to state, that sup- posing the titles, cross-references included, to amount to 800,000, (and Mr. Panizzi feels confident they will be considerably above that number,) for works in the Library previous to 1838, they can- not be written out, in conformity with the rules now adopted, before the end of 1854"!

The public are thus coolly informed, that in about eight years time, they may possibly have a manuscript catalogue, but which catalogue will then be sixteen years in arrears, for it will not in- clude any one work received in the Museum since 1838; so that, assuming from the returns that upwards of 10,000 books, &c., all of which must be entered in a catalogue are added every year, the complete manuscript catalogue in 18:54 will not contain any notice of 160,000 works l-a library in themselves. But can no means be found for expediting the completion of this monster catalogue ? The Trustees have really been sufficiently alive to ask Mr. Panizzi so remarkable a question ; and, happily, it did not in the slightest degree disturb his enviable self-possession for he very quietly "begs to say," that, "in his opinion, there are none ' 1 I It must therefore be inferred that the "rules" adopted for its compilation meet Mr. Panizzi's entire approbation, (even if the plan be not his own,) or why did he not state that they were inexpedient? and that he has as much assistance as he wishes for is evident, or he would have asked for more. Could the learned Keeper of the Printed Books have been laughing at the Trustees ; or did he intend to insult the common: sense of the country which has had the honour of adopting him He will, we apprehend, find that the public is not disposed to submit to this treatment, whatever the Trustees may do. That his influence over the Board is as unbounded as it is prejudicial, is apparent from his having actually carried his favourite point, by inducing them to suspend or to give up the printing of the new Catalogue (though one volume has been published) until the whole is Completed in manuscript-will this be in 1854? or 1864 or 1900?

The plan of the Catalogue, the ninety-one rules for its forma- tion, and the infinite division of titles, cross-references, &c., will be the subject of a sepal ate notice.