Tag Archives: Treasure

The British Library

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I went to an amazing place last Sunday: the British Library, near St Pancras tube station. I wanted to see a temporary exhibition called ‘The Printed Face of the European Avant Garde 1900-1937’. It was nice but I guess I have seen most of the printed books, posters, record covers and brochures at exhibitions in the Lowlands already. One thing was quite funny: ‘de Stijl’ was one of the subjects of the exhibition as part of the Avant Garde. Each subject was linked to the city of origin. So the first thing I noticed when I walked in was my own place of birth ‘Leiden’ printed in huge block capitals followed by ‘Amsterdam’. I have to admit I had this funny feeling all of a sudden. It’s just weird to see such a familiar name in such an unfamiliar place.

The other section is a permanent exhibition where you can find books, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, photographs and stamps. Examples are the Magna Carta, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground by Lewis Carroll, Shakespeare’s First Folio of works, the Gutenberg Bible and Mozart’s music scores along with some other scores of great composers. I was sneaking a few pictures when I was told off by the security guard so my camera ended up in my handbag. I think this part of the British Library was the most interesting part to be honest. I love to see all the old handwritten books, the thick paper, the beautiful bright colour illustrations in the bibles and manuscripts. It’s a shame that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures because these really are wonderful treasures.

Another part that caught my eye was the King’s Library: a glass tower of books at the heart of the British Library. The private collection of George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820. The Tower is designed by Colin St John Wilson, architect of the St Pancras building. Possibly inspired by a similar tower at Yale University in the United States. It has six levels all linked by one internal staircase and two lifts. All book cases are on rollers so they can easily be pulled back to allow access. The books are kept in a controlled environment with a temperature of 16º C [61º F] and 50% relative humidity. The Tower houses the King’s Library and the private library of the politician Thomas Grenville, about 105000 volumes in total.

The King’s Library Collection compromises around 85000 volumes, mostly books and pamphlets with smaller numbers of periodicals, maps and atlases some of which are manuscript dated from the 1450s to the 1830s. Almost all printed in Europe or America. Much of the material is in English or Latin, but many other languages are well represented especially Greek, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

The Entrance

The Reception

Mac Rules! ;)

The King’s Library

The King’s Library

Stamp and Envelope collection

The Restaurant

Acting The Goat

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Life can be strange at times and I find myself in my deep-thinkers mode quite often lately because of this. I have a love-hate relationship with myself if I am thinking too deep and/or too much. I seek answers that I will probably never find. There are no answers to the ‘why’ questions, it’s ‘simply’ a matter of acceptance. Reading that bit makes the Capricorn in me bounce on the top of that slippery mountain. He doesn’t care if he’ll fall off and break his legs… So far he always seemed to survive somehow and he knows he might get hurt bouncing off a mountain but isn’t that the thrill of it all? Isn’t that what makes life interesting and exciting?

Another part is the careful Capricorn who plans his steps ahead, he knows that if it rains the rocks get wet and slippery. He will stop and look for shelter while chewing on a tin, someone ignorant left behind in a previous chapter, trying to digest what is impossible. He’s the kind of Capricorn that would like to play safe, no games, no struggles, no risks. A shelter and some rocks, that’s all there is to it. He’ll grow his winter coat when it gets cold and lonely at the top. He doesn’t care, he’s got his safety and will probably try to digest the impossible for the rest of his silly Goats life.

When I had this turning point in 2002 I realised that at times you do need to bounce and stop chewing on what is impossible to digest. This other Capricorn who left me that year showed me that bouncing is the best you could do in order to feel alive. He told me once, he had so many plans still, but he had been the careful type and forgot all about bouncing. He wanted to though but he was getting older and things would scare him more often and more easily. I will never forget the glow in his eyes, the sparkle when he told me about his bouncing plans… I miss him!

Before he left on his trip to Nirvana he gave me something valuable that I will treasure for the rest of my life. He taught me not to wait for ever for things to happen but live each day as it comes. He wanted me to bounce even though he knew I would get hurt along the way. He even pushed me to bounce because he could tell it was the only thing that would truly make me happy. So let me break my legs, let me get hurt again, it doesn’t matter you see. At least I was willing to jump in at the deep end and no one would’ve been able to change my mind, I would do it again…

Thát… is freedom baby!