British Library
1 July 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of its founding
4 October 2022
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The British Library, the national library of the United Kingdom, is one of the world's largest libraries, containing an estimated 170 - 200 million items from all over the world. The library was separated from the British Museum on 1 July 1973 as a result of the British Library Act 1972, thus creating the independent British Library, though for much of the 20th century the library's holdings were divided among the British Museum and several other buildings.
The British Library is a major research library with items in many languages and formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, and drawings. The library's collections include around 14 million books and, as a legal deposit library, receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including many overseas titles distributed in the UK. The library continues to add some three million items each year occupying 9.6 kilometres or 6 miles of new shelf space.
The building housing the British Library in St Pancras - purpose-built and classified as a Grade I listed building "of exceptional interest" for its architecture and history - was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 25 June 1998.
Ancient Texts
The British Library holds items representing every age of written civilisation. The oldest items held in the collection are 3000+ year-old ancient Chinese oracle bones. The oldest dated book is the ‘Diamond Sutra’, produced in China in 868 AD.
A manuscript of the epic poem Beowulf, estimated to be around 1000 years old, is held in the collection.
The library also holds one of the four surviving copies of the 1215 Magna Carta containing the famous clause ‘to no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice’
Along with important historical items such as the Gutenberg Bible, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Luttrell Psalter, the library also holds culturally significant sheet music from composers including Mozart, Debussy, Schubert, and Händel.
![AKG5290700 From Six Quartetts dedicated to Haydn [Op. 10]. Originally produced in 1785. © akg-images / British Library](https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/9a19a242-2d30-4ff8-9147-e9df77933da4/AKG5290700_Low_res.jpg "AKG5290700 From Six Quartetts dedicated to Haydn [Op. 10]. Originally produced in 1785. © akg-images / British Library")
Maps
The library holds some 4.5 million maps, plans and topographical views, including The "Mappa Mundi" - the oldest known map in Britain - in one of the largest collections in the world, with a chronological spread of over 2,000 years.
AKG5302283 A plan for the improvement of London. 1666. Sir Christopher Wren. ©akg-images / British Library
AKG5341574 A round map of the world, set in a square ornamental frame, Jerusalem being in the centre, with a zone of winds, figures of inhabitants, etc. England; 13th century–15th century. © akg-images / British LibraryArt
In the public spaces and reading rooms, commissioned and historic artworks adorn the walls. The library has a rich collection of oil paintings, sculpture and pieces of furniture, many from south Asia.
.jpg "AKG5345282 'Head from life’. A turbanned half-length figure. © akg-images / British Library")
.jpg "AKG5289689 ‘Two Sikhs reading the Grunth at the tank. Umritsar.' 1854. © akg-images / British Library")
.jpg "AKG5345515 ‘Figure from life’. A seated lady in a green sari, 1929. © akg-images / British Library")
To view more of our British Library collection click here
Some facts about the British Library
- The King's Library tower houses books that were personally collected and acquired by King George III
- over 14 million books are housed there.
- The building's basement goes 24.5 metres below ground - the equivalent of an eight-storey building
- The Reading Rooms are used by around 16,000 students, scholars and members of the public every day
- The collection includes over 60 million patents and 8 million stamps
- If you looked at five items in the library every day, it would take you 80,000 years to see the entire collection
Happy 50th anniversary to the British Library, this great institution of historical and modern information, knowledge, and preservation.
Banner image: British Library Piazza, View of the British Library Piazza in the sun. The statue of ‘Newton’ after William Blake, 1995 by Eduardo Paolozzi, can be seen on the left. The Poet’s circle can be seen on the right. AKG5294353 © akg-images / British Library