Issue 72 Spring 2011 Quarterly Newsletter FRIENDS www.bl.uk/friends OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY Registered charity no. 328095

Library to charge for exhibitions

Over the years the Library has mounted a Staff account for series of very successful major exhibitions some 70 per cent of and is now exploring every way it can the Library’s variable continue to provide these in the future. costs and the cuts The Friends actively support the Library’s will result in some exhibitions with grants. 200 job losses over the next two to While most Library exhibitions three years. It is have traditionally been free – hoped that this including the current Evolving figure can be English, see page 4 – a few achieved mainly major ones have in the past been through natural charged for, most recently the turnover and Henry VIII exhibition last year. voluntary This provoked a spurt in Friends’ redundancies. membership, as visitors were Spending on attracted to join by the free acquisitions will entry concession. This has helped be reduced from to keep our numbers healthy its current figure during the recession. of £19m to about Announcing the change, £15m, but even Last of the free exhibitions? Dame Lynne Brindley, chief with this cut the executive of the Library (pictured), said: “This new charging policy Library will retain one of the highest acquisition spends of any will bring us into line with the national galleries and museums.” major library in the world. Most of the saving willbe achieved by Entry to the permanent exhibition, Treasures of the British Library, reducing expenditure on duplicate and low-use journals. in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery, will remain free. Says Dame Lynne: “We have fortunately been able to avoid As a result of the Spending Review, the Library’s grant in aid more radical cuts at this stage such as deeper cuts to acquisitions, has been cut by 15 per cent in real terms over four years and the closing the Library one or more days a week or charging for annual capital budget has been slashed by 50 per cent. Coming reader passes, but clearly we would have to reconsider these on top of a three per cent cut in 2010/11 – achieved through options should the British Library be faced with additional cuts savings in acquisitions, preservation and many other areas – it in years three and four, and/or our commercial and other income means that by 2014/15 the Library will be funded at its lowest is less than we forecast. This is a difficult time for the British level in real terms since its creation in 1972. Library. However we will continue to build on our impressive “I cannot hide from you that the level of cuts presents us track record for innovation and excellence.” with a huge challenge,” said Dame Lynne. “We will do all we can to protect frontline services but we have had to make some difficult decisions. We have identified the major areas for savings as staffing, acquisitions, facilities management and Inside this issue preservation. We plan to deliver 80 per cent of the savings in the first two years, so that we are ready to face years three and four in better shape.” Page 2 Volunteers needed Page 3 Grants Page 4 Evolving English Win tickets to the National Theatre Page 5 In the Library Page 6 Visit reports Page 7 New events See back page for details Page 8 Prize crossword Volunteers

The subtle art of persuasion

How our new volunteer work and I was looking for something else. I’m very involved in co-ordinator hopes to the Roundhouse in Camden: I’ve been a volunteer there for a recruit Friends few years and I’m also involved in a drug and alcohol support group for families. I wanted to do something different.” “The volunteers are the face of Jean-Anne’s last paid job was as a therapist but earlier in the Friends,” declares Jean-Anne her career she had been a sales assistant, including a spell front Ashton (pictured), who last autumn of house with Gieves and Hawkes, the Savile Row tailor. She took over from Frances Hawkins believes her experience of selling is relevant to the strategy of the role of co-ordinating their recruiting members: “We have to have a little bit of the shopgirl responsibilities. “Sitting behind or shopboy about us. We have to be able to communicate in the the desk in the Library entrance right way, but without being the second-hand car salesman. . . hall can appear a bit of a thankless Avoid the hard sell – most people don’t like it.” task because what you’re selling She tells how Don Pritchard, during his spell as co-ordinator, is something rather intangible. But if someone walks into the gave her a useful tip: “We have a steady stream of people who Library and sees two volunteers who are approachable and look come and take a picture of each other on that bronze seat near friendly, then people will come and ask all sorts of questions and the Friends’ desk. Don showed me how to get up and offer to that gives us an opportunity to give them a membership form take their photograph. At which point you start to talk, ask them and tell them a bit about the Friends.” The desk remains the why they’re here and whether they’ve been before. They start most consistent means of recruiting new members. to enthuse about the Library. I tell them I’m representing the Jean-Anne tells how she became a volunteer five years ago: Friends and ask if they’d like a leaflet.” “I was passing the Library and came in and was so overwhelmed: There are at present 26 active volunteers. In the long term I thought it was such a wonderful place. Before I came I’d had Jean-Anne would like to nearly double that number and extend the impression that it was only a place for crusty old academics.” the hours when the desk is manned – currently Tuesday to Because her degrees – in history and politics and, later, Saturday, 11am to 3pm. Some existing volunteers have increased therapy – had been gained as a mature student, she was moved their commitment from one day a month to one week in three, by the sight of so many young people using the Library for their which has made a big difference. She is looking at whether there studies, taking opportunities she had missed. “I found myself at are other tasks they might be able to perform, beyond manning the information desk asking if they wanted volunteers. They said the desk. they didn’t but pointed me towards the Friends desk. I told the two ladies there that I wanted to become a Friend mainly because I wanted to volunteer.” She is keen to talk to anyone who has a little time to spare. You can Within a week of signing up, she had been accepted into ring her on 0208 964 2292 or e-mail at [email protected]. the team by Thelma Leisner, the co-ordinator. “I’d stopped

David Marcus dies Make the most of your membership David Marcus, a Trustee of the Friends since February 2008, died in January, Below is a list of the privileges of Friends’ membership – in addition to the aged 73. knowledge that you are helping to support a magnificent national institution. A solicitor by profession, he gave a considerable amount of time to voluntary Make as much use of them as service: as well as being a keen supporter you can. of the Library and the Friends, he n represented the Muswell Hill Synagogue Private guided visits to leading on the Board of Deputies of British Jews. libraries, museums and Christopher Wright, the Friends’ vice- collections n chairman, represented the Council at his Exclusive tours within the Library n funeral at Waltham Cross. Lord Hameed, Quarterly Newsletter and chairman, said: “David was a tremendous Exhibitions and Events brochure n asset to the Council. As a solicitor, he gave Comfortable Members’ Room us a great deal of help with the constitution with newspapers and magazines n and with the host of other legal matters Discount in the Library Shop n that registered charities are obliged to take Discount on lectures in the into account. He was a fount of ideas for Library n recruiting new members and his outspoken Discounts on outside cultural and positive approach always added events pleasure and interest to our Council meetings. We shall all sadly miss him.”

2 Grants

Learning how to care for treasures

Raised in the Bengali city of who had to submit a CV and a statement about why the placement Calcutta, Avijit Chakrabarti would be important to them, as well as references from their had never glimpsed snow in employers. all his 33 years. That gap in His very full programme covers all aspects of conservation – his experience was repaired documents, manuscripts, photographs, bindings and even works of art. in late November, thanks to One aspect of particular relevance to him is how to detect and control the Friends. damage from insects and other pests. Calcutta’s humid climate means that this a constant hazard. Avijit is the first of the Library’s Avijit spends his time In international preservation volunteers working with and funded by a special Friends’ grant watching the Library’s experts, made possible by a generous legacy and attends lectures and from the late Isabel Haberer, a devoted member. It reinforces the courses in the Conservation Friends’ commitment to conservation signalled by our large grant Centre and at outside towards construction of the Conservation Centre (pictured right), institutions. He will also also funded by a legacy. visit the Library’s outposts Having arrived in London in October, Avijit is spending six months Dave Dubuisson at Colindale, to look at absorbing knowledge and techniques from the Library’s experts. the preservation of vulnerable newspapers, and Boston Spa, with In March he will return to India where he will put what he has its new climate-controlled storage facility. learned into practice, as well as passing it on to fellow librarians. It is a demanding assignment that will stretch him to the full and An outgoing man of great enthusiasm, he is enjoying his first test his powers of application. Sarah Hamlyn, the Library’s Senior visit to Britain, even if the climate is a little trying. “It was 42 degrees Preservation Co-ordinator, who is in charge of his programme, says: (centigrade) when I left Calcutta,” he said. Almost the first thing “It would be very easy to let him come here and do something nice he did when he arrived was buy a scarf and heavy coat. for six months. We do try to find him nice things to do – but that’s He has been a librarian for seven years and is currently assistant not everything.” librarian at Barasat College, near Calcutta. His qualifications include Avijit clearly finds most of it very nice indeed and is delighted an M.Phil in library and information science from Calcutta University. to have been given this opportunity: “This is a lifetime achievement, Preservation is just one of his areas of responsibility: he also supervises I think. I have to learn these skills and apply them in my country the acquisition of materials and their circulation to students. to set an Indian standard. I am very grateful to all of you for He learned of the opportunity to apply for the attachment funding me.” in February 2010, when he attended an international conference in New Delhi on the preservation of newspapers. There he met Avijit will give a talk to Friends about his experiences on 15 March. Deborah Novotny, the Library’s Head of Collection Care, and she told See page 7 for details. him – and others – about the scheme. There were several applicants,

A better type of German

Over the years Friends’ grants have proved unique harmonic system.The German-born invaluable in strengthening those specialist Sauer had taken up printing four years earlier corners of the Library’s collections that in competition with Benjamin Franklin, who seldom impinge on public consciousness was then the leading provider of German- but nonetheless define its role as a language printed material but used only comprehensive reference source, covering Roman typefaces. Sauer imported German all areas of scholarship. The latest grant type from Frankfurt, which the large of £3900 is a good example. It represents German-speaking community found much the whole cost of the first substantial easier to read. book printed in German type in America – Says Matthew Shaw, the Library’s curator Zionitischer Weyrauchs Hugel, a hymnal of North American history: “A rare survival produced in Germantown, Pennsylvania, from the era of the birth of printing in in 1739. German in the North American colonies, this It was printed by Christoph Sauer for the hymnal . . . is of research interest for students religious community founded in Ephrata, in of the colonial period, musicologists and Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, by Konrad religious historians, as well as filling an Johann Beissel. It contains hymns composed important gap in the Library’s collection by members of the community using Beissel’s of Americana.”

3 Exhibitions

Getting to know the language

The Evolving English exhibition in the English Language. With discussion from Library’s main gallery has received enthusiastic a panel of experts. Friends’ price: £4 reviews from critics – and as it runs until * left-handers 3 April there is still time to catch up with it. “There’s something in it for everyone,” wrote Fri 25 Feb, 1pm – 2pm Christopher Howse in the Daily Telegraph. Shakespeare, language and the Elizabethan He was especially taken with the recordings mind of Shakespearean verse spoken in what is Actor and author Ben Crystal explores the believed to be the dialect of his time, but hearts, minds, ears and words of “the point of going is to see real objects”. Shakespeare’s world. Price: £3 Dave Dubuisson Giving the exhibition a four-star rating, he caught up in American landscape. praised David Crystal’s accompanying book Mon 28 Feb, 6.30pm – 8pm Friends’ price: £7.50 as “a pictorial introduction to the history The other English: Some African reflections of a language on which we each leave Simon Gikandi will explore the effect that the Tue 22 Mar, 1pm – 2pm our own mark”. spread of the English language through Multicultural London English The Times characterised the exhibition colonisation had on the lives of African At this lunchtime lecture, the development as “a triumph of explanation.” The Sun, people. Friends’ price: £4 of London's new street language is discussed. applauding the “remarkable new exhibition”, Price: £3 maintained that “the English language – Tue 1 Mar, 1pm – 2pm spoken by 1.8 billion people around the The myth of Mars and Venus: Do men and Wed 23 Mar, 6.30pm – 8pm world – is one of the reasons Britain is so women really speak different languages? The language of persuasion: great.” In The Londonist, a website devoted A lunchtime discussion looking to dispel the Communications, slogans and word to London, Matt Brown wrote: “The layout myth that men and women use language of mouth is a triumph. . . The room is fully exposed, differently. Price: £3 Advertising and public relations experts with most exhibits hugging the edges.” discuss how language and communication The exhibition runs until 3 April. The Sat 5 Mar, 11am – 5pm make an impact in the fast-moving worlds Friends gave a grant towards the rich Evolving English discovery day of media and business. Friends’ price: £5 programme of events that accompany A day-long celebration of the English it, and there is still a chance to see some language for all ages. Free, no booking Mon 28 Mar, 6.30pm – 8pm of them. Here is a select list. required Writers on writing All events are held in the Conference Is writing an art or a craft, a practice or Centre and tickets can be booked at the Mon 7 Mar, 6.30pm – 8pm a profession? Join some of our foremost Library‘s information desk or online at Behind the Dream: The making of the speech practitioners as they share their experiences www.bl.uk, with a Friends’ discount that transformed a nation of embarking on a writing life. Friends’ applying to most of them. Clarence B Jones, co-writer of Martin Luther price: £7.50 King’s speech “I have a dream”, discusses this Wed 23 Feb , 6.30pm – 8pm work and reflects on the impact it has had. Wed 30 Mar, 6.30pm – 8pm Cuddywifters, cack-handers and coochies*: Friends’ price: £4 The guid Scots tongue: Language of Burns A celebration of regional English or language of the gutter? The Library’s sociolinguistics specialist Jonnie Tue 15 Mar, 7pm – 8.15pm James Robertson discusses the Scots Robinson presents recordings which explore American English, American places language, asking whether it is more than the ever-changing regional contrasts of the An evening of poetry by American writers a dialect of English. Friends’ price: £4

Making beautiful waves Counting heads

An absorbing exhibition devoted to Samuel condition has inspired writers, artists In March a census will be held in Britain – Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient and musicians for over 200 years. The the 21st since they began in 1801. To Mariner has been mounted in the Folio exhibition looks at modern interpretations mark this, the Library plans an exhibition Society Gallery on the upper ground floor. of the poem and at the work of illustrators in the Folio Society Gallery examining It examines the poem in the context of and writers inspired by its vivid imagery. the controversies that have swirled Coleridge’s life and explores his role, along Highlights include the 1798 first edition around census-taking over the years. with William Wordsworth, as a founding of the Lyrical Ballads, in which the poem The exhibition will ask, too, why we member of the Romantic Movement. The first appeared, and two of Coleridge’s own collect population statistics and look poem, first published in 1798, tells of a notebooks, one containing re-workings at what the results have told us. It mariner’s nightmarish journey to the ends of the poem. The exhibition closes on runs from 7 March to 29 May. of the earth. Its insight into the human 27 February.

4 In the Library

From the Shop: new books and CDs Many of the latest books and CDs on sale in the shop relate to the Evolving English exhibition (see opposite). These are some of the most popular. No big bags Friends get a 10 per cent discount on the quoted prices: The Library has introduced a restriction Evolving English – One shaped the language over 1500 years, reveals on the size of luggage that can be language, many voices how English has developed in different parts brought into the St. Pancras building. David Crystal’s book of the world, explains why we have such a Nothing larger than airline carry-on size has been described as vast vocabulary, how we swear, how literature is now being allowed through the doors. “masterly” by Peter has affected how we speak and how we Staff have noticed that, because the Stothard in the Times continually make and break the rules. £5.95 Library is close to three major railway Literary Supplement. stations, members of the public who English is spoken or Voices of the UK are not readers or visitors have taken to written today by a third A set of two CDs with an explanatory booklet using it is a free luggage depository. The of the world’s population. How has this come examining the accents and dialects of English. size restriction will deter them, and will about? And what happens to a language Do you call a roll a bap, a cake, also reduce security risks associated with when it is used by so many? In this illustrated a batch, a bread cake, a cob, a scuffler or a large bags. There is now a size gauge history David Crystal charts the development stottie? Do you pronounce the word plant outside the entrance, so you can check if of the language from the earliest runic to rhyme with ant? One of the intriguing your bags will fit. This restriction does not inscriptions in Old English, through the differences between speech and writing is apply to pushchairs, foldaway bicycles, emergence of a standard variety of the that even the briefest of spoken utterances umbrellas or walking sticks. A plan to language between 1400 and 1800, to the can reveal something about our identity. charge £1 for use of the lockers (paying most modern forms. £25 hardback, £16.95 Drawn from the extensive collection of a £2 deposit with only £1 returnable) paperback language and dialect in the Library’s Sound and to charge for depositing bags in the Archive, these 143 recordings capture and cloakroom, which was to have come into Grammar-Land – a book for good boys and celebrate the rich diversity of British English effect at the end of March, has been girls in locations across Britain. £16.28 postponed pending further consultation. This is a facsimile of a book by M L Nesbitt, first published in the 1870s. Since then it has been teaching children (and adults in need of Codex Sinaiticus a refresher) the basic rules of English grammar – a facsimile For services rendered through its allegorical story set in the fictional If you need to give Andy Stephens, world of Grammar-land. “They are funny a booklover a special, Head of International fellows, these nine Parts-of-Speech. You will once-in-a-lifetime gift, Engagement and Board find out by-and-by which you like best this might be it. Codex Secretary at the Library, amongst them all. There is rich Mr Noun, and Sinaiticus is one of the was awarded an OBE in his useful friend Pronoun; little ragged Article, world’s most remarkable the Queen’s New Year talkative Adjective; busy Dr. Verb and Adverb; books. Written in Greek Honours, in recognition perky Preposition, convenient Conjunction, in the fourth century, it is the oldest surviving of services to scholarship during his and that irksome Interjection, the oddest of complete New Testament, and one of the 34-year career at the Library. them all.” £7.95 two oldest manuscripts of the whole Bible. Since 2002, an international project has Evolving English Explored been creating an electronic version of the This lively, witty and compact book by Julian manuscript. This magnificent printed facsimile Letter to the Editor Walker investigates where the language came reunites the text, now divided between the from, how it is changing and where it is British Library and four other institutions. In his article in the winter issue, Quentin going. It examines the factors that have £495 Letts quoted Rachel Van Riel as saying that the Millennium Library in Norwich was the first public library to relax the rules on Treasures on your phone noise. Though not a public library in the sense of a civic one, the Patent Office Friends with smartphones can now buy the Library’s first app, giving access to videos, images, Library, now the cornerstone of the British commentaries, music and information about more than 100 of its greatest treasures. The app Library’s Science, Technology and will download on to the main mobile platforms, including iPhone, Android and iPad, allowing Innovation Division, freely open to the users to browse among priceless artifacts – among them the world’s oldest bible, Leonardo Da public from 1855, allowed conversation Vinci’s notebooks and the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Videos include the and discussions in the reading room explorer Ben Fogle talking about Captain Scott’s diary and the linguist David Crystal discussing between patent agents, professional Beowulf. The app, which also provides up-to-date information about the Library’s current searchers and their clients for a great many exhibitions, is available from from the iTunes App Store and the Android Marketplace for years past, probably from its foundation. £2.39, and in a high definition version for iPad for £3.49. Michael W Hill (formerly Director)

5 Reports

In from the cold A brush with power

Amanda Benton reports on another successful shopping event. Friends with thwarted political ambitions could live Let no one question the ruggedness of Friends of the British Library. out their fantasy – even if Despite heavy snow, treacherous ice and disrupted transport, more only for a moment – during than 140 members attended our fourth annual shopping afternoon on the October visit to the 2 December to enjoy tea, coffee, mulled wine, mince pies and lively Houses of Parliament. In a conversation in the Friends and Cotton Rooms, which had been waiver to the usual “hands decorated very festively by Nickie and Brian. Equally, cold weather did off” rule, we were allowed not prevent active purchasing in the Library shop. We are delighted to to touch the despatch box where the Prime Minister stands when report that just under £4000 (after the 20 per cent discount) was spent addressing the House of Commons. during the shopping event; a useful contribution to the Library in their We were also given an insight into one of the lesser-known work. Our thanks to the manager David Wilkerson and his staff for quirks of MPs. In the lobby are statues of three former Prime their help in making the event such a success. Ministers – Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill and David The raffle was well supported by members Lloyd George. The toes of the latter two shone brightly from with prizes including £50 of shop vouchers, being rubbed by new members seeking luck on their way books, drinks, and a lovely Christmas wreath to the chamber to make their maiden speech. (see picture). Many thanks to those who Some 50 Friends had signed up for the tour and we were contributed prizes, sold and bought tickets. distributed amongst three groups of visitors. The visit to the Prize winners have been notified. House of Lords library, originally planned to precede the tour, Thirty members enjoyed a private guided had been cancelled some time earlier. tour of the Evolving English exhibition led by curators Adrian Edwards The tours began in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the and Roger Walshe. The Friends have contributed to the events complex, with its magnificent hammerbeam roof. From the programme that accompanies the exhibition (see page 4). Sovereign’s Entrance we followed the route the Queen takes for Unfortunately our scheduled speakers, Agnes Grunwald Spiers and the opening of Parliament, via the robing room, where she dons Oliver Toole, were unable to join us because of the weather conditions: the Imperial State Crown, to the royal gallery, lined with portraits both live at some distance from St Pancras. We hope to reschedule of British monarchs, and into the House of Lords where she makes their talks this year, and we hope for more clement conditions. her traditional speech outlining the Government‘s programme. Many thanks to the volunteers who manned the “meeting and From there we crossed the lobby into the House of Commons, greeting” desk and who in many other ways helped to make the surprisingly small and intricate, lovingly reconstructed after wartime afternoon go with a swing. It is far too early to be thinking of next bomb damage, with many contributions from Commonwealth Christmas but it might be worth noting in your diaries that next year’s countries. Back in Westminster Hall we were reminded of its event is planned for Thursday 1 December. Let’s hope the weather association with the Gunpowder Plot, historic trials and, more is kinder. recently, speeches by Nelson Mandela and the Pope. Peake viewing

In recognition of our £25,000 grant towards buying the archive of Mervyn Peake, the Library had arranged for 40 Friends to have a sneak preview of a few of its most Theatre offer intriguing items. We also enjoyed a talk from Sebastian Peake, the artist’s eldest When Clybourne Park played at the Royal son, who shared affectionate memories Court Theatre last year, it received great of his father creating some of his most reviews and was named the best play memorable work – in particular his in the Evening Standard theatre awards. illustrations for Alice in Wonderland –on It is a devastating satire on the themes the isla nd of Sark, where the family lived encouraged other potential donors. of race and property ownership. The for a few years after the Sec ond World War. Highlights from the archive were set out Standard hailed it as “the funniest play Sebastian expressed his warm for our inspection by Zoe Wilcox, who is of the year”. appreciation of the Friends’ grant, pointing spending a year cataloguing the collection. It has now transferred to Wyndham’s out that without it the archive might They included books of hand-written notes, Theatre in the West End, and Friends who have gone abroad, which would not have drafts and sketches for the Gormenghast book top price tickets (£50.50) will receive pleased his father. That gratitude was trilogy, Peake’s best-known work. One a free drink (wine, beer or soft drink) and echoed by Jamie Andrews, the Library’s especially delightful item was a letter he a free programme. The offer is valid for head of English and Drama, who pointed wrote to his wife Maeve while she was all Monday to Thursday performances out that our support was important not in hospital after Sebastian’s birth. On the until 24 March. To book call the box simply for its monetary value, but because back of the letter was a lively and colourful office on 0844 482 5120 and quote knowing of the Friends’ involvement often sketch of horses in a field. “British Library”.

6 Visits and events

Make a date with Melvyn Bragg

The rich programme of spring and summer events begins with our Annual General Meeting. Don’t miss it. No need to book for this – but for all other events please use the enclosed form.

FRIENDS’ AGM and his family. The estate has been in the THE THAMES BARRIER AND ANNUAL Cecil family for 400 years. Superb examples 1 Unity Way LECTURE of Jacobean craftsmanship can be seen Woolwich, London SE18 Conference Centre, throughout the House. Friends will be given Tuesday 12 July (time to be confirmed later) British Library a private guided tour, followed by a private £12 Tuesday 1 March, tour of the archives led by the house Limit 60 places 6pm, free archivist. Each tour will last about an hour The Thames Barrier is one of the largest After the AGM, at and afterwards Friends will be free to roam moveable flood barriers in the world, 7.30, Melvyn Bragg, the grounds and see Moore at Hatfield, protecting 125 sq. kilometres of central author, broadcaster and a Vice-President of the largest collection of Henry Moore’s London. The Environment Agency the Friends, will give a talk on Language, monumental works ever exhibited in the maintains and operates it, as well as the Literature & The Bible. His book about the grounds of an historic house, featuring capital’s other flood defences. With its King James Bible will be published in 2011 15 sculptures. distinctive stainless steel piers, the Barrier to mark its 400th anniversary. N.B. Due to the expected popularity of spans 520 metres across the river. At the this visit, it is unlikely there will be places Information Centre you will learn about the CONSERVATION CENTRE AND TALK for Friends’ guests. history of the Thames and how the Barrier British Library was designed and built. Information Tuesday 15 March, 2pm or 3pm, £8 LEIGHTON HOUSE MUSEUM Assistants will guide you through the centre Limit 24 places 12 Holland Park Road, London W14 and you can go for a short guided walk Last year the Friends gave a grant to the Wednesday 29 June, 2pm, £12 along the riverfront to get a closer look. Library allowing them to appoint an Limit 50 places overseas librarian to come for a six-month The former home and studio of the placement in the Conservation Centre. He Victorian artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton is Avijit Chakrabarti, who has been working (1830-1896), the museum re-opened in in the Conservation Centre since October 2010 following extensive restoration and (see interview on page 3). With his refurbishment. On the edge of Holland placement nearing its end, he will talk Park in Kensington, it is a remarkable to us about his time here, discussing what nineteenth-century building, extended he has learned and how he can take this and embellished over 30 years to create a knowledge back to his home institution in private palace of art. The Arab Hall is the India. Additionally, we will have a behind- centrepiece, designed to display Leighton’s the-scenes tour of the Conservation Centre priceless collection of over 1000 Islamic and studios. tiles, evoking a compelling vision of the Orient. Other richly decorated interiors HISTORY OF MYSTERY TOUR have walls lined with tiles by the ceramic Come to the Fair Magic Circle Headquarters artist William De Morgan. 12 Stephenson Way, London NW1 Friends are being offered a generous Monday 4 April, 11.30am, £18 MUSEUM AND LIBRARY OF THE ORDER discount by the British Antique Dealers’ Limit 50 places OF ST. JOHN Association (BADA) on the admission The recently refurbished Centre for the St. John’s Gate charge to their Antiques & Fine Art Fair, Magic Arts is a treasure trove of items Clerkenwell, London EC1 running from 23 to 29 March at Duke from the golden age of music halls. The Tuesday 5 July, 2pm, £10 of York Square (near Sloane Square) in collection spreads through the entire Limit 40 places Chelsea. About 100 dealers will be building, with showcases in all rooms and The Museum of the Order of St John tells exhibiting and selling quality art and corridors. There will be a short talk about the fascinating story of the Order from antiques. Regular admission price is £10, the history of The Magic Circle, followed by its origins in eleventh-century Jerusalem or £15 per couple, but Friends will be a guided tour and two live performances. to its role today, which embraces St. John charged only £10 per couple if they Ambulance and the St. John Eye Hospital in present their membership card at the HATFIELD HOUSE AND HENRY MOORE Jerusalem. Its collections – in new galleries ticket desk. The fee includes a re-entry EXHIBITION opened last year – explore all aspects pass for a subsequent visit and a copy Great North Road of the Order’s history and include rare of the BADA Handbook. The fair opens Hatfield, Herts manuscripts, silver and armour, as well daily at 11.00am and closes between Monday 13 June, 1.45pm for 2pm, £16 as historic First Aid equipment and 6pm and 9pm, depending on the day: Limit 24 places memorabilia from its role in the First and check the website Hatfield House is the home of the Friends’ Second World Wars. We shall also visit the www.bada-antiques-fair.co.uk. President, the seventh Marquess of Salisbury, Collections Research Centre and Library.

7 Win Tickets to the National Theatre

Senders of the first three correct solutions opened separate but connected narratives collide to form a provocative to this quarter’s crossword will each win a pair of response to the urgent questions of our time. tickets to the National Theatre to see , The tickets will be valid for Monday to Thursday performances until an innovative piece of documentary theatre that the end of March, subject to availability. Winners will be contacted by tackles major environmental issues. the theatre’s representative and asked to select the performance they The National has asked four of the most distinct want to attend. Send entries to the Friends’ office at the address and exciting playwrights in British theatre – Moira below, marking the envelope “Crossword”. Include your name, Buffini, , Penelope Skinner and Jack address and telephone number and/or e-mail address, so that winners Thorne – to collaborate on this project. The several can be contacted easily. Closing date for entries: 25 February.

Across 1 A romp that began in Massachusetts, then veered right . . . (3,5) 6 . . . and for a high one, this container could be useful (3,3) 10 Also comes to nothing (3) 12 George, pay attention and sparkle (7) 13 Caught out as the spirit seeped away (7) 14 Brings high drama from Norway (5) 15 Dip that provoked 20 (9) 16 Battered but thought-inducing, says Fitzgerald (12) 20 (with 21 down) Making notes should relieve the fiscal pain . . . (12,6) 23 . . . but could cause a blow-up (9) 25 Antelope found in many alarming situations (5) 26 Wielding heavy appliance can cause trouble in groin (7) 27 Honking in south London (7) 29 This bird found 20 January chilly (3) 30 Sounds like Philby's ill, but it's just a sub-continental state (6) 31 Ed mingles with a supporter where Nye and Neil were born (8)

Down 1 Grit is thrown up by turbulent river (6) 2 It's mad to get mixed up in this (6) 3 He stands by, as two hours before noon the poet loses direction (9) 4 Hers is hard, his soft. Fishy! (3) 5 Modern source of colourful images (5,9) 7 Playing in London next year (5) 8 Dog chases learned body – underground workers (8) 9 Ted, shaking in panic, still chooses words carefully (8) Solution to winter puzzle: 11 He has all he needs to make his cast-iron parrot, but he's putting it off (14) Across: 1 Evolving, 4 Office, 10 Adieu, 11 Goldsmith, 12 Epiphytes, 17 Multiplicity of fairytale dwarfs help with the sheets after 26. (9) 13 Elder, 14 Sinned, 15 Titania, 18 English, 20 Starts, 22 Devil, 24 Christian, 18 They might protect you against 23, but it's pure speculation (8) 25 Bangalore, 26 Unite, 27 Elapse, 28 Students. 19 Divided bird thus misfires (4,4) Down: 1 Erased, 2 Oxidising, 3 Vaughan Williams, 4 Negated, 6 Faster than 21 See 20 across (6) sound, 7 Iliad, 8 Ethereal, 9 Closet, 16 Nutrition, 17 Readable, 19 Hector, 22 Exploding sausage? (6) I bail him, though confused by his story (5) 20 Surfeit, 21 Engels, 23 Vinca. 24 28 In debt, with nothing ahead of us (3) Winner: F J Benton of York

Members of the Council Council Members Activities Co-ordinators Nina Evans Jean-Anne Ashton (ex-officio) and Amanda Benton President Peter Barber Vo lunteer Co-ordinator Jean-Anne Ashton The Marquess of Salisbury PC DL Dr Peter Beal T +44 (0)20 8964 2292 Legal Advisor John Holroyd-Doveton Vice-Presidents Amanda Benton Deputy Treasurer Alan Cushnir The Rt Hon the Lord Bragg of Wigton FRSL Dr Ruth Coman The Lord Jones of Birmingham Frances Hawkins (co-opted) The Rt Hon Frank Field MP Friends of the British Library The Rt Hon the Lord Hemingford The Rt Hon William Hague MP The British Library Ed King Sir Geoffrey Leigh FRSA 96 Euston Road Robert Kirton Penelope Lively CBE FRSL London NW1 2DB Michael Leapman Prof Sir Andrew Motion FRSL T +44 (0)20 7412 7734 Cdr Michael Saunders Watson CBE DL Prof Kate McLuskie F +44 (0)20 7412 7017 The Rt Hon the Lord Steel of Aikwood KT KBE DL Paul Stevenson [email protected] Kathy Wrennall Chairman The Lord Hameed of Hampstead CBE DL www.bl.uk/friends Dr Christopher Wright OBE Deputy Chairman Officers Graham Allatt FCA Treasurer Membership Secretary Nichole Chapman Registered charity number 328095 Acting Secretary Stephanie Kenna Editor Michael Leapman

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