LIBRARIES, 
 
 AND 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES 
 
 toil!) JHujtratwn*, 
 
 
 MUSEUMS, 
 
 J. W. & W. PAPWORTH, 
 
 ARCHITECTS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 CHAPMAN AND HALL. 
 
MUSEUMS, LIBRARIES, 
 
 AND 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES, 
 
 public anti Hrtbatc; 
 
 THEIR ESTABLISHMENT, FORMATION, ARRANGEMENT, AND 
 ARCHITECTURAL CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 TO WHICH IS APPENDED 
 
 THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACT, 1850, 
 
 AND 
 
 REMARKS ON ITS ADOPTION BY MECHANICS AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC 
 INSTITUTIONS J 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN W. PAPWORTH, 
 
 FELLOW OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS; ETC. ETC. 
 
 AND 
 
 WYATT PAPWORTH, 
 
 architect; hoh. sec. or the architectural publication sooiety; and hon. member 
 
 OF THE YORKSHIRE ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 “It is impossible to disguise from ourselves the paramount importance 
 that—public opinion should be rightly informed, rightly instructed, and 
 rightly directed.”— Bishop op Manchester. 
 
 THE AUTHORS RESERVE TO THEMSELVES THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 
 
 M.ECCC.LIII. 
 
Also, by the same Authors, 
 
 THE ORNAMENTS BY RAFFAELLO 
 
 IN THE 
 
 VATICAN PALACE AT ROME, 
 
 SELECTED AS 
 
 SPECIMENS OP DECORATION 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ITALIAN STYLE. 
 
 Price: Royal 4to, 14 Plates, 10s. Imperial 4to, 20s. 
 Ackekmann and Co., 96, Strand. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface ..•••■• 
 
 An Act for enabling Town Councils to establish Public 
 
 Libraries and Museums, 1850 . . . .3 
 
 General Considerations thereon . . • .9 
 
 Museums : 
 
 Observations on— 
 
 r. The site . . • . .12 
 
 !j. The departments of Art and Science which are to be 
 
 accommodated . . ■ .13 
 
 c. The largest size of any object likely to be placed in the 
 
 Museum . . ■ 14 
 
 tr. The accommodation to be provided for each department . 14 
 
 i. The admission of the Public, and the amount and nature of 
 
 study to be allowed . . . .15 
 
 f. The accommodation necessary, beyond that for the col¬ 
 
 lection, as offices, etc. . . • .16 
 
 g. Preservation of the collection ■ A 7 
 
 Libraries: 
 
 Observations on— 
 
 r. The site . • • . ^ . 18 
 
 b. The general division of the books . . .18 
 
 C. The accommodation for each branch of such division . 20 
 
 b. The admission of the Public, and the amount and nature of 
 
 study to be allowed • . ■ .23 
 
 j. The accommodation necessary, beyond that for the col¬ 
 
 lection, as offices, etc. . . • .28 
 
 f. Lending Libraries, and Public Reading Rooms . 29 
 
 ij. The preservation of the collection . . .33 
 
IV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Picture Galleries : 
 
 Observations on— 
 
 a- The site and arrangement of the collection . . 40 
 
 b. The sizes of pictures . . . .42 
 
 t . The number of rooms . . . .43 
 
 b. The aggregate size in superficial feet of each group . 44 
 
 r. The addition of water-colour drawings and prints . 46 
 
 f. The admission of the Public, and the nature and amount of 
 
 copying to be allowed . . . .46 
 
 tj. The accommodation necessary, beyond that for the pictures, 
 
 as a copying room, cleaning room, keeper’s room, etc. . 49 
 
 Ip The preservation of the pictures . . .49 
 
 Architectural Arrangements . . . .52 
 
 Museums . . . . . .53 
 
 Libraries . . . . . ,62 
 
 Picture Galleries . . . . .66 
 
 Conclusion . . . . . .78 
 
 Illustrations : 
 
 Plates 1, 2, and 3, Museum for a small Town 
 „ 4 and 5, Library of Ste. Genevieve at Paris 
 
 „ 5 and 6, Library designed for successive enlargement, and 
 
 classification of books . . . . 
 
 ,, 7, Museum of Natural History at Paris 
 
 Library with museum over 
 Picture Gallery at Venice 
 ,, 8, The Pinacotheca at Munich 
 
 „ 9, Picture Gallery at Clapham 
 
 ,, 10, Arrangement for a Gallery, with Museum, etc. 
 
 REFEREED TO ON PAGE 
 
 . 60 
 63 
 
 64 
 
 59 
 
 58 
 
 74 
 
 66 
 
 73 
 
 73 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Museums, Libraries, and Picture Galleries stand 
 separately upon the title-page of this essay, and the 
 occurrence is not accidental. Although the reader 
 may remember that a museum is defined as “ a 
 collection of literary and scientific curiosities, and of 
 the works of artists and learned men,” he is requested 
 to consider that in these days each branch of the 
 old museums has grown so extensive (if to be really 
 useful) that only a metropolis can afford to gather 
 portions of a nation’s stores under one roof; and 
 that at last it is discovered that even the British 
 Museum is no longer universally thought capable of 
 displaying every acquisition ; indeed proposals are 
 weekly made for the separation of the various divisions 
 of the Museum, and their transportation to other lo¬ 
 calities. We do not attempt to pronounce upon such 
 a separation in that particular instance, nor to pub¬ 
 lish academical designs for large buildings; but seeing 
 the spread of the establishment of minor museums, 
 either dedicated to a particular object, or so restricted 
 in their opportunities of acquisition as to be either 
 incapable of extension (as many already are by testa¬ 
 mentary disposition), or of growing with even moderate 
 
 A 
 
2 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 quickness to a state of repletion, we thought it a duty, 
 perhaps a profitable duty, to lay before the public 
 some account of the matters chiefly necessary for 
 consideration, in so far as regards the establishment, 
 formation, security, accommodation, and conduct of 
 such institutions ; in the hope that the money which 
 might otherwise be wanting for desirable purchases 
 may not be extravagantly expended beyond recall, 
 that the buildings erected may be adequate to the 
 suitable display of their contents, and that the 
 collections themselves may be not only completely 
 preserved, but arranged in a manner sufficient for 
 use and enjoyment. For this purpose the Act of 
 Parliament which is intended to facilitate the es¬ 
 tablishment of such institutions, the evidence of 
 many distinguished foreigners as well as natives 
 given to Committees of the House of Commons, and 
 the Reports, etc., thereon, have been combined with 
 the practical knowledge and experience gained in our 
 own professional pursuits. 
 
 14“ Great Marlborough Street. 
 London : January 1853. 
 
 P.S. It is supposed that no person projects a mu¬ 
 seum of any sort, without being able to give a clear 
 definition of its ends and aims, general as well as 
 special, theoretical and practical, and in the abstract 
 as well as in the concrete. 
 
ANNO DECIMO TERTIO & DECIMO QUARTO 
 
 VICTORIA RE G-IN M. 
 
 CAP. LXY. 
 
 An Act for enabling Town Councils to establish 
 Public Libraries and Museums. 
 
 [14th August 1850.] 
 
 WHEREAS it is expedient to promote the establishment 
 and extension of public libraries, and to give greater facilities 
 than now exist for establishing and extending public museums 
 of art and science, in municipal boroughs, for the instruction 
 and recreation of the people: be it enacted by the Queen s 
 most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of 
 the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present 
 parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that an 
 act passed in a session of parliament held in the eighth and 
 ninth years of the reign of her present Majesty, intituled an act 
 for encouraging the establishment of museums in large towns, shah 
 from and after the passing of this act be repealed; and that it 
 shall be lawful for the mayor, upon the request of the town 
 council of any municipal borough (the population of which, ac¬ 
 cording to the last account taken thereof by authority of parlia-,. 
 ment, exceeds ten thousand persons), to ascertain whether the 
 provisions of this act shall be adopted for such borough, in 
 manner following; that is to say, by causing a notice to be 
 affixed on or near the door of the town hall of the said borough, 
 and on or near the door of every church or chapel within tl e 
 said borough, and to be inserted in some newspaper published 
 
4 
 
 AN ACT, ETC. 
 
 in such borough, or, if there be none such, in some newspaper 
 published in the county in which such borough is situate, and 
 circulating in such borough, specifying on what day, not 
 earlier than ten days after the affixing and publication of such 
 notices, and at what place or places within the said borough, 
 the burgesses are required to signify their votes for or against 
 (he adoption of this act; which votes shall be received on such 
 day, commencing at nine of the clock in the forenoon and end¬ 
 ing at four of the clock in the afternoon of such day ; and the 
 said notice shall be to the effect of form No. 1 in the schedule 
 hereto annexed. 
 
 II. And be it enacted, that the mayor shall appoint places 
 and persons for taking the said votes, and they shall he there 
 taken by such persons, and such questions may be put to each 
 ' otor, and with such liability in case of a false answer, as at 
 elections under the act to provide for the regulation of munici¬ 
 pal corporations in England and Wales; and the declaration of 
 vote of the voters shall he to the effect of form No. 2 in the 
 said schedule. 
 
 III. And be it enacted, that every burgess who shall be 
 enrolled on the burgess roll for the time being of such borough 
 shall be entitled to vote for or against the adoption of this act, 
 and no person who shall not be enrolled on such burgess roll 
 for the time being shall be entitled so to vote; and the mayor, 
 in the presence of two or more members of the town council of 
 such borough, shall examine the votes, and shall, by public 
 notice in manner herein-after mentioned, declare whether two 
 thirds of the votes given have been given in favour of the 
 adoption of the said act; and the adoption or non-adoption of 
 this act shall be decided by such number of votes as aforesaid; 
 and notice of the adoption of this act by the borough shall be 
 forthwith given by affixing the same at or near the door of the 
 town hall of the said borough, to the effect of form No. 3 in the 
 
AN ACT, ETC. 
 
 5 
 
 said schedule ; and if it shall be determined in manner aforesaid 
 that the provisions of this act shall be adopted for such boiough, 
 then it shall be lawful for the town council to purchase or take 
 on rent, with or without payment of fine, any lands or buildings 
 for the purpose of forming public libraries or museums of art 
 and science, or both, and to erect, alter, and extend any 
 buildings for such purpose, and to maintain and keep the same 
 in good repair; and that for the purchase, building, extending, 
 altering, and repairing such lands and buildings, and payment 
 of such rent and fines, and for other purposes of this act, and 
 for the payment of any principal money and interest borrowed 
 under the authority of this act, it shall be lawful for the 
 council to levy, with and as part of the borough rate, or by a 
 separate rate to be levied in like manner as the borough rate, 
 such sums of money as shall be from time to time needed. 
 provided always, that the whole amount of rate levied for the 
 purposes of this act do not in any one year amount to more than 
 one halfpenny in the pound on the annual value of the property 
 in the borough rateable to the borough rate. 
 
 IV. And be it enacted, that out of the monies to be raised 
 under the provisions of this act it shall be lawful for the town 
 council, or for such committees as they shall appoint for all or 
 any such purposes, from time to time to purchase and provide 
 such fuel, lighting, fixtures, furniture, and other similar 
 matters, for the convenient and useful occupation and enjoy¬ 
 ment of such libraries, museums, and premises, and to appoint 
 such officers and servants, with salaries and remuneration, and 
 to make such rules and regulations for the safety and use of 
 the said libraries and museums, and for the admission of visitors 
 and others, as to them shall seem fit; and that any such com¬ 
 mittee may be appointed for such times only and composed of 
 such persons (whether members of the council or not) as the 
 council may think fit, and may at any time be dissolved by the 
 said council. 
 
6 
 
 AN ACT, ETC. 
 
 V. And be it enacted, that for the purchase of such lands,- 
 and the erecting, extending, altering, and repairing of such 
 buildings, it shall be lawful for the council of any such 
 municipal borough as aforesaid, from time to time, with the ap¬ 
 proval of the commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, to borrow 
 at interest such sums of money as may be required for the 
 same, on the security of the said yearly amount of borough rate 
 authorized by this act. 
 
 VI. And be it enacted, that the lands and buildings so pur¬ 
 chased, erected, extended, or altered as aforesaid, and also all 
 books, maps, and specimens of art and science which may be 
 presented to, and all fixtures, furniture, and articles of every 
 description which may be presented to or purchased for, any 
 such library or museum, or to or for the said council for the, 
 purposes of such library or museum, or to or for any committee 
 appointed by them, shall be vested in and held upon trust for 
 ever by the. mayqr, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough in 
 which such library or museum shall b.e situated, and shall be 
 managed by the council of the borough (or by a committee or 
 committees.appointed by them), and kept in fit and proper order, 
 for the benefit of the inhabitants of the borough and others ; 
 resorting thereto. 
 
 And be it enacted, that admission to such libraries and 
 museums shall be free of all charge. 
 
 VIII. And be it enacted, that if the burgesses shall deter¬ 
 mine in the manner aforesaid against the adoption of this act, it 
 shall not be lawful within two years after such determination 
 again to take the votes of the burgesses of the said borough in 
 manner aforesaid for the purpose of ascertaining whether the 
 provisions of this act shall be adopted for such borough. 
 
 IX. And be it enacted, that, notwithstanding the repeal of- 
 
AN ACT, ETC. 
 
 7 
 
 the said act hereby repealed, all museums established or begun 
 under the provisions of the said repealed act may be lawfully 
 maintained, completed, and managed by the ways and means in 
 this act provided, in all respects as if such museums had been 
 established and begun under the sanction and provisions of 
 this act. 
 
 X. And be it enacted, that in citing this act in other acts of 
 parliament and in legal instruments it shall be sufficient to use 
 the expression “ Public Libraries Act, 1850. 
 
 XI. And be it enacted, that this act may be amended or re¬ 
 pealed by any act to be passed in this session of parliament. 
 
 SCHEDULE. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 In pursuance of the provisions of an act of Victoria, chap¬ 
 ter for enabling town councils to establish public libraries 
 and museums, the burgesses of this borough are hereby 
 required, on the day of to signify by a 
 
 declaration, either printed or written, or partly printed and 
 partly written, and to be delivered to the mayor or his deputy 
 at the places under mentioned, their votes for or against the 
 adoption of the aforesaid act. 
 
 (Signed) A. B., Mayor. 
 
 N.B._The situation, division, and allotments of the differ- 
 
8 
 
 AN ACT, ETC. 
 
 ent places for delivering the said votes are as follows : [Here 
 insert the place or places at which the burgesses are to vote, in like 
 manner as in elections under the act to provide for the regulation 
 of municipal corporations in England and Wales.] 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 I do hereby vote [for or against, as the case may be ,J the adop¬ 
 tion of the act of the year of the reign of Queen 
 
 Victoria, chapter , for enabling town councils to 
 
 establish public libraries and museums. 
 
 (Signed) A.B. 
 
 [Here insert the name of the street, lane, or other place in which 
 the property for which the voter appears to be rated on the burgess 
 roll is situated. ] 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 _ Notice is hereby given, that this borough has adopted the pro¬ 
 visions of an act of the Victoria, chapter , 
 
 for enabling town councils to establish public libraries and 
 museums, and that the numbers of the majority and minority 
 of votes given for or against the adoption of the said act are as 
 follow; that is to say, votes for the adoption 
 
 of the said act, and votes against it. 
 
 Dated this day of A.D. 
 
 (Signed) A.B., Mayor. 
 
MUSEUMS, LIBRARIES, 
 
 AND 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 In adopting this act for a museum, in which term may now be 
 included libraries and picture galleries, it seems that the first 
 step may he taken in three ways. On the one hand, individuals 
 may make calculations and speeches, and influence a population 
 to impose the halfpenny rate, and at once begin with a proper 
 building; or they may apply to the public for a fund to he 
 expended at once in purchases, to he lodged in the best substitute 
 for a proper building that can be found, and so continue to collect 
 purchases and donations, until the building is evidently no 
 longer a suitable case for its contents; or if that confidence 
 will not be previously given to the promoters of the museum, 
 they must temporarily occupy premises , in which to receive 
 donations, until the ratepayers perceive the propriety of pro¬ 
 viding a building for the reception of so important a nucleus 
 for the future collection. Upon a careful consideration of these 
 three modes of operation, it will he seen that the first is the 
 most economical; but it has this disadvantage, that the architect 
 must provide accommodation for a collection of which the 
 extent, either wholly or in its most important parts, is at the 
 time unknown to any one. 
 
 c 
 
10 
 
 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 After the notice No. 3, required by the third section of the 
 act, has been properly given, the next step is to put in 
 operation the fourth and sixth sections, by the appointment, as 
 directed therein, of a committee or committees. 
 
 This thoroughly business manner of proceeding will require 
 a little consideration: it is not perfectly clear that persons not 
 being members of the appointing body can he placed upon 
 these committees, but it is to be hoped that amongst the ap¬ 
 pointing body will he found at least one person sufficiently 
 conversant with the subject of each great department of the 
 museum to act as honorary curator thereof, so that it shall be 
 arranged upon scientific principles. When the museum is very 
 extensive, each honorary curator might be induced further to 
 act as reporter, or secretary, or chairman of a sub-committee 
 of gentlemen, each of whom would take under his care the 
 superintendence of a branch of the department (see the exami¬ 
 nation of article 5, Libraries). 
 
 It may he useful to suggest that a majority of the curators 
 should he present to form a quorum of each committee for 
 general purposes; that the committees should meet at least 
 once every three months; that the sub-committees should pass 
 the accounts of their department, and present recommendations 
 of purchases to the committee: this governing body should 
 recommend officers and servants, draw up rules and regulations 
 for the management, safety, and use of the buildings and col¬ 
 lections, decide as to all purchases, advise the town council as 
 to alterations, repairs, etc., and report to it, from personal 
 inspection, the state of the building and of the collection, at 
 least once in the year. 
 
 It is very remarkable that the act providing for gratuitous 
 admission to the collections, formed under its provisions, leaves 
 the question, as to the persons who are to he admitted, in the 
 
MUSEUMS. 
 
 11 
 
 discretion of the town council, who might choose to give 
 the power of entrance to a very limited class. It is stated with 
 regard to the libraries in Paris, that if a beggar should come 
 in rags , there might he some difficulty , but every respectably 
 dressed person is admitted. The act, also, does not appear to 
 give power to apply the money, raised under its provisions, to 
 the purchase, etc., of books and specimens, or to repairing 
 those which may be given by private munificence. These 
 imperfections will, no doubt, soon be remedied. 
 
 Before passing to the duties of the architect who may be 
 employed, it will be best to consider in detail some of the 
 following heads as applicable to each division of this essay. 
 
 MUSEUMS. 
 
 The requisites of a good Museum as a building are not easily 
 propounded; the most important points depend upon two per¬ 
 sons, the client and the architect. 
 
 The client may be one person, or a body of individuals, and 
 the latter may be guided by an influential member of their 
 carps, or by their servants; in any one of these cases, the 
 architect hears, it is to be hoped, but one voice, and the client 
 has to take the onus of deciding the following points; viz.:— 
 a. The site, with regard to the population, ft. The depart¬ 
 ments of art and science which are to be accommodated. 
 C. The largest size of any object likely to enter the museum, 
 ft, The extent of accommodation to be provided for each depart¬ 
 ment. C- The arrangements as to the admission of the public, 
 and the amount and nature of study which will be allowed, 
 f. The accommodation necessary, beyond that for the collec¬ 
 tion, as offices, rooms for officers, lecture and class rooms, con¬ 
 veniences for servants, visitors, etc. 
 
12 
 
 MUSEUMS. 
 
 All these points should be so carefully studied by the client, 
 as to enable him to consult with the architect upon the written 
 decisions to be given as instructions for the designs. There 
 are also others, on which it is probable that the client will 
 think his own opinion, or that of his friends, sufficient; such 
 as, g. The preservation of the collection. 
 
 a. The situation of a museum, or of a library simply, or of a 
 picture gallery, will naturally be generally fixed where the 
 ground is least costly to purchase; the soil, for about half a 
 mile round, should be dry, certainly excellently drained; the 
 site (which may or may not be capable of extension) should 
 he so situated as not to be overshadowed by any buildings or 
 other objects, nor be subject to vibration, and should possess 
 the advantage of extreme quietness, and reasonable acces¬ 
 sibility. 
 
 If a temporary location be granted, the architect can only 
 modify an inconvenience in one place, or alter an objec¬ 
 tionable point in another; the following pages, however, may 
 be as useful to him as if he were called upon to design a build- 
 ing; for his object, in both cases, must be to remedy or prevent 
 any difficulties. Whatever may be the site chosen, it is asserted 
 by us in this essay that side lights are objectionable, except for 
 rooms in which the chief pursuits are those of daily life ; such 
 as the apartments provided for the officers, servants, reading 
 rooms, etc.; if the side lights be placed at least ten feet from the 
 floor, and in large rooms, such as the saloons of the British 
 Museum, (or say 40 feet wide and 30 feet high,) the objection 
 is only diminished, not obviated. But this will be treated upon 
 hereafter. Fire is also to be guarded against, especially as to 
 the construction of the roofs, fittings, and furniture, in which 
 the use of wood, rendered incombustible, for the first, and of 
 slate or iron for the latter, is indispensable. 
 
MUSEUMS. 
 
 13 
 
 ft. With regard to the number of departments, besides those 
 of the Committee and Secretary, to he provided with accommo¬ 
 dation, the arrangement of the British Museum may he men¬ 
 tioned ; it would give, with reference to a provincial museum, 
 four principal departments, viz., Antiquities, Natural History, 
 Library, and Picture Gallery. As the two last form separate 
 divisions of the present work, the reader is referred for the 
 opinions entertained thereon to the pages devoted to them. 
 
 The department of Archaeology is subdivided into the branches 
 of:—1st. Ethnology, or the relationship of tribes, extinct or 
 living, represented by saloons tilled with articles relating to 
 the customs and religion of various nations, and perhaps form¬ 
 ing a department of itself: 2nd. Ancient Sculpture, arranged 
 according to the history of that art: 3rd. Medals, which repre¬ 
 sent the history of the monetary system, and of a branch of the 
 Fine Arts, as well as elucidating history generally: 4th. Ceramic 
 Art, as representing taste applied to one of the humblest natural 
 materials, besides indicating a portion of the history of the Fine 
 Arts: to which may be added, 5th. Mediaeval Antiquities 
 (placed chronologically probably would be best). The depart¬ 
 ment of Natural History is subdivided into the branches of:— 
 1st. Zoology, separating the beast, the bird, the fish, etc.: 2nd. 
 Botany: 3rd. Geology, separating the fossil and mineralogical 
 collections. 
 
 It is obvious that such an arrangement as that of the British 
 Museum is only perfect as it is limited; those who conceive the 
 formation of a museum which shall represent the sciences, arts, 
 and manufactures of a district, of a nation, or of the universe, 
 should consult the “ Classification of subjects in the thirty 
 classes into which the Exhibition of the Works of Industry of 
 all Nations, 1851,” was divided. It is placed at the commence¬ 
 ment of the volume containing the reports of jurors, and should 
 
14 
 
 MUSEUMS. 
 
 be carefully scrutinized, as experience lias already shewn the 
 difficulty of satisfactorily making such classifications. 
 
 C- The determination of the extreme size of the objects which 
 aie to be received into the collection is of the highest import¬ 
 ance, as it involves the question of the absolute weight upon 
 some of the floors, and consequently affects the stability of the 
 structure : besides, if too low a standard be adopted, it may be 
 found impossible for a large yet light object to enter either at 
 door or window. Probably there is nothing in the upper floor 
 of the British Museum so tall as twenty feet, which may be 
 quoted as the height of that floor : if by accident some object 
 still taller were obtained, it might be placed under the lantern 
 light; fourteen feet in the clear at the walls is the height which 
 has been adopted in the design plate 7, fig. 4, as being sufficient 
 for buildings of moderate pretensions. The question of a foot 
 more in the height would not at first seem of importance in the 
 consideration of a gallery, but regarded as the addition of at 
 least a fifteenth of the cost of the walls for every foot in height, 
 it is really an essential item in the prime cost of the building; 
 and many galleries might be crippled in other features by an 
 extravagance of this sort, when the funds are either not too large 
 for a proper commencement, or unlikely to procure in future 
 any object that would justify the original fault. 
 
 li. The extent of accommodation for each department decides 
 the number of rooms which are to be provided for the museum, 
 and must considerably influence the general design; because 
 when the collection is meant to be multifarious and does not yet 
 exist, the only means of escaping from difficulty is to require a 
 series of rooms perfectly alike, and either of such moderate 
 dimensions as to be easily divided among the classes, or of such 
 sizes as to admit of future subdivision. As one element for 
 calculation, the architect may assume that the presses or cabinets 
 will never be less than eighteen inches deep, that is to say, he 
 
MUSEUMS. 
 
 15 
 
 may judiciously add three feet to the width he may require for 
 the apartments which are to contain such cabinets or cases. 
 Two other points may be made useful in preventing difficulties 
 in a large museum; viz., the construction of the wall-cases 
 separately, in uniform lengths (say of four feet) such as can be 
 readily moved; and the constant use of such a system of 
 lighting frpm the roof as will at intervals allow of partitions 
 being made which will admit one or more such lengths of cases. 
 In this way an increasing museum rvith small funds for building 
 may he commenced, and extended, on a systematic plan: no 
 business can he economically transacted in a museum where 
 either the collections of each department are scattered; or 
 where the specimens in any branch of a department are not kept 
 together: unfortunately, these faults exist in some of the most 
 highly-praised museums. 
 
 C. The remarkable regulations as to admission into public 
 museums comprise: no opening of the doors unless a principal 
 attendant be present; no admission except by the public en¬ 
 trance to any persons except the staff; the porter not to allow 
 the entrance of any person out of the hours of public service, 
 except upon a written order; the power of the committee and 
 keeper to forbid the entrance of obnoxious and certain other 
 persons; the rest of the public, if decently attired (hats, not 
 caps, are generally required in France, except for soldiers and 
 sailors), to be admitted either upon signature of name, address, 
 and occupation, or in some cases without such formality; the 
 public admitted with children in arms (to the National Gal¬ 
 lery 1); with children above eight \ years’ old (to the British 
 Museum). In France, special notices are issued that no dogs 
 are allowed; and a charge of rather more than a farthing is 
 made for taking care of canes, sticks, parasols, umbrellas, 
 and arms of any sort, except those of soldiers, which are put 
 aside gratuitously for every rank up to that of ensign ; and no 
 bags, pouches, wallets, baskets, or boxes are permitted to pass 
 
16 
 
 MUSEUMS. 
 
 the porter. In Portugal, persons in the usual cloak are not 
 allowed to enter some buildings. It is of course forbidden to 
 smoke, and it should also be prohibited to light pipes or cigars 
 within the precincts of the building. 
 
 The hours of attendance daily, and the days on which the 
 building is to he closed, are to be considered. Among the 
 regulations existing on the continent, are some such noticeable 
 features as the following: strangers and persons merely curious 
 to see the building, admitted on holidays from eleven till four, 
 at other times only before or after the hours of service to the 
 public; no permission to study beyond these hours; persons 
 in public offices, and men in literary or scientific pursuits, 
 admitted during daylight, while the keeper is in the building. 
 In a small museum not containing many exposed articles 
 difficult of removal, it is almost absurd to close the collection 
 on particular days for the purpose, nominally, of leaving 
 students to work uninterruptedly: the plan most advisable 
 seems to be the earlier opening of the museum, or the removal 
 of the objects under inspection to rooms set apart for the 
 purpose. 
 
 f. It is submitted, as a constant result of experience, that a 
 museum for a provincial town should not he without a lecture- 
 room : its utility at the Museum of Economic Geology is self- 
 evident, and the noble apartments of the British Museum would 
 amply suffice for the purpose; but the utility of a theatre 
 is, perhaps, greater in proportion when attached to a small 
 collection, than when part of a large one, because the best 
 means of ensuring the permanent and successful establishment 
 of a museum appears to be the employment of some system of 
 lecturing. 
 
 g. Whatever care may he taken by placing in each apartment 
 a warder charged with the protection of the collection, every 
 
MUSEUMS. 
 
 17 
 
 thing may be said to be placed in danger of destruction if the 
 proper ventilation and warming of the gallery be not carefully 
 regarded. It may be noticed that the chief merit of the 
 present advocacy of skylight rooms is that they almost enforce, 
 if they do not of themselves absolutely ensure, the success of 
 the natural mode of ventilation, sufficient ventilating apertures 
 being placed in the highest part of the ceiling; and as there can 
 he no difficulty about the admission of fresh air (either already 
 warmed, or directly from the exterior), we will at once pass to 
 the heat to he obtained. An equable temperature is necessary ; 
 at Berlin, where the gallery is heated with warm air, the aper¬ 
 tures for its admission are closed when the thermometer in the 
 rooms indicates a rise to within 10° of the summer heat. In 
 order to obviate the extreme dryness of that air in every place, 
 a vessel of water is provided in each room; in one day a large 
 quantity is quite exhausted, and Dr. Waagen considers that 
 this is not only useful for the pictures, but also for the public, 
 because otherwise the air would be too dry and not wholesome. 
 If called upon to name any system of heating, we should cer¬ 
 tainly recommend, in the first place, a low pressure hot-water 
 apparatus. 
 
 The duties of a gentleman placed in charge of a museum 
 soon become little more than general superintendence, cor¬ 
 respondence, and communication as secretary to the committee, 
 in short a clear-headed man of business habits is more useful 
 than an archaeologist, or a follower of natural philosophy. His 
 assistants, besides having a knowledge of languages, are the 
 persons who should be really competent (see also this subject 
 in article g, Libraries) to advise upon the purchases of works 
 for their special departments and to classify them. In many 
 cases the appointment of honorary curators is most desirable, 
 as then the heads of the departments have no occasion for 
 disputes as to superior utility, precedency, and the whole list 
 of causes for personal quarrels. 
 
18 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 The requisites of a good building for a Library are much 
 better understood than those for the other two divisions of this 
 essay. The questions which the client has to decide are of 
 great consequence, but their solutions are more liberal to the 
 architect than those of museums and picture galleries. 
 
 The client takes the onus of deciding the following points: 
 a. The site or sites with regard to the population, h- The 
 general division of the hooks, c. The probable extent of the 
 accommodation to be provided for each branch of such division, 
 tf. The arrangements as to the admission of the public, and the 
 amount and nature of study which will be allowed, t- The 
 accommodation necessary, beyond that for the collection; as 
 rooms for offices and officers, reading, and evening reading 
 rooms, conveniences for servants, visitors, &c. 
 
 All these points should be so carefully studied by the client, 
 as to enable him to consult with the architect upon the written 
 decisions to be given as instructions for the plans. There are 
 also others, on which, it is probable, that the client will think 
 his own opinion, or that of his friends, sufficient, such as:— 
 f. Whether the collection is to be a lending library, or simply 
 furnished with a public reading room. q. The preservation of 
 the collection. 
 
 a. Besides the conditions laid down in the preceding divisions 
 relating to public museums, it must be noticed, that in large 
 towns, like Liverpool, there should not be one huge library, 
 put in the cheapest spot that may offer itself, but there should 
 be district libraries, one of their great recommendations being 
 to save time in going from one neighbourhood to another. 
 
 h. In determining the general division of the books, many 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 19 
 
 circumstances render desirable the adoption of that prefixed to 
 Brunet’s Manuel du Libraire, &c. 8vo. Paris, 1844, of which 
 the principal features of each subject are alone extracted on 
 the present occasion. Each branch should have its history, 
 mode of study, theory, dictionaries, and general treatises pre¬ 
 fixed. 
 
 i. Theology.— a. Bible, 647 works, ft. Liturgies, 112. c. 
 
 Councils, 40. lj. Fathers, 344. e. Systematic theology, 
 992. f. Singular opinions, 75. g. Judaism, 15. 
 I). Oriental superstitions, 38. t. Freethinking, 50. 
 
 ii. Jurisprudence. — a. Natural and social law, 10. 6. 
 
 Political law, 12. c. Civil and criminal law, 742. 
 ft. Ecclesiastical law, 130. 
 
 hi. Sciences and Arts.— a. Philosophical sciences, 900. It. 
 Physics and chemistry, 262. c. Natural sciences, 
 2031. b. Medical sciences, 1259. £. Mathematics, 
 
 1100. f. Occult philosophy, 178. g. Fine arts, 1179. 
 1). Mechanical arts and trades, 89. t. Gymnastics^ 
 171. ft. Games, 36. 
 
 iv. Belles Lettres.— a. Philology, 1495. b- Rhetoric, 220. 
 
 C. Poetry, 4711. ft. Prose fictions, 1173. e. Criti¬ 
 cism, 509. f. Dialogues, 36. g. Epistles, 273. lj. 
 Polygraphists, 453. t. Collections and extracts, 116. 
 
 v. History.— a. Prolegomena, 1866. lj. Universal, ancient 
 
 and modern history, 71. C- History of religion and 
 superstition, 1341. 1). Ancient history, 335. c. 
 
 Modern history, 5705. t Archaeology, 3122. 
 
 vi. Encyclopaedias, journals, reviews, &c. 
 
 The figures above attached refer to the number of works, not 
 of volumes, mentioned under each head in Brunet’s Manual. 
 Experience has shewn, in a library of more than 10,000 volumes, 
 that they averaged 2| volumes to a single work or title. 
 
20 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 Each member of the Library Committee should giro, in 
 addition to his general duties, his attention to the formation or 
 perfection of that branch of these divisions with which taste, 
 opportunity, or education may have made him well acquainted. 
 
 C. In determining the probable extent of the accommodation 
 to be provided for each branch of whatever division of the books 
 may be adopted, the great point is, to decide what is to be the 
 general or particular object of the library in question, public or 
 private; and if public, whether it is to be accompanied by a 
 reading room, or whether the books are ever to leave the build- 
 ing, i. e. to be a lending library. Libraries are not storehouses 
 merely, but should be the fittest places of study, in which the 
 over awing abundance of literary resources and of applicants for 
 them, must secure that precision of working, and attention to 
 the public, both in matter and form, which can never be 
 attained in the secluded study of the German author, or in the 
 turmoil of a French cafe. 
 
 Of course the greater the accessibility to a reader, the 
 more restriction will there be as to the books in a library; the 
 regulations as to the admission of books, require notice at some 
 length. The recommendation of the librarian and of the super¬ 
 intending honorary curators, ought to carry some weight; it is 
 always desirable to have a register for the titles of books that 
 are wanted by the readers, with the understanding that they 
 will be recommended for purchase, if a certain number of per¬ 
 sons ask for them; sometimes a number, two, five, or ten, &c. 
 if fixed beforehand in proportion to the extent of the library, 
 will give a desirable freedom of choice. 
 
 Public libraries, to be successful, should be well supplied 
 with new books, and this causes a difficulty in preventing the 
 reading room from becoming a sort of club, which it ought not 
 to be. ihe librarian may give every facility to those who want 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 21 
 
 to acquire information or to improve themselves, but the read¬ 
 ing room ought not to he merely a saloon to which people could 
 go and spend five or six hours at leisure with the first book 
 whose title they may remember; the setting apart therefore a 
 room for reading periodicals, such as literary and scientific 
 journals, &c. is a really grave question, and is not here recom¬ 
 mended; the general reading room, if supplied like those of 
 the British Museum and Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, with 
 dictionaries of all sorts, the best editions and translations of 
 classic authors and principal polygraphists, the elementary and 
 general ’ treatises upon the arts and sciences, the best works 
 upon ancient and modern history both general and particular, 
 topographical works, the principal voyages, the academic collec¬ 
 tions, the blue books, and a gazette or annual register, with a 
 few of the literary and scientific journals—will always be suffi¬ 
 ciently amusing for a lounger in a public library; such a read¬ 
 ing room is nearly a representation of the library; which ought 
 to possess those large collections, such as memoirs of foreign 
 societies, laws, &c. not to be found in private unprofessional 
 libraries, and of which the want is more felt in provincial towns 
 than anywhere else. 
 
 There are books of universal interest which should not be 
 wanting in any library; but at the same time, in order to make 
 a provincial public library perfectly useful, the wants of the 
 population ought to be first consulted; it is not intended here 
 to adopt the idea that, “ It should never be attempted to use, 
 as a popular library for the working classes, the large libraries 
 intended for a superior class of readers,” except in one sense, 
 viz., that to be well supported by the lower classes, the library 
 must contain books that a narrow-minded librarian might con¬ 
 sider only amusing. It might he sufficient for the committee 
 to join with themselves on each occasion the most regular 
 readers, and go to the ballot for any book proposed; an absolute 
 majority should be required, or else grave inconveniences may 
 
22 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 occur. In such a system, suggestions from the working classes 
 would receive attention, and all works would be admissible, for 
 religion, and politics, and novels, could not be excluded from 
 the shelves. The deficiency of modern foreign works in almost 
 all English libraries, is mentioned as something very observable 
 in relation to the great spread of the knowledge of the French 
 and German languages. 
 
 The statistics of the mechanics’ institutes shew that the 
 members read a little history and political economy, and a great 
 deal of fiction; in the United States, the same thing occurs, 
 with the addition of travels, agriculture, and horticulture, while 
 in England, the demand for works on the different sciences is 
 giadually increasing. In addition to political, military, civil, 
 literary, artistic, scientific, and natural history, the committee 
 will have to provide works of local importance; for instance, 
 Manchester possesses a large class of operative naturalists, a set 
 of botanists, and a museum of natural history; Birmingham and 
 Newcastle have given attention to geology; in the Midland 
 Counties, the works most in demand seem to be the older his¬ 
 toric chronicles and works of similar interest. 
 
 Novels and other ephemera are not admitted into some 
 libraries; in others, novels, plays, light or comic literature, poli¬ 
 tical or occasional pamphlets, are not put into the reading room, 
 nor given, except to a reader who shows to the librarian that 
 they are wanted for literary or historical purposes; for a reader 
 having most serious objects of study may need to have recourse 
 to books of light literature in prosecuting his purpose. Several 
 libraries of the mechanics’ institutes are said to possess too many 
 volumes of light literature; however, the proportion of poetical, 
 political and historical works, and of translations of French 
 political histories, is described as increasing. The demand for 
 books relating to different occupations and trades is said to be 
 veiy limited, compared with that for the above-mentioned 
 
I.IBRARIES. 
 
 23 
 
 branches of literature; it is not only probable, but given in 
 evidence, that miners, for instance, never wish to study mining, 
 thinking that they know more about mines than the writers of 
 books: in short, popular libraries must have novels and light 
 literature. 
 
 In order to provide for various difficulties, and for the neces¬ 
 sity in every great library to make a selection—leaving some 
 books in the reading room for the public to spoil, and keeping 
 the rest separate—every library must want two, three, or even 
 four, copies of many books. 
 
 When therefore the committee has taken into consideration 
 the nature of the works generally desirable, and has made some 
 calculation, based upon the extent to which they will favour 
 particular departments, the division of the number of volumes 
 in each group by 46 may be fairly supposed to give the archi¬ 
 tect the number of times in which a space two feet high by 
 two feet wide will be required: i. e. four square feet will hold 
 about 46 volumes on an average throughout a library, be it a 
 public establishment or a large private collection. This is 
 easily tested by application to even a moderate bookcase. 
 
 b. Among the regulations specially affecting public libraries 
 abroad are the following: the public admitted to view the 
 library, but not the reading rooms ; children under sixteen 
 (on a note of their names and addresses signed by a parent 
 or schoolmaster), and between sixteen and twenty years 
 (upon production of their tickets of admission to a college or 
 great school), allowed to be readers, but in some cases those 
 under sixteen enter with a proviso that they accompany a per¬ 
 son above twenty-one years old, who is to be responsible for 
 their conduct; no admittance in the evening, except to readers 
 engaged in serious study; books brought in by a reader, to be 
 shown to an attendant, who will give passes for them; in 
 
24 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 some places there is no such pass given at all, hut on the con¬ 
 trary all books once in the library must remain there; it is 
 forbidden to walk about, to converse, to stand near the readers 
 or to look at their books, to look at papers on the desks of the 
 attendants, to sit anywhere but at the tables, to write upon the 
 furniture or walls, to sully the building in any way, or to 
 attempt to pass into the interior. Many of these ordinances 
 are fortunately not thought requisite in writing, as warnings to 
 readers at the British Museum, where they are even permitted 
 to assist themselves to the hooks of reference which are placed 
 in the cases around the room ; on the continent persons are re¬ 
 minded that they are not to touch anything exposed to view, 
 not to use the steps and ladders, in short not to lay hands upon 
 anything not delivered to them by the attendants, except, in a 
 few cases, the catalogues. 
 
 The directions issued for the British Museum, which may he 
 varied according to circumstances, stand as follows : 
 
 “ The reading room of the museum is open every day, except 
 on Sundays, on Ash-Wednesday, Good-Friday, Christmas-Day, 
 and on any Fast or Thanksgiving Days ordered by authority: 
 except also between the 1st and 7th of January, the 1st and 7th 
 of May, and the 1st and 7th of September, inclusive. 
 
 “ The hours are from nine till four in the months of No¬ 
 vember, December, January, and February ; from nine till five 
 in the months of September, October, March, and April; and 
 from nine till six in the months of May, June, July, and Au¬ 
 gust, with the exception that on Saturdays in these last months 
 it closes at five. [The hours of some evening libraries range 
 between five and eleven.] 
 
 “ Persons under eighteen years of age are not admissible. 
 
 “The librarians are strictly enjoined to use all possible 
 despatch in supplying the readers with the printed books or 
 manuscripts they may apply for; but in so extensive a library 
 it may not be possible to find every article immediately. 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 25 
 
 “ Readers, before leaving the room, are to return the books 
 or manuscripts they have received to an attendant, and are to 
 obtain the corresponding ticket; the reader being responsible 
 for such books or manuscripts so long as the ticket remains 
 uncancelled. 
 
 “ Readers will be allowed to make one or more extracts from 
 any printed book or manuscript; but no whole, or greater 
 part, of a manuscript is to be transcribed, without a particular 
 leave from the trustees. The transcribers are not to lay the 
 paper, on which they write, on any part of the book or manu¬ 
 script they are using; nor are any tracings allowed without 
 particular permission of the trustees. 
 
 “ No person is, on any pretence whatever, to write on any 
 part of a printed book or manuscript belonging to the museum; 
 but if any one should observe a defect in such book or manu¬ 
 script, he is requested to signify the same to the officer in 
 waiting, who will make proper use of the information. 
 
 “ It may be sufficient merely to suggest, that silence is ab¬ 
 solutely requisite in a place dedicated to the purposes of study. 
 
 “ N.B. Readers are, under no circumstances, to take any book or 
 manuscript out of the reading rooms.” 
 
 In compliance with the continental system of education, 
 translations of the classics are denied to young persons under 
 sixteen years old, and to those above that age and under twenty- 
 one who do not show that they are at a college; there must be a 
 power in the hands of the librarian to deny certain books to 
 youths and to ladies; besides these there are regulations in 
 the libraries abroad, which do not allow him to give out edi- 
 tionesprincipes, etc., except at discretion; to issue engravings, 
 maps, plans, etc., until they are bound, etc.; or to furnish any 
 works until their edges have been cut, and the proper process 
 of collation, stamping, placing, numbering, and cataloguing has 
 been performed; manuscripts are to be asked of the librarian 
 himself, and are to be read at a separate table; particular books, 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 periodicals, collections, and literary and scientific journals in 
 parts, are only to be read at reserved tables, on which no ink 
 is allowed, and where extracts or sketches must be made in 
 pencil only ; evening readers are expected to ask for the works 
 which they will want, on the evening or morning beforehand; 
 if only one attendant be in the room, he is to be excused 
 leaving it in search of books ; at the British Museum, manu¬ 
 scripts are not furnished half an hour, and printed books a 
 quarter of an hour, before closing; in some libraries the latter 
 are not given half an hour before that operation. A good spe¬ 
 cimen of the mode of asking for books is offered by the example 
 of that used in the British Museum, of which a copy, the size 
 of the original, is subjoined. 
 
 (in iboni.) 
 
 Press Mark. 
 
 Title of the Work wanted. 
 
 Size. 
 
 Place. 
 
 Date. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Date) (Signature). 
 
 Please to restore each volume of the Catalogue to its place, as soon 
 as done with. 
 
 (at the back.) 
 
 READERS ARE PARTICULARLY REQUESTED 
 
 1. Not to ask for more than one toork on the same ticket. 
 
 2. To transcribe literally from the Catalogues the title of the Work wanted. 
 
 3. To write in a plain clear hand, in order to avoid delay and mistakes. 
 
 4. Before leaving the Room, to return the books to an attendant, and to 
 
 obtain the corresponding ticket, the Reader being responsible 
 for the Books so long as the Ticket remains uncancelled. 
 N.B. Readers are, under no circumstances, to take any Book or MS. out 
 of the Reading Rooms. 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 27 
 
 In some French libraries the reader gets a numbered pass on 
 entrance, and an attendant calls the numbers in regular order 
 at the close; hut this seems unnecessary, for at the British 
 Museum, a bell, rung five minutes before the time, is obeyed by 
 the restoration of the hooks by the readers. The supply of hooks 
 is variously determined abroad as follows: No reader to have 
 more than one book at a time; than two volumes at a time, and 
 only one of each work that may happen to he in more than one 
 volume, especially if in octavo or duodecimo; than two works 
 at a time; than three hooks during one time of service, the 
 third not to be given while any other demands remain unsup¬ 
 plied; while the most liberal arrangement on the continent 
 does not allow many books, but leaves the quantity of the 
 supply to the discretion of the librarian: hooks in parts, and 
 journals, not to be given out, except scientific or law periodi¬ 
 cals, at discretion. In the reading room of the British Museum 
 there is practically no difficulty in having even more than fifty 
 works at a time, and unbound works, or parts of works, are 
 frequently delivered in reasonable cases. 
 
 It is very rational to lay down rules that books of folio or 
 quarto size should he laid flat on the desk or table, so that the 
 backs may not be broken; that no book should be weighted by 
 another to keep it open; and that no books should he held 
 upon the knees. Almost all libraries provide pens, ink, and 
 blotting paper (the Berlin Royal Library does not allow pen 
 and ink; notes must be taken in pencil only), and some add 
 paper weights and paper knives ; it is curious to observe that 
 a French regulation states that if a penknife he wanted, it must 
 be asked of an attendant, and returned to him. In some cases 
 half a sheet of letter-paper is given to the reader: of course it 
 should not be placed on the hooks, which are not to be put 
 between the paper and inkstand. It is a matter of discretion 
 with the committee or librarian, whether any tracing should he 
 allowed; artists accustomed to that practice might he permitted 
 
28 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 to use tracing paper that was not greasy or oiled, during good 
 behaviour, as in some continental libraries, -where papier vegetal 
 or d la gelatine , or de glace is stipulated; in others, especially 
 when manuscripts are being read, tracing, bread crumbs, 
 the use of compasses and colours, are absolutely prohibited: 
 colours are allowed in the British Museum. There can be no 
 question that blotting, underlining, writing, sketching, or fold¬ 
 ing leaves in a book, are instances of bad behaviour, deserving 
 immediate expulsion, but these are sometimes observed ; it is 
 found to be a good plan to insert in the registry of admission 
 an engagement to replace precisely, such books, binding 
 included, or even to pay double the price of the entire work, 
 at the option of the librarian; such spoilt books, although 
 replaced, to remain the property of the library. 
 
 If many persons require the same book at a time, it should 
 be given to the applicant whose study is nearest the subject 
 of the book; if this does not apply, then it must be bestowed at 
 the pleasure of the librarian. 
 
 In England, where comfort is so much studied, it is hardly 
 necessary to announce, as is the practice abroad, the days on 
 which warming the rooms will commence and cease: at all 
 events, if the times are fixed, it will prevent many complaints. 
 Where stoves or open fires are used, it is customary in France 
 to forbid the approach of readers to the fire; and this is even 
 the case in the hall of the reading room at the British Museum. 
 Sometimes it is ordered that no fire, nor any light except in a 
 closed lantern, be taken into a library. 
 
 e. The accommodation beyond that which is absolutely ne¬ 
 cessary for the books, must also be decided by the client. The 
 room for the lending library (which should always be kept 
 separate), the general reading room, the evening reading room 
 (if separate from that to be used in the day), the room for 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 29 
 
 receiving and unpacking, registering and cataloguing books, 
 rooms for each division of the staff, a hall, servants’ room, 
 furnace chamber, cloak rooms well warmed, for males and 
 females, are actual necessities. 
 
 The above remarks are not in themselves sufficient to guide 
 the formation of the client’s opinion upon each point; they 
 are so intimately connected with the following suggestions, as 
 to require reference and comparison. 
 
 f. The question of forming a lending library is also formida¬ 
 ble. Although scarcely 50 libraries out of 350 public ones 
 abroad and at home lend on any condition, there can be no 
 doubt that, in general, the books of public libraries in England 
 will, to a great extent, be lent, as is the case in numerous in¬ 
 stances abroad: it may be said, that all the public libraries in 
 France, Belgium, and America, are lending libraries (nearly 
 all those in the United States lend their books); and in Den¬ 
 mark, where the loan of books is considered to be the prin¬ 
 cipal utility of public libraries, even the University library is 
 open on liberal arrangements. This University library of 
 Copenhagen, with 150,000 volumes including pamphlets, and 
 increasing at the rate of 600 volumes per annum, lends about 
 15,000 volumes a year to the students whether resident or not 
 in the college; each work is lent for six weeks, but to no one 
 out of the city unless the borrower be actually engaged on a 
 literary work. At Ypres, a library, containing from 9,000 to 
 9,500 volumes, representing about 3,400 works (without count¬ 
 ing pamphlets), is divided into two parts, viz.: a. the true 
 “ library” books, which are only lent to the class of important 
 personages, and ft. about 1,500 or 2,000 volumes of less 
 value, are lent indiscriminately. At Stockholm, a library of 
 80,000 bound books, growing at the rate of 8,500 volumes a 
 year, and open daily from eleven till two, lends about 6,000 
 annually. 
 
30 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 In university and other corporation libraries, books are 
 sometimes lent upon the introduction given by a particular pro¬ 
 fessor or curator, who becomes responsible; and most libraries 
 of societies are lending libraries for the members. In the Edin¬ 
 burgh University library, twenty-five volumes are lent at a time 
 to any individual member. 
 
 It is true that the experience of some libraries shews that the 
 loan of books, if not prej udicial, is at least inconvenient, from the 
 necessity of careful applications for their return, yet in the uni¬ 
 versity city of Ghent, between 5,000 and 6,000 volumes are lent 
 in a year without any damage or loss. It has been calculated that 
 a loss of about five per cent, on the books annually added, may 
 be stated as the average reasonable depreciation of a lending 
 library; and this loss and disadvantage may be chiefly ascribed 
 to the want of good regulations, especially as to period of loan 
 and vouchers of respectability, which would secure the library 
 from any loss, except that of fair wear and tear, which must 
 always be attendant upon the system, and forms the most con¬ 
 siderable objection to it; Sion College library has not, in twenty 
 years, lost twenty-five pounds worth of books out of a collection 
 of more than 35,000 volumes. In Paris, great loss has resulted 
 from the insufficiency of the regulations respecting the return 
 of books, and it is reported to be notorious, that a considerable 
 number of books upon one subject have been absent for years 
 without being returned. In the New York Mercantile library, 
 from ten to twenty copies of many books are worn out in the 
 first five years of their circulation; in fact, more are damaged 
 than lost. 
 
 It is recorded that in the United States, a library, once a 
 lending library, has hardly ever ceased to be so; though some 
 libiaries, once public, have nearly ceased to be so. Complaints 
 have been made in some cities about abuses in lending libraries, 
 but they may be supposed to arise in consequence of inadequate 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 31 
 
 regulations, and might have been obviated by better manage¬ 
 ment; there should certainly be an assurance of responsibility 
 equal to double the value of the book lent out; the Philadel¬ 
 phia library lends to any one depositing three times the value 
 of the work, and paying sixpence for its use; and University 
 College in London, lends to its students on a deposit. 
 
 The experience of the mechanics’ institutes in the midland 
 counties shews, that the circulation of each volume in their 
 libraries amounted to six issues annually: at Leicester, a library 
 of 3,000 volumes showed 13,000 issues, and, subtracting books 
 that do not go out, the average was perhaps thirteen or four¬ 
 teen issues per volume a year; but at least three times the 
 number of volumes may be taken safely, as the average of the 
 total issues. 
 
 In some establishments, no hooks are lent except upon proof 
 of the incapability of the borrower to go to the library; this 
 rule might be relaxed in favour of persons engaged in literary 
 tasks of great extent and duration; in others, the favour is 
 granted by the librarian or trustees; in some, they are delivered 
 only to members of academies, professors, or teachers; while in 
 others, they are freely delivered to persons of known respecta¬ 
 bility. In almost every case, however, the librarian is not 
 allowed to issue rare, splendid (ouvrages de luxe), or illustrated 
 works, books in costly or remarkable binding, editiones principes , 
 palseotypes, collections or considerable portions of a collec¬ 
 tion, manuscripts, dictionaries, catalogues, unbound periodicals, 
 light or frivolous literature, (some mechanics’ institutes do not 
 lend novels, but the circulation in these libraries is very small 
 compared with that of others where such works are lent), books 
 of prints, maps, plans, or works often consulted or of common 
 occurrence. Some libraries refuse to issue works in folio, or 
 such as are too heavy to be easily carried; others restrict the bor¬ 
 rower to the use of two works, and of those only five volumes 
 
32 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 altogether, and of works in several parts only one part at a 
 time. The librarian may be eased of many difficulties by an 
 order, that he shall not be bound to give out any works within 
 twenty-four hours of the application. 
 
 If the lending library he small, a register by catalogue titles, 
 and if it be large, two registers (one by catalogue title, the other 
 by the borrowers’ names) must be kept of books lent; and it 
 seems good to follow nearly the course adopted abroad, of filing 
 duplicates of a ticket containing some, if not all, of the fol¬ 
 lowing particulars, viz.: the name of the library, the date, the 
 number of the ticket, the press mark, &c. as given in page 26 
 in the form for daily use, the state of the book, the value, 
 the penalties hereafter named, the date till which it is bor¬ 
 rowed, the signature and address of the borrower, his autho¬ 
 rization of delivery, and the signature of the librarian acknow¬ 
 ledging its return: the book must be supposed to be in good 
 condition if not otherwise expressed upon the ticket when it 
 leaves the library, and must be returnable upon demand, even 
 before the expiration of the time stated, however short a time 
 it may have been out of the library; so that, in fact, the bor¬ 
 rower gives a bond to the library, and is only to be acquitted 
 of the possession of the book, by receiving the librarian’s dated 
 signature to the ticket, to which he is not entitled until the 
 book has been examined upon its return. 
 
 The general duration of the loan varies from fifteen days for 
 an octavo and less sizes, and thirty days for all above; to terms 
 of one month for all sizes, but in some libraries three months 
 is allowed ; and if the works are not returned on the first de¬ 
 mand, the librarian, or the committee, should refuse another 
 loan to the offender for at least three, and not more than twelve 
 months. Books may perhaps he safely lent for two months, 
 but, if asked for by another person after the first fortnight, 
 they should he, as a matter of course, demanded by the libra- 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 33 
 
 rian; even persons employed in the library should not be 
 allowed to borrow without passing through these forms; the 
 borrower must he a known person, an inhabitant in the town, 
 and able, if the hooks he lost, to replace them; strangers and 
 foreigners wishing to borrow, may he expected to produce a 
 recommendation from a person who will become responsible. 
 No hook should be redelivered to the same person, until the 
 expiration of a week from its return; at the very least it 
 must go back to the library and be taken out by a fresh ticket, 
 and the last person using it should be postponed to any fresh 
 applicant. Also no book should be out during the holidays, 
 when the registers should be cleared, a survey of the library 
 made, and a report prepared by the committee. It would be 
 very useful also to arrange, that all subjects of dispute as to 
 peculation or damage should be arbitrated by some fixed per¬ 
 son ; for if the chief magistrate of the torvn or borough be also 
 the legal owner of the collection, there will always be room for 
 many inconvenient difficulties. 
 
 Public lending libraries perhaps do more harm than good 
 in lending out their books. They are nowhere so numerous 
 as in Germany, but they prevent the extension of the far 
 more useful subscription lending libraries, where the specu¬ 
 lator would always provide as many copies as may be re¬ 
 quired, and afterwards sell them cheap, thus promoting the 
 circulation of books; whereas, public libraries actually with¬ 
 draw them from a wider circulation, by lending them to the 
 shelves of one person, without having the speculator’s interest 
 in counting how many more applicants there may be for that 
 work. 
 
 g. The duties generally imposed upon the librarian of a 
 public museum are, to keep the library in order; to see that 
 books are forthcoming when asked for; to have them bound by 
 leave of the committee, and rvell preserved as far as the funds 
 allotted for the purpose will allow; to class the works accord- 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 ing to the arrangement adopted by the owner or committee; 
 to keep the registers of accession and loan, the inventory of 
 objects and catalogues; to recommend and advise the com¬ 
 mittee as to works for purchase; to buy the works that may be 
 ordered; and to report from time to time on the collection. 
 Whoever is entrusted with the direction of a large library, 
 should particularly apply himself to the recommendation of 
 works which sooner or later will he asked for, and consulted 
 with profit, by men who desire to examine things thoroughly. 
 He is also sometimes, and should perhaps invariably, he made 
 responsible for losses which he does not trace to the offender. 
 In some foreign libraries, it is expressly counted amongst the 
 regulations that the librarian is to be polite, and that he is not 
 to be absent, except from illness, for more than one space of 
 service at a time. All orders to his subordinates should pass 
 through his hands. 
 
 The general requirements of a librarian may be inferred 
 from those which apply to a sublibrarian: supposing that the 
 library be large enough to occupy four subordinate officers, 
 they should all be versed in the Greek and Latin languages, 
 and also in either French, Italian, German, or Spanish; the 
 officer attached to the printed books, must know and under¬ 
 stand the system of classification adopted, and be qualified to 
 catalogue the works; the department of manuscripts requires 
 a gentleman able at least to read the text of the mass of his 
 materials; the officer attached to a collection of drawings and 
 engravings must have such a knowledge of the history of art, 
 and of modes of execution, as to give him an acquaintance with 
 prints and masters; and the department of maps and plans re¬ 
 quires a gentleman informed upon the details of geography 
 and of a topographical classification: each officer’s special duty 
 is considered to be the placing, replacing, and preservation of 
 the works, and to assist in keeping the inventories and cata¬ 
 logues. 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 35 
 
 A not unfrequently applicable scale of salary may be calcu¬ 
 lated in this way: a sum represented by x for the porter, ‘lx for 
 the clerk, 3x for the sublibrarian, and 4x for the librarian ; 
 and in England x will generally never be less than fifty pounds 
 per annum. The extreme utility of encouraging the expectation 
 by the subaltern officers of a progressive ascent in the scale of 
 position, and of having at the head of these establishments a 
 principal thoroughly acquainted with everything in his collec¬ 
 tions, so as to answer visitors and teach his inferiors, does not 
 require any further notice. 
 
 The possession of a good catalogue is of more importance to 
 the readers and consultors of a library than to the librarian 
 himself, because, if that gentleman be at all equal to his task, 
 he knows the books and their places perfectly well. M. Van 
 de Weyer’s opinion is expressed in these words, “ The librarians 
 who seem to underrate the value of catalogues, want to make 
 themselves personally indispensable.” With respect to the 
 catalogue, as well as to the arrangement of a library, every 
 error is a great danger, which cannot be avoided except by 
 having a sufficient number of clerks to take up every book as 
 soon as it arrives at the library, and by employing sufficient 
 space to place the books suitably from the commencement, 
 when they may actually become a sort of classed catalogue in 
 themselves. Every acquisition should be collated, numbered, 
 and entered in the registry of arrivals, and be stamped with 
 the name of the library on the title and on several other pages; 
 the use of the register is to shew the rate of additions, their 
 prices, the circumstances under which they were received, and 
 their state; it also forms a check upon the librarian, by shew¬ 
 ing the date of entry in the catalogue. When stamped, the 
 librarian has to indicate the number, class, division, and sec¬ 
 tion, title and author’s name, on the blank form prescribed in 
 the catalogue, and to place it among its companions. The act of 
 giving a location appears to be the great source of trouble to 
 
36 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 librarians; when placed to the satisfaction of the official, he 
 has to mark, on the inside of the book and on the form, the 
 notation of its position in the library; it is then ready for de¬ 
 livery to the readers, who of course cannot get it until it is en¬ 
 tered in the catalogue or catalogues. There are many ways of 
 conducting this part of the librarian’s business, but if the book 
 be stamped within three days of its arrival, and in as many 
 weeks be entered in the catalogue, the librarian should be con¬ 
 sidered to work well ; in some cases three months is not too 
 much for a decision on a difficult book. The system of carbonic 
 ink, or manifold writing, offers many advantages by abolishing 
 the delay and errors arising from a large staff of clerks. It 
 enables a librarian, who understands, and will do, his duty, the 
 opportunity of making as many sorts of catalogues as he pleases. 
 He has, 
 
 1st. A registry according to numbers, which shews the date 
 of the arrival and stamping of every book, its price, donor or 
 seller, state, class, division and section, position in library, and 
 date of entry in catalogue. 
 
 2nd. An inventory, called a hand catalogue or press cata¬ 
 logue, according to the position of the book in the library, 
 which will shew at every survey whether any book be missing, 
 and if so, where it is to be found in the registry of arrivals. 
 This, and perhaps the preceding one, should be kept in dupli¬ 
 cate at the Town Hall. 
 
 3rd. An alphabetical catalogue by names of authors. 
 
 4th. An index of anonymous works, and of the many differ¬ 
 ent subjects of which some account is to be found in the library. 
 
 5th. An alphabetical catalogue by titles of subjects. 
 
 6th. A classed catalogue, with observations upon the books, 
 as to price, rarity, printers, binding, contents, value, &c. 
 
 In these four last, the same book may be entered many times, 
 and the catalogues may be very voluminous; but the essential 
 feature of the establishment of a library, public or private, 
 large or small, i.e. the saving of time to the reader, is more 
 
LIBRARIES. 
 
 37 
 
 certainly accomplished: in such, catalogues, a judicious libra¬ 
 rian will even insert the popular names of books. 
 
 The fourth catalogue is mentioned particularly as being sug¬ 
 gested by that in the catalogue of the library of the London 
 Institution, of which the “ Introductory Preface” contains 
 some good remarks on the importance of classed catalogues. 
 It is not without deference to this and the other systems of 
 classification, that Brunet has been taken above as a model; 
 but one recommendation of it has great weight, namely, that 
 it is a work which is sure to be in every large library, whereas 
 there is no certainty of finding the works of the authors of more 
 than thirty other systems. Such was the number examined by the 
 Itoyal Dublin Society (a trouble how rarely likely to be taken!) 
 which adopted an alphabetical catalogue by names of authors 
 and popular titles, with a classified index at the end, for a 
 library of more than 10,000 volumes. 
 
 The difficulty of warding from attacks those librarians who 
 only care to produce a catalogue by names of authors, may be 
 easily imagined by those who, when engaged in reading, find 
 the disadvantages as well as the advantages of a catalogue so 
 arranged; to say nothing of the difficulties arising from the 
 large number of anonymous and pseudononymous books; and of 
 those in which the name of the author is transformed by change 
 of orthography, translation, epithet, substitution of birth-place, 
 caprice, or fraud; there is the host of books without titles at all, 
 or with many title pages, with false and with unintelligible 
 titles, ascribed to men who did not write them, or disavowed by 
 their real authors, or cases of real plagiary; books with many 
 names on the title page or in the body of the work, collections 
 on particular subjects, and collections on no precise subject at 
 all, publications of academies, &c. The amount of cross refer¬ 
 ences under such a system, would render the utmost pains 
 taken in such a series of catalogues above recommended a mere 
 
38 
 
 LIBRARIES. 
 
 labour of love in comparison; but it must be acknowledged 
 that much bibliographical research is requisite to establish a 
 good catalogue under any system. 
 
 In the only published volume of the new printed catalogue 
 of the library of printed books in the British Museum up to 
 1839 (fol. London, 1841), the ninety-one rules, approved by 
 the trustees, are given at full length. AudifFredi’s commence¬ 
 ment of the catalogue of the Casanate library at Rome, is 
 quoted by M. Panizzi with approbation. Watts’s Bibliotheca 
 Britannica is an example of the catalogue alphabetically ar¬ 
 ranged by titles of subjects; it may be said, that nearly all 
 classed catalogues ultimately resolve themselves into catalogues 
 by names of authors. 
 
 The want of accurate catalogues is stated by M. Guizot to be 
 one of the chief causes of the losses in the lending libraries of 
 Prance; and this danger is obviated in the United States by 
 the course adopted in nearly all the libraries containing more 
 than 1,000 volumes, of having a printed catalogue. The New 
 York State library publishes a catalogue every five years and a 
 supplement annually. Whether it be reprinted every five or 
 ten years, a printed catalogue is a desideratum which may 
 easily be obtained for the largest libraries in the world; and if 
 the library be well managed, although the publication of the 
 catalogue may be attended with some expense at first (if such 
 publication has been delayed too long), yet the formation of 
 the catalogue need not be costly. The whole parade made by 
 some librarians of the difficulty of writing titles, transcribing 
 them, entering them, preparing them for press, revising them, 
 correcting them, &c., is only a specimen of the mystification in 
 which learned men, not accustomed to the routine of business 
 habits, can involve themselves and puzzle the public. 
 
 Whether manuscripts are to be classed by subjects or by 
 
PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 39 
 
 dates, by languages or sizes; whether maps and their accom¬ 
 paniments are to he arranged geographically, alphabetically, or 
 as they will best bind up; which of the many systems of 
 grouping prints should be adopted; and how to dispose of 
 music, are portions of detail which the advice of the manager 
 of each department can only supply from experience, and on 
 which his successor, if equally qualified, is not likely to en¬ 
 tertain similar ideas; good indices are the only results to be 
 insisted upon. 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 The requisites of a good picture gallery, as a building, are 
 not easily propounded; the client has (besides providing the site, 
 of which mention has been made in the foregoing observations), 
 to take the onus of deciding the following points:—a. The 
 future arrangement of the collection; — 1. In one or more 
 rooms; — 2. Miscellaneously, as in modern exhibitions ;—3. 
 Grouped according to the class of objects;—4. Divided ac¬ 
 cording to the different schools of painting, tr. The largest 
 size of any picture likely to enter the collection, c- The num¬ 
 ber of pictures (in each division, if grouping be chosen), tr. 
 The probable aggregate size in superficial feet of each group. 
 c . The probability of water-colour drawings and of prints being 
 added to the collection, f. The arrangements as to the admis¬ 
 sion of the public, and the amount and nature of copying which 
 will be allowed, g. The accommodation necessary, beyond 
 that for the pictures, as a copying room, cleaning room, keeper’s 
 room, with conveniences for servants, visitors, &c. 
 
 All these points should be so carefully studied by the client, 
 
40 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 as to enable him to consult with the architect upon the written 
 decisions to he given as instructions for the plans. 
 
 There are also others, on which it is probable that the client 
 will think his own opinion or that of his friends sufficient; such 
 as 1j, the preservation of the pictures. 
 
 a- The arrangement of pictures with regard to their analogies 
 of style, comparative merits, and dimensions, is an undertaking 
 of no small difficulty. There is no doubt, that any arrange¬ 
 ment of pictures in a very long gallery is unsatisfactory; and 
 this length is dependent as much upon the proportion, as upon 
 the actual dimensions. Longleat and the Louvre have equally 
 corridors rather than galleries. Two or more rooms are better 
 than one of immoderate length, if the building or circumstances 
 will admit of them; economy, as well as stability are consulted 
 also in this decision, as the partitions between the rooms give 
 additional space for pictures, while they lessen the necessary 
 thickness of the outer walls. 
 
 If intended to illustrate the history of painting, it must be a 
 very poor collection indeed, Avhich will not admit of an arrange¬ 
 ment according to the schools of painting; but many noble 
 collections exist, which were not formed with any such view. 
 In general, the public hangs its pictures miscellaneously enough, 
 and claims all the pleasure of the contrast between Turner and 
 Teniers. To hang pictures well in this manner, is more diffi¬ 
 cult than under any other disposition, and the direction of such 
 a task, without including the necessary manual assistance, can 
 hardly be too highly repaid. This direction requires a general 
 knowledge of the reputation of the different masters, combined 
 ■with the eye of an artist; if more be sought for, such as deci¬ 
 sion upon the authenticity of a picture, the fee to the counsel 
 is worth as much as the client may choose to give for the name 
 attached to the opinion; and, if cleaning be added to the list 
 
PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 41 
 
 of necessary trouble, the owner may consider that he is 
 acting with more economy than prudence, if he trust his 
 picture out of his own sight, and pay cheaply for the restora¬ 
 tive operation. This subject is further considered under ij. 
 
 The miscellaneous arrangement of a collection is certainly 
 the most common as well as the most gratifying to the public ; 
 it is, perhaps, less wearisome than the grouping by classes of 
 subjects; which is the most valuable to the real student of art, 
 because he finds, close together, specimens of the different modes 
 of representing nature that have been adopted by his prede¬ 
 cessors. Sir C. L. Eastlake, however, has expressed his opinion 
 that the division of pictures by schools is the best, and this ob¬ 
 tains very much upon the Continent, particularly in Germany. 
 It is certainly the best for the amateur, who is insensibly taught 
 the distinctions between the schools, and for the connoisseur, 
 who learns to guess tolerably correctly the painters in particu¬ 
 lar styles; and it is desirable for the historian of art, as it saves 
 the trouble of collecting his data; that is to say, as far as it 
 can be carried, for there is no critical giant to say, “ that is, 
 and that is not, a school,” of the pictures painted up to the 
 present time; and in addition to this difficulty, is that of the 
 spectator being obliged to see contemporaneous schools in 
 succession. Besides these objections, others might be adduced, 
 such as, the place of some painters, and of capricious works 
 of others, yet the greatest will probably be, the admission of 
 rubbish into a gallery arranged by schools, on the ground, that 
 “ many works are valuable from their antiquity, others as spe¬ 
 cimens of art; this applies to all collections of art: in order to 
 have a complete history, a gallery must begin with the rudest 
 specimens of all schools.” 
 
 Nothing need be said, in addition, respecting the mode of 
 arranging the pictures in a collection, except to hint to those 
 who are desirous of presenting entire collections to the public, 
 
 a 
 
42 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 that it was given in evidence, as the opinion of the present 
 President of the Royal Academy, that pictures might be in¬ 
 scribed with the name of the donor, and that, when an indi¬ 
 vidual gives a collection of pictures, they need not be kept 
 together, except by previous stipulation in the case of important 
 collections only; yet other writers are invoking Parliament to 
 set aside such stipulations. 
 
 !)• The determination of the extreme size of any picture 
 which may hereafter be received into a collection, is of the 
 highest importance, as a standard may be adopted which will 
 not permit of the acquisition of a valuable work. The result 
 of the calculations made at Munich showed that the top of 
 the largest pictures should not be placed higher than twenty- 
 nine feet, and the bottom of the pictures should not be 
 less than four feet from the floor. It will be seen from the 
 accompanying table, that this would admit of two of the largest 
 whole-length portraits usually painted, standing one above the 
 other; this is not mentioned as a practice to be adopted, but 
 merely as giving a scale. In private galleries, the height of 
 four feet gives the advantage of a range of seats, or of book¬ 
 cases around the room. The size of the Sebastiano del Piombo, 
 in the National Gallery, is fifteen feet including the frame, the 
 picture alone is twelve feet six inches; and Dr. Waagen stated 
 that, in 1850, there were no pictures so large in the gallery at 
 Berlin. 
 
 Names and sizes of the usual canvasses prepared for the use 
 of painters (the width of the frame is a matter of taste);— 
 
 Head size 
 
 . 24 by 20 inches. 
 
 Three-quarter ditto 
 
 . 30 „ 25 
 
 
 Kit-cat ditto . 
 
 . 36 „ 28 
 
 
 Small half-length ditto 
 
 . 44 „ 34 
 
 33 
 
 Half-length ditto 
 
 . 50 „ 40 
 
 
 Bishop’s half-length ditto 
 
 . 56 „ 44 
 
 33 
 
 Whole-length ditto 
 
 . 94 „ 58 
 
 
 Bishop’s whole-length ditto 
 
 . 106 „ 70 
 
 33 
 
 33 
 
PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 43 
 
 It results, therefore, that a very small collection, containing 
 even one upright “ Bishop’s whole-length”, requires walls at 
 least sixteen feet in height; it is true, that an example, here¬ 
 after given, plate 9, is, in execution, not so high, but it was 
 thought better to give the truth of an executed example, 
 although the architect, in that instance, was compelled, in order 
 to obtain even its present height, to descend as low as possible 
 by steps; and the distance left, so as to obtain a gutter beneath 
 the windows of an upper story, was all that could be com¬ 
 manded. 
 
 C. From the foregoing remarks, the reader will draw a natu¬ 
 ral inference that the probable number of pictures, either in the 
 whole collection, or in each group into which a gallery may be 
 subdivided, is not a matter to be passed over as one on which 
 no calculation can be made. It decides the number of rooms 
 which are to be provided for the exhibition, and has consider¬ 
 able further influence over the general arrangements of the 
 design; because it is known, that in some groups verij large 
 pictures are not generally to be expected, and that in some 
 cases they are unattainable. 
 
 If the miscellaneous system be not selected, there are only 
 three other groupings of pictures which are likely to be gene¬ 
 rally adopted; 1. According to the country of the painters; 2. 
 According to the qualities of certain recognized schools of art; 
 and 3. According to a capricious classification of subjects. In 
 the first case, the group of each country must either be miscel¬ 
 laneously hung, or, if that be prohibited, one of the next two 
 groupings must be followed. The Pinacotheca at Munich, 
 hereafter mentioned and illustrated, plate 8, throws as much 
 light as any example, upon the system of classification under 
 this head. 
 
 As to the second division, the enormous difficulties, men- 
 
44 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 tioned in a, of ranging many pictures, would always render the 
 class of “ miscellaneous” the largest in the collection; for the 
 Italian pictures are really divisible into four schools, properly so 
 called—the Florentine, Roman, and Venetian, with the Bo¬ 
 lognese attempts to combine the distinguishing excellencies of 
 each. These schools are by no means applicable in the dis¬ 
 crimination of the schools of other countries, as Germany, 
 France, Spain, and England; for these, other denominations 
 of schools must be invented, to the increase of perpetual 
 confusion. 
 
 The third division has been called capricious, because, 
 although every one easily understands that historical, animal, 
 and landscape painting, are three great classes, it is not so easy 
 to decide whether portraits belong to the first or to the second 
 —or whether subjects of still life can be placed in the last 
 division. Even if the course were adopted of talcing great and 
 small divisions as guides (as has been done successfully for 
 books, see page 19), there would be an impossibility, in some 
 cases, in determining the prevalent sentiment in the picture 
 requiring a place. 
 
 The only fault of the miscellaneous system, viz., the difficulty 
 of hanging the pictures to advantage, is also one of the defects 
 in every one of the above divisions. The number- of pictures 
 in each group, must therefore depend on the decision of the 
 client as to the grouping, and as to his estimate of the relative 
 extent due to the value of each subdivision. 
 
 When the preceding questions & and c have been settled, 
 the client will meet with little obstruction in proceeding to 
 calculate the probable space of wall to be devoted either to 
 each group, or to the whole collection. If he has determined 
 upon having one or more specimens of each country (and the 
 four Italian schools must be counted separately)—or of each 
 
PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 45 
 
 c l aS g—or of one or more specimens of each great master in each 
 country, or in each class—or of each class in each country or 
 merely historically to form a series, from tolerable mediocrity, 
 through excellence, to the decline of art and its renovation or 
 any other combinations—are questions which no one but the 
 client himself can solve. Some connoisseurs are content with 
 a collection of the works of a single painter; others wish to 
 have a specimen of every painter of a particular school. 
 
 If the pictures already form a collection, and there be no 
 intention of materially altering, or increasing it, the course of 
 proceeding is still further simplified; and the easiest, though 
 perhaps not quite the best, process is, for the future hanger to 
 provide cards, cut to the sizes of the pictures, inclusive of their 
 frames, to a given scale, and numbered in reference to a list: 
 then the architect, furnished with that list divided into groups 
 (or with the cards previously arranged, if the arrangement is to 
 be miscellaneous), is only required to provide walls that shall 
 be accommodating to the case. It may seem superfluous to add, 
 that the word “ top” should be carefully written on each card, 
 yet in our own practice we have seen a whole design embar¬ 
 rassed by an omission of this precaution. 
 
 It is desirable, of course, not to cover every blank space, at 
 any height, merely for the sake of clothing the walls, and with¬ 
 out reference to the size and quality of the picture. Every 
 specimen of art in a collection should be assumed to be fit to 
 challenge inspection, and to be worthy of being well displayed. 
 The catalogues of the British Institution will afford ample 
 information as to the sizes of the pictures exhibited in their 
 gallery, and they may be taken as the usual sizes of the pro¬ 
 ductions of the respective masters obtainable in this country. 
 On reference to the plan of the Munich Gallery, plate 8, there 
 will be found the proportion of space which was allotted to each 
 of the groups into which the collection is divided. 
 
46 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 C- The long-assured popularity of water-colour drawings 
 must soon render such works necessary portions of every col¬ 
 lection, and there can he no doubt that separate rooms must 
 be provided for the reception of these objects; and in time fine 
 prints will, it is to be hoped, become equally essential: with 
 these, although too often the practice, drawings in chalk or ink, 
 and enamel or miniature works, should never be mixed. All 
 the classes of works of art should be separated, if their separa¬ 
 tion, by means of screens, be even the only mode of breaking 
 the impression excited in the eye, by its previous contemplation 
 of a particular branch of the art. It is evident that great height 
 is not only needless, but really unfavourable in the rooms de¬ 
 voted to these works; for them, extent of wall is most desira¬ 
 ble; and by having smaller apartments, the partitions will 
 provide in some degree for this want. 
 
 t We have already observed that the question of copying 
 was; in a great measure connected with that of the admission of 
 the public to a gallery. On the continent generally, the public 
 is admitted on Sundays and feast days only; while the few 
 foreigners, who are admitted by production of their passports 
 on any day, do not disturb the students. The Berlin Gallery, 
 although open to the public daily, admits students on four days 
 in the week. At the National Gallery, four days are set apart 
 for the public, and two days only (Friday and Saturday) for 
 the student, the hours being from ten till six. Sir C. L. East- 
 lake recommended that a day should be reserved, on which 
 persons should only obtain admission upon payment. Mr. 
 Uwins objected to the admission of young children, although 
 he knew that Lord Liverpool wished that children of all ages 
 should be admitted, in order that the parents might have the 
 power of visiting the gallery also. 
 
 Students are admitted to the National Gallery for three 
 months at a time, to copy in oil, and are placed on a list of a 
 
PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 47 
 
 limited number, according to priority of application: if desirous 
 to copy in chalk or water-colours, they receive a ticket at once 
 from the keeper, provided in all cases that he thinks there is 
 talent enough displayed in the specimens produced by the 
 artist, to show that good would be obtained from his attendance; 
 he recommends them to study at schools suited to their capa¬ 
 bilities, if their specimens show a great deficiency in drawing, 
 or in the power of painting. 
 
 The subject of copying, and the limit, as well as the facilities, 
 to b.e given to that practice, also force themselves at an early 
 stage upon the attention of the client. If a private person, 
 and inclined to exercise liberality, he will see that it would be 
 useless to allow a student the privilege of copying a picture, 
 while a distracting succession of talking visitors are heedlessly 
 walking through the rooms; he will feel convinced that the per¬ 
 mission which he would give, cannot be usefully accepted, and 
 he will find himself obliged to provide a room for those whom 
 he wishes to assist; which involves the removal from the gallery 
 of the pictures required, unless separate days of admission are 
 fixed. This is the rule of the National Gallery: and the 
 decision in the case of any public gallery will probably be 
 similar, unless the client shall decide that the few, who go to 
 study earnestly, are worth more consideration than the many, 
 whose motives are uncertain, but whose attention may be 
 arrested, and whose taste may be excited. A compromise 
 might certainly be made, and perhaps it is proposed in print 
 for the first time; the industrious student could attend with 
 the earliest daylight, and have finished a reasonable day’s work 
 before the curious gazer had found his way to the gallery; 
 while the mechanic, and the labouring portions of the middle 
 classes, would not avail themselves of the open portals in sufficient 
 numbers to distract his attention, or to prevent his proceedings. 
 
 One of the duties of the keeper in the Royal Academy 
 
48 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 appears worthy of notice. No picture is to be copied without 
 some alteration from the original; and every study is to be 
 marked on the back as a copy, stating the locality of the 
 original, the date, student’s name, and keeper’s signature. The 
 object appears to be the prevention of the sale of such copies 
 to persons who would take them for originals; that any such 
 law can arrive at the proposed end is impossible, because, after 
 it leaves the student’s hands, the mode of manufacturing an old 
 picture out of a new one is too well known, and too much 
 practised. The present keeper of the National Gallery con¬ 
 siders that there is but one reason for copying, besides that of 
 preparation for an engraving; he propounds that “ copying is a 
 process of study; that every artist must copy to some extent in 
 the course of his studies, in order to understand the different 
 modes of proceeding of different artists and different schools”: 
 it does not follow from the above that it is necessary to make a 
 complete fac simile of the original picture. In addition, Mr. 
 Uwins expressed his opinion as to whether such copies as are 
 sold, do have the tendency to diffuse among the public generally 
 a knowledge and love of art; he considered that if really good 
 copies were distributed, good might arise; but he imagined 
 that such copies as were ordinarily made for sale, had a tendency 
 to do more harm than good. 
 
 This, which is, prima facie, a good position, does not appear 
 to yield to the remark of Sir C. L. Eastlake, that an artist who 
 copies a picture for sale, is likely to do it with great attention, 
 for his own interest. The apparent conflict arises from the use 
 of the words artist and student; and Mr. Uwins places his 
 views in a stronger light, when he affirms that a painter cannot 
 make a good copy of an old master, not only without studying 
 that master, but without a very general knowledge of art ob¬ 
 tained from a long course of study; and he deems that no good 
 copy of a picture can be made, unless the person copying has 
 attained such a point of art, as to be able to paint an original 
 
PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 49 
 
 analogous to that which he copies. There is a dictum of Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, to the effect that those who spend much of 
 their time in making finished copies, end in being unable to 
 produce anything original: the remark is generally acknow¬ 
 ledged to be correct, and although on the continent a great 
 many artists seem to live by making copies for sale, Dr. Waagen, 
 as director of the Berlin Gallery, arranges that the same artist 
 should not repeat the same picture more than three times in a 
 given period. We submit, with great deference, that a student 
 should be endeavouring to make, not a fac simile of the article 
 before him, but an image of what that original might have 
 
 been when it left its author’s hands. This limitation, with the 
 
 ✓ 
 
 addition of a slight alteration in the picture, and of a difference 
 of size, may probably reconcile the contending parties as to the 
 practice of making entire copies, which are rarely necessary as 
 lessons to the student in painting, any more than a similar 
 mode of study to the sculptor. 
 
 g. In giving instructions for the secondary portions of the 
 edifice, the client will have to decide the staff of officers, etc., 
 requisite for the care of the building; as well as upon many 
 minor arrangements. A gallery ought to have its little library, 
 and a good collection of “ galleries”, or works, illustrated by 
 prints, of the contents of large collections. A hall, servants’ 
 room, and furnace chamber, are actual necessities. A room, 
 separated from the hall, and well warmed, is required for coats, 
 cloaks, etc. The keeper should have at least one separate 
 apartment, large enough to contain the largest picture in the 
 collection. It is noticed that nearly half the students at the 
 National Gallery and British Institution are ladies. 
 
 1j. The preservation of pictures, beyond the use of good 
 warm atmospheres, may be briefly touched upon, by stating, as 
 the results of mature consideration, that all pictures which 
 cannot be varnished with mastic varnish should be glazed; this 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 also applies of course to prints, water-colour drawings, etc. 
 But whether varnishable pictures should be glazed, depends 
 upon the client’s solution of the following questions: Are pic¬ 
 tures to he bought as rarities of the highest importance, and to 
 be preserved from decay at the cost of their utility 1 or are 
 they to he bought as lessons in art, and to be put aside when 
 no longer available 1 If they are to be considered as perish¬ 
 able memorials of great men, they will naturally be glazed, at 
 whatever expense; if they are not merely subjects of a species 
 of idolatry, they will be properly varnished, and carefully kept 
 clean. 
 
 A commission, in 1850, suggested that the pictures of moderate 
 size in the National Gallery might be covered with glass, and 
 remarked that this was a mode of protection which had been 
 found successful in some instances in galleries in this country, 
 and, as it appeared, it had also been occasionally adopted in 
 foreign countries. It further recommended that means 
 should be taken to preserve the backs of the pictures from 
 the dust and impurities continually deposited upon them, 
 which, in regard to paintings on canvass, are believed to con¬ 
 stitute a source of injury. Dr. Waagen observed that glass 
 does good, but admitted that it was not possible to study a 
 picture covered with it; he felt sure that an amateur could have 
 no more enjoyment from it, and that the copyist could not see 
 well enough to make a good copy when the picture is very 
 large, as in the case of the famous Madonna di S. Sisto, by 
 Itaffaello, at Dresden. Mr. Uwins thought that glass was an 
 excellent mode of preserving pictures, but that it obscured 
 them very much : they are not so available, either for study or 
 general observation, because glass before a picture, especially 
 if it be a dark picture, makes a looking-glass of it. There are 
 proofs that artists could copy a picture with a glass before it, 
 but the work is attended with much difficulty: in short, there 
 can be no doubt that having glass before it is a great impedi- 
 
PICTURE GALLERIES. 
 
 51 
 
 ment to the study of a picture, though a great preservation of its 
 purity. In conclusion, we may quote Sir C. L. Eastlake, one 
 of the commission on this subject, who admits that in the 
 case of large pictures the whole question is beset with dif¬ 
 ficulties. He had recommended that some of the pictures in 
 the National Gallery should he covered with glass (this is now 
 being carried out), although he considered it objectionable that 
 a picture should have the effect of a mirror ; but thought any 
 such objection not to be compared with the deterioration of the 
 pictures. He had often heard those who had been copying 
 them complain of the difficulty of seeing the pictures sufficiently 
 to make their copies, and would recommend that the keeper be 
 allowed to use his discretion as to having the glass removed, 
 whenever that was requested of him. 
 
 It is impossible to say more upon the subject of cleaning, 
 than that it is always best to confide the operation, in cases 
 where it must be performed, to a curator or keeper who is 
 naturally supposed to be an artist acquainted with the mode 
 of painting which has been practised by the painter of that 
 particular picture. Proprietors of pictures are not gene¬ 
 rally aware that almost every artist of any repute, has had 
 one or more peculiar ways of preparing his canvass or panel, 
 and of making his colours. Thus in some cases a picture, 
 apparently painted with oil colours as they are now manufac¬ 
 tured, may he nothing but a ground, which will wash up (we 
 have even seen pictures on paper pasted on a panel), scarcely 
 covered with oil colour, and finished in distemper; or covered 
 with a mixture of distemper, and finished in transparent oil 
 colours. Many pictures, also, painted on hard grounds by 
 pupils, have been finished by their masters with delicate glaz¬ 
 ing of transparent oil colours; thus blue hills have become 
 green, by a tone of yellow passed over them; violent reds have 
 been harmonized with the picture by skilful glazings. In the 
 course of time these pictures become sullied, are cleansed, and 
 
52 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 varnished; and if the irreparable injury be not done at that 
 time, it is almost certain to ensue when solvents or friction are 
 applied to remove the old varnish; and, if they do not wash up 
 the picture, the cleaners succeed in restoring the brilliancy of 
 the picture by taking off all that master’s handiwork of glazing, 
 which gives the true value to the picture. The above are not 
 mentioned as the only modes of making a painting; for, in 
 reality, there are very few pictures which have been painted 
 from first to last with pure oil colours. Cleaning, as generally 
 practised, may be defined as flaying a picture ; even the use of 
 water is often to be rigorously avoided: Dr. Waagen says 
 emphatically, “ the greatest enemy to pictures is dampness”. 
 
 At the National Gallery, sufficient supervision of the public 
 is supposed to be secured by the presence of one attendant in 
 each large room, and of one person for every two small rooms; 
 besides a porter, and a person to take umbrellas, sticks, etc. 
 
 Having thus pointed out the features of these establish¬ 
 ments more peculiarly the province of the client to determine, 
 we proceed to the examination of several points upon which 
 the architect is expected to be prepared with his opinion, and 
 to decide without hesitation and correctly. This investigation 
 will be found assisted by the explanations of the various illus¬ 
 trations which it seemed necessary to append, in order that the 
 reader might easily acquaint himself with the foundations of 
 the views herein adopted. 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 Whatever may be definitely ordered, after due deliberation, 
 by the client, the architect has to learn the decisions upon the 
 subjects above discussed, and to arrange in conformity with 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 53 
 
 them and his own judgment, the points here reserved as his 
 particular province; and if the plan has been left to his own 
 discretion, his attention is more especially directed to the con¬ 
 tents of the following pages. 
 
 The sum to be expended upon the building should not be too 
 quickly fixed. The general feeling as to whether a museum is 
 to be an ornament to the town, must be compared with the sum 
 that can be raised under the act, before the committee can de¬ 
 cide upon their expenditure. In the case of a private client, 
 the cost of a mere warehouse for the collection is first ascer¬ 
 tained, and he then adds, for its decoration, the amount which 
 he is inclined to spare for that purpose; and this is the best 
 course for the public as a client, where no intention exists of 
 raising at the same time a public building. When, however, a 
 town is to be enriched with a collection of pictures, the general 
 feeling of the public must decide, whether the edifice raised to 
 receive the gallery is to cost more, and how much more, than 
 the price of the floors, walls, and roofs. No very great error 
 can be committed in taking, as a general notion of expense, 
 that every lineal foot of wall space for pictures, planned in an 
 economical manner, and not like some museums, may be multi¬ 
 plied by £7 : this will give a sum that will provide, in a sub¬ 
 stantial but plain manner, a building with the necessary ap¬ 
 purtenances above enumerated, for a private client. The 
 additions necessary for a public establishment, ought to raise 
 the limit of expenditure to £10: this falls considerably short 
 of the expense, for instance, of the National Gallery, possessing 
 670 feet linear of wall surface for pictures; that is to say, our 
 limit of expense would be £6,700. The difference between 
 this sum doubled (on account of the rooms of the Royal Aca¬ 
 demy), and the actual cost, may be supposed to represent the 
 amount expended on account of the site, for decorating the 
 elevations, entrance saloon, &c.; to which must be added, that 
 the size of the rooms also involved modes of construction much 
 more expensive than we recommend. 
 
54 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 Very large pictures (i. e. those above the size of a whole 
 length) should not be approached nearer than twenty-five feet, 
 and this fact was supposed to decide that rooms of fifty feet 
 square are necessary for their exhibition: the fallacy is self- 
 evident as regards the rooms, but when expectations of crowds 
 of visitors were raised, there was a certain propriety in having 
 grand rooms to receive them. Until galleries are built expressly 
 to receive very large modern pictures, it will be found that a 
 reasonable number of such productions can always be suitably 
 hung in any well-planned gallery of moderate dimensions. 
 Where economy (not parsimony) is necessary; rooms of less 
 than fifty feet in length may be planned, but they need not be 
 square; and their width may vary, according to the character 
 of their contents, from fifteen feet upwards. 
 
 A single gallery must have a skylight, if the site allow of no 
 other mode of lighting it; it might have windows as side-lights 
 if the site would admit of their being unobstructed, but the 
 next paragraph but one will show, that there are only two 
 circumstances under which they are admissible. 
 
 The best means of obtaining the greatest extent of space for 
 a museum of any sort, must be that plan, of gaining extreme 
 length of cases, which involves small rooms: for example, a 
 gallery 50 feet long and 20 feet wide, without doors or windows, 
 gives 140 feet lineal wall; but the same space, with a wall 
 across it, will measure 180 feet; or, with a wall along it, 
 240 feet; if divided by two walls across it, 220 feet are gained; 
 and so on. Now, it may be presumed, that no architect would 
 prefer, except under very peculiar conditions, the division once 
 lengthways of such a gallery, to that division twice crossways, 
 which has just been quoted as giving only 20 feet less lineal 
 measure of wall. But when the continuation of division is re¬ 
 quired, we find that three walls across such a space, give only 
 260 feet; while two walls introduced lengthwise give 340 feet; 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 55 
 
 this is true, but the latter case requires a skylight for the middle 
 compartment, and we are considering the best arrangement of 
 a gallery with side-lights only ; and, under that condition, the 
 utmost that could be made of such a space, would be as many 
 cross walls as possible with a wall dividing the entire length. 
 This wall is equivalent to 100 feet lineal; but as we have 
 hitherto neglected to deduct the doors of communication, say 
 five feet each, we must now take them into the calculation. 
 Five compartments, by four partitions, give about the size to 
 which such a room could properly be reduced, and they would 
 make up 300 feet, or, with a wall along the space, 400 feet 
 lineal. 
 
 2 
 
 doors 
 
 — 
 
 130 
 
 feet 
 
 3 
 
 yy 
 
 — 
 
 160 
 
 yy 
 
 4 
 
 yy 
 
 _ 
 
 220 
 
 yy 
 
 5 
 
 >} 
 
 — 
 
 210 
 
 yy 
 
 6 
 
 >> 
 
 = 
 
 200 
 
 yy 
 
 .4 
 
 yy 
 
 = 
 
 210 
 
 yy 
 
 8 
 
 yy 
 
 _ 
 
 260 
 
 yy 
 
 9 
 
 yy 
 
 —- 
 
 250 
 
 yy 
 
 10 
 
 )) 
 
 
 240 
 
 yy 
 
 11 
 
 yy 
 
 = 
 
 230 
 
 yy 
 
 5 
 
 yy 
 
 
 220 
 
 yy 
 
 10 
 
 yy 
 
 _ 
 
 280 
 
 yy 
 
 12 
 
 yy 
 
 — 
 
 260 
 
 yy 
 
 14 
 
 yy 
 
 = 
 
 240 
 
 yy 
 
56 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 There can be no doubt as to which of the above systems of 
 planning will be preferred, when the depth of the rooms does 
 not exceed fifteen to twenty feet; beyond the latter dimension, 
 the average amount of daylight transmitted by lights on one 
 side, is not sufficient for the ordinary purposes of a museum : 
 the last but one example gives rooms only ten feet deep, but 
 the architect will find that larger dimensions are attended with 
 an infinitely greater increase of wall space, in comparison with 
 those here calculated. 
 
 If then, the orders of the client render it necessary that there 
 should be two or more floors, or that the rooms must be so lofty 
 and splendid in character, that a space of at least eight feet can 
 be left between the sill of the window and the floor, side-lights, 
 if applicable to the site and to the contents of the collection, 
 have a claim to attention, which is very much weakened in the 
 two last cases, when we consider, that in such a gallery at least 
 forty feet must be deducted, for the windows, from the lineal 
 measure of the walls, and that a gallery, however divided, can 
 be lighted with skylights, giving for all purposes the best pos¬ 
 sible light. 
 
 It is certainly matter of experience, that the greatest quantity 
 of light is obtained for an apartment, when lighted by an hori¬ 
 zontal aperture in the ceiling; and of this an extraordinary 
 verification is to be found in the Pantheon at Rome, which, 
 being 74 feet high to the springing of the dome, and 142 feet 
 6 inches in internal diameter (not including the recesses behind 
 the columns), is most sufficiently and pleasingly lighted by an 
 eye in the crown of the dome, with only twenty-seven feet of 
 diameter. 
 
 Lofty rooms are certainly useful for the display of architec¬ 
 tural and colossal sculpture; and Sir C. L. Eastlalce has the 
 merit of suggesting that in picture galleries, lofty rooms should 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 57 
 
 be appropriated chiefly to large pictures, or to pictures with 
 large figures. The upper parts of the walls can be thus only 
 properly filled. The space which may remain underneath, in 
 such rooms, is not the fittest for cabinet pictures, although 
 there may be sometimes examples, especially by Italian and 
 English masters, which might be advantageously so placed. 
 But small elaborate Dutch and Flemish pictures should perhaps 
 not be far removed from the light, of which the windows, 
 wherever they may be, are always to be considered the source. 
 The inference which the foregoing statement seems to war¬ 
 rant is, that rooms of equal height are not advisable for large 
 and small pictures; that supposing a skylight to be the fittest 
 upon all occasions, elaborate cabinet pictures, in order to be 
 near the eye, and at the same time near the light (for both 
 conditions are essential), must be placed in less lofty rooms. 
 This it is admitted might involve architectural difficulties. The 
 problem of providing high and low skylights on the same floor 
 (if desirable to have them on the same floor), would not be 
 solved by adopting the form of the ancient basilica, or that of 
 a church in which the nave is much higher than the aisles; 
 for the greater elevation of the central room would intercept a 
 considerable portion of light from one wall, at least, of the 
 side galleries. It would appear needless to say that it is most 
 desirable for a gallery of any sort, that there should be no 
 object which can on any side overshadow the building, or be 
 seen through its skylights; but the frequent violations of these 
 conditions prove that they may be forgotten, although the 
 height of the walls will sometimes absolutely depend upon 
 them. Supposing the rooms to be upon the same floor, but of 
 unequal height, the best mode of ensuring uninterrupted light 
 in the smaller galleries would be to place the latter, not parallel, 
 but at right-angles, or abutting endwise against the higher 
 building, at the same time contriving that connecting corridors 
 (in which drawings might be placed) should have the effect of 
 removing such smaller galleries still further from the high 
 
 i 
 
58 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 neighbouring walls. If again the rooms should not be required 
 to be on the same floor, there would be no difficulty what¬ 
 ever in insuring a perfectly uninterrupted skylight in every 
 case. The fittest place for the windows of a picture gallery, 
 whether in the roof, or in the wall, is a question, discussed on 
 page 68, etc., upon which much difference of opinion exists. 
 Some are inclined to think that a skylight (always supposed to 
 he furnished with ground glass or with movable blinds) is 
 desirable for all pictures. This seems to have been the opinion 
 of Rubens; for Algarotti states that the museum which the 
 great painter built for himself at Antwerp was circular, with 
 a single light in the centre of the roof. Similarly arranged to 
 this and the Pantheon at Pome, page 56, is the museum at 
 Scarborough, It. H. Sharp, architect. The internal diameter 
 is thirty-two feet, and the skylight nine feet. There are also 
 seven windows round the lower portion of the room. 
 
 Having decided that a skylight, with divisions or presses 
 projecting from the wall, is the most economical mode of 
 arranging a building to receive an unknown collection, we 
 proceed to illustrate that proposition by a design, plate 7, figs. 
 3 and 4. The ground-plan may be supposed to contain the 
 library, in projecting presses, at intervals of eight feet clear 
 between the piers, with piers at the ends of the cases, to sup¬ 
 port the floor above. The first floor may he supposed to have 
 tables or glass cases along the centre of the gallery, with cases, 
 each four feet long, arranged against the vacant spaces of the 
 walls. It will be evident that a slight partition can be put 
 at any interval of eight feet, and can be removed as conve¬ 
 nience may dictate, to divide the collection. 
 
 The table cases mentioned above, for a large collection, 
 should he about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide; the stand about 
 2 feet 8| inches high, the case being 13| inches higher, in the 
 middle, sloping down to about 9 inches at each side. Such a 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 59 
 
 table would be found to hold most of the specimens required 
 in a good collection of mineralogy, geology, etc. 
 
 The present illustration also shows the manner of applying 
 lantern lights, as skylights, for museums, etc., adopted in 
 our private practice, and in our accompanying designs for such 
 purposes. Other modes, adopted by various architects, are 
 shown in the several illustrations; to which has only to he 
 added the principle carried out in the gallery of the Earl of 
 Ellesmere, and the large rooms of the Museum of Economic 
 Geology and of the Polytechnic Institution. The lecture- 
 rooms or theatres belonging to these last-named places, have 
 skylights, and not lantern lights. 
 
 The plan of the Museum of Natural History at Paris, shewn 
 in plate 7, fig. 2, was intended to exhibit the most recent 
 improvements upon English arrangements. (Bauzeitung, 1838, 
 plate 219.) The centre part consists of one floor, with a gallery 
 on each side to contain cases, and each of the end wings is 
 further divided as shewn in the section fig. 1, which is cer¬ 
 tainly the best portion, excepting the idea of a grand central 
 saloon, although with high side lights. This design may be 
 taken as a specimen of the great attention paid in France to 
 the actual utility of museums, by the provision of the labora¬ 
 tory and lecture-room ; and it is to be hoped, that our provin¬ 
 cial cities will not be satisfied with buildings of less importance 
 for such purposes. 
 
 The Athenaeum at Derby, Mr. R. Wallace architect, (given 
 in The Civil Engineer, etc. Journal, for February, 1839), will 
 serve for an illustration of what has hitherto been erected out 
 of London, -with a view to architectural effect; and, at the 
 same time, it affords an example of a building suited to the 
 purposes of a small museum, where the site allows of light 
 being obtained on the sides of the plan. 
 
60 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 In a provincial town, however, it may be assumed that the 
 most difficult site for a small museum, would be the very usual 
 case of a piece of ground abutting on a street in front and rear, 
 without the possibility of obtaining lights on the sides, except 
 by loss of ground. In dealing with such a problem (plates 1, 
 2, and 3), the position of the lecture-room is naturally fixed 
 in the middle of the site, with the entrance from the principal 
 street for the audience, and with another from the other street, 
 for the entrance of the lecturer and committee. On each side 
 of the chief entrance is a reading room, one of which can he 
 used as a hat and cloak room on lecture evenings; on each side 
 of the hack entrance is a room, one for the committee, the 
 other for the secretary, and to contain any apparatus or appli¬ 
 ances for the lectures. On the first floor, the stairs on the 
 left hand from the chief entrance, lead through the gallery 
 of the theatre into the museum, which is best placed furthest 
 from the entrance; visitors pass through, and quitting it by 
 the gallery on the opposite side, would descend by the other 
 staircase. The library is best placed over the reading room, 
 and thus persons wishing for works are enabled to pass by the 
 “ up” stairs to the delivery bar, and return to the reading room 
 by the “down” stairs. It is presumed that no one would be 
 allowed to sleep on the premises, and there is, therefore, no 
 other floor hut the basement, which would contain hat and 
 cloak rooms, the usual washing accommodation, the heating 
 apparatus if any, a room for the daily use of the porter, and a 
 large evening class room, the great utility of this will appear 
 by stating that, in many cases of serious study, a specimen may 
 he entrusted to students, in a private room, which could not 
 well be exposed to the danger of being handled by the public; 
 that there should be some place in which a few persons could 
 meet, to prevent the reading room becoming a sort of club 
 room, which it ought not to he; and that it is always desirable 
 to have a large apartment for the reception of duplicates, un¬ 
 wieldy, and imperfect specimens. 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 61 
 
 The preceding remarks apply to a museum of miscellaneous 
 objects, or to a collection illustrating a single science; no archi¬ 
 tect will imagine that such an arrangement as that now offered, 
 is presented with a view of accommodating heavy specimens of 
 antiquities or plaster casts; such works require, and deserve, 
 galleries specially arranged for them, which should, if possible, 
 be upon the ground floor. The accompanying outline suffi¬ 
 ciently indicates the difficulty of designing a building, for the 
 purpose of a museum, when the extent of space, and its allot¬ 
 ment cannot be calculated beforehand. 
 
 The plan of the public museum and library, recently erected 
 at Havre, M. L. Fortune Brunet-Debaines, architect (Gourlier, 
 Choix d’Edifices Publics, etc. Paris, fol. 1850, vol. 3), is ex¬ 
 ceedingly meritorious. It consists of a central hall (appropri¬ 
 ated to sculpture), and divided into three parts by two ranges 
 of four columns. On either side of this hall, and separated 
 from it by an open arcade, by means of which the hall is 
 lighted, is a gallery used as a museum, the floor of which is six 
 or eight feet above the floor of the hall, so as to afford rooms 
 for attendants, etc. beneath. Access to these galleries is had 
 from the hall by a flight of steps on each side of the entrance 
 in front. A long flight of steps from the centre of the back of 
 the hall, with other flights right and left, conduct to a picture 
 gallery over the hall, and a library containing 20,000 volumes 
 over the side galleries. The cost of the building, without fit- 
 ings, is said to have been £40,000. It is a square of about 
 100 feet, not including the principal staircase, and is built of 
 Caen stone in two stories, with columns of the Ionic and Co¬ 
 rinthian orders. 
 
 When the means for a large building are not immediately 
 forthcoming, the projectors of a museum on an extensive site, 
 where the future additions are to consist simply of galleries, 
 will find a very suggestive plan, originally meant for a small 
 
62 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 collection, in that erected at Dovor, E. Woodthorpe, architect, 
 (given in the Civil Engineer, etc. Journal , for August 1850). 
 
 The Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, a library, picture, 
 and statue gallery, will be found in the same Journal for De¬ 
 cember 1846, and will be hereafter mentioned, with regard to 
 the mode of lighting there adopted for pictures; it also affords 
 an example of the effect of sculpture as seen by a low side light 
 obtained from one side only. 
 
 The following are considered the most remarkable public 
 buildings for libraries in Europe, viz.: that of S. Mark, by 
 Sansovino, at Venice; the Laurentian, by Michel Agnolo Buo- 
 narotti, at Florence; the Vatican at Rome; Brera at Milan; 
 Bodleian, Radcliffe by Gibbs, and All Souls, at Oxford; Na- 
 tionale and Ste. Genevieve at Paris; Ducal at Wolfenbuettel; 
 Trinity College and University at Cambridge; Royal at Copen¬ 
 hagen; Imperial at St. Petersburgh; Royal at Munich; and 
 British Museum at London. The three great private libraries, 
 considered as buildings, in England, may be those of Blenheim, 
 Sion House, and Luton. 
 
 Besides the accommodation described in article g “ Library,” 
 some public establishments might require binders at work 
 upon the premises, clerks’ offices, store rooms for works in 
 progress, and a separate room for catalogues, etc. The subject 
 of a “ library,” is one which demands much consideration with 
 reference to economy; for, besides the system of projecting 
 presses already illustrated, there are ways and means of saving- 
 large sums by judiciously rejecting some of the whims of past 
 generations. For instance, how uselessly expensively bound 
 must be the majority of the books, where glazed fronts are re¬ 
 quired for the bookcases, and how futile it is to attempt to keep 
 wire doors locked. 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 63 
 
 The sum of £75,000 was voted, in 1843, for a building to 
 receive the library of the Abbey of Ste. Genevieve, which had 
 become national property in 1790. The restoration of the an¬ 
 cient building was once proposed, as its galleries were found 
 well suited to the service of the establishment and to the study 
 of the readers. But M. Labrouste, the architect of the new 
 structure in the Place du Pantheon, appears to have given 
 general satisfaction by the design, of which the section and 
 plan are shown in plates 4 and 5. From these it will be 
 seen, that the library has the form of a rectangular parallelopi- 
 pedon, in which the principal front occupies one of the long- 
 sides; and that a very much smaller building, containing the 
 principal staircase, projects from the opposite side. 
 
 The edifice consists of a ground and first floor. In the ves¬ 
 tibule on the ground floor are four doors, two on each side, as 
 seen in the section; those on the right hand leading to the 
 department of manuscripts and drawings; those on the left, to 
 that of printed books. These two main divisions of the ground 
 floor, are each subdivided into a vestibule, two longitudinal 
 galleries formed by the substructure of the upper floor, and a 
 transversal gallery, which, on the side of the manuscripts, is 
 destined for the readers. Ascending the staircase, the visitor 
 arrives at the door of the great reading room, and enters an 
 apartment 341 feet long, and 69 feet wide, between the piers. 
 This upper floor is divided into two main aisles, 49 feet high, 
 by sixteen iron columns in the centre, standing on piers about 
 ten feet high, which form the ground floor, or lowest division, 
 of this reading room. The columns themselves assist to carry 
 cast-iron ribs, and a fire-proof vaulting. The two aisles com¬ 
 municate with each other by the two extreme arches, and by 
 the three in the middle, the opening of the former being twice 
 as large as that of the other fifteen. The remaining twelve 
 arches are occupied, to a height of 4 ft. 6 ins., by bookcases, 
 and twenty-four heat conductors, which have the appearance 
 
64 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 of elegant stoves. The four internal faces of the walls con¬ 
 tain the great repositories of the hooks; and consist of two 
 stories, one above the other, so constructed that one is in the 
 hall, the other in the gallery, communicating with each other 
 by small flights of stairs, whereby the unpleasantness of a 
 ladder is completely removed. The books are protected by a 
 railing, at such a distance from the cases, that the librarian can 
 pass between and take out the books without opening or shut¬ 
 ting any door. Each of the tables shown on the plan receives 
 thirty-four readers; and, under the galleries, a range of 
 cabinets is provided for the use of the officers of the library, 
 and of literary men, engaged upon important or large works ; 
 an arrangement advantageous in a large classed library, because 
 a student can place himself near the books immediately con¬ 
 nected with the subject on which he is engaged. Pipes for 
 gas issue from the midst of the tables, to light the place during 
 the evening hours; and the whole library is capable of accom¬ 
 modating one thousand readers. The iron work throughout is 
 painted of a grey tint, resembling the natural colour of the 
 metal, and the remainder of the decoration in the library is 
 kept as light as possible; the greatest amount of colour has 
 been used in the staircase and vestibule. 
 
 But inasmuch as no library, public or private, known to 
 us, has been purposely built with a view to present economy 
 and future extension, in plate 6, illustrating these points, 
 will be found a plan of a dodecagonal building, fifty-nine feet 
 diameter internally, and two floors high. The portions 
 necessary to he built at first with this room, are shown sepa¬ 
 rately on the same plate, and, with the section in plate 5, ex¬ 
 plain themselves. The walls of the main building are repre¬ 
 sented as covered, in two heights, with cases calculated to con¬ 
 tain about 26,000 volumes; an inner row of reading tables is 
 capable of accommodating, say fifty readers, being twelve or 
 fourteen at each table. In the centre of the room are the 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 65 
 
 catalogue-cases, surrounding the obeliscal chimney for heating 
 and ventilation. The place of the outer row of reading tables, 
 as represented, could be occupied by bookcases during the 
 infancy of the library; but when an extension should be 
 required on either side of the nucleus, the cases could be 
 removed, and tables substituted, each accommodating about 
 ten persons: the total number of readers in such a room would 
 be about a hundred and thirty. Each table should have, be¬ 
 tween it and the presses or books of reference, a space of four 
 feet; and this, with tables 3 feet 6 inches wide, a passage of 
 2 feet 6 inches next the columns, and the bookcases of 18 inches 
 deep, gives a total of nineteen feet in the clear, which is the 
 least that can be allowed. 
 
 The polygonal form of the room is not unsuitable for the 
 grouping of works according to that classification of books 
 which may be adopted, and the process of extension, indicated 
 by the dotted lines, which may be repeated to the utmost limits 
 of the site, gives further facility for keeping unchanged the 
 system approved. Those who are interested in the subject, are 
 requested to compare this design, with those proposed for a 
 somewhat similar purpose, for the British Museum, by Mr. 
 Sydney Smirke, A.R.A., and by Mr. Panizzi, in the Return, 
 No. 557, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 30th 
 June, 1852. 
 
 The evening reading room is here detached from the rest of 
 the building, and there would be no objection to its being the 
 repository for the lending library also. There is no doubt that, 
 as a general rule, public libraries should be open in the even¬ 
 ing, expressly for the sake of those who are earning their 
 livelihood in the daytime; the greatest difficulty has been the 
 mode of lighting, because the use of gas in a library is supposed 
 to be injurious to the binding of the books, especially of those 
 in russia leather. After three years of experiment, we have 
 
 Ii 
 
66 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 been unable to detect any damage done in three small libraries 
 under our own eyes; but every objection to the use of gas will 
 be obviated, by adopting the system of lighting from the out¬ 
 side; the most successful instance of its introduction is at 
 University College, London, by Mr. Atkinson, the secretary of 
 the college. Whether diamond or parabolic reflectors be used, 
 is a matter dependent upon the number and position of the 
 lights with regard to the size and shape of the room: the real 
 fault of gas in a library, seems to be the steady dryness of the 
 atmosphere; which exhausts the moisture necessary to the 
 preservation of the bindings. 
 
 It has been suggested, and with great truth, that the under¬ 
 part of this design, which was intended for the reception of 
 cases, unpacking, storing of journals, etc. might be advan¬ 
 tageously turned (especially where the extension is beyond 
 doubt assured) into the great saloon, by cutting out so much 
 of the present first floor as only to leave a gallery, and putting 
 the reading tables on the ground floor; this would thoroughly 
 obviate the existence of mere cellars in the centre part. 
 
 The number of lineal feet of wall in the great picture 
 galleries is as follows:—Munich 1,600, Louvre 1,300, Berlin 
 1,116, London (on the principal floor) 670, and Dresden, 
 which as much exceeds the extent of Munich or of Berlin, 
 as do these that of London. 
 
 The celebrated architect, the Baron von Klenze, describes 
 the Pinacotheca (Bauzeitung, 1841, plate 417) at Munich, 
 plate 8, as being destined to receive all those objects of art 
 which are not in relief, such as paintings, drawings, engrav¬ 
 ings, enamels, painted glass, mosaics, etc. The first floor con¬ 
 tains the pictures, the ground floor receives the other works. 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 67 
 
 The paintings are grouped according to schools (perhaps 
 more perfectly effected than at Berlin), and a corridor runs 
 the whole length [420 feet] of the building, which communi¬ 
 cates with each separate room, so as to arrive at any particular 
 school without going through another. The large pictures are 
 in very large rooms lighted from above, the smaller ones are 
 placed in lesser rooms with a side-light from the north. The 
 principal rooms for pictures are 42 feet wide, 31 feet 6 inches 
 to the top of the cornice, and 52 feet high to the opening of 
 the lantern. The leading divisions of this gallery are the stair¬ 
 case a, entrance saloon b, and a room devoted to the exhibi¬ 
 tion of new acquisitions, c. [The good effect of this apartment 
 in receiving a crowd, which only goes to satisfy a momentary 
 curiosity, must be obvious.] There are also a curator s room, d, 
 and his backstairs and reception room, or perhaps copying room, 
 e. The ancient Flemish school has one large, and three small 
 rooms, f ; the ancient German has one large and four small 
 ones, g; the more recent Flemish school has three large and 
 ten small rooms, h; there are one large and three small rooms 
 for the French and Spanish schools, i; and three large rooms, 
 one of which is 93 feet long, with three small rooms, k, for the 
 Italian pictures. Then there are subordinate rooms, l, for the 
 purposes of the gallery. The ground floor is devoted to a gal¬ 
 lery for engravings, and another for original drawings; there 
 are also spaces for terra cotta vases and mosaics; and the other 
 rooms contain glass, porcelain, enamels, etc. The ceilings and 
 all the decorations of the rooms are perhaps over-wrought for 
 the purpose of a collection of pictures; the floors and dados 
 (the latter three feet high) are of Bavarian marble. 
 
 The museum and picture gallery at Berlin, by Schinkel, com¬ 
 menced in 1824, is formed on three sides of a central vestibule, 
 and contains one gallery 204 feet long, two others each 121 
 feet long, and two smaller ones each 54 feet long ; all are 39 
 feet 9 inches wide, and 26 feet high, with a flat ceiling, and the 
 
68 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 light admitted by common windows down to the dado on the 
 side. Screens, about 16 feet high by 20 feet long, of which 
 there are twenty-six, divide these galleries into rooms about 30 ft. 
 by 18 ft.; so as to have one group systematically arranged (a 
 moderate number of pictures of the same period and of the same 
 school together), and not crowded in the manner in which 
 they are in the immense gallery of the Louvre. Dr. Waagen 
 thought it was not satisfactory to look at such an immense 
 number together, and that when a picture was put up higher 
 than 16 feet, the fine things in it were lost. 
 
 The suite in the National Gallery, at London, consists of one 
 room 57 ft. 6 in. by 42 ft., another 48 ft. 6 in. by 34 ft. 6 in., 
 another 50 ft. 9 in. by 31 ft., and two rooms each 34 ft. 6 in. by 
 18 ft. These are all 22 feet high to the flat ceiling, and 32 feet 
 to the ceiling in the centre above the light. Mr. Pennethorne 
 objects that these are not sufficiently lofty, nor well enough 
 lighted. His idea of a good national gallery was such as the 
 Pinacotheca at Munich, or the Louvre, or the Gallery of Battles 
 at Versailles; supposing that the galleries should be high, and 
 the light admitted through very thick glass (free of colour), so 
 as to he as much diffused as possible; in short, that the gal¬ 
 lery should he a mass of light, and not lighted only by rays of 
 light. 
 
 In the opinion of Mr. Uwins, the room occupied by the 
 Vernon collection on the ground floor of the National Gallery, 
 was very well lighted; much better lighted than any other 
 room in the metropolis that is lighted with side lights; he 
 knew no room so well lighted as that particular one, because 
 there was an open space on both sides. This opinion, so con¬ 
 trary to Mr. Pennethorne’s, is still proof that some artists consi¬ 
 der side-lights better than skylights for the purpose of showing 
 the pictures. Sir C. L. Eastlake also considered that small 
 pictures might he seen to equal advantage by a side-light as by 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 69 
 
 a skylight. Pictures are exhibited throughout Europe, gene¬ 
 rally speaking, in galleries with side lights, which have been 
 adopted, either from choice or necessity, at Berlin, Dresden, 
 and Vienna, while at Paris, a side light is given to some por¬ 
 tions, and a skylight to others, of the Louvre; and at Munich, 
 as before observed, the Pinacotheca has large central rooms 
 lighted by skylights, and side rooms, kept for small pictures, 
 lighted by side lights. The directors of the galleries of Dres¬ 
 den and Berlin (Baron de Friesen and Dr. Waagen), both re¬ 
 commend the system of side lights, and it has been adopted 
 from choice at Berlin, and (for modern pictures) at Dresden. 
 
 The Berlin gallery, which is lighted throughout by side 
 lights, possesses some large pictures (hut none so large as the 
 Sebastian del Piombo in London), and the side lights have been 
 found quite efficient when the light is admitted at a high angle, 
 by raising up blinds from the bottom of the window. The 
 least important pictures, aesthetically speaking, the interest of 
 which more relates to the history of art, are placed opposite the 
 windows where the light is not so good. (The paintings at 
 Hampton Court are placed in rooms lighted by side lights, and 
 the cartoons are very imperfectly seen by a front light.) It was 
 a light adopted by preference, because in all the painting rooms 
 known to Dr. Waagen, the artists had chosen a high side light, 
 and it was supposed, that what the painter considered the best 
 light to work by, would he the best for seeing his works. To 
 this Sir C. L. Eastlake observes, that if a picture be painted 
 with a side light from the left, and this is nearly always the 
 case, we have only to show it with a side light from the right, 
 to reverse all the advantages derived from this consideration: 
 it may be added, that in the practice of historical, portrait, or 
 still-life painters, the necessity of lighting the model or object 
 to he copied, is still more important than that of lighting the 
 picture; a somewhat elevated side light displays natural objects 
 well, but a skylight is by no means favourable. 
 
70 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 There is a very material difference, however, between side 
 lights high, i. e. lights three or four times their own height from 
 the floor, and high side lights, i. e. rising from near the level 
 of the eye to any proportionable height ; of course the latter 
 are so thoroughly objectionable for pictures (not for a library, 
 with projecting cases touching the architraves), that the former 
 only are supposed in this essay. 
 
 Pictures, when hung low, or inclined forwards, have, as is 
 well known, a tendency (especially if dark, highly varnished, 
 or covered with glass), to reflect the light objects near them. 
 This mirror-like tendency is by some considered to be increased 
 by a skylight; but it will be found to be greater, wherever the 
 windows may be placed, in proportion as the light on the pic¬ 
 ture is weak. It may be further remarked, that the inconve¬ 
 nience in question is not to be counteracted by placing the sky¬ 
 lights next the walls (an arrangement objectionable on other 
 accounts), for under such circumstances, the light on any object 
 near the pictures, is necessarily fuller and brighter; whereas, 
 when the lights are nearer the centre of the roof, such 
 objects present their shadowed sides to the paintings, which 
 have thus less to reflect. 
 
 The truth, upon this subject, seems to have been very fairly 
 stated by Mr. Uwins, who, speaking of a preference for sky¬ 
 lights for oil paintings, considered that side lights cannot be 
 said to be more favourable, but that they are nearly equally 
 favourable; the skylight diffuses light better; with a side light, 
 the picture receiving more direct rays, there is the shadow of 
 the frame cast upon the surface of the picture, and only a few 
 pictures can be well placed in rooms lighted with side lights, 
 because every inch from the window the light diminishes in 
 intensity. 
 
 As very particular attention was given to the subject of 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 71 
 
 lighting the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, G. Basevi, archi¬ 
 tect (given in the Civil Engineer, etc., Journal for December 
 1846); and as the advice of Sir C. L. Eastlake was obtained, 
 it may be useful here to remind the reader that the principal 
 floor of this edifice contains a picture gallery 67 ft. long, by 
 39 ft. wide, and 27 ft. high to the frieze, which occupies 3 ft. 
 6 ins. more, and from which springs a coved ceiling, carrying a 
 lantern-light, divided by draped and winged figures. The 
 horizontal ceiling of the lantern-light is divided into compartments 
 enriched with open panels ; above these are conical skylights, which 
 are 53 ft. from the ground. 
 
 Sir C. L. Eastlake, in 1848 (Appendix to Report of 1850), 
 thought it a great defect to make all the rooms of equal height, 
 for all pictures; for if small and delicately finished Dutch pic¬ 
 tures are placed in a very high room, calculated to receive a 
 large number of pictures, he thought the light could not he 
 strong enough to exhibit such pictures well; he considered 
 that it should be a condition in the exhibition of small pictures, 
 that they should be near the eye, and near the light; conse¬ 
 quently, he would recommend for such pictures, either a light 
 that was not very high, or a side light. If pictures are seen by 
 a side light, he thought the plan recommended by Professor 
 Magnus of Berlin (published at Vienna in Nov. 1839) was 
 very good, and had called the attention of Sir Robert Peel to 
 it. (C. L. Eastlake, R.A., The National Gallery — Observations, 
 etc., 8vo, Lond. 1845.) “ He supposes a room to he at least 
 five-eighths of its breadth in height, its length to depend upon 
 the number of paintings to be placed in it; windows, reaching 
 nearly to the ceiling, and about five feet from the floor, are 
 opened on both sides. The width of 
 the windows he proposes should be a 
 fourth of the breadth of the room, and 
 also of the piers between them; screens 
 are then introduced, placed at an angle 
 
 Kg-1- 
 
72 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 of 62° with the wall, Fig. 1. The pictures to be placed on the 
 screens require to he removed five or six feet from the wall, 
 the useless space serving for doors of communication. This 
 principle is unquestionably best adapted for a circular build¬ 
 ing, since the oblique screens would then present an archi¬ 
 tectural regularity, as shown in the design 
 of Professor Magnus, Fig. 2. The extent 
 of the screens, from the external wall to¬ 
 wards the centre, would be regulated by the 
 light, leaving a circular space in the centre 
 for staircases. Opposite to each window a 
 statue is supposed to be placed. The same 
 contrivance would be available for more 
 than one story, and might be combined with 
 the employment of a skylight in the uppermost room.” 
 
 This plan Sir C. L. Eastlake considered to be the least ob¬ 
 jectionable mode in which a side light could be employed, 
 although fitter for modern exhibitions than for a national gal¬ 
 lery, On the whole, he saw no reason to alter the opinion 
 expressed in the Report, on the mode of lighting the Randolph 
 Gallery at Oxford, viz.: that the window or source of light by 
 which a picture is seen, and the picture itself, ought not both 
 to come within the range of vision at the same time: this 
 general condition may comprehend the side light under the 
 restrictions above alluded to; but it may be safely asserted, 
 that a light from above, if sufficiently abundant, is always the 
 fittest for large pictures. He stated that the perfection of 
 such a plan was mentioned to him by Sir Charles Barry. 
 This celebrated architect gave as evidence, that he remem¬ 
 bered the room in which this arrangement was applied; that 
 it was the room, built expressly for the purpose, in which Ben¬ 
 jamin West exhibited his pictures, a short time before his death; 
 that the room was destroyed; that the effect was considered 
 most advantageous; that he never heard with whom the prin- 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 73 
 
 ciple originated; and that he never saw a gallery lighted upon 
 that principle, but that he should say it was the correct prin¬ 
 ciple of lighting a gallery with effect; that the advantage of 
 the plan was, that it avoided all tie-beams, and consequently 
 that all sources of shadow which might be cast on the pictures 
 were done away with. His own sketch exhibited a room ninety 
 feet by sixty feet. 
 
 Now, this evidence requires the observations, that we have 
 little doubt that the suggestion originated with our parent, 
 the late Mr. J. B. Papworth, who was intimate with West; 
 that he often spoke of the room with satisfaction, as a success¬ 
 ful experiment; that the room still exists, converted into the 
 chapel called the Apostolical Church, where the late Rev. Edw. 
 Irving used to preach, in Newman-street, Oxford-street; and 
 that Mr. Papworth built another perfectly successful gallery, 
 on the same principle, in 1829-33 (Picture Galleries, fr), for 
 John Allnutt, Esq., of Clapham Common, whose collection, 
 placed therein, is always open, by the liberality of its owner, to 
 artists and amateurs. The section of this room, given in plate 
 9, shows a width of 28 feet 6 inches, and a length of 36 feet. 
 Its possessor has, from experience, no doubt that it is the best 
 lighted gallery in England, and perhaps in the world. West’s 
 room had no central light in it; but it was considered desirable 
 to place one in the Clapham gallery, in consequence of the 
 intention to use the apartment as a morning room. 
 
 Sir C. L. Eastlake mentioned at the same time, that a gal¬ 
 lery, for a temporary exhibition of modern pictures in Rome, 
 had been lighted on the same plan, and that there was a screen 
 suspended from the top of the room. Such a plan rivals the one 
 just explained, in having no columns; and this is such a decided 
 merit in a design for a public picture gallery, that no effort 
 should be spared to obtain it. As will be seen in plate 10, we 
 have suggested a construction of roof on the principle of those 
 
 L 
 
74 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 at the Polytechnic and other institutions in London, hut with 
 lights differently placed: the section more resembles the sys¬ 
 tem adopted at the Pantheon Bazaar in Oxford-street, where 
 the experiment of a screen might he tried on a large scale. 
 Any client, in deciding upon erecting such a building, must 
 take warning not to confide its execution to any but a profes¬ 
 sional man, as the arched beams require great skill and care in 
 their design and construction. The space between the longi¬ 
 tudinal walls may be converted into cabinets, serving for small 
 pictures, libraries, and collections of curiosities, on the first 
 floor, with officers’ rooms, etc., below. 
 
 In the Clapham gallery there is no difficulty from any over¬ 
 shadowing of the building in consequence of its position, as 
 mentioned on page 43; on looking out of the lights, nothing 
 is seen hut the sky: and the system affords a means of build¬ 
 ing high or low rooms similarly or differently lighted, closely 
 connected, and on the same level. 
 
 A remarkable mode of lighting, somewhat similar in section 
 to that of the Pinacotheca at Munich, is shown in plate 8, by 
 the section of the gallery built, in 1827, for the Academy of 
 Arts at Venice. (Bauzeitung, 1836, plate 78.) The upper 
 floor consists of two rooms, each about 44 feet 3 inches wide, 
 and double that in length. Each room is lighted by two sky¬ 
 lights, each 18| feet square where they touch the cove, lessen¬ 
 ing to about 12 feet square at a false flat skylight, having 
 moveable blinds to break the rays of the sun. The result of 
 the effect is not mentioned. 
 
 The reason that many galleries fail of success is, that they 
 are over lighted; and few persons comprehend this defect. Of 
 course, if the room be placed in the condition of having a roof 
 of glass, none could be more lighted ; hut it would he as bad 
 for pictures as the open air; the glare of light, as it is termed, 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 75 
 
 would be too great; but there is really no glare in the case, it 
 is a consequence upon some laws of optics, which we will now 
 endeavour to explain. 
 
 Experience has shewn us, that the light upon a picture may 
 be supposed to be confined within planes drawn from the 
 boundaries of a light to the boundaries of a picture; and it was 
 found, by experiment, that there was no reflection when the 
 eye could not get within an angle of 28° to 32°. Professor 
 Magnus fixes it at 28°, but say 30° of those planes. Thus 
 in Fig. 3, representing the plan of a gallery with a side 
 light a c, opposite the picture b d, we wish to show that 
 the spectator will always be subject to a reflected light, when 
 he stands between the boundary planes, a b and c d ; and also 
 that the same defect arises until he has passed on either side 
 beyond the angle of say 30°, as A b f and c d e ; but then he 
 would come under the influence of the 
 light i k, so that he must continue further 
 off, beyond the angle k d l, or ibm. This 
 defect maybeobviated by raising the source 
 of light so high, that the spectator may 
 always be able to view the picture with- 
 Fi e- 3- out coming within an angle of 30° with 
 
 its boundary plane at bottom: thus in Fig. 4, where m n repre¬ 
 sents the height of the eye or horizon, 
 the bottom of the light must be fixed 
 above a line forming an angle, n m o, of 
 30°, and it might then be made a continu¬ 
 ous window along the side of the gallery. 
 
 The angle o p q is well situated. Every 
 reader will perceive that, if the bottom of 
 the window be so low as r, it would be 
 impossible for the spectator to place him¬ 
 self out of the angle r m s. Of course a picture at g it, Fig. 3, 
 would fall under the influence of the lights a c and i k ; and 
 
76 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 this inconvenience is only to be remedied by single lights in 
 each room, or by the use of screens hung to the sides of the 
 windows, so as to shut out their influence upon the picture 
 which is at the time being viewed ; it therefore follows, if the 
 above rules are founded in justice, that the windows of a 
 gallery thus lit must be very far apart indeed ; and any gallery 
 with windows on both sides must of necessity have a double 
 reflection. 
 
 We can state with confidence that a plan and section of 
 any building ought to show at once whether the pictures hung 
 upon its walls, will or will not be rendered indistinct from the 
 eye of the spectator catching the reflection of the light ; and, as 
 the eye can only see within an angle of say 60°, there can be 
 no difficulty in placing the light so that he shall not see it and 
 the pictures at the same time. 
 
 With regard to the system in use at Berlin, if it were 
 adopted with moveable screens, it would be extremely useful in 
 cases where long and narrow galleries only can be provided; 
 by this arrangement, although the same general effect from the 
 size of the room is not produced, there is a great deal more 
 space for hanging pictures, and the system may be said to 
 double the length which would have been given by the walls 
 only, as proved by the diagrams on page 55. When new walls 
 are to be erected for picture galleries, or when there would 
 be occasion for new plastering, the walls should be battened 
 and finished with boarding, j 
 
 It would always be interesting to place engravings, illus¬ 
 trating the history of any particular picture, in its vicinity. 
 A sketch of each side of a room, showing the outline of the 
 pictures, etc., and any curious matter connected with them, 
 will be found an agreeable addition to every catalogue, beyond 
 the information of the painter’s name and date, and the sub¬ 
 ject of the picture. 
 
ARCHITECTURAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 77 
 
 The principle of not suffering the eyes to be dazzled by a 
 brighter object than the object contemplated, suggests the ex¬ 
 pediency of avoiding a superabundance of burnishing in frames, 
 especially in unbroken lines, and very near the picture. An 
 attention to this particular is still more necessary as regards 
 old pictures, the tone of which has been lowered by time. The 
 author of The Pleasures of Memory , many years ago, had all the 
 frames of his collection varnished, and with very good effect; 
 the advantage of this expedient has been found to be twofold; 
 the brightness of the gilding is agreeably mellowed and 
 softened, and the frames, when they require cleaning, may 
 be washed without much injury. 
 
 With respect to the colour of the walls on which pictures 
 are to be hung, we must again quote Sir C. L. Eastlake:— 
 “ It may be observed that a picture will be seen to advantage 
 upon a ground brighter than its darks, and darker than its 
 lights, and of so subdued a tint as may contrast well with its 
 brighter colours. The choice of that colour for a room to hold 
 all pictures, should be regulated by the condition of its har¬ 
 monizing with the colour of gold, with which it is more directly 
 in contact; but this is not all; supposing the most advan¬ 
 tageous hue to be employed for the wall, it is not to be con¬ 
 cluded that boards painted of that hue will have a satisfactory 
 effect. The refined and harmonious tones of pictures, and the 
 soft splendour of gilding around them, require to be supported 
 by materials of corresponding richness, or at least by a certain 
 finish, in the appearance of what surrounds them. The whole 
 question is of less consequence, where paintings are numerous 
 enough nearly to hide the walls; but while the latter make a 
 considerable part of the impression on the eye, that impression 
 is not to be neglected.” 
 
 In exemplification of these remarks, we may add that we 
 have superintended the hanging of a room, destined to receive 
 
78 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 pictures in open-work frames, with cloth of a deep purple 
 colour; and that the pictures, such as Claudes and Cuyps, 
 placed upon the walls, are deemed to be exhibited to great ad¬ 
 vantage. For a gallery of Rubens and of works of that school, 
 a deep red has been used to a considerable extent to our 
 satisfaction; hut that red is one not easily gained: pure drop 
 lake is essential to the formation of the tint, and it is rarely 
 that decorators will produce so expensive a colour. For works 
 in water colour, generally speaking, a quiet tint, inclining to 
 citrine or russet, is exceedingly successful, and the more 
 neutral the better: for engravings, any colour but blue may 
 he adopted, if care he taken not to let it he too deep; when 
 economy is advocated, mossy patterns in paper hangings will 
 be found good expedients. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 It is unnecessary to enter into the statistics (which are about 
 to be furnished by government authority) of mechanics’ insti¬ 
 tutes, or of soi-disant literary and scientific institutions, to prove 
 that most of these establishments no longer fulfil their original 
 intentions. So much is it the case, that Birkbeck or evening 
 schools have just discovered themselves as the new form which 
 must he adopted by the advocates of extended education; 
 while many literary, etc., societies are so embarrassed by debt, 
 as to seek to maintain themselves by a series of “ lectures” and 
 : readings . The real value of these performances is a matter 
 which has perhaps not been argued; yet it requires most 
 serious consideration. It will not be denied, that amusement 
 is sought by the committees of such establishments, and that 
 Sir Isaac Newton would not find his services in request, unless 
 his programme promised a subject which, by a mild equivoca¬ 
 tion, is termed interesting, but should properly be called enter¬ 
 taining. We may quote a paragraph from the report of one 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 79 
 
 of the best of these establishments, and forbear to give a list of 
 the subjects selected. “ These lectures are of a popular cha¬ 
 racter, combining useful knowledge with much that is attractive 
 and amusing.” The list includes, besides two dramatic recita¬ 
 tions, and two concerts “ by the distinguished-family”, 
 
 eleven subjects, of which more than half are little else than “ a 
 night with-”, and, as such, are properly a sort of dra¬ 
 
 matic performance; to which serious families go, because it is 
 not given at a theatre; to which the idle go, because they find 
 themselves in genteel society; and others, because they are 
 supposed to afford opportunities for the indulgence of youthful 
 vanity and speculations. 
 
 But if the real intent of a lecture or lectures be to give a 
 series of demonstrations, which shall facilitate the comprehen¬ 
 sion of hooks by those who are really studying; shall show the 
 relation of the specimens in a museum to the different branches 
 of art and science, and to each other, with their purposes and 
 uses; and shall teach the history and value of engraving, 
 painting, sculpture, and architecture, and their application in 
 daily life (of this sort are the orreries, the lectures to pupil 
 teachers, given by the Department of Practical Art, and the 
 chemical lessons given everywhere), something better must he 
 found than the tribe of really clever men, who talk amusing 
 platitudes, and recite interesting passages; or who, although 
 paid for their trouble, weary their audiences by an iteration of 
 the alphabet of science, and of the good to he derived from 
 listening to it, whereas the illustrations around them, while 
 new, are often the only thing regarded by the assembly. 
 
 Independent of the. practical demonstrations above pro¬ 
 posed, as being useful to such auditors as require to be edified 
 in the same manner as the pupils of our best professors, who 
 indicate the way to learn, the objects and works for study, 
 and the highest as well as the most novel features of their 
 
80 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 particular science, it is necessary to provide classes for teaching 
 the alphabet and grammar of the various subjects which are 
 undertaken,—in short, the technology and manipulation ; as 
 principles and results only can be treated effectively before 
 large audiences. 
 
 If these sentiments contain the truth, as suggested by the 
 decay (in spite of the attractive and amusing character of the 
 lectures falsely styled popular, as if the public could not 
 understand and appreciate something better) of so many insti¬ 
 tutions throughout the country, it may he supposed that the 
 only means of turning to good account the stores which they 
 have collected, is to take either a lower standing, as evening 
 classes for mere tuition on subjects not usually taught in 
 schools, or to adopt the provisions of the “ Public Libraries 
 Act, 1850”; and thus, disembarrassed of debt, take, like the 
 proposed institution at Birmingham (see the local journals for 
 January 1853), a higher standing, and give, in addition to such 
 classes, demonstrative lectures in the rooms of Museums, 
 Libraries, and Picture Galleries. 
 
 finis. 
 
 THOMAS RICHARDS, 37" GREAT QUEEN STREET. 
 
MUSEUMS, L / B RA R / ES A N D PICTURE GALLERIES 
 
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