We were welcomed by Andrea Martin, Exhibitions and Interpretations Manager. She is in charge of helping curate exhibitions such as the 'Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths' which is currently on. She discussed the challenges of this and targeting a specific audience. We got time later to visit the exhibition - I wasn't really interested but my ticket was free so I decided to anyway. There were a lot of propaganda posters.
The morning was spent at the Centre for Conservation (below), which is where all the paper conservation happens. It is restricted to staff only but Liz, a Collections Manager, showed us around and we got an insight into the process behind book binding and repairing books. She showed us an 18th century Indian flag which they are currently in the process of restoring. When it came into the collection, it was rolled up and covered in dirt (she showed us photos) so much restoration had to happen to retain its original condition.
We were also shown rare and precious books, including a mini Bible, and Liz showed us the acid-free storage solution she came up with for these books.
We were also given an insight into how they monitor pest control, and the various book supports used to accommodate for different types of binding.
It was interesting because with items in the basement they have a robotic arm and conveyer belt which retrieve the item needed and brings it back up.
After this, we had to rush to a building in Russell Square where Dr Tracy Borman, Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces was giving us a presentation. Due to her very busy schedule, she only had one hour spare to give a talk, answer questions and sign books. I didn't actually realise that she was willing to sign copies of her books, otherwise I would have brought something for her to sign.
Her talk was really interesting. She gave a background of her previous experience and gave tips on finding jobs and also writing aswell. She talked about her recently published book 'The Private Lives of the Tudors' and gave a rundown of Tudor history, mainly focusing on Henry VIII and Elizabeth 1.
Some of us went back to the British Library after this to have a further look. Tracy recommended the cake to us so we were all keen to try some cake in the cafe.
Then I looked in the 'Treasures of the British Library' section which had so many interesting and extremely rare documents.
Some of these included:
- Early versions of Bibles (including the first Bible printed by William Tyndale)
- Early biblical manuscripts
- Letters and writings of Jane Austen
- Writings of Charlotte Bronte
- Shakespeare sonnets
- Original music score of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus
- Beatles memorabilia (including a birthday card used to write the lyrics of 'A Hard Day's Night' on)
- Tess of the Turbervilles with Thomas Hardy's corrections
- Magna Carta
- Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (written in his handwriting with pictures).
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