I like the feel of Bloomsbury, one of London’s many ‘villages.’ Every area of the city has its own distinct flavour and Bloomsbury is full of interesting learning with UCL and the British Museum. The museum remains free and is obviously very popular. In the middle of the piazza is a round, domed building and this is the Reading Room. The architecture has definite Roman influences and is reminiscent of the Pantheon. We had a half hour talk about the history of the room.
Until recent times the contents of the British Library were within the British Museum, of course not all of it on show. Now the new building on the Pentonville Road fulfils the function of the library. Every book published in this country has to submit a copy to the British Library.
We were told about the Readers of this special room; people who wanted to access resources that were only available there. The list was eclectic: Beatrix Potter, Lenin (under a pseudonym) Karl Marx (no pseudonym and he wrote Das Kapital there) and EM Forster, just to mention a few. The future of how this room is used is under discussion so I’m glad I’ve seen it now, before there are any changes.
Round the corner from the museum is the London Review Bookshop. This is owned by the literary journal of that name and the shop has a bright, magazine like, journalistic vibe. I liked it. The website had shown an interesting cafe attached to the shop. We were going to have lunch there … but it had closed the previous week! C’est la vie. Plenty of delightful places close by.
Charles Dickens House and The Coram Museum were within short walking distance. Lots to enjoy.