ABSTRACT
In the spring of 1855, The Builder and The Illustrated London News both reported on the work in progress on the new reading room at the British Museum. At the British Museum, the number of books in the collection grew along a similar exponential curve. The main purpose of the new building, modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, was to improve circulation by connecting the four wings of the museum to a central hall, which was intended as a gallery for the exhibition of the most precious objects in the museum’s collection. Access to the reading room for patrons is from the south through the main museum lobby. The restored reading room remains the architectural jewel of the British Museum. When the library at the British Museum had been moved to the British Library, the part holding the book stacks was demolished, leaving the reading room at the center of a renovated courtyard.
