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Due to the coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, the Library will be closed on Saturday 6 May.
We will reopen as usual on Sunday 7 May: https://bit.ly/3HCnBCF
With new stamps and a special postmark being issued for King Charles III #Coronation, we’re looking back at the other commemorative stamps in our philatelic collection.
Did you know it’s only the third time in history that
14 January 1559. It's the day before the #Coronation. The sound of trumpets and drums fill the air. Flags hang from buildings. People line the streets to glimpse their new monarch 🎺
At the heart of it all is Queen Elizabeth I in a golden litter, processing from
has been the location of the #Coronation ceremony of English Kings & Queens – the first (that we know for certain) was William I (also known as the Conqueror) on Christmas Day, 1066:…Show more
'In a place like this, you clearly see how books represent whole nations, and libraries are able to literally unite countries'
Yesterday we were delighted to launch the Ukrainian Bookshelf Project with Akshata Murty and
CEO Sir Roly Keating, and Katie McElwain, Curator of Slavic and Eastern European Collections, for taking care of this incredible place. It connects not only cultural achievements, but entire countries. 2/2
More than 100,000 books – a unique 🇺🇦 collection in the British Library. A real treasure that we have got acquainted with together with the 🇬🇧 Prime Minister's wife
Parrots and zebras and owls, oh my! 😍
Our new exhibition #Animals means a new range of products in our shop (including a richly illustrated exhibition catalogue) and don't mind us whilst we just part with all our pennies...
🛍️ Treat yourself: https://bit.ly/BLAnimalsShop
Nearly every folio is decorated in the margins, with an array of birds, fishes and animals. Some of the animals are fabulously mythological; others, like this comical dog, might have been inspired by animals the artists encountered in daily life.
👉https://bit.ly/3H7nDC0
This work was created over 20 years from 1278. There are a whopping 84 different groups of texts between its pages, including 55 main texts and 29 written in the margins, copied by Benjamin the Scribe. The illuminations were created by artists at three major Parisian workshops.
What is this draconic creature I see before me? 🐉
This 1,494-page North French Miscellany is one of very few existing Hebrew illuminated manuscripts from 13th-century France. It contains French Gothic illuminations and writings about the bible, liturgy, law and history.
📜Add…Show more
Do you have a thirst for adventure? Want to see mountainous icebergs, whales and stunning scenery? 🚢🐋
To celebrate the opening of #Animals, you could win a 10-night expedition cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula, thanks to
Happy #WorldIPDay! 💡
We're celebrating female patent pioneers who paved the way for future generations – from Marie Curie's ground-breaking research to Hollywood filmstar Hedy Lamarr's frequency hopping, learn more about their innovative contributions: https://bit.ly/3NbfnF6
Legends of animals helped readers in the Middle Ages to make sense of the living world.
Explore more beastly tales from the medieval bestiary: https://bit.ly/3Na7ZtD
All manner of animals, ranging from the noble unicorn 🦄 to the humble hedgehog 🦔 (this wasn’t just a text for the domestic animal, but also exotic beasts and those fantastical), inhabit the medieval bestiary, largely illuminated, and could be reconfigured in numerous ways.
Unlike our modern equivalents, however, which explain habitats, scientific classifications, and eating preferences, creatures in the bestiary were associated allegorical moral lessons, used as evidence of God’s divine plan for the world.
What is a bestiary? Well, it was a ‘book of beasts’ that included descriptions of the characteristics and habits of animals. An early medieval natural history encyclopedia if you will.
In Disney’s The Lion King, little Simba grows up to become the ‘King of Beasts’ – but where did this idea come from? The answer lies in the medieval bestiary, along with a host of other wondrous and exciting discoveries 🦁
‘But the true nature of the human heart is as whimsical as spring weather. All signals may aim toward a fall of rain when suddenly the skies will clear’
— The Collected Autobiographies by Maya Angelou
Due to planned industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, as part of a national dispute over pay, pension, jobs and redundancy terms, services at St Pancras will be significantly disrupted this Friday 28 April.
We’ve amended our opening times and will…Show more
'It is my birthday'
— Antony & Cleopatra
Happy 459th Birthday to Shakespeare! 🥳
This year also sees the 400th anniversary of the publication of his First Folio – did you know you can see a copy in our Treasures exhibition?
#ShakespearesBirthday#Folio400
’s #TheWildEscape, we’re celebrating the weird and wonderful world of animals.
Whether at home or joining us in person for our Family events, why not be inspired by the wildlife around you, and create your own drawing, painting, poem or…Show more
‘I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy’.’
— Sylvia Plath
#EarthDay🌍
Rediscover a love for all things wild 🦓
Our new exhibition Animals: Art, Science and Sound opens today – be amazed, fascinated and delighted by the wonders of nature: http://bit.ly/BLAnimals#Animals
👀 We slithered in to our #Animals Exhibition this afternoon for a sneak peek ahead of opening tomorrow, and oh my, are you in for a treat...
🐍https://bit.ly/BLAnimals