With a design by Sydney Smirke (1798-1877), work on the Reading Room began in 1854. Three years later, it was completed. Using cast iron, concrete, glass and the latest heating and ventilation systems, it was a masterpiece of mid-19th-century technology.
The room had a diameter of 42.6 m (140 ft), and was inspired by the domed Pantheon in Rome. However, it isn’t a free-standing dome in the technical sense. The ceiling is suspended on cast iron struts hanging down from the frame and is made out of papier-mache.
Many book stacks were built surrounding the new Reading Room. They were made of iron to take the weight of the books and protect them against fire. In all, they contained 3 miles (4.8 km) of bookcases and 25 miles (40 km) of shelves.
The Reading Room opened on May 2, 1857. During May 8-16, the Library was opened up for a special one-off public viewing. More than 62,000 visitors came to marvel at the new building. Those wanting to use it had to apply in writing and were issued a reader’s ticket by the Principal Librarian. Among those granted tickets were Karl Marx, Lenin (who signed in under the name Jacob Richter), and novelists such as Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
From ‘The Reading Room’, The British Museum
