My boss inherited many of the papers of the former superintendents of the Round Reading Room; these include a list of items displayed at an exhibition celebrating the bicentenary of the British Museum, which we happened to look at today.
Following an item on the first 'keeper' of the Reading Room, Dr. Templeman (which revealed how he found that the 'six hours' daily attendance enjoined upon him by the Trustees affected his health adversely and he resigned in December 1760, to become the secretary of the newly founded Society of Arts), I was intrigued by a note (Add. MS. 45868) on William Blackstone, who was'engaged on his edition of the Great Charter and the Charter of the Forest'. This monumental work was one of the first items on display in Taking Liberties (in the Rule of Law section).
The manuscript reveals that part of the materials which Blackstone 'wished to consult was adorned with Pictures or Illuminations'. The regulations of the day meant that the great legal scholar would have to wait until the following day. However, he was 'obliged to set out for Oxford the next day'. Dr. Templeman, clearly not too adversely affected at that time, 'permitted him the use of the Manuscript without waiting for the authority of the Committee'. Templeman, it seems, in his 'zeal in the cause of Readers', often transgressed this statute, leading to 'complaints from the several officers and servants'.
Rules, it seems, are sometimes made to be broken.
That wouldn't happen today ;-)
Posted by: Neil Infield | 14 September 2009 at 09:52 AM