This ancient building in which tlie British Museum 

 s formed was the mansion of the Duke of Mon- 

 tague, in London, in the reign of Queen Anne;. it 

 was built by him on a French plan, on his return 

 from his embassy in France ; the architect was Peter 

 Paget, a native of Marseilles. His reputation as aij 

 artist was great at the time. It succeeded an edi- 

 fice which was designed by Dr. Hook in 1674, and 

 which was destroyed by fire two years after ; the length 

 is two hundred and sixteen feet, and the height to tlie 

 cornice is fifty-seven. It consists of one quadrangle, 

 the south side of which is in the same style as Bur- 

 lington-house, and has an Ionic colonnade ; the wings ' 

 are the dwellings of the officers connected with the esta- 

 blishment ; the edifice itself possesses neither beauty nor 

 convenience ; the exterior wall and entrance has the 

 heavy elevation of baronial pride, and tlie interior of 

 the court has the same cliaracter. Immediately within 

 the entrance of the main body of the building, on the 

 northern side, is a large and lofty hall and staircase, 

 decorated in fresco by Rousseau and Le Fosse — the first 

 the apotheosis of Isis, and the assembly of tlie gods by 

 the last. They are masterly designed and executed, but 

 neglect more than age, perhaps, has almost entirely de- 

 faced them. 



At the time of the formation of the Museum in 1752, 

 in conformity to the will of the celebrated Sir Hans 

 Sloane, (who left his museum to the nation, on condition 

 that the parliament provided a house sufficiently adapted 

 for its reception, and also paid to his executors the sum 

 of twenty thousand pounds for that which had cost him 

 fifty,) the institution was formed. To this collection, which 

 at that time was of far greater importance than it is at 

 the present day, and was then classed among the first 

 in Europe, others were added, at the time, by order of 

 parliament, which, with the purchase of the building 

 united, amounted to the sum of eighty-five thousand 

 pounds. This sum was raised by way of lottery. 



Being immediately under the care of government* 

 the concerns of the Museum are conducted by fifteen 

 trustees, who rank among the highest and most ho- 

 nourable officers of the state. This noble collection con- 

 tains, besides the Sloanian museum, the libraries of Sir 

 Robert Cotton, and Major Edwards, the celebrated Har- 

 leian collection of manuscripts, the Greek and Etruscan 



o:- A)tr:n: xj._„-*ii ai, „ -„«,.i,i j i,„„ 



