2 
ditional building, rendered still more indispensable by the 
purchase of the Townley Marbles in 1805. A Gallery ade¬ 
quate to the reception of both was completed in 1807; 
after which, although the Trustees meditated, and had plans 
drawn for new buildings, none were undertaken till 1823, 
when, upon the donation from his Majesty King George 
IV. of the Library collected by King George III., the 
Government ordered drawings to be prepared for the erec¬ 
tion of an entire new Museum, a portion of one wing of 
which was to be occupied by the recently acquired Library. 
This wing, on the Eastern side of the then Museum Garden, 
was finished in 1828; and the Northern, and a part of the 
Western compartment of a projected Square have been 
since completed. The Townley Gallery at present joins on 
to the centre of the Western compartment; and Montagu 
House, the old building of the Museum, for a while con¬ 
tinues to form the general front. 
On entering the Gate of the Museum from Great Rus- 
sell Street, a quadrangle presents itself, with an Ionic colon¬ 
nade on the South side, and the main building on the North; 
the side buildings being allotted for the dwellings of the 
Officers. 
The main building, or old House, originally pleasured 
two hundred and sixteen feet in length, and is fifty-seven 
in height to the top of the cornice. The architect, Peter 
Puget, a native of Marseilles, and an artist of the first 
eminence in his time, was sent over from Paris by Ralph, 
first Duke of Montagu, for the sole purpose of constructing 
this splendid mansion. It was the repetition of a building 
first designed in 1674 by Dr. Hooke, which was destroyed 
by fire in 1686. 
