Houses of Parliament

Today we walked through the Sovereign's Entrance into the Houses of Parliament. We were able to follow the exact route that the Queen uses when she makes her annual visit to speak in the House of Lords. The grounds themselves are historically significant because they once housed all the kings of England up until Henry VIII. A fire ravaged the property, and the current building was built in 1845. One of the most impressive things that I saw on display was the actual death warrant for King Charles I. He was the only king of England to be executed after being tried for treason. He was beheaded in 1641. I was shocked to learn that no sovereign can EVER enter the House of Commons, which is why the Queen speaks only in the House of Lords each year.

The artwork and architectural details in the Royal Gallery were absolutely breathtaking to see. There were statues and portraits of royals covering every inch of the wall. The tour guide gave very interesting factual tidbits that I hadn't hear before. I didn't know that Queen Victoria's reign lasted a world record of 64 years. I also did not know that up until Prime Minister Tony Blair made some changes in 1996, seats in the House of Lords were hereditary only. That meant that no women could hold a seat there. Now Lords are peers that are appointed in, primarily for being very skilled and successful in their professions. Because of this system there are currently approximately 760 peers in the House of Lords. Apparently this is not working out too well and will be revised again in the future with the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

The rotunda area that we visited reminded me of the rotunda in The Capitol Building in Washington D.C., but slightly smaller. I liked that each of the four walls had a statue depicting the patron Saint of each of the United Kingdom's four countries: St. David for Wales, St. Andrew for Scotland, St. George for England, and St. Patrick for Ireland. It was incredible to walk through the House of Commons archway off of this room and actually see the marks left from Hitler's bombings during World War II. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to actually walk through all of these galleries and rooms on the tour. The first time I came to London I was able to sit in on a session of parliament, but I felt that I had missed out on seeing the rest of the building as we did today.

The British Library

Today we visited the British Library, which is comparable to but smaller than our Library of Congress. The library itself employs 2,300 people and operates on a budget of £12 million per year. The library's main functions are to acquire and keep the national bibliographic output and to make that bibliographic archive available to the people. The British Library used to be housed in the British Museum. A new building was designed nearby in 1963 and was opened to the public by the Queen in 1998. Of the 174 million items in the British Library's total collection, 34 million are housed at that particular site.

I was impressed to find out how efficiently and expediently readers' requests are handled in a library of that size and caliber. Requests for a library pass are handled within twenty minutes of a person entering the queue 100% of the time. After the patron's request for an item is made, the target time for getting the item to the individual is 70 minutes. Surprisingly, this goal is met about 90% of the time. I loved having the opportunity to go behind the scenes and actually see how this process is accomplished. I would never have guessed that the classification system being utilized by this magnificent library is SIZE of the item, (and I think Melvil Dewey is rolling over in his grave). Attached to each item is a shelf mark that shows employees its location right down to the reading room, floor, quadrant, and shelf.

One of the collections within the library that I was particularly interested in was the National Treasures. It was incredible to actually see the original manuscript of a page of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Other rare items that caught my eye were: the original score to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, The Magna Carta, the first folio of Shakespeare's Complete Works (which I mentioned in my previous blog entry), and Lady Jane Grey's prayer book (complete with a handwritten message she composed just days before her execution). I really felt lucky to have been a part of such a fascinating tour conducted by such a knowledgeable and friendly library employee.

Hall's Croft at Stratford

Today we visited Hall's Croft in the town of Stratford. It is a historically significant building because it was once owned and lived in by Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband Dr. John Hall. Their only daughter Elizabeth was the last direct descendant of William Shakespeare. It is a wonderful example of what a wealthier home would have looked like in the early 17th century. The museum and its exhibits are cared for by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which is an independent charity that maintains all five Shakespeare houses and curates archives of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The second floor of the house is currently home to The Complete Works of Shakespeare Exhibition which was truly fascinating to see. The exhibit is meant to compliment the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival. It is maintained by the staff from its education estates, library, and museum. The texts displayed in the exhibit were written by the Trust's Chairman, Director, and Head of Education. What made the exhibit come to life for me was the digitized version of the first edition of Shakespeare's Complete Works Folio. It was fascinating to actually touch the screen to simulate the turning of the pages in the book. Although the exhibit itself was small, I felt that it was very hands on and interactive.

One of the interactive displays was questions to test your knowledge of Shakespeare and his works. You lifted up a flap of cloth to reveal if the statement printed on it was true or false. I was disturbed to discover from this exhibit that the author translated into the most languages worldwide is none other than....L.Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. I guessed Shakespeare.

Welcome!

Welcome to Erika's British Studies Blog. I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to do graduate work in London this summer through the University of Southern Mississippi's School of Library and Information Science. This blog is a journal of some of the sites that I visited while doing research here in the United Kingdom.

Journal#1: Hall's Croft at Stratford

Journal#2: The British Library

Journal #3: Houses of Parliament

Journal #4: Museum of London

Journal #5: St. Paul's Cathedral Library

Journal #6: The Women's Library (Individual Visit #1)

Journal #7: The Jane Austen Centre in Bath (Individual Visit #2)

Journal #8: The Univeristy of Oxford's Bodleian Library

Journal #9: John Murray Archive: National Library of Scotland

Journal #10: National Archives of Scotland

Journal #11: National Gallery of Scotland (Individual Visit #3)

Journal #12: Edinburgh Writer's Museum

Journal #13: National Art Library at the Victoria & Albert Museum

Journal #14: National Maritime Museum & Royal Observatory

Journal #15: Barbican Library

Journal #16: Guildhall Library