1936 On the Continent

British Museum, in Bloomsbury, is not a museum in the ordinary sense, but a whole world in itself, which the visitors may explore for weeks, and even months. In addition to the most extensive library in the world, and the second largest reading room, the British Museum contains Assyrian, Egyptian and Greco-Roman museums, and a collection of manuscripts which has supplied the material for thousands of scientific works, and which embodies practically the entire cultural work of humanity in the course of the centuries.
    It is impossible to “do” the British Museum, just as it is impossible to describe it; the visitor will be well advised to select a particular portion for inspection, lest his visit to the British Museum prove to be a waste of time and effort, instead of a worth-while experience. If you wish to take away with you at least some of the immense wealth of the British Museum which, by the way, was opened as a very modest little museum in 1759, you cannot do better than purchase the illustrated catalogues and coloured postcards of the various collections, which are probably the most complete publications of the kind.
    The British Museum is in a perpetual state of development, with new sections being added at frequent intervals. The individual collections have reached such a state of completeness and perfection that the various sections are probably without rival anywhere else in the world. It should be noted that, in spite of the many millions of pounds spent on the British Museum—obtained from donations, lotteries or public collections—admission is entirely free.
Other Museums
    The numerous other London museums can only be indicated here.
    There is so much variety in the aspect of London, and the city possesses such enormous political and economic importance, that it is only too easy to forget that it is beyond doubt also the greatest museum city in the world. The ingenuous traveller who faithfully carries out the programme laid down for him by his Baedecker in this respect is in grave danger of making himself into a physical and mental wreck within a short time. For human receptivity is limited, and the treasures of London’s museums are unlimited.
    In our opinion travellers at every railway station, except perhaps in small towns possessing only one museum, ought to be confronted with a warning notice: “Beware of excessive visits to museums!” And this applies most particularly to London. For it must be remembered that London’s museums have not been created for the benefit of foreign visitors who spend a few days or weeks inLondon. They are, on the one hand, treasures of a great Empire, and, on the other hand, they serve an important educational purpose to the youth of England.
Go Steady
    The visitor can make no greater mistake than to attempt to “gobble up” all the immense riches of the London museums within a short time. There is a whole district in London, around the Exhibition Road in South Kensington, which may correctly be described as a museum district. The architecture of the museum palaces in this neighbourhood betrays the lack of taste of the late Victorian period almost as much as the famous, or rather notorious, Albert Memorial, the clumsy memorial raised to Queen Victoria’s Consort in Kensington Gardens close by. Peculiarly enough the name of this refined and artistically minded Prince is associated with other ugly memorials, such as the Albert Hall which is situated near the museum quarter. The Albert Hall, which has a seating capacity of up to 8,000 people, and which is frequently the scene of big balls, concerts and other performances, has provided artistic enjoyment for millions of people, but no one afflicted with good taste can derive pleasure from its architecture.
Victoria and Albert Museum
    The vast Victoria and Albert Museum also bears distinct traces of the bad taste of its period, but it is easy to forget its architectural flaws when you are enjoying the endless treasures of this museum. To describe its contents would exhaust both the writer and the reader almost as much as if they tried to see everything. The museum contains a large number of individual collections, each of which would be sufficient to constitute a separate museum. The vast halls are packed with the products of the industrial art of the whole world, and all the nations are represented by the best they have produced from antiquity down to the present day. Jewels and furniture, pottery and textiles,