10 Things you may not know about The British Library
We can’t WAIT to return to the British Library for another brilliant market on Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December 2024. Find out more about who you can meet here - it’s a different line-up of traders each day!
Image by Sam Walton
At last year’s market, when 100’s of you came through the doors of the British Library, we realised that many people hadn’t visited before or didn’t actually know much about The Library. Not only a haven of Knowledge, it’s also a place of quirky facts. Here are a few to get you started:
Collections include over 170 million items from almost every language and faith group.
The majority of the collection is not in fact stored in the London site. 70% of it is housed in the other site in Yorkshire.
While the London building is home to millions of books, in the stonework resides oysters, plants and snails – all millions of years old. Many of these fossils can be spotted in the floor of the Piazza.
The British Library receives a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland through legal deposit. Last year they received over 500,000 printed and digital items and over 100 terabytes from the UK web domain.
Beneath the main library in the London site are five levels of basement where the majority of the building’s collection items are stored. Reaching 24 metres below ground – the equivalent of an eight-storey building – the basements run as deep as the Victoria line, which runs alongside them.
Down in the basements is the salvage recovery area – a kind of book hospital – where conservators can assess any damage to collection items in the event of an emergency and decide what treatments are needed.
The British Library holds the earliest surviving dated piece of printing, the Diamond Sūtra, produced in the year 868AD.
The leather wrappings of the handrails inside the lifts, on doors and around the Library on the London site are inspired by bookbindings.
The site in London is the largest UK public building constructed in the 20th century.
10 million bricks (all individually handmade) were used for the construction of the London building.
Read more fabulous British Library facts here.
Ash & Fire Ceramics at Crafty Fox Market at The British Library
We can’t wait to return to The Library in November - it’s such an iconic space to showcase our brilliant traders and their beautiful products. Visit Crafty Fox Market on Saturday 30th November & Sunday 1st December, 11am - 5pm at The British Library, 96 Euston Rd., London NW1 2DB. There’s a different line up of traders taking part each day - shop for art prints, cards, ceramics, jewellery, homeware, clothing, toys and gifts - all beautifully handmade or artist designed. Find out who is taking part here.
