Old Paper and Dead Bodies

Day 3
After my exhausting day in Dover I decided to be lazy and just hit a couple of low key sites in London. I started off by updating my blog in a nearby Internet cafe. With that done I had a quick lunch at McDonald's (gasp!) and headed to the British Library.

The idea of having a British Library separate from other institutions did not originate until the 1980's. Prior to that most of the libraries collection was house at the British Museum. The building itself is pretty interesting. A locked glass room holding thousands of very old books ran through several different floors. The real reason for coming here isn't to look at the books, but to check out some of the libraries most interesting pieces.

These included a copy of Beowulf in Old English, short stories written by Jane Austin, original music by Mozart, handwritten lines by the Beatles and royal diaries. One of the most peculiar pieces was Lenin's application to be allowed to study in the British Museum. He applied under a false name. There were dozens of letters from Darwin, Florence Nightengale and other British notables. Most of the handwriting was impossible to read.

By far the most interesting piece is the 1215 Magna Carta. This is one of three original copies. This was interestingly originally housed at Dover Castle.

There wasn't much else to check out at the library so I headed to University College London.

Jeremy Bentham was one of the original investors in the school. Benthem is known for a plethora of innovative ideas as well as for inventing the word international. When he died he dedicated his body to science and after dissection his friends decided to stuff him and put him in a case so that he would never need to leave the college the he loved so much. He's not so much stuffed as his bones were sent in a wax effigy of him. They even used his actual clothing and some personal items to decorate the box. His skull used to sit at his feet, however after it was stolen and then recovered from a rival university it was decided to keep the skull in the university vaults. I'd wanted to visit Jeremy for quite a while now, and I'm glad that I finally got to meet him.

Frustratingly there were not any plugs in my room and I had to sit out in the hallway for quite a while to charge my ipod and camera.

I ended up ending the day by hanging out in the hostel with some Canadian theater students where were in the same room as I was.

It was a very low key day, but a good one.