I have read your note of the 28th of May with much interest. I have since sent you an official letter sanctioning the gilding of the dome. That, however, need not be considered to preclude the consideration of the painting of the ceiling, should the Trustees be disposed to entertain it. As the matter appears to me it is thus:—The British Museum is certainly the best public building we have of modern times, and is one of the few things we have to be proud of. The Reading Hall will be one of the finest rooms and the Dome one of the grandest structures of its kind, not to say in England, but, so far as I know, in Europe. These circumstances certainly point to the strong motive we should have to complete it in the best style of which it is capable. Adverting to the fact that the whole of the sides of that enormous circle will be fitted up with dense rows of books, with a mass of gilded and varied coloured backs, a plain white ceiling would be tame and cold in the extreme, and I think the choice must lie between rich gilding, or less gilding and painting. Against the latter I think the plan of the interior of the dome is a serious drawback, because, being fitted in compartments, any grand subject to spread over the whole of the dome is impossible, and if painting is resorted to at all, it will obviously be necessary to confine it to some mode of filling the panels only, and which, _moreover_, excepting the ovals, are of a bad shape; for I think it is obvious that any style that may be adopted should be rich, grave, and even severe, looking to the purpose for which the building is intended. * * * * * However, it will remain for the Trustees, if they think right, to consider this subject deliberately after they may be in possession of any information or advice which they think proper to seek. Expressing only my own private views at this stage, I should on public grounds think that it would be well worth consideration, in order to perfect so grand a work, whether an additional sum of money should not be expended, thrown over two or three years, if a great and decided effect can be attained by painting in place of gilding. Yours, &c., &c., JAMES WILSON.” Notwithstanding the suggestions alluded to in this letter, to the great credit of the architect’s taste and judgment, the Dome was “fitted in compartments,” and no opportunity was given for “any grand subject to spread over the whole of the Dome.” Had this project been seriously entertained, it is assuredly more than doubtful whether an artist could have been found of sufficient capacity to undertake it with any probability of success.