The life and correspondence of Sir Anthony Panizzi, K.C.B., Vol. 1 (of 2): Late principal librarian of the British museum, senator of Italy, etc.Fagan, Louis
History
The life and correspondence of Sir Anthony Panizzi, K.C.B., Vol. 1 (of 2): Late principal librarian of the British museum, senator of Italy, etc.
Fagan, Louis
Panizzi, Anthony, Sir, 1797-1879
Panizzi’s dealings with the Royal Society having been thus
satisfactorily disposed of, it will now be necessary to return to the
more matter-of-fact conduct of this remarkably persevering man in his
every-day efforts to attain that position which he held steadily in
view—efforts which were finally crowned with success.
At this time it was not an unusual thing, and especially during the
absence of the Keeper, for him to spend some of his holidays, and
evenings after official hours, in the Library; and it is a well-known
fact that in the winter, when the Museum closed early, he remained at
his post working by candle-light, which, however, was put a stop to on
account of the alleged possible danger of the practice.
About three years after his appointment, Panizzi was, in a report
written April 26th, 1834, proposed by Mr. Baber to direct the General
Catalogue then contemplated, Mr. Baber’s scheme of Cataloguing the books
in the Library not having been adopted. Panizzi and other of his
colleagues were desired to prepare titles for a new Catalogue. It
appeared, by the end of the year (1834), that he had written a larger
quantity of titles than any two of the other gentlemen, which assiduity
gained for him the approbation of the Trustees. Panizzi’s own words
before a Royal Commission on the 20th of May, 1848, were in these
terms:—
“In 1835, without my knowing anything about it, the Trustees found,
from a return laid before them in the month of January, that I had
been so fortunate as to do my duty well, and in a manner that
satisfied them. Mr. Baber was called in (I know this from himself),
and he was asked, I believe, if I recollect right, by the Bishop of
London (Dr. Blomfield) how it was that I had done so remarkably well;
and as there was an election going on, I remember the expression used
(as Mr. Baber reported to me) was, that I was ‘at the head of the
poll,’ Mr. Baber told me, that he had the goodness to answer that I
was there, and that I would keep there. That led the Trustees to
consider how I was remunerated, and they found that my remuneration
was much lower than that of other people.”
In consequence of this the adequacy of the remuneration in question was,
on the 10th of January, 1835, referred to the Sub-Committee of Finance
for their consideration; but at this meeting nothing material was
resolved on, except that the claim was admitted, and the matter
considered worthy of further deliberation. Sir R. H. Inglis was added to
the Finance Committee for this purpose; but in June of the same year a
meeting took place, with Lord Farnborough in the chair, when the
following resolution was passed:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account