Exhibition Rooms. Subscribed Capital ... [Caption title.]

£1,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A rich piece of social history, likely by William Henry Shippard, who actively promoted such schemes in Britain during this period . The prospectus solicits future shareholders in a company for Art Exhibition Rooms in London. As the cost of such endeavours grew increasingly beyond the reach of sole benefactors, this work advocates for a shift towards a more corporate model. The document provides important evidence of the formation of the museum as we understand it today, being distinct from cabinets of curiosities and the panoramas which were also popular. The text details proposed exhibits including maps (as well as transparent maps), comparative anatomy of extant and existing species, natural history specimens and curiosities. A reading room, book collection, lecture hall and small music room were also proposed. The text makes reference to the Glass Palace then being erected for the Great Exhibition of 1851 as a possible model for a future permanent exhibition structure. In a real sign of the times, there was also to be a restaurant. “It is evident from the great encouragement afforded to beauteous Panoramas, (which are, however, too transitory in their nature and too limited in their scope,) that the Public eagerly seek information … Yet in these Panoramas, Science, History, and Geography, seem as effectually banished … It has been long a matter of regret and surprise that there absolutely does not exist in such a place as London a series of Exhibition Rooms, calculated to

• Year: 1850

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