# British Library: Treasures



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

This is an iPad app I downloaded just yesterday. The public collection of the British Library is one of my favorite places in London, so I was eager to see this app! Overall, I'm pleased with the app as far as it goes, but I was frustrated and wanted more. I gave it three stars in my review in the app store. I probably would have rated it higher if I hadn't had unrealistic expectations. What you get here is as much as I think you can reasonably expect for $3.99! (I don't know if this is a permanent price or an introductory price, my impression is that this app is very new). So it probably deserves more credit than I am giving it.

What you get here is coverage of 100 items from the British Library collection. These are from all time periods from ancient to modern. My favorite is the big collection of medieval illuminated manuscripts. Contrary to what I'd read in some internet buzz about the apps, I did _NOT_ see any of the Beatles writings (though the original handwritten draft of at least one Beatles song is on display in the public collection). I suppose I could've missed some, but I don't think so. For each of the 100 items, the standard coverage seems to be three excellent photographs of pages or covers or a piece of the document, a few paragraphs (at most about a page typewritten) describing the origins and significance of the item, and the ability to post references or links or something regarding the item in social media such as Facebook (I haven't tried this so don't know exactly what it allows you to do). The description in the app store implies there is lots of audio and video coverage of the items, but I haven't seen much. I've probably looked at twenty-five items, and only found two with audio coverage. One was Nelson Mandela making a statement during his trial in the 1960s, and the other was a crackly old phonograph recording of a suffragette making a statement on her release from prison in the early Twentieth Century. I haven't seen any video at all yet. The photographs are good, and you can double tap to zoom in, then scroll around the page. Here are some examples:










The above is a full page (covering the entire screen of my iPad) of a book written in honor of Emperor Charles V. The book has thirty-eight pages of illustrated text recording the ceremonies and rituals of his coronation, but we only get to see three like this.










And here I am zoomed in on the illustration after double-tapping. Since this fill the whole screen of the iPad (in vertical "portrait" mode) it is pretty large and detailed!

There are 100 items like this, some very old and some quite new. If the idea of such a collection appeals to you, I predict you'll be glad you spent the four bucks! But you may feel frustrated you can't see more of each book, I know I do! There is a cheaper iPod version of this, but I can't imagine it would be very satisfying on the iPod screen.


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