Joseph Planta (1744–1827), Principal Librarian (1799–1827)

Image credit: The Trustees of the British Museum

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Joseph Planta has been described as ‘an urbane man who administered the museum with great ability’. He can indeed be credited with dragging it into the nineteenth century. He was born in Switzerland and moved to England with his father Andrew in 1752. He followed his father into the Museum, being appointed Assistant Librarian of the Department of Printed Books in 1773, Under-Librarian in charge of the Department of Manuscripts in 1776 and Principal Librarian in 1799 until his death in 1827. During this time the Museum acquired such major collections as the Egyptian antiquities ceded by the French, including the Rosetta Stone (1802), the Parthenon Sculptures (1816), the Townley collection (1805/1814), and the King’s Library (1823). Visitors were permitted to wander freely and facilities for readers greatly improved.

British Museum

London

Title

Joseph Planta (1744–1827), Principal Librarian (1799–1827)

Date

after 1800

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 91.5 x W 71.1 cm

Accession number

Painting.40

Acquisition method

gift from his son, the Right Honourable Joseph Planta, 1847

Work type

Painting

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