PANIZZI,+Anthony+(Sir)

PANIZZI, Sir Anthony (Antonio) (1797-1879) British Museum 1831-1865 (Keeper of Printed Books 1837, CL 1856) Arriving in England in 1823 as a qualified lawyer but also as a penniless refugee from his native Italy - then still 'a geographical expression' - he became a successful teacher of Italian in Liverpool until accepting in 1828 the unpromising Chair of Italian in the new London U, later UCL. His original appointment to the BM was only as 'extra assistant librarian' but, following his outstandingly impressive evidence to the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1836, he was appointed Keeper of Printed Books. The years immediately following were full of controversy and particularly between him and the BM Trustees who unsuccessfully sought to persuade him to produce a new printed catalogue while he insisted that a complete and up-to-date manuscript one was the essential prerequisite. His evidence before the Royal Commission of 1847-1850 included persuasive and eventually successful appeals for more accommodation, larger book funds and a larger, better and better paid staff. Panizzi's unprecedented enforcement of legal deposit from 1850 onwards and the vastly increased acquisitions of foreign books, together with the need for more and better accommodation for readers, were significant reasons for the building of the circular reading room, planned by him in 1852 and opened in 1857. By the end of his career, Panizzi's dream that the BM should become the great national library, the first internationally for British books and second only to the national libraries of other countries for their books, was becoming true. But although one of the greatest librarians of all time, Panizzi was also much more than a librarian. He never lost his interest in the state and politics of his native Italy and played an important part in its unification. E Miller //Prince of librarians: the life and times of Antonio Panizzi// (1967) C B Oldman 'Sir Anthony Panizzi and the British Museum Library' in //English libraries 1800-1850// (1958) C Brooks //Antonio Panizzi// (1931) L Fagan //The life of Sir Anthony Panizzi// (2 vols, 1880)