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Statutes and Rules relating to the inspection and use of the British Museum, 1759

IN BRIEF
Here are scans of the text of a 1759 edition of the rules and statutes of the British Museum. Use them freely, and (if possible) include a link to this page. The booklet is available for sale -- offers to sales@hubjub.co.uk.

THE FULL STORY
These days I sell bicycle parts, but for about five years I was a bookseller. Everyone who goes into the trade has shivers-up-the-spine moments when they turn up something amazing. I had my share of finds, but the best was when I walked into a charity shop and found an early copy of the Rules and Statutes of the British Museum on a little display stand in front of the paperbacks.

The booklet is missing its cover and has been rebound into another book at some point in its history. More annoyingly, it is missing its title page, so there's no proper date. However, someone has written the title plus the date 1759 in an 18th century hand on the card cover.

I briefly compared my copy with that in the Museum's reading room. Mine shares the same format and appears to have been set up on the same blocks. I reckoned the the text differed in detail, but couldn't make proper notes. GoogleBooks has a scan of another 1759 copy with a stamp indicating that it's in the Bodleian (where I guess it remains). I haven't been able to compare the Bodleian copy with mine yet. Let me know if you spot any differences!

I've scanned my copy and am publishing it here in case it's useful. (Click any image to view a high-res version.) I don't like to hoard books and I'd be delighted to sell it to someone who will appreciate it, ideally a library or an academic reader. I'm open to reasonable offers. You can contact me via the e-mail address of my bike business, sales@hubjub.co.uk.

THE SCANS

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