The Life of Sir Anthony Panizzi, K.C.B.: Late Principal Librarian of the British Museum, Senator of Italy, Etc.

Anthony Panizzi (1797-1879), born in Brescello, Italy, qualified as a lawyer, but fled to Switzerland in 1823 to avoid arrest for political activities in support of Italian unification. He then moved to England, where he became a naturalised British subject. The patronage of Lord Brougham, the Lord Chancellor, got him a post in the British Museum Library, where he remained for thirty-five years. He was responsible for the great expansion of the library, the building of the famous round Reading Room, and the compilation of cataloguing rules which remain influential today. Volume 2 of this two-part 1880 biography by his colleague Louis Fagan (1845-1903) begins with Panizzi’s promotion in 1856 to Principal Librarian, a post he held for ten years. He remained involved in Italian politics, acting as an unofficial ambassador to British politicians, and received many honours, including a knighthood and a seat in the Italian senate.