Transcribed from the 1872 George E. Eyre and WilliamSpottiswoode edition .
SCIENCE ANDART DEPARTMENT
OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ONEDUCATION.
BETHNAL GREEN BRANCH OF THE
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
A BRIEF GUIDE
TO
THE FOOD COLLECTION.
(FIRSTISSUE.)
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S MOSTEXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERYOFFICE.
1872.
Price One Penny.
29951.
p. 3THEBETHNAL GREEN BRANCH OF THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
UNDER THEDIRECTION OF THE LORDS OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ONEDUCATION.
Lord President, TheMARQUESS OF RIPON, K.G.
Vice-President, The RightHon. W. E. FORSTER, M.P.
I. In tracing the origin of the Branch Museum of Scienceand Art at Bethnal Green it will be necessary to refer, thoughbriefly, to the early days of the parent institution, at SouthKensington, from whence a considerable portion of the new edificeand of its contents have been derived.
II. The South Kensington Museum stands on 12 acres ofland, acquired by the Government at a cost of 60,000l.,being a portion of the estate purchased by Her Majesty’sCommissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, out of the surplusproceeds of that undertaking.
III. Here, in 1855, a spacious building was constructed,chiefly of iron and wood, under the superintendence of the lateSir William Cubitt, C.E., at a cost of 15,000l., intendedto receive several miscellaneous collections of a scientificcharacter mainly acquired from the Exhibition of 1851, and whichhad been temporarily housed in various places.
IV. In addition to the collections already alluded to,the whole of the Fine Art collections which had been exhibited atMarlborough House since 1852 were also removed thither, and thesewere supplemented by numerous and valuable loans by Her Majestythe Queen and others.
V. This building was opened on June 22nd, 1857, as The South Kensington Museum. Althoughin many respects well suited to its purpose, this iron buildingwas avowedly of a temporary character, and from the first it wasintended to replace it by buildings of a more architecturalcharacter and of more substantial materials. The erectionof these permanent buildings was commenced at once, and at thebeginning of the year 1865 sufficient progress had been made torender the removal of the iron building necessary.
p. 4VI. It appeared to the Lords of the Committee of Council on Educationthat “this iron building might usefully be divided intothree portions, and that one of these portions might be offere