Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI)

Infobox Non-profit
Non-profit_name = Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution
Non-profit_
Non-profit_type = Educational charity
founded_date = 1824
founder =
location = 16-18, Queen Square, Bath
origins =
key_people = Duke of York, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Leonard Blomefield, Thomas Moore,
area_served =
product =
focus = The promotion and advancement of science, literature and art in the city of Bath
method =
revenue =
endowment =
num_volunteers =
num_employees =
num_members = approx 500
subsid =
owner =
Non-profit_slogan =
homepage = [http://www.brlsi.org/index.html www.brlsi.org]
dissolved =
footnotes = The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (also known as BRLSI) is an institution based in Bath, England. It was founded in 1824 and provides a museum, an independent library, meeting rooms and a programme of public lectures and discussion groups.

Formation

Early attempts to create a Bath Agricultural Society were made in 1777 without success. Further attempts were made in subsequent years but, for various reasons (members' deaths, building fire, etc), the society failed to flourish.

It was in 1822 that George Allen Underwood, an architect and surveyor, decided to draw up plans to construct a new building to substitute the Lower Assembly Rooms on Terrace Walk, Bath, that had been destroyed by fire.

It was in this new grand building that the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution was finally established in 1824 with the Museum being opened with the Duke of York as Patron and the Marquis of Lansdowne as President (he himself was a geologist and a curator).

Collections

The Institution antiquarian library contains over 7000 volumes, including the Jenyns and the Broome natural history libraries. Its archives contain bound volumes of letters from eminent scientists and naturalists such as Charles Darwin, Professor John Stevens Henslow and Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker. Smaller collections cover theology, government, travel and local history.Four paintings by Andrea Casali and a photography collection by the Reverend Francis Lockey (1796-1869) are also featured.

Building

In 1932 the Institution moved to 16-18, Queen Square, a Grade I listed Greek Revival building designed by John Pinch the Younger in 1830 [cite web | title= QUEEN SQUARE (west side) | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=443386 | accessdate=2008-01-10] in what is considered the finest Georgian square in the city,Fact|date=September 2008 as a road improvement scheme entailed the demolition of the Terrace Walk.

References

Bibliography

*

External links

* [http://www.brlsi.org/index.html BRLSI web site]
* [http://independentlibraries.co.uk/dir_bath_royal.htm Independent Libraries]
* [http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/museum_gfx_en/SW000174.html BRLSI at 24 Hour Museum]
* [http://www.cornucopia.org.uk/html/search/verb/ListIdentifiers/set/location/1880 BRLSI at MLA]
*UK charity|304477