British Library
- Address
- 96 Euston Rd NW1
- Website
- Hours
- 9.30am-6pm Mon & Wed-Fri, to 8pm Tue, to 5pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun
Lonely Planet review for British Library
For visitors, the real highlight is a visit to the Sir John Ritblat Gallery where the most precious manuscripts, spanning almost three millennia, are held. Here you'll find the Codex Sinaiticus (the first complete text of the New Testament), a Gutenberg Bible (1455), the stunningly illustrated Jain sacred texts, Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, a copy of the Magna Carta (1215), explorer Captain Scott's final diary, Shakespeare's First Folio (1623) and the lyrics to 'A Hard Day's Night' (scribbled on the back of Julian Lennon's birthday card) plus original scores by Handel, Mozart and Beethoven.

