Vanity Fair - Antonio Panizzi

'Books'. Sir Antonio Panizzi (1797-1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalized British librarian of Italian birth. Panizzi held posts at the British Museum Library, first Assistant Librarian (1831-37), then Keeper of Printed Books (1837-56) and finally Principal Librarian (1856-66). For his services as a librarian, in 1869 he was knighted by Queen Victoria. The British Museum library was, in fact, the national library of the United Kingdom in all but name; during Panizzi's tenure as Keeper of Printed Books its holdings increased from 235,000 to 540,000 volumes, making it the largest library in the world at the time. Its famous circular Reading Room was designed and built by architect Sydney Smirke from a sketch drawn by Panizzi. Accompanied by original descriptive text. One small mark in the image.