Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/191

 CHAPTER VIII

Liverpool Free Library, Museum, and Art Gallery form a spacious and handsome suite of buildings fronting the eastern end of the St. George's Hall, and divided from it by the roadway. The three buildings, to which will shortly be added Mr. Mountford's new building for technical schools and extension of the museum, are of classical character, and form a noble group in architectural keeping with the hall opposite.

The westernmost building is the museum and library, erected by Sir William Brown at a cost of about £60,000 from the designs of Mr. T. Allom, and opened in 1860. The most eastern is the "Walker" Art Gallery, built in 1877 by Sir A. B. Walker, Mayor of Liverpool. The "Picton" Reading-room, opened in 1879, was built by the corporation on the vacant ground between the "Brown" Museum and the "Walker" Art Gallery, and so forms the connecting link of the twobuildings. It is named after Sir James A. Picton, who was for many years the chairman of the library committee. 167