This year, 2008, marks the 10th anniversary of the Royal opening of the British Library’s St Pancras building. The Library holds many treasures among its 150 million items, and so to mark the anniversary we have joined forces with the Sunday Telegraph to run a National Treasures competition.
British Library and Sunday Telegraph specialists have nominated shortlists of people who we think deserve the title of ‘National Treasure’ – in Japan and other countries an honour akin to being given an MBE.
The first four categories are based on some of the British Library’s best-known treasures:
* The National Treasure for Public Life - The Magna Carta Award
* The National Treasure for Sciences - The Leonardo da Vinci Award
* The National Treasure for Innovation and Enterprise - The Caxton Award
* The National Treasure for Arts - The Brontë Award
A fifth category offers an opportunity for the public to nominate a person they feel should be included on the list. The winners will receive the award during a special ceremony to be held in September. Use the link below to find out more and cast your vote.
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH NATIONAL TREASURES COMPETITION 
National Treasure for Public Life: The Magna Carta Award
People throughout the world have heard of Magna Carta. It is often held to be the cornerstone of liberty and the chief defence against arbitrary and unjust rule in England. It contains few sweeping statements of principle, but is a series of concessions wrung from King John by his rebellious barons in 1215. Magna Carta was promptly overturned by the Pope, to whom John had given the overlordship of England. Of the four remaining copies two are in the British Library.
National Treasure for Arts: The Brontė Award
Charlotte Brontė (1816-1855) was the fourth of the Brontė children and the eldest of the three sisters who gained fame through writing. The British Library possesses a splendid collection of Brontė family material, including drafts of novels and poems, and notebooks containing childhood stories, poems and drawings. Charlotte Brontės most famous work Jane Eyre was published in 1847. When she submitted the manuscript to the London publisher Smith, Elder and Co., it was accepted almost immediately.
National Treasure for Science: The Leonardo da Vinci Award
Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest thinkers of his age and this notebook shows the breadth of his interests. It is one of several notebooks put together from loose papers after Leonardos death, it covers a multitude of topics. The text, in Italian, is in Leonardo's characteristic 'mirror writing', written from right to left. The manuscript was probably acquired by Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1586-1646).
National Treasure for Innovation and Enterprise: The Caxton Award
William Caxton was born in Kent. Around 1473, probably in Bruges, he was responsible for the first book to be printed in English. A few years later Caxton settled in Westminster. There he set up the first English press, and his first substantial book was Chaucers Canterbury Tales. Many early printers were only active for a short time, but Caxton was successful, continuing to print until his death in 1492.