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Our stories

Uncover the wonders of our collections through our blogs, articles, and news. Explore stories about the items in our collections, the people who created them, and the histories that lie behind them.

A woman looks at an illuminated display on the wall, showing pages from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

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Explore some featured items from our stories.

A selection of doodles by Mustapha Matura

New acquisition on pioneering Black British playwright announced

We have acquired the archive of Mustapha Matura (1939–2019), one of the first Black British-based playwrights to have a play staged in London’s West End.

A cave painting of an aurochs with four dots on its body, on the wall of Lascaux Cave (Dordogne, France), created around 21,500 years ago.

Deciphering a 20,000-year-old mystery

Independent researcher Bennett Bacon used the British Library to make an extraordinary discovery.

Blog

Research
Illustrated montage showing photographs of female and male faces cut off below the eyes, with pink geometric patterns in the black background, illustrated hearts on their faces, and to the left in a vertical line, images of a skull, star, heart, red ball and the moon.

Juliet's eloquence

Penny Gay considers how Juliet's transformation, and its tragic consequences, are accompanied by her development as a poet.

Article

Schools
A person films a woman stood in front of a projection of a daffodil on a wall.

TikTok, activism and archives

Young Creators Lab is a groundbreaking digital co-creation project, sparking global conversations inspired by our collection.

Blog

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A woman works to conserve a book at the British Library.

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