‘Treasures’, the British Library’s first app for iPhone and iPad, makes it possible to explore some of the Library’s rarest and most extraordinary written and printed material – from wherever you are in the world.
**Named by Sunday Times as one of the top 500 apps!**
Created in partnership with Toura, the app includes over 100 highlights from our collections, including literary, historical, music-related and scientific documents - alongside illuminated manuscripts and sacred texts. Each is presented through high-resolution images, allowing the viewer to zoom in and explore in extraordinary detail.
Literary highlights include Charles Dickens’s handwritten draft of Nicholas Nickleby and Jane Austen’s teenage writings, while key historical documents include 2000-year-old Oracle Bones from China, an original Magna Carta of 1215, Elizabeth I’s famous Tilbury speech before the Spanish Armada, and a recording of suffragette Christabel Pankhurst’s speech after her release from prison.
The section devoted to music includes manuscript scores from some of the best-known classical composers, such as Handel, Purcell, Mozart and Schubert. A section devoted to maps showcases some of the most interesting and beautiful maps and views from the collection.
Christian texts include the Codex Sinaiticus, the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Gutenberg Bible. Other faiths are represented by the Golden Haggadah, Sultan Baybars’ Qur’an, and Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Sikh and Zoroastrian manuscripts.
The scientific documents, which are generally less well-known, explore fields such as astronomy, botany, zoology and medicine. They include manuscripts, notebooks and letters that reveal some of the key scientific developments of all time, including Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, and Copernicus’s and Galileo’s findings on the structure of the cosmos.
Alongside these images, the app also includes sound recordings and nearly 50 short videos. This multimedia content totals over 1.2GB and is best when viewed over a WiFi connection. Videos include interviews with British Library curators, the linguist David Crystal and explorer Ben Fogle.
The app will be regularly updated with information on British Library exhibitions, highlighting some of the star items that will be on display. Currently the app includes information on ‘Out of This World: Science Fiction but not as you know it’.
*** Please note that due to the large amount of multimedia content included in the app, a WiFi connection is recommended to watch the videos and listen to the audio. *** Toura 2010
iPhone and iPod Touch Applications from Toura
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$1.99
American Folk Art Museum Presents: “Infinite Va... - iPhone Education Application This app compliments the exhibition “Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts,” presented by the American Folk Art Museum at the Park Avenue Armory, New York City, March 25–30, 2011. The app guides users through the installation of 650 red and white quilts, all of which are... Toura - Released: March 28, 2011 - Vote(s): 0
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Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Con... - iPhone Education Application Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art is a radical departure from recent Japanese art exhibitions. Moving far beyond the stereotypes of kawaii and otaku culture, Japan Society's show features 16 emerging and mid-career artists whose paintings, objects, photographs,... Toura - Released: March 23, 2011 - Vote(s): 0
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British Library: Treasures - iPhone Education Application ‘Treasures’, the British Library’s first app for iPhone and iPad, makes it possible to explore some of the Library’s rarest and most extraordinary written and printed material – from wherever you are in the world.
**Named by Sunday Times as one of the top 500 apps!**
Created in... Toura - Released: January 04, 2011 - Vote(s): 0
$3.99
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There may be other New York City audio tours and apps out there, but none are quite like this.
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French Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago - iPhone Education Application Monet, van Gogh, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir: these artists and more can be with you anywhere! Explore one of the world’s best collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art with the expertise of museum curators from the palm of your hand. This app from the Art Institute of Chicago... Toura - Released: September 28, 2010 - Vote(s): 0
$3.99
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$0.99
Asia Society Museum: Yoshitomo Nara - iPhone Education Application Created by Asia Society Museum for its exhibition Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, which links Nara’s art with rock and punk music. Use the app to explore this renowned Japanese artist’s work, learn more about his favorite music, read a selection of his quotes, and receive updates on Nara... Toura - Released: September 03, 2010 - Vote(s): 0
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SmarthistoryTravel: Rome, A First Look - iPhone Travel Application Art can be tricky. Imagine the rewards of strolling through the Vatican Museums or the Galleria Borghese in Rome with friends who are also art historians.
SmarthistoryTravel apps are for curious, thoughtful travelers who want expert art analysis delivered in a casual, engaging style. Smarthistory... Toura - Released: June 30, 2010 - Vote(s): 0
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Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers - Hirshhorn Museum - iPhone Education Application Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers is the first major retrospective of the artist’s work in the United States in nearly 30 years. The Smithsonian Institution's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is the opening venue for this exhibition, co-organized with the Walker Art Center, which... Toura - Released: June 05, 2010 - Vote(s): 0
$1.99
Conrad Shawcross: The Nervous System (Inverted) — by The Pace Gallery - iPhone Education Application This app is a virtual tour of The Nervous System (Inverted), an elaborate, hand-wrought rope machine by the young British sculptor Conrad Shawcross. The artwork, which is currently on view at the Sculpture Garden at 590 Madison Avenue, New York, hangs 50 feet above the ground and spans 25 feet in... Toura - Released: May 31, 2010 - Vote(s): 0
