Rare Book Fair and Literary Treasures in London

Firsts London, a rare book fair, runs Thursday through Sunday at the Saatchi Gallery. London's museums and libraries display original works by authors such as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf. The British Library's Treasures Gallery features Beethoven's sketchbook for his 'Pastoral' Symphony, the only surviving manuscript of 'Beowulf', the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays from 1623, Virginia Woolf's handwritten manuscript for 'Mrs. Dalloway', and one of four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta. The British Library holds over 170 million items, including more than 13.5 million printed books and e-books and 310,000 manuscript volumes. The Victoria and Albert Museum offers illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages. Many libraries and museums in London are free.