More information about Turning the Pages

‘Turning the Pages’ is a gallery of high quality scans of some of the most important books and manuscripts from our collection.

This project was made possible with generous support from The John S. Cohen Foundation, Wellcome Trust  and The British Library.

Technical requirements

The ‘Turning the Pages’ software may run more slowly on older computers. If you experience slow page turns try shrinking your browser window and closing other applications running in the background.

The default player requires Microsoft Silverlight, which is available for both Windows and Mac computers.

Alternative versions

The full 3D player has additional functionality including variable zoom and more realistic page turns. Its minimum requirements are: Windows XP SP2 or above, Internet Explorer 6 or above and Windows Media Player 10. It also requires Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 or above which is available for download.

The image-only versions are available if you are unable to access the Siverlight or 3D players. This has no additional technical requirements.

The alternative versions are here:

• Stilling the waters, by Benjamin Franklin (3D player | Image-only version)
• Reports from Antarctica, by Robert Falcon Scott (3D player | Image-only version)
• Travel and photography, by John Herschel (3D player | Image-only version)
• Musical Instruments from the South Seas, by Joshua Steele (3D player | Image-only version)
• On Japan, by Carl Peter Thunberg (3D player | Image-only version)
• Arctic seas diary, by Edward Sabine (3D player | Image-only version)
• West Africa expedition, by Alexander Gordon Laing (3D player | Image-only version)
• Letters from the Peruvian Andes, by Joseph Barcroft (3D player | Image-only version)
• Embassy to China, by Samuel Holmes (3D player | Image-only version)
• Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s life, by William Stukeley (3D player | Image-only version)
• Fossil notebook, by Henry James (3D player | Image-only version)
• Anatomical studies, by Andrew van Rymsdyk (3D player | Image-only version)
• On iron bridges, by Thomas Paine (3D player | Image-only version)
• Specimens of calligraphy and natural history illustration (3D player | Image-only version)
• Constitutions of Carolina, by John Locke (3D player | Image-only version)
• British grasses and wild flowers, by Richard Waller (3D player | Image-only version)