An App for Browsing the British Library

By TANYA MOHN

The original version of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

Visitors to the British Library have a new tool to help guide them: a mobile app that  highlights more than 100 works from its collections. Included are portions of the Codex Sinaiticus, a handwritten manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century; Galileo’s letters; Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks; the original version of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” and Jane Austen’s teenage writings.

“It’s basically the history of Western civilization” said Aaron Radin, chief executive of Toura, a technology company that developed the app. “In a world where you can get anything you want on the Internet, having professionals curate information for you is of extraordinary value.”  more