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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Bowes Museum
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Vast French château in the small town of Barnard Castle, in the county of Durham. It is one of England's strangest and most delightful museums, deriving from the collecting enthusiasm of John Bowes (1811–85) and of his wife Josephine, a French actress. Together they planned the building (1869–76) as a museum to house their treasures for the public. The design was by a French architect, Jules Pellechet. In addition to paintings of the 15–19C (including works by El Greco, Tiepolo, Canaletto, Boucher, Goya, Courbet), there are excellent textiles, ceramics, glass, clocks and furniture. The museum's most famous exhibit, in the hall, is a silver mechanical swan of the 18C which bends its graceful neck (now only once a day) to swallow a fish from a rippling silver stream.
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