The Tiger Who Came to Tea has come to the British Museum as part of an artwork dedicated to exiled writers.
The much-loved children’s classic is just one of 2,000 books on the shelves of a temporary library designed by artist and writer Edmund de Waal.
Its author Judith Kerr, who died last year aged 95, was born in Berlin but her family left Germany in 1933 to escape the rise of the Nazi party and came to England.
Other titles include books by celebrated scientist Albert Einstein who settled in the United States after Hitler came to power and actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin who spent his last years in Switzerland after being barred from returning to the United States.
De Waal, who works as a potter, is also an award-winning author having written the bestseller Hare with Amber Eyes about his own family’s Jewish roots in central Europe.
British Museum director Hartwig Fischer said: “We are delighted to bring Edmund de Waal’s exceptional library to the British Museum. The library of exile addresses questions that matter; it is a space of learning, contemplation, of debate and dialogue, as is the British Museum.”
Visitors are encouraged to write their names in the books they care about and suggest new titles for the library.
De Waal's installation, called library of exile, opens on Thursday and is at the museum until September 8 before it moves to a permanent home in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
