in may 1823, panizzi moved to england, becoming a british subject in 1832. upon his arrival in london, italian poet in exile ugo foscolo gave him a letter of introduction to liverpool banker william roscoe and he moved to that city, where he made a meager living teaching italian. in 1826 panizzi met lawyer and political figure henry brougham and helped him in a difficult abduction case; when brougham became lord chancellor of england, he obtained for panizzi the professorship of italian at the newly founded london university (now university college london), and later a post of "extra-assistant-keeper" at the british museum library. panizzi held a string of posts there: first assistant librarian (1831–37), then keeper of printed books (1837–56) and finally principal librarian (1856–66). for his extraordinary services as a librarian, in 1869 he was knighted by queen victoria.