The Russell Institution, in Coram Street, Russell Square, with similar objects [to London Institution, ed.] , but upon a less extensive scale, is held in a building originally erected for an assembly room, but converted to its present purpose in 1808. The London Literary Institution, Aldersgate Street, and the Western Literary Institution, in Leicester Square, are establishments upon a minor scale, farmed for the diffusion of literature and science.
Mogg's New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to it Sights, 1844
RUSSELL INSTITUTION, GREAT CORAM STREET, RUSSELL SQUARE. A subscription library and reading-room so called; the library is tolerably large and good, and the reading-room is well managed and attended. The house was erected on speculation for the purpose of building assemblies and balls, and was purchased in the year 1808, from Mr. James Burton, the builder, by the managers of the Institution.
Peter Cunningham, Hand-Book of London, 1850