How a private collection became a public museum

The display cases in the Enlightenment gallery bring natural specimens, antiquities and instruments into the same room. That variety gives you a starting point for understanding the Museum’s origins. The institution began with collections that crossed boundaries now divided between museums and libraries. Hans Sloane, a London physician and collector, died in 1753. His books, natural specimens and handmade objects contributed to the new British Museum alongside other founding collections. The Museum’s later growth separated some of those subjects into different institutions. The collection you visit today is one outcome of that longer history.