The British Museum 250 Years

Abstract

This book has been published to record a quarter of a millennium in the life of the most famous museum in the world. The founding of the British Museum-the first ever public, national and secular institution of its kind-took place on 7 June 1753 by means of an Act of Parliament . Today, around 5 million people visit it each year, successors to countless others who have passed along Great Russell Street since the Museum opened to the public for the first time on 15 January 1759. Some of their comments-both admiring and critical, but rarely indifferent-are given here.