The British Museum Archives

The British Museum Archives

The British Museum was established in 1753. The origins of the museum lay in a bequest by Sir Hans Sloan who donated his collection of over 71,000 objects to King George II for the use of the nation. Included in his collection were manuscripts, natural specimens, books, and antiquities. After the bequest was accepted through an act of Parliament, the museum opened in 1759 at the Montagu House. The Montagu House was a mansion that sat on the grounds of the current site. It was later reconstructed into today’s building. The archives are housed below the ground floor of the museum where there are climate control measures in place to attempt to help with preservation. The archives hold the administrative records for the museum with only a small amount of information about the collection. Collection information is generally held by each department’s curatorial staff. The archive maintains the documentation about the workings of the Museum. 

One of the most interesting duties of the archivists work to me was that when there is a dispute about ownership of an item within the museum, it is their job to find the documentation to prove that it belongs within the museum. That is a tremendous undertaking in light of the past organization within the archives. There is so much work to be done examining and structuring the different materials currently living below the floors of the museum. It is like a maze with hidden treasure waiting to be discovered. Since 260 years went by without any cataloging, I have to wonder, how does one person start, and where? Well, our gracious host Francesca Hiller, explained to us that she has taken steps to create policies that will form a structure for how the collection will be organized from here on out. This will provide guidance for the work that needs to be done now, but more importantly, it will set up a standard for future acquisitions.

Another aspect of the museum and archives that was of particular interest to me was that all records are public. If someone were to request information the archives would have to supply it. This makes everything, the inner workings of the organization, transparent. There is a staggering amount of information contained in the boxes and bound volumes stacked and lining the shelves. I have to wonder what it would be like to have a request for a particular record or specific document, and have to dive into these records. For one, you may not always know exactly where the information is. Secondly, you have to decipher the script from different time periods. Every aspect seems to take a large amount of time, patience, and attention to detail. It is a position that includes working independently while investigating, organizing, and preserving material which I believe would be incredibly fulfilling.