对外开放于1759年的大英博物馆，至今走过两个半世纪。和基于王室收藏的法国卢浮宫、俄罗斯艾尔米塔什博物馆不同，大英博物馆的起点是私人收藏，更确切些说，是汉斯·斯隆爵士的一只私人收藏柜。斯隆去世前夕，将毕生积累的7万余件博物式收藏托付给当时的英国国王，其中图书与植物标本有很多。
在这样的背景下，1753年《大英博物馆法》出台，确立大英博物馆的成立。除了斯隆的收藏以外，还有两个系列的收藏同时进入了博物馆，分别是柯顿家族与哈利家族以手写本为主的收藏。它们共同构成了大英博物馆的第一批藏品。
彼时这些藏品其实未必价值连城，然而大英博物馆的收藏与展示理念却让它备受瞩目———博物馆不归属于教会和国王，藏品涵盖各个领域，让公众免费共享并获益。大英博物馆建成之初，图书和自然历史方面的藏品占有重要地位，渐渐地，古物藏品后来居上。
1756年，博物馆有了第一具木乃伊和其他埃及文物，那是由威廉·莱修里尔上校馈赠的;1772年，从威廉·汉密尔顿爵士处，博物馆购得最早的古典时期藏品———一系列希腊花瓶;1802年，包括罗塞塔石碑在内的拿破仑科学探险中所得的古物藏品，由乔治三世带来……早期的大英博物馆，反倒是自己所在地域的古物乏善可陈，截至1850年，古代英国和高卢的全部文物仅用4只箱子就足够盛放。
19世纪后半世纪开始，博物馆才有意识地收藏本地域的文明记忆。彼时，伴随着“日不落帝国”的崛起，大英博物馆的藏品规模与藏品质量都让人刮目相看，它们几乎来自整个世界，并且被置于系统、科学的分类之下，简直算得上一部世界文明指南。而为了陈列这些藏品，博物馆新馆的修建在很长一段时间里总在继续。如今博物馆所在的建筑物是1823年至1852年间建成的。1881年，大英博物馆的藏品第一次面临分散，其自然历史类资料被转移到南肯辛顿区的新馆里，日后那里成为了英国自然历史博物馆。1973年，图书部门则从大英博物馆分离出来，变身大英图书馆。历经藏品调整的大英博物馆，古物收加深入人心。
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It has been two and a half centuries since the British Museum opened to the public in 1759. Unlike the Louvre in France and the Hermitage Museum in Russia, which are based on Royal collections, the British Museum starts with a private collection, or rather, a private collection of Sir Hans Sloan. On the eve of Sloan's death, he entrusted his life-long accumulation of more than 70000 Museum style collections to the British king at that time, including many books and plant specimens. In this context, the British Museum act of 1753 established the establishment of the British Museum. In addition to Sloan's collection, there are two series of collections that have entered the museum at the same time, namely, the curton family's and Harry's family's handwritten book collections. Together they form the first collection of the British Museum. At that time, these collections were not necessarily valuable. However, the British Museum's collection and display concept attracted much attention. The museum was not owned by the church and the king, and the collection covered various fields, so that the public could share and benefit free of charge. At the beginning of the British Museum, the collection of books and natural history occupied an important position. Gradually, the collection of antiques came from behind. In 1756, the museum had the first mummy and other Egyptian artifacts, which were presented by Colonel William leshuril; in 1772, from Sir William Hamilton, the museum purchased the earliest collection of classical antiquities - a series of Greek vases; in 1802, the museum acquired antiquities from Napoleon's scientific expedition, including the Rosetta stone tablet, brought by George III In the early British Museums, on the contrary, the antiquities of their own regions were not very good. As of 1850, all the relics of ancient England and Gaul were enough to hold in four boxes. Only in the second half of the 19th century did museums consciously collect the memory of local civilization. At that time, with the rise of the "empire of the sun never setting", the collection size and quality of the British Museum were impressive. They almost came from the whole world, and they were placed under the systematic and scientific classification, which could be regarded as a guide to world civilization. In order to display these collections, the construction of the new museum continued for a long time. The building where the museum is now located was built between 1823 and 1852. In 1881, for the first time, the collection of the British Museum faced decentralization, and its natural history materials were transferred to a new museum in South Kensington District, which later became the British natural history museum. In 1973, the Library Department was separated from the British Museum and transformed into the British Library. After the adjustment of the collection, the collection of antiques is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. This is the article that draws lessons from Baidu Wen Wei Po https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1572902856209870&wfr=spider&for=pc