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 History of Museums

John Edward Simmons

Museologica, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Abstract
Making collections of objects is a universal human practice. Collections were made long before there were
museums. The concept of the museum was developed from the association of objects and learning at the
Temple of The Muses of ancient Alexandria. Museums have evolved from the private Renaissance
cabinets of curiosities, which were open only to a few, into modern institutions with primarily educational
functions that both reflect and shape human society.

INTRODUCTION COLLECTING IN HISTORY

When James Smithson (ca. 1765–1829) left his fortune Collections have a longer history than do museums.
to the U.S. government, he stipulated that it be used for Collecting began with the earliest human societies,[2]
“the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”[1] After debat- and there were established collecting traditions in Africa,
ing using the gift to establish a library or a university, Arabia, and Asia long before collecting developed in
Congress instead decided that knowledge could best be Europe.[9] Ancient collections were assembled for a vari-
increased and diffused in the new republic by creating a ety of purposes, including for prestige, as economic
public museum. The Smithsonian Institution, established hoards, and to promote group loyalty. One of the oldest
in 1846, now includes 19 museums, 9 research centers, documented collections dates from ca. 530 BCE in the
and a zoological park.[2] ancient Sumarian city of Uruk, located in present-day Iraq,
Museums developed in response to the human need to about 120 miles north of Basra.[5,10] Excavations of a
understand the world by using collections of objects— temple site there by C.L. Woolley and his colleagues in
History–Hospital

abstractions of the real world[3]—to make sense of the the early 1900s unearthed a collection of antiquities dating
chaos around them. The collecting and ordering of things back to 2000–2500 BCE that included a boundary stone, a
is a universal human trait that takes different forms in a mace head, fragments of a statue, a clay foundation cone,
diverse array of human cultures.[4] The earliest evidence and clay tablets. The objects were documented by inscrip-
of collecting is utilitarian objects and grave goods that tions on a clay drum cylinder on which a scribe had
were part of the material culture of the earliest humans.[2] recorded that they were “found in the ruins of Ur, the work
One writer has suggested that the making and keeping of of Bur-Sin, King of Ur, which while searching for the
collections stems from “the human propensity to inquire ground plan [of the temple] the governor of Ur found, and
and acquire” and the “twin concepts of preservation and I saw and wrote out, for the marvel of beholders.”[11]
interpretation.”[5] By the third millennium BCE, there were extensive
Collections are distinguished from random assem- collections in the Sumarian state archives at Ebla, and by
blages of objects by the presence of order (the recogni- the second millennium in Mesopotamia, collections of old
tion of relationships among the objects). All collections inscriptions were being used to teach scribes how to make
have order even if it is an order that is comprehensible records. During the Shang dynasty in China (ca. 1600–
only to the collector. Collections are made for a purpose, 1025 BCE), gold and bronze artifacts were collected; by
while assemblages occur by accident.[6] What distin- the time of the Tang dynasty (CE 618–907), collecting had
guishes the objects in a collection from other objects is become very popular among the ruling elite.[10] In what is
that objects in a collection are musealized—that is, they now Iraq, Nebuchadnezzar (605–562 BCE) acquired a
have been removed from their original natural or cultural large private collection that included antiquities and natu-
environment to become part of the collection.[7,8] In the ral history specimens, and Nabonidus (555–539 BCE) of
process of being musealized, objects acquire new mean- Babylonia kept collections of antiquities and natural his-
ings and they continue to acquire new meanings as long tory objects.[5] Tuthmosis III (1504–1450 BCE) of Egypt
as they are part of a collection. The history of museums had an extensive collection of art, antiquities, flora, and
is, in effect, the history of the collection and classifica- fauna from Asia.[5] In an Egyptian tomb, a fossil sea
tion of objects. urchin from the Eocene was found that was inscribed in

Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Fourth Edition DOI: 10.1081/E-EISA-120053547

1812 Copyright © 2017 by Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.
History of Museums 1813

hieroglyphs with the date, name of the collector, and local- objects to treasuries at public sanctuaries led to attempts to
ity where it was collected.[12,13] Art collecting was an prevent deterioration by such means as coating metal
ancient Greek custom, associated with the exhibition of objects in pitch and preventing dehydration of ivory and
paintings and sculptures in the entrance peristyles and wood by the use of oils.[14,24,25]
porches of temples[14–16] in an area known as the For collections to be useful in helping understand the
pinakotheke or picture gallery. Wealthy Roman citizens world, the objects in them have to be organized or classi-
collected paintings and objects that were considered to be fied. Much like collecting, the organization of objects also
“unusual and curious.”[5] Several private collections of stems from an innate human impulse.[26] The organization
exotic sea shells have been found during the excavation of objects is based on real or perceived similarities and
of the ruins of Pompey, and collections of fossils have patterns. In order to sort out objects, people must be able
been found in ancient Greek and Roman cities, as well as to distinguish them, hence the collection and the organiza-
collections of precious stones, decorative objects, and tion of collections is closely linked to the establishment of
antiquities.[9,12] The oldest continuously functioning naming systems (taxonomies). In many cultural traditions,
museum in the world is probably the Shōsōin at the Tōdai establishing a taxonomic system is part of the creation
Temple in Nara, Japan, founded in the eighth century, story, as in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic creation myth in
which still exhibits secular and sacred artworks.[14] which one of the first tasks of the first human is to name
the animals.[2]
The first useful and enduring taxonomy of animals was
THE MUSEUM CONCEPT proposed by Aristotle (384–322 BCE), and for plants, by a
student of Aristotle named Theophrastus (ca. 372–287
Both the modern concept of a museum as a place where BCE).[27] Aristotle had been a student of Plato in Athens
learning and objects are associated and the source of the and later moved to Macedonia to become the tutor for the
word museum (from the Greek mouseion, or “seat of the young prince Alexander, the future conqueror of the
muses”) originated in antiquity at a philosophical institu- world.[19] Aristotle arranged all the known animals—about
tion called the Temple of the Muses (a reference to the 540 species—in a gradual progression or scala natura
Greek sister-goddesses).[17] The temple was considered to based on what he perceived to be their degree of perfection,
be “a place of contemplation” in which learning and with invertebrates at the lowest part of the scale and
objects were combined.[9,18,19] The Temple of the Muses humans at the highest.[28] Aristotle’s knowledge of animals
was founded in the third-century BCE in the city of was based mostly on his own observations and dissections,

History–Hospital
Alexandria by Ptolemy Sotor (305–283 BCE). Objects of but he made a few curious mistakes that reflected dominant
art and natural history were collected at the institution, and cultural traditions (e.g., while noting that the internal organs
many learned scholars worked there, including Euclid and of a dog and a lion were very similar, he also repeated the
Heraclitus.[20] The Temple of the Muses had the largest ancient folklore that a lion has only one bone in its neck;
library in the ancient world, lecture halls, gardens, and and although familiar with human anatomy, he thought
dormitories for scholars. It continued to flourish under that the heart was the seat of the soul and that the only
Ptolemy Philadelphius (285–246 BCE). The temple and functions of the brain were to cool the blood and produce
its collections were ultimately destroyed, probably in a fire mucous).[29] Much of Aristotle’s knowledge of non-
that swept Alexandria.[5] Mediterranean species was based on specimens or descrip-
The concept of preservation is closely related to the tions sent back to Macedonia by Alexander the Great. For
concept of collecting because for collections to be useful example, Aristotle’s account of elephants and their natural
the objects in them have to endure. Some objects are much history in Historia Animalium was derived from eyewitness
more durable than others, thus the material the objects were descriptions[27] and possibly from direct examination of
composed of determined, in large part, what went into early bones or pieces of skin (the first elephants that Alexander
collections. For example, preserving organic matter is saw were those used by Darius at the Battle of Gauqamela
particularly difficult—animal skins, plant-based materials, in 331 BCE).[30] Aristotle’s scala natura concept had a
leather, and textiles require much more care to preserve so profound influence on Western perceptions of nature and
that they can be passed on from one generation to the next cultures for the next two thousand years, which was
than do ceramics or stone.[21] Dehydration (mummification) expressed in the way specimens, artifacts, and other objects
is the oldest known method of intentional preservation of were arranged in collections.[31]
organic materials. Mummies were made of both humans
and other animals on purpose (by removing the soft tissues
most prone to deterioration, dehydrating the flesh with salts, EVOLUTION OF THE MUSEUM CONCEPT
wrapping the body in textiles or skins, and treating the
bundle with oils and resins to keep pests away) at least Between approximately 900 and 1200 CE, a great intel-
8000 years ago in Peru and at least 5000 years ago in lectual awakening took place in the Middle East, including
Egypt.[22,23] In classical Greece, the tradition of donating the translation of many Greek texts into Arabic and the
 1814 History of Museums

development of extensive archives and collections of artis- Table 1 Some museum collection classification schemes.
tic works/>.[32] At this time, an Arabic collecting tradition Source of
was formalized by the Islamic concept of property given Date Categories classification
for the public good and the donation of objects, similar Early 1400s Mirabilia (finite marvels) Wunderkammers,
to the deposition of objects in the treasuries of Greek Miracula (infinite or divine Kunstkammers,
temples.[5] The work of the Islamic scholars did not reach marvels) Cabinets of
Europe until the twelfth or thirteenth centuries when the Mid 1400s Artificialia Curiosities
Arabic texts and the Arabic translations of Greek texts Naturalia
were translated into Latin. These translations initiated an Late 1400s Artificialia
admiration for the works of classical antiquity in Europe, Naturalia
which in turn spurred the growth of private collections Antiquitas
and encouraged several popes, princes, and other wealthy 1565 Material glorifying the Samuel von
citizens to fund the excavations of classical sites, particu- founder Quicchebert
larly between about 1450 and 1550.[2] This is the period Handcrafts from antiquity
when the first cabinets of curiosities (also called Kunst- or Natural specimens
Wunderkammern) appeared in Europe.[33] Technical and cultural
Pre-Renaissance collecting in Europe was largely con- objects
Paintings and sacred objects
fined to collections acquired by churches, which were the
centers of intellectual life.[14,33] Church collections included 1679 Objects from mines Jan Swammerdam
not just sacred art and religious objects, but also rare and Growing things
Animals
unusual things such as the bones of giants, griffin’s eggs,
Works of art
classical statuary, and artifacts of historical note.[9,14] Some
of the objects in these collections were quite fantastic—the 1727 Naturalia Caspar Neikelius
Artificialia
Cathedral in Milan (Italy) claimed a hair from the beard of
Curiosa
Noah; the Cathedral of Halberstadt (Germany) exhibited a
bone from the whale that swallowed Jonah; the Cathedral 1714 Natural history Michael Bernhard
Things sacred and Valentini
in Brunswick boasted a griffin’s claw, personally brought
superstitious
back from Palestine by Duke Henry the Lion.[9] From sur-
Artificial rarities
viving collections, it is now known that goat and antelope
History–Hospital

Apparatus (philosophical,
horns were often thought to be griffin’s claws, fossil sharks mathematical, anatomical,
teeth were thought to be snake tongues, and elephant bones surgical, and chemical)
were assumed to be the bones of giants. Such objects were Coins and medals
accepted in the church collections not just because they were 1759 Manuscripts, medals, and British Museum
unusual, but also because they were thought to be useful in coins
understanding the world. For example, at a time when very Natural and artificial
few Europeans had seen an ostrich or even an illustration of productions
an ostrich, it was easy to believe that ostrich eggs were the Printed books
eggs of griffins. However, ostriches were also mentioned in 1814 Manuscripts, medals, and British Museum
the Biblical book of Job, where it was recorded that the coins
ostrich sometimes forgets its eggs, but when it finds them Natural and artificial
again, the bird cherishes them all the more, thus ostrich eggs productions
were symbolic of God’s love for repentant humans.[9] Printed books
Antiquities and art
1823 Ancient relics Ashmolean
Arms Museum
MUSEUMS, CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS, AND
Dresses and implements of at Oxford
SOCIETY
half-civilized nations
Rarities (gifts, memorials,
As collections began to be assembled in private cabinets amulets, curious works of art)
of curiosities in the 1400s, classification schemes were Pictures
needed to give order to the objects.[34] Initially, objects Books and manuscripts
were simply separated into mirabilia (finite marvels) and Zoological specimens
miracula (infinite or divine marvels), or into artificalia
and naturalia (Table 1). As the collections grew larger treasurers of nature and interesting works of art, but the
and more complex, new categories were added, such as term rapidly evolved to refer to whole rooms filled with
antiquitas for objects of historical import.[33] The first treasures. Francis Bacon (1561–1626) described a typical
cabinets of curiosities were small cabinets filled with cabinet of curiosities as containing “. . .whatsoever the hand
History of Museums 1815

of man by exquisite art or engine has made rare in stuff,

form, or motion; whatsoever singularity, chance and the
shuffle of things hath produced; whatsoever Nature has
wrought in things that want life and may be kept.”[35] The
cabinets contained such things as unicorn horns (narwhale
tusks), giant’s bones (usually the bones of elephants or mas-
todons), Egyptian mummies, and snake’s tongues (fossil
shark teeth), as well as relics of saints, religious and secular
classical art, statuary, and the occasional object from Asia or
Africa.[9] Along with the cabinets of curiosities came a new
“. . .veneration of the rare, the unusual, the wonderful and
the miraculous.. . ..”[36] The collections in theses cabinets
confirmed the existence of a divine being and demonstrated
to their collectors that there was a divine order in nature,
thus “One of the true raisons d’être behind the growth of
cabinets of curiosities was a restless desire to establish a Fig. 1 A snake-stone or ammonite (a fossil cephalopod from
continuity between art and nature. Thus they demonstrate the early Cretaceous, Pulchella veleziensis).
the existence of a supreme unifying principle.”[33] Source: Photo by J.E. Simmons.
In addition to their value as collectables, many of the
objects in the cabinets of curiosities were highly prized for named for its resemblance to a coiled snake.[37] Snake-
their use in the practice of medicine and alchemy, such as stones were believed to prevent snake bite and to cure both
healing stones and mummy dust, or because of the power snake bite and rabies. Another name for a snake-stone was
the objects were believed to possess.[9] Lorenzo the Mag- an ammonite, derived from its resemblance to the Cornu
nificent (1449–1492), a member of the Medici family of Ammonis, or Ammon’s Horn, a reference to the Egyptian
Florence, had a unicorn horn (a narwhale tusk) in his deity who was depicted with the body of a human and the
collection, which was particularly valuable as unicorn head of a ram with a coiled horn (Alexander the Great had
horns were believed to sweat in the presence of poison.[9] coins struck featuring his profile wearing the Horn of
Lorenzo’s collections included books, intaglios, precious Ammon to affirm his deity).[2] In Medieval times, fossils
stones, medals, tapestries, Byzantine icons, sculptures, nat- were thought to be formed by exhalations, as described by

History–Hospital
ural history specimens, and paintings (many of which had Aristotle (fuliginous exhalations formed fossils, orchre,
miraculous properties).[37] The word museum was first used sulfur, and vermillion, while vaporous exhalations formed
in Europe in the fifteenth century to describe the collection metals), or believed to grow in the earth.[9] Snake-stones
of Lorenzo[38] in reference to the encyclopedic nature of were valued in alchemy because they were thought to be
the collections (the word museum made its first appearance formed by the conjunction of two pure salts. Snake-stones
in an English work in 1615); the word gallery is derived are still common in museums and still popular with col-
from the name of the long, narrow corridors in the Medici lectors even though they are now known to be fossil
palaces where their treasurers were exhibited.[2] Curiously, cephalopods about 400–1400 million years old. The
the word collector was not used until 1582, and then only snake-stone shown in Fig. 1 was purchased as an example
to refer to a literary compiler.[39] of the oxidation of pyrite in a geological collection stored
The development of the collections in the Medici palace at too high a relative humidity. These various conceptions
was based on “Wealth, patronage, and the use of the past. . .” of snake-stones—as medical devices, alchemical sub-
to glorify the family members based on the role of magic stances, scientific specimens, collectables, and teaching
and occult cosmology in giving power to objects.[37] By aids—are all dependent on the concept that underlies why
possessing objects of great power, the Medici family museums grew and flourished from the cabinets of curios-
showed that it, too, had great power. The Medici collections ities onward: objects are perceived to have power.[3] The
were opened to the public at the Uffizi Palace (which had belief in the power of objects greatly influenced what was
originally housed Florentian administrative offices) in collected and preserved. For example, “No museum of any
1582, and ultimately were bequeathed to the state of repute was considered complete without one or more spec-
Tuscany in 1743.[5] imens of unicorn’s horn, an article which was believed to
possess wonderful virtues, and was much employed in
medicine.... The Grand Inquisitor Torquemada always car-
THE POWER OF OBJECTS AND THE ried about with him the horn of a unicorn to protect him
TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE against poison and assassins,” and mummies were
believed to be “endowed with extraordinary virtues.”[9]
A common object in the cabinets of curiosities, including Mummy dust was used to stop bleeding, to heal bruises
that of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was a snake-stone (Fig. 1), and fractures, and to relieve convulsions. Murray notes
 1816 History of Museums

that “although all museums could not attain an entire “Catalogue of all the chiefest Rarities in the Publick The-
mummy, nearly every one had one or more fragments,” ater and Anatomie-Hall of the University of Leyden,”[9]
such as a finger, a foot, or a head.[9] prepared primarily for the use of visitors to the museum.
Since the sixteenth century, collectors have organized The catalog listings included shoes and sandals from
their collections in ways that promote the transmission Russia, Siam, and Egypt; the skin of a man dressed as
of knowledge.[26] Museum classification systems grew parchment; “A drinking cup [made] of the skull of a
more sophisticated when it became possible to print and Moor killed in the beleaguering of Haerlem”; Chinese
circulate collection catalogs.[2] The first museum cata- paper; Egyptian mummies; a Roman lamp believed to be
logs were little more than descriptive inventories of col- capable of burning eternally; “an Hand of a Meermaide
lections, but these rapidly evolved into detailed listings presented by Prince Mauritz”; and a 100-year-old
of museum contents with illustrations, histories of signif- mushroom.[9]
icant objects, and critiques of the collection.[40] Ulisse The oldest surviving purpose-built museum building
Aldrovandi (1522–1605) went so far with his museum was designed by Wilhelm Egkl and constructed in Munich
catalog as to also produce a “. . .Catalogus virorum qui between 1563 and 1567 to exhibit the paintings of
vistarunt Musaeum nostrum, in which he categorized his Wilhelm IV and Albrecht V.[38] The building is now
visitors according to their geographical origins and social known as the Mint (Münzhof) as it housed the Bavarian
standing.”[33] mint from 1809 to 1983.
One of the first printed museum catalogs was prepared Two of the great collectors of the Renaissance were
by Samuel von Quicchebert (1529–1567), a physician in Konrad Gessner (1516–1565) and Ulisse Aldrovandi
Antwerp, and published in Munich in 1565.[41] Quicchebert (1522–1605), both of whom compiled and published
wrote that a collection should be a systematic classification detailed, illustrated catalogs of their collections.[31]
of the materials of the universe, and he provided guidelines Gessner, born in Zurich, wrote Historia animalium, a
for assembling what he considered to be an ideal cabinet of work of 3500 pages in four immense folio volumes in
curiosities. Quicchebert proposed an organization scheme which he arranged all the known animal species according
(Table 1) that classified objects into five groups that Pearce to the scala natura scheme proposed by Aristotle. After
has pointed out correlate well with modern museum divi- Gessner died of the plague at the age of 49, his collection
sions: material glorifying the founder and handcrafts from was acquired by Felix Potter (1536–1614) and then passed
antiquity (historic objects); natural specimens (natural his- on to the Natural History Museum at Basle where some of
tory materials); technical and cultural objects (applied art the specimens are still extant.[38] Aldrovandi, who was
History–Hospital

and crafts); and paintings and sacred objects (fine art).[3] from Bologna, taught medicine in Padua and Rome while
Quicchebert recommended that a museum include a library, spending his family’s fortune collecting specimens of ani-
workshop, and apothecary shop, and he described his ideal mals and plants and hiring artists to illustrate them. The
institution as “A theater of the broadest scope, containing Aldrovandi collections are now in the University of Bolo-
authentic materials and precise reproductions of the whole gna.[38] About this same time, the first herbarium was
of the universe.”[33] In the same year that Quicchebert’s made by Luca Ghini (1490–1556) in Padua, Italy, when
catalog was published (1565), Johannes Kentmann (1518– he invented the practice of pressing and drying plants and
1574) of Torgau published a catalog of his 1600 rock and then attaching them to paper sheets, called a hortus siccus
mineral specimens, organizing the catalog according to or “dry garden.”[38,43]
the newly published classification of rocks and minerals in
De re metallica (1556) developed by Georgius Agricola
(1494–1555).[9] THE MODERN MUSEUM
One of the best-known European collections of this
time was compiled by Olaus Worm (1588–1654) in The modern museum dates to the time when collections
Copenhagen beginning in 1620 and described in an exten- began to be made for the specific purpose of exhibiting the
sive catalog, Museum Wormianum, published in 1655.[42] objects to the public, but this is not an easy-to-define
Worm’s catalog included a woodcut depicting the main moment. One of the first public European museums was
room of the museum that has been widely reproduced in formed when the Grimani family bequeathed their private
many publications about museums. The Wunderkammer collections to the government of Venice between 1523 and
of Jacobz Swammerdam, a Dutch pharmacist, was 1583.[38] The Grimani collections are now part of the
cataloged by his son, Jan Swammerdam, after the elder present-day archeological museum of Venice. Many other
Swammerdam died in 1679.[2] Swammerdam the Younger such donations of collections and the subsequent creation
divided the large and by then famous collection into four of public museums followed. During this time, systems
categories (Table 1) consisting of objects from mines, and scientific methods were being applied to understand
growing things, animals, and works of art (which included both human culture and nature.[38] For example, Francis
ethnographic objects). One of the first museum catalogs Bacon (1561–1626) argued for the application of induc-
to be printed in English appeared in 1691, entitled the tive empiricism to the cataloging of knowledge, and
History of Museums 1817

Table 2 Nature of museum collections. published a book called Museographica in 1727, consid-
Museum type Collections description ered to be the first museological work.[48,49] Neikelius
Art Aesthetic provided guidance for acquisitions; addressed problems
History Documentary of classification of the objects in the collection as
Science Systematic naturalia, artificialia, and curiosa (Table 1); presented
techniques for caring for collections; and suggested put-
René Descartes (1596–1650) sought to rationalize science ting a table in the middle of each room “. . . where things
and religion, developments that were reflected in the brought from the repository could be studied.” Neikelius
nature of museum collections (Table 2).[44] recommended that museum objects be stored in dry con-
In England, the Tradescants sought the services of Elias ditions and kept out of direct sunlight, and that museums
Ashmole (1617–1692) to catalog their own extensive col- should have an accession book and a general catalog.[15]
lections, which ultimately became the first public museum Neikelius was the first to articulate the difference between
in England.[39] John Tradescant the Elder (ca. 1570–1638) viewing objects clustered in a small room (e.g., as in a
and his son John Tradescant the Younger (1608–1662) cabinet of curiosities) and displayed in a long room (an
collected natural history specimens, precious stones, exhibition hall derived from the grande sale of the French
weapons, coins, carvings, paintings, and medallions from medieval chateaux).[48] As late as 1759, the original orga-
all over the world.[34] Tradescant the Elder wrote to the nization of the British Museum reflected Neikelius’ divi-
Secretary of the Admiralty in 1625 and asked for help in sions of knowledge with its collections divided into three
obtaining things “. . .that be Rare or Not knowne to us” as departments: manuscripts, medals, and coins; natural and
well as “Any thing that Is strang.”[39] This request came at artificial productions; and printed books (Table 1).
the same time as the Tradescant collections began to be In 1753, David Hultman published his recommenda-
exhibited to the public at Lambeth.[38] Ashmole’s catalog tions for museums, writing that a museum building should
of the Tradescant collection was published in 1656 under be made of brick, be longer than it is wide, and have
the title Musaeum Tradescantianum. After the elder windows facing north.[9] Despite the appearance of the
Tradescant died, the ownership of the collection passed books by Neikelius and Hultman, collection care in
to the younger Trandescant, and after his death Ashmole museums at this time was, in general, not terribly good.
moved to take over the collection even though the widow, “. . . William Swainson compared the storerooms [of the
Hester Tradescant, resisted.[39] Ultimately, after a pro- British Museum] with the catacombs at Palermo, each of
tracted legal battle, Ashmole gained control over the col- which was apparently opened once a year to determine

History–Hospital
lection and donated it to Oxford University, where a part how much decay had occurred and to deposit fresh
of it is still on exhibition as the Ashmolean collection.[45] material.”[36]
The Ashmolean Museum established the pattern for what As museums grew larger and more complex early in
eventually became the modern university museum. the eighteenth century, they began to diverge into special-
Opened in 1683, the Ashmolean included not only space ized institutions such as art, ethnographic, history, mili-
for exhibition and storage of collections, but also offices tary, natural history, and technology museums, based on
for the teaching staff associated with the university.[46] the characteristics of their collections and the systems
Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753) made the collections that of order used to categorize the objects in their collection
became the core of the British Museum.[9] Sloane’s col- (Table 3).[2] For example, natural history collections
lections were encyclopedic in scope.[39] The catalog of the benefited greatly from the advent of new taxonomic clas-
collections of the Royal Society of London included list- sification systems for plants (in 1735) and animals (in
ings for “A piece of BONE voided by Sir W. Throgmorton 1758) developed by the Swedish naturalist, Carl Linnaeus
with his urine,” “A Weesle Headed Armadillo,” and a (1707–1778).[50] These efficient, modern classification
piece of “skin from the Buttock of a Rhinoceros.”[47] systems quickly became the principle around which natu-
Museums had objects like these in their collections largely ral history collections were organized and collection
because “The object of showing such things was that they growth was directed. An equivalent common universal
were expected and that the museum should not seem to be
incomplete by their not being there.”[9] John Henry Par- Table 3 Generalized systems of order used in museum
ker, the curator of the Ashmolean Museum, wrote in 1871 collections.
that “I do not wish to exclude curiosities from [the Type of
museum]; they attract people, and when they are brought museum Ordering system
hither by curiosity, they may stop to learn something bet- Art Artists’ name, period, medium, genre, school
ter; they may want to know something of the history of the Natural history Linnaean taxonomy
curiosities they have come to see.”[9] Geoscience Epochs, strata, chemical composition
Museums were numerous enough in Europe after 1700 History Material, topical class (use), style, Chenhall
that a museum object dealer from Hamburg named Caspar classification
Neikelius (a pseudonym for Kaspar Freidrich Jenequel) Anthropology Material, provenance, cultural association
 1818 History of Museums

cataloging taxonomy for human-made objects did not Table 4 Founding dates of some significant museums.
become available until 1978.[51] By contrast, the Dewey Date of
Decimal system for cataloging library materials in 10 founding Museum
major classes appeared in 1876, the Library of Congress 1523 Grimani collections given to Venice and opened
system (using 21 classes) was first published in 1897, and to public
the Universal Decimal Classification was published in 1567 Wilhelm IV and Albrecht V collections
Europe in 1895.[2] established in a purpose-build structure (Munich,
Many of the new museums were less encyclopedic and Germany)
1582 Medici collections opened to the public at Uffizi
more focused in their collections, such as the first of what
Palace (bequeathed to Tuscany in 1743)
are now the Vatican Museums, the Museo Sacro, which
1620 Museum of Olaus Worm (Copenhagen)
opened in Rome in 1756.[52] A number of museums spe- 1625 Tradescant collections on public exhibit in
cializing in art, history, and natural history were founded England, to become the Ashmolean Museum at
at this time. The first museum devoted exclusively to art, Oxford in 1683
the Pio Clemente Museum, was opened in 1773 in Rome 1752 Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid)
by Pope Clement XIV (the museum’s holdings are now 1756 Museo Sacro, Rome (now part of the Vatican
part of the Vatican collections).[52] Most early European Museums)
museums started with collections assembled by happen- 1759 British Museum (London)
stance, but some were planned more thoroughly. The first 1764 Hermitage (St. Petersburg)
modern art museum was the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, 1773 Charleston Library Society (Charleston, South
Carolina)
Russia, which was established in 1764.[9] The Czartoryski
Pio-Clemente Museum (Rome)
Museum (Krakow) was founded in 1796 to bring collec-
1778 The Batavia Society for Art and Science (now
tions from the aristocracy to the general public. In 1779, the Central Museum of Indonesian Culture,
Christian Von Mechel suggested that the Belvedere Jakarta)
Museum in Vienna should be arranged to present “a visi- 1784 The Indian Museum (Calcutta)
ble history of art,” in a chronological framework.[48] This 1785 The Peale Museum (Philadelphia)
was followed by the Altes Museum in Berlin (1830), also 1787 The Prado (Madrid)
designed to provide “a visual history of art from its begin- 1791 The Massachusetts Historical Society (library
nings.”[5] The Alte Pinakothek in Munich (1836) opened and public exhibition gallery)
with a chronological exhibit of art by organized by 1793 Muséum Central des Artes, now the Louvre
History–Hospital

schools, with gallery spaces designed to protect the art- (Paris)

1796 Czartoryski Museum (Krakow)
work from fire, dust, and vibration, with north-facing win-
1802 National Museum (Pest)
dows, and moderate heat in the winter.[38]
1814 Asiatic Society of Bengal (Calcutta)
The first museum in the United States was established 1815 Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)
in 1773 by the Charleston Library Society, in Charleston, National Museum (Rio de Janeiro)
South Carolina.[53] In 1785, the first public museum in the 1818 Moravian Museum (Brno)
United States was operated by Charles Willson Peale 1822 Picton Academy, the first Canadian museum
(1741–1827), initially in his home in Philadelphia.[54,55] (Nova Scotia)
Based on the European concept of a museum, Peale’s 1823 Museo del Pais, now Argentine Museum of
innovation was his democratic intention to provide Natural History (Buenos Aires)
instruction and entertainment to all classes of people. Raffles Museum and Library, now Singapore
Peale’s museum included paintings by himself and his National Museum (Singapore)
1824 National Museum of Colombia (Bogotá)
sons, taxidermy mounts, fossils, a mastodon skeleton, eth-
1825 South African Museum (Capetown)
nographic objects, and live animals.[54] Peale’s museum
1830 Altes Museum (Berlin)
eventually failed when it was confronted with many of the 1836 Alte Pinakothek Museum (Munich)
same problems that many museums face today—funding, 1837 Ethnology Museum (Leiden)
maintaining audience, and presentations. The Peale col- 1838 National Gallery (London)
lections were dispersed at auction in 1858—of the 1600 1841 Nelson Provincial Museum (New Zealand)
bird taxidermy mounts prepared by the Peale family, only 1842 Ancanthe Museum (Hobart)
14 are known to exist today.[55] Wadsworth Atheneum at Harvard University
A number of significant museums were founded around (Cambridge)
this time (Table 4). The British Museum was opened to the 1843 National Museum of Canada, now Canadian
public in 1759 (with free admission), with its collections Museum of Nature (Ottawa)
Egyptian Museum (Cairo)
of art, anthropology, history, science, and a library, mak-
1850 Hasbrouck House (Newburgh)
ing it a universal institution.[38] Charles III of Spain
1853 The Australian Museum (Sydney)
brought together works of art and natural history in 1785
(Continued)
as a museum of natural science, which eventually became
History of Museums 1819

Table 4 Founding dates of some significant museums. the Prado in 1819.[38] The Louvre opened to the public as
(Continued) the Muséum Central des Artes in Paris in 1793, shortly
Date of
after the French Revolution, exhibiting royal collections
founding Museum that had previously been unavailable to the public, outside
1858 Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC) of an occasional special exhibition.[38] The new French
1861 Museum of Art, now National Gallery of Victoria museum grew rapidly as Napoleon appropriated objects
(Melbourne) for the collections during his European campaigns, but
1862 Municipal Museum and Library (Guayquil) most of this material was later repatriated, after the Con-
1864 Lahore Museum (Lahore) gress of Vienna in 1815.[5,38]
1865 National Museum (Wellington) The development of mercantilism, the rise of an afflu-
1869 American Museum of Natural History ent merchant class, and the decline of royal patronage
(New York) systems together led to a greater public interest in the arts
1870 Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) beginning early in the eighteenth century.[5] By the middle
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
of the eighteenth century, the dawning Industrial Revolu-
1872 Forerunner of the Tokyo National Museum
tion sparked public interest in technology and science. At
(Tokyo)
1873 Nordiska Museet, the first folklore museum the beginning of the nineteenth century, “the first realiza-
(Stockholm) tion of the role of the museum in contributing to national
1874 Grand Palace Collections, now the National consciousness arose in Europe. With it came the recogni-
Museum of Thailand (Bangkok) tion that the museum was the appropriate institution for
1875 Indian Museum (Calcutta) the preservation of a nation’s historic heritage.”[38] Thus
1877 National Museum (Colombo) came the first big museum “boom” in the second half of
1881 Skansen Museum, (Stockholm) the nineteenth century in Europe. So much museum
1887 National Museum (San Jose) growth occurred during this time that the nineteenth cen-
1888 Musée Alaoui, now the National Museum tury has been called the Golden Age of Museums in
(Tunis)
Europe; nearly every country in Western Europe opened
1889 Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the first children’s
a comprehensive museum during this time.[14]
museum (Brooklyn, New York)
1891 Skansen Museum (Stockholm) One influential museum pioneer in the United States was
Geological Museum (Lima) Phineas T. Barnum (1810–1891), who opened a huge public
1901 National Museum ( Bulawayo) museum called The American Museum in New York after

History–Hospital
1903 Museum of Islamic Art (Cairo) his purchase of the collection of John Scudder (1775–
1905 Nan t’ung Museum (Kiangsu) 1821).[56] In his museum, Barnum exhibited more than
1906 Peshawar Museum (Peshawar) 600,000 objects,[1] but finally gave up on museums and
1908 Uganda Museum (Kampala) went into the circus business after a series of disastrous
1909 National Museum of Kenya (Nairobi) museum fires. In 1842, Barnum acquired a specimen of “a
1912 Openluchtmuseum (Arnhem) feejee mermade,” which he put on exhibit with much fan-
1915 Dar Batha Museum (Fez)
fare in his New York museum, where it tripled revenues.[57]
1924 Central Order of Lenin Museum of the
Once the novelty of the mermaid wore off in New York, he
Revolution (Moscow)
1926 Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) sent it out on tour. Scientists throughout the United States
1928 Henry Ford Greenfield Village (Dearborn) protested the local showings, claiming that the mermaid
1930 Pergamon Museum (Pergamonmuseum) was an obvious fake, but their protests only served to push
(Berlin) ticket sales higher. The mermaid was described in the press
1937 Museé national des Arts et Traditions Populaires as an “ugly dried-up, block-looking, and diminutive speci-
(Paris) men about 3 ft long. Its mouth was open, its tail turned over,
1949 National Museum of India (New Delhi) and its arms thrown up, giving it the appearance of having
1953 Yad Vashem holocaust memorial museum died in great agony.” The mermaid was made from the torso
(Jerusalem) and head of a monkey sewn onto the body of a fish.[58]
1964 Museo Nacional de Antropologı́a (Mexico City)
1968 Ontario Science Center (Ottawa)
The Exploratorium (San Francisco)
1979 Écomusée du Val de Bièvre (Fresnes) THE CHANGING ROLE OF MUSEUMS
1986 Musée d’Orsay (Paris)
1990 Vasa Museum (Vasamuseet) (Stockholm) In the latter part of the nineteenth century, museums were
1997 Nelson Mandella National Museum (Mthatha, recast as primarily educational institutions as the “new
South Africa) museum idea” took hold—this was the separation of study
2000 Tate Modern (London) collections from exhibition collections.[2] The new museum
2009 Acropolis Museum (Athens) idea was formally articulated by Sir William Henry Flower
 1820 History of Museums

(1831–1899), director of the British Museum, who pro- opened in 1881 near Oslo, Norway, to exhibit the collections
posed organizing museums around the dual purposes of of King Oscar II. In 1891, Arthur Hazelius founded the
research and public education.[59,60] Until this time, Skansen museum in Stockholm, which became the model
museums had been expected to put all of their collections for subsequent open air museums around the world.[2] The
on display, with the result that exhibit halls were often vast first outdoor museums in the United States were the historic
arrays of carefully labeled and arranged objects in ordered environment known as Colonial Williamsburg, established
cases. Although it has become fashionable to criticize this in 1926,[23,33] and the Henry Ford Greenfield Village
style of exhibit, it was very popular with visitors who museum, which opened in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1928.[54]
sought out museums to see things that they had never seen The first mobile museum was developed in Liverpool in
before, arranged in a ways that brought made sense the 1884 to serve school children.[16]
chaos around them. The second half of the nineteenth cen- Natural history museums underwent a major change fol-
tury was also the time of the first period of major growth lowing the publication of On the Origin of Species by
in museums, with more than 100 new museums opening Charles Darwin (1809–1882) in 1859.[2] The fundamental
in the United Kingdom and at least 50 new museums in revolution in biology that was triggered by Darwin’s theory
Germany,[5] and many significant museums opening in the of evolution by natural selection had far-reaching effects on
Americas (Table 4). how specimens were collected, preserved, and exhibited.
The first ethnology museum opened in Leiden in Prior to Darwin, species were thought to be immutable, so
1837.[16] Historic house museums first appeared in the natural history museum collections contained only one or
mid-nineteenth century in Europe and the United States, two specimens of each species, and museums exhibited
dedicated to preserving buildings because of their signifi- all of their collections in large synoptic displays, grouped
cant architecture or association with a significant person or according to the prevailing systems of classification.[2]
historical event (Fig. 2). The first historic house museum Darwin’s theory demonstrated the importance of studying
in the United States was Hasbrouck House, founded in variation within species, which meant the essentialist or
1850 in Newburgh, New York, once the headquarters of typological natural history collections were no longer
General George Washington.[1] very useful for research. In fact, Darwin could not have
Open air museums or living museums (Fig. 3), which developed his theory of evolution using just the museum
usually include period architecture (often recreated) and collections of his day because museums did not have suffi-
historical re-enactors, were developed in the late nineteenth cient specimens of each species to show the wide degree of
century in Scandinavia.[2] The first open air museum was variation in nature.[2]
History–Hospital

Fig. 2 A historic house museum, the Casa Museo Antonio Nariño, Villa de Leyva, Colombia.
Source: Photo by J.E. Simmons.
History of Museums 1821

Fig. 3 An open air museum, the Prasat Hin Pimai Historic Park, Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), Thailand.
Source: Photo by J.E. Simmons.

At the time that the Smithsonian was founded (in nationality compared to other nations and cultures.[63,64]
1846), universities were essentially finishing schools; the Some of these museums played a significant role in the

History–Hospital
creation of knowledge was centered in museums, with the rejection of colonialism. For example, during the 1970s
result that “. . . museums made the fruits of their research many Caribbean museums shifted their emphasis from a
available to a general public through exhibits, unlike col- strong focus on their society’s colonial past to present more
leges and universities, which were open only to a few.”[61] inclusive cultural and natural histories.[65]
There are some significant differences in how museums Although two significant American museums were
were established in different regions of the world.[2] In founded in 1870—the Metropolitan Museum in New York
Europe and Canada, museums were usually established and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston[52]—only 4% of
through local or national government agencies, but in the museums in the United States were in existence before
United States most new museum growth was initiated by 1900.[62] At least 75% of U.S. museums were founded
individual or small group patronage at the local level. In after 1950, and 40% were founded after 1970.[1]
other countries, centralized state museum systems were Further changes in museum development have
developed, as in France and the former Soviet Union.[62] occurred in the twentieth century. Technological develop-
Although the idea of the modern public museum is ments during the First World War, such as efficient indoor
essentially European in origin, it was successfully exported lighting and the production of large sheets of polished
to other parts of the world through trade and colonialism.[38] plate glass, have allowed museums to make much larger
There were periods of growth in Latin American and Asian display cases.[3] The population shift in many industrial-
museums in the 1800s, and in African museums in the early ized countries away from urban centers has spawned the
1900s.[62] Many of these colonial-era museums evolved development of community museums.[38] The growth of
into important national museums (Table 4) such that “the museums worldwide resulted in the founding of the Inter-
emergence of the nation-state, the public, and the public national Council of Museums (ICOM) in 1946.[62] Not all
museum in the late eighteenth century, were intimately institutions recognized as museums today even own col-
bound together,”[63] particularly in South America and lections. The definition used by the Accreditation Com-
Asia. As independent nations arose from their colonial mittee of the American Alliance of Museums states that a
roots, some museums became important agencies for devel- museum is “An organized and permanent nonprofit insti-
oping national identification by offering interpretations of tution, essentially educational or esthetic in purpose, with
their collections that reflected feelings of national owner- professional staff, that owns or uses tangible objects,
ship (e.g., defined national culture) as well as defined cares for them and exhibits them to the public on some
 1822 History of Museums

regular schedule,” in contrast to the most widely used 3. Pearce, S.M. Museums, Objects, and Collections: A Cultural
definition, that of the International Council of Museums, Study; Smithsonian Press: Washington, DC, 1992.
which states that “A museum is a non-profit, permanent 4. Muensterberger, W. Collecting: An Unruly Passion: Psy-
institution in the service of society and its development, chological Perspectives; Harcourt Brace and Company: San
open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, Diego, CA, 1994.
5. Lewis, G.D. Museums. In Encylcopedia Britannica; Ency-
communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible
clopaedia Britannica, Inc.: London, U.K., 1985; 480–492.
heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes 6. Pearce, S.M. The urge to collect. In Interpreting Objects
of education, study and enjoyment.”[2] and Collections; Pearce, S.M., Ed.; Routledge: London,
Two of the newest concepts in museums are ecomuseums U.K., 1994; 157–159.
and virtual museums.[66,67] Ecomuseums interpret not 7. Desvallées, A.; Mairesse, F. Key Concepts of Museology;
just an event, a place, or a culture, but an entire community. Armand Colin and ICOM: Paris, France, 2010.
Developed by Hugues de Varine in France in 1971, 8. Maroević, I. Introduction to Museology: The European
ecomuseums have proven to be popular in parts of Europe, Approach; C. Müller-Straten: Munich, Germany, 1998.
Canada, and much of the developing world. The hundreds 9. Murray, D. Museums, Their History, and Their Use: With a
of ecomuseums around the world today define themselves Bibliography and List of Museums in the United Kingdom;
by managing heritage in a sustainable environment. In con- James MacLehose and Sons: Glasgow, U.K., 1904.
10. Rigby, D.; Rigby, E. Lock, Stock and Barrel: The Story
trast to ecomuseums, virtual museums exist only in cyber-
of Collecting; J.B. Lippincott Company: Philadelphia,
space, although many are usually based on real, physical PA, 1944.
collections, and show great promise for repatriation of cul- 11. Woolley, L. Excavations at Ur: A Record of Twelve Years’
tural knowledge and a wider sharing of information around Work; Ernest Been Limited: New York, 1955.
the world.[68] 12. Mayor, A. The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek
and Roman Times; Princeton University Press: Princeton,
NJ, 2000.
13. McNamara, K.J. The Star-Crossed Stone, The Secret Life,
CONCLUSION Myths, and History of a Fascinating Fossil; University of
Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, 2010.
The significance of the role of museums in presenting 14. Bazin, G. The Museum Age; Universe Books: New York,
history and defining culture has been demonstrated by 1967.
such events as Chinese museums being forced to interpret 15. Pearce, S.M. On Collecting: An Investigation into Collecting
History–Hospital

a particular political agenda or be closed during the Cul- in the European Tradition; Routledge: London, U.K., 1995.
tural Revolution of the 1960s, and the attempt by some 16. Zubiaur Carreño, F.J. Curso de Museologı´a; Ediciones
members of the United States Congress to interfere with Trea, S.L.: Gijón, España, 2004.
the curator’s presentation of the bombing of Hiroshima in 17. Findlen, P. The museum: its classical etymology and renais-
sance genealogy. J. Hist. Collect. 1989, 1 (1), 59–78.
the Smithsonian’s Enola Gay exhibit.[2] Museums in East-
18. Empereur, J.-Y. Alexandria: Jewel of Egypt; Harry N.
ern Europe both expanded under the post-Communist gov- Abrams, Inc.: New York, 2002.
ernments and later struggled to survive in a free market 19. Sarton, G. Ancient Science through the Golden Age of
economy. More recently, museums in Iraq and the former Greece; W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1970.
Yugoslavia have suffered greatly the ravages of warfare.[2] 20. Watson, B. Rising sun. Smithsonian 2002, 33 (1), 78–88.
History shows that museums have evolved to serve 21. Simmons, J.E.; Muñoz-Saba, Y. The theoretical bases of col-
different needs at different times, but have always played lections management. Collect. Forum 2003, 18 (1–2), 38–49.
a significant role in interpreting nature and culture. 22. Andrews, C. Egyptian Mummies; The British Museum
Museums have been “. . . the institutions charged with fur- Press: London, U.K., 1998.
thering knowledge and creating order . . .”[61] due to the 23. Arriaza, B.T. Beyond Death: The Chinchorro Mummies of
fact that they “. . . assumed intellectual leadership because Ancient Chile; Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington,
DC, 1995.
they fostered original research through the careful and
24. Bounia, A. The Nature of Classical Collecting: Collectors
systematic way they dealt with objects.”[61] Museums will and Collections, 100 BCE–100 CE; Ashgate Publishing
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humans remain curious about the world around them. 25. Ullberg, A.; Ullberg, P.; Grogg, A.H.; Lind, R. A short
history of the museum. In Art and Museum Law: Cases
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