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Article: A celebration of the British Museum. (Reviews).(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- April 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Contemporary Review Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The British Museum: A History. David M. Wilson. The British Museum Press. [pounds sterling]35.00. 416 pages. ISBN 0-7141-2764-7.
The author of this monumental study, Sir David Wilson, was the Director of the British Museum from 1977 to 1991. Sir David has no doubt that the B.M. is 'the greatest publicly funded museum in the world' as well as the oldest and this book is designed to mark the 250th anniversary of the Museum's founding in 1753. Whilst the author covers all periods of the institution's history, he gives much attention to the mid-nineteenth century. At that time the curators of the antiquities departments were among the very few professional experts in ...