Download or read book Collecting the World written by James Delbourgo and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-07-03 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1759 the British Museum opened its doors to the public—the first free national museum in the world. James Delbourgo recounts the story behind its creation through the life of Hans Sloane, a controversial luminary with an insatiable ambition to pit universal knowledge against superstition and few curbs on his passion for collecting the world.