In June 2003, the British Museum celebrated the
250th anniversary of its creation. Today it is
an international institution, but it all started
with one man’s amazing cabinet of curiosities.
Sir Hans Sloane lived through one of the most
rapid periods of scientific advancement we have
ever experienced. His collection of 80,000 plants,
animals, exotica and artefacts helped him explore
his world, and provide us today with a snapshot
of the age.
The World in a Box
charts the phenomenon of the cult of collecting
that swept England in the 17th and 18th century.
In the days before television, cabinets satisfied
a hunger for spectacle, knowledge and entertainment.
People could admire a dodo, be fascinated by the
sight of the human anatomy neatly pickled in jars,
and amused by the chance of seeing ‘Pontius
Pilate’s wife’s chambermaid’s
sister’s hat’.
Presenter Lisa
Jardine, an expert on the Enlightenment, acts
as our guide on this journey of rediscovery. She
revisits some of the most important collections
of the day and explore their owners’ different
motives; self-advancement, commerce, showmanship
and learning.
Of the hundreds of cabinets that once existed,
only a handful survived to become our first museums,
such as the British Museum and the Ashmolean.
Before long, specialisation in art and science
pulled apart the unique character of the cabinet.
But it appears that in modern times the cabinet
may be enjoying a new lease of life. New scientific
advances of our own mean that old curiosities
can bring us new information about the past.
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