London, 2015: The British Museum III

The British Museum's founding collection was the 71,000 books, antiquities, and natural history specimens 
bequeathed to the nation by Sir Hans Sloane in 1753.

It now comprises over 8 million objects spanning the history of the world's cultures: 

from the stone tools of early man to twentieth century prints.

Today the museum no longer houses collections of natural history, 

and the books and manuscripts it once held now form part of the independent British Library. 

The Museum nevertheless preserves its universality in its collections of artifacts 
representing the cultures of the world, ancient and modern, 

and it is dedicated to human history, art, and culture. 

Its permanent collection is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence and originates from all continents, 

illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.

The British Museum is vast and its collections, only a fraction of which can be on public display at any one time, 
comprise millions of objects. 

The original 1753 collection has grown to over 13 million objects at the British Museum, 
70 million at the Natural History Museum and 150 million at the British Library.