A.W. Franks Nineteenth-century Collecting and the British Museum

Between 1851 and 1897, the collections of the British Museum expanded into previously neglected areas including prehistory, the Islamic world and British and Medieval antiquities. This growth was due to the energy and obsession of one man; Augustus Wollaston Franks (1826-97). Frands founded a department which is the ancestor of half of today's curatorial departments, spanning the entire world from prehistory to the present. Although an employee, he poured his private fortune into the Museum.