From 2007-12 the British Museum collaborated with Kew Gardens to create beautiful garden exhibitions in the forecourt. Themes including North American, Indian, Chinese & African planting may provide some inspiration for the new visitor welcome experience works. #britishmuseum #archives #kewgardens

In 1912 the British Museum began discussing the offer of Stonehenge as a gift for the nation from the estate of John Jacob Astor. Here is Charles Hercules Read corresponding with Sir Edmund Antrobus (then owner) & the BM’s Trustees on the matter. #britishmuseum #archives #stonehenge

The British Museum archive holds original archival records of the founding of the Derby China Works in the mid-18th C. Here is one of the beautiful pattern books & a notebook listing painters who were employed to decorate porcelain, including Angelica Kauffman. #BritishMuseum #archive #derbychina

I love these two photographs of the King’s Library with proposed designs for new lighting drawn on them from the 1950s. Originally built in the 1820s - big glass chandeliers might have been a step too far! #BritishMuseum #archive

This scrapbook was put together by John Thurnam (b.1810), psychiatrist & archaeologist, who had a particular interest in standing stones. It includes these lovely drawings, sketches & articles on Stonehenge. #britishmuseum #archive #stonehenge #exploreyourarchive #archaeology

This directive was issued by the British Museum Director in 1939, bemoaning the summer attire of staff. I wonder what the staff made of it…! #britishmuseum #londonsummer #archive #eya

Happy 90th birthday to Sir Norman Foster, architect of the British Museum’s Great Court! #britishmuseum #archive #sirnormanfoster #architecture #exploreyourarchive

Just found another letter from Charles Darwin that I didn’t know we had in the British Museum archive - this one is to zoologist John Edward Gray & appears to be about barnacles (& Gray’s management of the collection)! #britishmuseum #archive #charlesdarwin #exploreyourarchive

This lovely little drawing was sent to us in the post recently - there was a short note with it from someone called Alan but no further details so I can’t write to say thank you. It’s of the Museum’s 1st home, Montagu House & dates from 1800. Thank you Alan! #britishmuseum #archive

Happy 99th Birthday to former British Museum trustee, Sir David Attenborough, born on this day in 1926. Here he is at the Museum in the 1980s with the future King Charles III! #SirDavidAttenborough #BritishMuseum #Archive #otd

The British Museum was badly damaged in air raids WWII & it took some time to reopen after the cessation of hostilities. Although the Museum was closed to the public when Victory in Europe was announced, staff who wanted to celebrate weren’t forgotten. #VEDay80 #britishmuseum #archive #EYA #WWII

Great blog on women at the British Museum. @beyondnotables.bsky.social has a (very!) long list of women associated in some way w/ the Museum between 1870-1950, including women lecturing at the Museum (many w/ explicit permission of Trustees), women using the Reading Room, & women donors

If you’re interested in how women have visited, worked in or impacted the British Museum, here’s a handy blog!: www.britishmuseum.org/blog/first-w... #BritishMuseum #Archive #ExploreYourArchive

Without our important archive we wouldn’t know of our history, buildings, collection or foundational links to the British Library & the Natural History Museum, or that there was a philosopher’s stone in the Hans Sloane collection! #Archive30 #WhyArchives #BritishMuseum #BL_London #NHM_London

The British Museum archive is vast, varied & complex - it is vital to telling the story of the world’s 1st public museum, with the history of its collections, buildings, visitors & much, much more. #Archive30 #ArchiveCollection #BritishMuseum #Archive

The British Museum’s iconic building is known throughout the world but it’s had its fair share of upheaval & change. From the ‘new’ building in the 19th C, WWII damage, Great Court building & the Round Reading Room, it’s a special very place. #Archive30 #ArchivesBuildings #BritishMuseum #Archive

Mould outbreaks are every archives’ nightmare. This one came out of nowhere in a monitored store & developed very quickly - a big job to get it all professionally cleaned & then moved to a new store. #Archive30 #ArchiveNightmares #BritishMuseum #Archive

The Trustees of the British Museum agreed to the design for the Museum seal in 1755. Here is a plaster cast of it, with a description written on the back & a paper impression from 1760. #Archive30 #ArchiveObject #BritishMuseum #Archive

One of the plans for the new British Museum extension in the 1890s included a BM Avenue, to lead from the North Entrance & covering the area now occupied by Senate House. The new King Edward Building was built, but not the avenue. #Archive30 #SomethingNew #BritishMuseum #Archive

This crate of papers deposited by Montague Guest in 1906 from the British Museum archive is the most popular item with the archive team right now & we can’t wait to get started on it! #Archive30 #PopularItem #BritishMuseum #Archive

We are always keen to share the British Museum’s unique archival collections with local community groups & others interested in the Museum’s history & collections. Here are some images from recent archive tours and events. #Archive30 #CommunityArchives #BritishMuseum #Archive

In light of the actions by suffragists in London in 1914, British Museum Trustees needed to keep a close eye on women visiting the Museum. Extra police were brought in women & were required to be accompanied by others who could vouch for their characters. #Archive30 #ArchiveAction #BritishMuseum

The 1972 British Museum Tutankhamun exhibition was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Members of the public wrote to the Trustees concerned about the perceived curse of the Tomb of Tutankhamun & risk of exposing the Queen to its dangers. Fortunately all went well! #Archive30 #ArchiveMyths #BritishMuseum

The British Museum Rifle Assoc developed from the Volunteer Rifle Corps, founded at the BM in 1861 to improve the marksmanship of officers. They practiced & competed in the Museum’s in-house rifle range & it sounds like their annual events were fun! #Archive30 #FunandGames #BritishMuseum #Archive

This is an early form of UK passport, from the Montague Guest archive in the British Museum. It requests safe passage for the holder in the name of the Queen, whilst travelling on the Continent. It includes entry stamps from Russia, Turkey & Greece. #Archive30 #ArchiveTravel #BritishMuseum #Archive

In 1780 the Earl of Sandwich advised the Trustees of the British Museum to accept a contingent of soldiers to protect them from the Gordon Riots. They accepted and the soldiers were posted in the garden for 6 months. #Archive30 #ArchiveAdvice #BritishMuseum

The staff canteen at the British Museum has always been an important part of Museum life - here it is in former times! #Archive30 #ArchiveFoodandDrink #BritishMuseum #Archive

There are lots of small things in the British Museum archive, including this 1892 dance card from the Montague Guest collection, with a tiny (c.35mm long) pencil & a pebble which played a part in WWII! #Archive30 #SomethingSmall #BritishMuseum #archive

George Witt donated his collection of erotica to the British Museum in 1865 & which formed the Museum’s Secretum. With the collection was printed ephemera & scrapbooks with beautiful (& sometimes erotic!) illustrations, now in the archive. #Archive30 #UnusualArchives #BritishMuseum #Archive

The British Museum’s Round Reading Room is one of the spaces in the building to have hidden doors. Designed to look like books on a shelf, they led to the Iron Library book stacks behind the curved walls. #Archive30 #HiddenHistories #BritishMuseum #Archives

Roger Fenton photographed the natural history galleries in the British Museum in 1857, before the collection moved to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington in the 1880s. The collection was described in Edmund Powlett’s guidebook in 1762. #Archive30 #ArchiveAnimals #BritishMuseum

This is a very large scrapbook, compiled by former British Museum Principal Librarian Sir Henry Ellis - pencil for scale! There are many big things in the Museum’s archive! #Archive30 #SomethingBig #BritishMuseum #Archive

Yesterday in 1755, the sale of Montagu House to the British Museum Trustees was agreed - it was to become the 1st home of the Museum, after they rejected the Duke of Buckingham’s offer of his house, which was then bought by King George III in 1761. #BritishMuseum #Archive #exploreyourarchive

When the British Museum was founded in 1753 it was the 1st public museum in the world. This is James Empson’s proposed plan and then the ‘Plan Itself’ in 1756 for how to display the collection of ‘natural’ and ‘artificial curiosities’ to make it into a museum. #Archive30 #ArchivePlan #britishmuseum

The British Museum archive has many colourful items. These photos, plans & drawings show some of the colour schemes, designs & layout for the beautiful Museum building. #Archive30 #ColourfulArchives #britishmuseum #archive

These are pages from the earliest British Museum accounts, showing the business end of setting up and running the first public museum in the world. #Archive30 #BusinessArchives

This plan from 1725 shows the layout of the drainage system of Montagu House, 1st home of the British Museum. Made of vellum, it had been bound into a volume, creating a seam in the centre. Recently conserved, it’s now preserved for future generations. #Archive30 #ArchiveConservation #britishmuseum

There are very many film reels, video tapes, audio cassettes and microfilms in the British Museum archive which capture important moments in the Museum’s history and the history of its collection. #Archive30 #SoundAndVision #britishmuseum

Just had a volume of early accounts from the #BritishMuseum #archive repaired. It dates from 1754 & reports the income & spending relating to the foundation of the Museum. Looks fantastic! #conservation-win

Victoria Woodhull Martin (1838-1927), leader in US suffrage, ran for US president in 1872, maybe the 1st woman to do so. Moving to England in 1877, her husband sued #BritishMuseum to remove a book from the library he considered libelous. The court case records are in the BM’s archive. #EYAJustice

Born otd in 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visited the British Museum with his father in 1765. His father then donated his son’s work ‘God is our Refuge’ (now in the British Library) to the Museum. Here are the Trustee records showing the donation. #BritishMuseum #archive #otd #britishlibrary

Comic interpretation of reader experiences in the British Museum’s Round Reading Room from The Graphic in 1887! #BritishMuseum #archive #exploreyourarchive #britishlibrary

This chest belonging to Sir Montague Guest MP arrived at the Museum & was sealed for 50 years. Really looking forward to exploring the contents! Especially like the dance card with attached pencil from 1892 which was on the top! #BritishMuseum #archive

Sir Hans Sloane died on this day in 1753 & his extensive collection of natural & artificial curiosities, books & manuscripts founded the British Museum, & was also the founding collection of the NHM & the BL. #otd #britishmuseum #nhm_london #britishlibrary #London #museums

The British Museum started selling Christmas cards in the 1930s - here’s a list of designs you could choose from & one of the designs. #BritishMuseum #archives #MuseumArchives #HappyChristmas

This is cool! Ernest Shackleton requesting access to the British Museum reading room in 1900 so he could research whirlpools, before the Discovery expedition in 1901. #britishmuseum #archive #britishlibrary #ernestshackleton